Finding Lily

2- Lily

"Lily, get up."

I barely heard Jane's voice through the fog of my hangover. I pulled the comforter over my head and willed for Jane to let me be.

"We have class in an hour. I'll drag you out of bed if I have to." Jane's voice was clearer now. It sounded like she was in our bedroom, probably leaning against the wall with her signature impatient glare. Sometimes she was more like a disapproving parent instead of a stepsister.

"Fine." I groaned. I threw the covers off in defeat and trudged over to our shared bathroom, where I was graced with my reflection in the mirror. With knotted blonde hair sticking up in every direction and the eye makeup of a raccoon, I looked like I had just survived a horror film. Judging by the paleness of my usually tan skin, and the bitter taste in my mouth, I guessed I had already emptied the contents of last night into the toilet bowl as well.

Great.

After stripping off last night's dress and throwing it onto the tiled floor, I stepped into the hot shower and wracked my brain for memories of last night. I quickly realized, however, that I would rather not remember how many shots I took nor how many guys I kissed.

Almost forty minutes later, I was finally presentable. Wearing skinny jeans and a tight t-shirt, I put on just enough makeup to conceal how shitty I felt and made my way downstairs.

"You should probably stop doing that." Jane said once I got to the kitchen.

"Probably." I replied, giving my step-sister a once over and resenting how good she looked with so little effort. A pairing of blonde hair that was naturally wavy and perfectly tan skin should be illegal. I grunted and grabbed a banana out of the fruit bowl, only taking one bite before getting nauseous and throwing it away. Looks like I'll be skipping breakfast. Again.

"Did you have fun though?" Jane asked from the breakfast bar. Her question was genuine, as was the half-cocked smile on her face.

"Always. You should come next time."

"Yeah, maybe. Did you see Gary again?" Jane asked. Gary was some guy I met at a party a week ago. We made out but that's as far as I planned on letting it go. He came off a little clingy.

"Nah. Nothing's going to happen with that anyway."

"Why not? He's hot." she said. I had to agree with that statement: he was an athlete so he was built. Add to that hazel eyes and dirty blonde hair and you've got yourself one of the hottest guys at the university.

"You can have him, girl. Not interested."

"Oh right, I forgot you only sleep with assholes."

"Hey, every girl's got a type."

"I guess but yours sucks."

"Yeah but they're also hot and great in bed. Isn't that what counts?"

"I guess so." Jane shrugged.

We went our separate ways once we made it to campus. Jane's classes were in one building and mine were in the other. Even lunch was spent apart. We didn't come back together until three o'clock that afternoon.

As we ate spaghetti alone at the breakfast bar, I told Jane about my biology professor's monotone voice and Jane complained about how ridiculously strict her musical arts teacher was.

"Does she realize we're college seniors and don't give a fuck about jazz music? I mean, sure it's important, but when I am ever going to need this stuff when I'm working as an English teacher?" She groaned. "And seriously, no one is going to write a five page paper this weekend while everybody's out partying."

I laughed. "You are." As much as Jane bitched and moaned, I knew she was the best student out there. She graduated high school with a 3.9 GPA and never failed a test in her life. She worked her ass off to get good grades and still found time to have a social life.

"I guess you're right. But I still like to complain."

"Cheers to that, sister." I raised my glass of white wine and clinked it with Jane's.

The sound of her ringtone interrupted the music we had going in the background. Jane picked it up off the table and looked at the screen.

"It's mom." She said. Instead of adding the 'my' in that sentence, Jane always just referred to Regina as if we shared the same mother.

I shrugged so Jane hit the answer button, putting it on speaker.

"Hello?"

"Oh hi, darling. I was afraid you weren't going to answer." Regina's voice sounded like one of those rich socialite mothers on television. You know, the ones that just care about money and are more or less absent from their children's lives. That kind of mother.

"Why's that, mom?"

"Because you're too busy for me, darling. At least that's what you tell me sometimes."

"Cut to the chase. Why are you calling?"

"We're coming home. I was hoping you'd be excited."

"Of course I'm excited. When will you arrive?" Jane feigned enthusiasm, which I saw through right away.

"A couple days at the most. Harry is taking me to Hawaii on the way home but we shouldn't be there for too long."

"Oh that should be fun. Bring us back something nice."

"Ok we will, darling. Don't have too much fun without us. Make sure you keep up with your school work." Regina reminded her, as if these few sentences still made her a worthy parent.

"Always do."

"Good."

"I gotta go now, seeya soon."

I looked up from the plate of spaghetti I'd been staring at. Jane was looking at me with sad eyes, as if she knew what must have been going through my head. It was nothing, though. I was numb to the fact that my mom died when I was young and my dad abandoned me four years ago. Numb as fuck.

"Mom says hi."

"Sure she does." Regina only tolerated my existence because of Jane. Regina wanted to kick me out when my father split. Jane didn't let that happen.

"Come on. You said there's a party tonight, right? Let's go slut-up." Jane turned me around and we walked together up the stairs, my spirits lifting with every step.