In the Spotlight

Chapter Two: First Day

"Mom..." Lily groaned, a bit embarrassed.

"Sorry," she said, pulling away. "I'm just so proud!"

"Me too," Paul said, also hugging Lily. Heidi joined again after a while and they shared a group hug.

"Evan," Paul said with a smile, motioning for him to join. Evan smiled and threw his arms around them.

They stayed like that for a while before Lily pulled away. "We should get going now."

"Of course," Heidi said. "Have fun, sweetie! Love you both!"

***

"Are some of the teachers evil witches?" Charlie asked from the backseat.

"Of course not!" Evan said.

"Debatable..." Connor murmured.

"Abby told me that they are," Charlie said.

"They are!" Abby told them. Lily rolled her eyes.

"I heard that there was a boy named Lucas," Lily said. "One day, he annoyed the teacher so much that he got sent to the principal... and never came back."

Charlie's eyes widened. "No!"

"Oh, yes. He was in my class."

"Lily," Connor laughed. "I'm sure that didn't happen.

She shrugged. "I'm just saying she should behave, or bad things will happen. Really bad things."

"Come on. I threw a printer at my second grade teacher and only got a two day suspension. You'll be fine," Connor assured them.

"You threw a printer?" The three girls exclaimed.

"You're encouraging her!" Evan said to Connor. He turned to face Charlie. "Don't throw printers, Charlie."

"Okay."

***

At lunch, Lily sat with Parker, braiding her blonde hair. They sat under a tree.

"I wonder where Bradley is," Parker said. "I hope he's okay."

"I'm going to call him after school," Lily said. "I'm sure everything is fine."

Lily finished the braid and then looked around at the other students.

At a table near them, she saw Layla Miller, gossiping with her friends.

Layla and Lily used to be friends. Then something happened between them (Lily couldn't quite remember what) and they've hated each other ever since.

Lily looked at the table and saw someone sitting next to Layla, looking as gorgeous as ever.

It was Crystal Martinez.

***

"I'm not coming back," Bradley said over the phone.

"Why not?" Lily asked, upset.

"Something unexpected happened that I'd rather not talk about just yet," he explained. "We moved. I'll still call though, don't worry!"

"You'd better."

"I have to go now," he said. "Love you, Wattle."

"Love you, Bradley. Bye."

Lily hung up the phone, her face falling.

"What did he say?" Parker asked.

"He's not coming back," Lily explained. "Family emergency. He moved."

"I don't get it," Parker said. "Why didn't he call us?"

"He didn't get the chance."

Parker lightly punched Lily's shoulder. "Cheer up, Wattle. We'll see him again."

Lily smiled at the nickname. Parker and Bradley called her Wattle because another name for a wattle was acacia, which was her middle name.

"I have to go now," Parker said, wrapping her in a hug. "I'll text you." With that, she was gone.

Lily unlocked her phone and pulled a sheet of paper out of her bag.

It was time to talk to Crystal.

A/N: I'm so sorry, that was a really bad chapter. I've just had a really bad day and one of my best friends suddenly hates me for some reason and I don't know what to do.