CHAPTER EIGHT
BUTTERFLIES
❝And why do I get so nervous
when I look into your EYES?
BUTTERFLIES can't stop me fallin' for you❞
i guess i'm in love
clinton kane
𓆩♡𓆪
lily hated the butterflies. and no not the insect, she actually found those pretty memorising. she hated the kind in your stomach. the ones that you could never figure out if they made you want to jump up and down or throw up into the toilet.
the expression also terrified her as a kid. the idea of having an insect crawling around in your stomach made her want to get all her inside parts checked, no matter how beautiful they may be. so, when over the next two days, every time she thought of eli hale, she wanted to check her self into a mental hospital.
"i don't know what to wear!" lily cried dramatically into her phone on monday morning.
"why do you even care that much? you never do." maddy asked through the phone.
"yeah you look amazing in literally everything." abby laughed back. lily stared into her wardrobe, trying to get some inspiration.
"it's not that i care, i just-"
"wait what classes do you have today?" abby asked suspiciously.
"she totally has french." maddy snickered.
"i do no-...okay i have french." lily admitted.
"mhm, what did i say abby?"
"you said she had french." abby admitted with a sigh.
"and i bet you have a study session afterwards." maddy got it right again causing silence from lilys line.
"aww that's so cute. you like him!" abby sang into the phone.
"i do not!" lily snapped.
"he's still a dick for what he said." maddy sighed. "i don't care if he apologised or not."
"maddy!" abby hissed back at the girl
"what would i do without you guys?" lily asked mockingly.
"okay what about you're cropped crewneck and baggy jeans?" abby suggested.
"didn't i wear that on friday?" lily worried.
"oh my god!" maddy groaned but let out a small laugh afterwards. "no you didn't! now can we please hurry up or we'll all be late. abby any chance you could bring me to to school today?"
"okay but you really need to stop missing your bus." abby answered
"it's not my fault it's five minutes early!"
"okay okay. i'll see you guys in a bit." lily said to her best friends.
"you'll be fine lily." maddy said before hanging up.
"good luck." abby laughed into the phone before leaving. lily reached into the wardrobe, taking out her outfit and smiling briefly while looking at it. her face fell as she realised what she was doing, rolling her eyes while laying them on her bed.
"what have i became?"
𓆩♡𓆪
lilys french class was after lunch that day. lily wouldn't go as far to say she was excited for it, but for once she didn't feel the urge to pretend to be sick just so she could get out of it.
as usual, eli hale was already seated by the time she walked in. "how are you always here before me?" lily laughed as she sat down next to the boy.
"i'm just so excited to learn more french." the boy joked sarcastically, sitting up properly in his seat.
"so you up for another tutoring session after school today?" lily bravely asked.
"umm i have lacrosse practice afterwards." eli said awkwardly. lily nodded, trying to hide the disappointment on her face. "but, maybe after that. we could meet at mine or you could stay and get ahead or something."
"you sure you just don't need a lift?" lily smirked at the boy. eli let out a breathy laugh in response. "sure you will show up this time?"
"i promise." eli said genuinely.
"okay then." lily turned back around as the teacher walked in. "but you better get some points if i'm gonna watch you train for forty minutes."
𓆩♡𓆪
thankfully, maddy stayed with lily at the training. although in lily's opinion, maddy didn't mind watching the lacrosse team play. so they sat on the bleachers, helping each other with homework while watching the boys team practice. "thanks for staying with me by the way." lily thanked her friend.
"no problem. i missed my bus anyways." maddy laughed. "plus it's not a bad view."
"mmm i suppose it's not." lily smiled as the boys lined up, practicing their shots.
"anyone in particular you're looking at?" maddy teased.
"what? no!" lily said a bit too defensively. "what about you, huh?"
"nah. don't get me wrong, they're not bad to look at but..."
"but...?" lily pressed, wanting to hear the last of her best friends sentence.
"nothing." maddy sighed.
"really?" lily deadpanned. "i hate it when you do that. especially when i know what you're gonna say."
"oh really? what was i gonna say then?"
"abby." lily said simply, causing mandy's eyes to widen. "oh please, don't give me that look. i see how you're always staring at her in french when she's writing."
"it's not like that!" maddy clearly lied. "plus she definitely doesn't like me. like like me."
"that's a lie and we both know it. trust me, abby's not straight, so don't try to give me that excuse, and i've known her since we were little, okay? i can't promise you that she likes you but i can tell you that i highly doubt it's one sided."
"i don't know." maddy said, a kiddish grin growing on her face. in the years that lily had known them, she doesn't think she's ever seen maddy smile like that. "like at the party, i thought i felt something between us- and oh my god this sounds so cringy!"
"i'm never missing another party again by the way but go on." lily encouraged her friend
"but then she says stuff like, you're such a good friend, and i get friend zoned bad."
"you haven't watched enough movies, have you? that's clearly a tell that she likes you. she's just trying to figure out if you feel the same."
"you think?"
"mhm." lily nodded. "i could try talk to her, subtlety of course, and see if she says anything."
"seriously?"
"seriously."
"you but whatever you do, this conversation stays between us. you can't tell her about it, deal?" maddy held out her pinky. it was a childish thing, pinky promises but something that had stuck with them since they were kids.
"i promise." lily confirmed, intertwining their little figures.
a loud grunt came from the field as all the boys winced or cheered. "oh shit." maddy cursed, snapping the two out of their moment.
number 37 was aggressively shoving number 11 away from the goals. "that's jake and eli." lily stated, the panic rising in her body.
