Lillia and Reeve

Falling into place

Autumn in Boston meant red, lots of it.

All around her, leaves of crimson fell from the trees, blanketing the sidewalks and crunching under her new riding boots. Lillia missed Phantom, so she kept him in her heart with her fashion choices.

She smiled. Her life was a stock photo. She was walking hand in hand with her boyfriend, admiring the falling leaves and the new start of the school year. Sophomore year with her college friends, her college boyfriend; everything– not just the leaves– was falling into place.

Drew snickered as he watched the nervous freshmen delay traffic. It always took them a few weeks to fall into routine at Boston College. For the beginning of fall quarter, the lines would be held up, the traffic impossible– Lillia knew because she'd gone through the same thing only a year ago.

Drew was a junior though, and could afford to be haughty. When she'd met him, he hadn't seemed real. Chestnut brown hair, deep tan, sparkling green eyes. Those eyes had reminded her of someone else's. Though she'd never admit it, it was one of the reasons she'd noticed him originally.

But he was unlike anyone she'd ever met. Great, booming laugh, a gaze that magnetized you, charisma that filled up a room. Out of all the girls who'd been after him, he'd chosen her. She couldn't wait to spend the year with him.

A football whizzed past her, promptly cutting off her thoughts. With a dull thunk, it collided with Drew's back. He stumbled forward, letting go of her hand. "What the–"

She heard laughter from behind. A boy jogged up to them, tan and confident and grinning from ear to ear. "Sorry about that. Got distracted seeing all the–"

His words faded from her ears. She stared. He stared. Reeve Tabatsky.

"What are you doing here?" she shrieked, then clapped her hands over her mouth. The volume of her voice drew several glares.

Reeve looked amused. "Same as you. College. Getting an education."

"But– BC? It doesn't even have a good football program. We're Division Three." She couldn't take her eyes off of him. He looked so... alive. Real. Full of life and exuberance, just as she'd remembered him. Nothing had changed.

But everything had.

This wasn't supposed to happen. She was supposed to move on, leave Jar Island behind.

Reeve shrugged, his eyes dancing. "Well, BC has other things I'm interested in."

Her mouth opened. Nothing came out. Suddenly it was hard to breathe.

Drew looked from Lillia to Reeve, waiting for the introduction that never came. At last he stuck out his hand, giving his best interview smirk. "I don't believe we'd met before. I'm Drew, Lillia's boyfriend."

Nervously, her eyes darted up to peek at Reeve, but he didn't look surprised. If anything, he seemed pleased, the picture of friendliness. "Reeve. I'm an... old friend of Lillia's."

The word was loaded, dripping with implications. Lillia cringed as Drew's smile slipped slightly, yet managed to stay intact. Not so subtly, Drew intertwined his fingers with hers.

"We'd best be on our way," Drew said, glancing at his watch for good measure. Lillia hated that watch. It was a gold-embossed Rolex that could've paid for a car. A used car, but still.

When Kat had visited towards the end of freshman year, she'd noted the watch immediately. Ever since, she hadn't approved of Drew.

"Of course," Reeve replied smoothly. "I won't keep you. Always nice meeting a friend of Lillia's." He hefted the football in his hand, then turned to Lillia. "Hope to see you around, Cho."

She paled. "Yeah..."

Drew dragged her away.

"I don't like that guy," he muttered.

"Why? You barely know him." For some reason, Lillia was oddly defensive.

"I just– I get a bad feeling is all." He didn't elaborate. Lillia didn't answer. She wouldn't go looking for trouble.

Unfortunately for her, trouble would go looking for her.