"that can't be good." maddy said as the two stood up. eli began pushing jake back. "go go go!"
the two girls began rushing down the steps, along with the few others that were sitting, running onto the field towards the two.
"what you gonna do hale? kill me like your pysco family?" jake teased cruelly.
"you wanna say that again." eli said, pulling off his helmet.
"what's going on?" maddy asked one of the other boys on the team.
"i don't know, they just started fighting." the boy shrugged.
"where's coach?" lily asked, only to get a shrug as a reply.
"you know what i said. it was only a matter of time before you showed your true colours." jake spat
"what are you even talking about?" eli laughed
"there's lils, she knows what i mean." jake nodded to lily as he spotted her in the circle. "don't you?"
all eyes turned to the martin girl, waiting for her response. "i-..." lily tried to search for the words but she was too confused to find them.
"see. even she knows how pathetic you are, she doesn't want to hurt your feelings."
"what are you even on about jake?" lily said out loud.
"after what this guy done to you, i'm not gonna let him just come on here and act like he is."
"i'm not yours to protect." lily rolled her eyes at the boy.
"oh come on now, we all know you can't get enough of -"
jake was cut off by eli running into him, and throwing him onto the ground. everyone gasped as jake groaned, lying on the ground as eli stood back up, running a hand through his hair.
"watch your mouth." eli said, turning around. he began to walk away when jake quickly got up, walking quickly up to eli. he grabbed his shoulder, spinning him around and then punching him across the face. eli fell to the ground, clutching the right side of his face.
maddy and lily both ran forward. maddy pushed jake away as lily dropped down beside eli. she pulled his hand away from his eye, trying to see the damage. thankfully there was no blood, but it was red along his cheekbone, already beginning to bruise. "what the hell jake!" lily yelled up at the boy.
"i-" he began
"go!" maddy cut him off, pointing back towards the school. jake stared at lily who didn't move. he threw his helmet angrily on the ground before storming back towards the school.
"hey, you okay?" lily turned to look at eli with a worried look.
"just great." eli groaned, bring his hand up to his face. he winced as his fingers made contact with his face.
"here, stand up." lily helped the boy stand. she turned to maddy who was looking at the pair worryingly. "im gonna take eli home. is that okay?"
"yeah. i'll call one of my dads to come pick me up." maddy smiled.
"okay thank you." lily turned back to eli. "come on, my turn to take care of you, huh?"
𓆩♡𓆪
"i think you being a little dramatic." eli said. the two were sitting on the boys bed while lily place an ice pack on the side of the boys face.
"im sorry for not wanting you to get a black eye." lily mocked sarcastically. "seriously though, are you okay?"
"yeah." eli smiled half heartedly. "sorry for pushing your boyfriend though."
lily practically chocked on air, sending her into a coughing fit. "are you okay?" eli asked her
"jake is not my boyfriend." lily stated, removing the ice from his face.
"shit sorry. he was just saying a load of stuff like my lils and trying to stick up for you. but in a really douchey way. and what he said was just...messed up, and i know i've probably said worse but."
"it's fine." lily sighed. "he tends to do that. we were together a couple of months ago. it wasn't anything serious though, well in my eyes anyway. i broke up with him for being super protective and obsessive and well he didn't take it well. so now even four weeks later, he still thinks we'll end up getting back together."
"will you?" eli asked. "get back together?"
"god no." lily laughed. she picked up the anti bruising cream and squeezed a bit onto her figure, lightly rubbing it around where jake hit, ignoring eli's flinches. "especially after what he did today. thanks by the way. for sticking up for me."
"i didn't really need to." eli smiled at her, lilys hand still on his face. and there it was, the stupid grin that made the butterflies come back. lily smiled back, looking into the boys green eyes. lily never notices just how green they were. green like the grass on postcards you might receive from relatives on holidays. they were the type of green lily could get lost looking in.
so she let herself. she didn't realise just how long they were looking at each other for until eli tried to break the silence, "lily i-"
he was cut off by the front door of the house opening, causing both teens to jump at the sudden noise. eli closed his eyes, letting out a dramatic sigh. he turned around, looking at the clock on his locker, "it's my dad."
"eli?" a voice called from within the house.
"in here." the boy yelled back. derek appeared at the door, looking in at the two with a confused look. "you are home early." he said, looking at his son.
"umm yeah." eli nodded awkwardly. "lacross practice ended early cause of a, um...."
"collision." lily quickly jumped in. "contact sports, am i right? tackling and all that..."
"uh yeah." derek nodded, looking confused. "are you guys hungry?"
"no dad, we're fine." eli answered, but it came out a bit harsh
"okay okay." derek stepped back into the hall. "nice to see you again lily." he said before walking down the hall.
"so french?" eli said suddenly standing up and getting his french books out of his bag.
"yeah sadly." lily sighed, pulling her french stuff out, laying them across the floor.
"what's that?" eli asked as lily opened her copy.
"oh just a tree i drew in class when i was bored." lily said pointing to the pen sketch she had done.
"huh, it's cool but i don't remember you doing it." eli said unsurely.
"well when else would i have done it." lily laughed, turning the page to notes from the class. "are you gonna ask me a load of verbs or keep talking about my amazing art skills?"
bee speaks...
anyone have any cool ideas of how
lily could use her scream. like meredith's
was a bomb and lydia used her hands.
i wanna give lily something different
but idk what. (you'll obviously be
given credit.)
i don't know if anyone will notice or not
but the two numbers of jerseys are scott's
and jackson's.
also, giving side characters a storyline>>