Epilogue

When the sound of her alarm going off finally broke the silence in her bedroom, Lilly Harper felt her stomach churn. The girl scowled and rolled over onto her side, pulling the comforters higher up over her face so she could lay in the comfortable warmth that they brought her. She knew that alarm meant it was time to get up and go to school and, like every other day, she wanted nothing more than to stay laying in bed and go back to sleep. She always dreaded going to school and that day was no exception. It was the end of April so they still had a little over a month to go until summer, and yet vacation still felt like it was an eternity away.

If only I could sleep through May. With finals coming up, school’s gonna be more of a hell than it normally is.

Lilly sighed miserably at the sound of her older sister climbing from her own bed and turning the alarm off. There was no doubt in her mind that she was about to hear one of Alexa’s typical morning lectures and, sure enough, she was right.

“Come on, Sis’,” Alexa grumbled. “Get up. I told you that you can have the bathroom first today so hurry it up and get ready. You know Mom’s gonna be pissed if you oversleep again. I mean, how many times have you been late since the start of the year?”

Lilly scowled and pulled the covers down to see Alexa staring down at her with an irritable expression, her hands on her hips as she looked down at her.

“I dunno,” she growled. “Does it even matter? Just mind your own business, Alexa, and let me deal with my own problems.”

Her older sister snorted. “I’m just looking out for you, so you don’t have to get all snippy with me. Believe it or not, I actually do want you to do well in school. After all, I’m going to college in a few months so soon enough, I’m not gonna be here to make sure you wake up on time.”

And what a joyous occasion that’s gonna be, Lilly thought, though she was smart enough not to say it out loud.

“Yea, whatever,” she muttered instead. “Just go ahead and get ready first. I’m gonna lay here a little longer.”

Lilly expected Alexa to argue further but, thankfully, she just sighed and departed the room, leaving her alone with the warmth of her blankets for a few more minutes. While she did appreciate the fact that her older sister cared enough to worry about her, after so many years of her nagging, it had gotten to the point that it was just pissing Lilly off.

Why can’t she just mind her own damn business? Who does she think she is? Mom? Cause if so, then I wish she would just cut it out. It’s already bad enough to have Mom on my ass all the time. I really wish I didn’t have to deal with Alexa, too.

Ever since they moved to Wilham the previous summer, Lilly found herself growing more and more apathetic toward school. She’d never been someone who enjoyed it, but for whatever reason, being at West Wilham High only seemed to annoy her even more than her old school.

And I’m not even sure why. It’s not like it’s any different from my old high school.

Just like when she lived up north, she still didn’t have any friends, nor did she want any. She had always been perfectly content being alone and she was glad that it stayed that way. There had been a few kids over the months that tried to get to know her, but she successfully pushed them away and now, everybody just accepted that she wasn’t someone to bother. She spent her classes by herself, only interacting with others when she didn’t have a choice. She ate lunch alone in a random corner of the second floor. She spent track practice avoiding interactions with her team members, and when it was over, she went home alone. It was the life she wanted, yet she found herself getting more bored with each passing day.

I guess it feels like I’m missing something. I just don’t know what that would be.

After what felt like nearly a half hour of waiting, Alexa walked back into the bedroom, dressed in her school uniform and with the same irritated look on her face.

“Really? You haven’t moved at all?” she snapped.

Lilly merely grunted in reply, having no interest in responding with any more effort than that.

Alexa rolled her eyes and shrugged. “Fine. Be that way. Mom made pancakes this morning before heading to work and they’re on the table if you want some. I’ll be leaving in ten minutes…not like you’ll walk with me, though.”

Yup. Probably right.

Alexa went back into the hall without another word, leaving Lilly to begrudgingly get out of the warm blankets and grab her clothes before heading down the hall and into the bathroom. Still unable to shake the intense lethargy she was feeling that morning, she wound up standing in the shower for probably twenty minutes, just letting the warm water wash over her. It was only when it started getting cold that she quickly grabbed her shampoo and tried to hurry out. As was usual, she put very little effort into her appearance. All she did was dry and brush her shoulder-length hair, then changed into her uniform. By the time she had her teeth brushed and was heading out into the front room, she found the apartment empty.

Just as I prefer it.

She took her time warming up the pancakes in the microwave and eating breakfast. Once she was ready to leave, she realized she only had twenty minutes until class started, so she picked up her pace just a little, grabbed her bag, then headed out the front door. She didn’t run into anybody on her way to the elevator and, when she made it into the lobby, only Mr. Alberts was there, sitting at his desk as he worked on his computer. They both ignored each other as she headed outside and turned in the direction of the school.

Alright, let’s see… Do I have any tests today?

She couldn’t recall anything and nodded in satisfaction, finding herself far too tired to bother with any important assignments. As she got closer to West Wilham High, the number of students she noticed increased and by the time she reached the front gates, there were quite a few heading into the courtyard and making their way to the main building.

God, it’s so noisy here. Why is everybody in such a good mood? I’ll never understand being so chipper at barely eight in the morning and at school of all places.

She kept her head down, not warning to make eye contact with anybody as she headed into the building and trudged her way through the obnoxious crowds of students before reaching the stairs to the second floor where her first period class with Mrs. Kentz was located. She preferred to get to class without incident, yet she was rarely so lucky. It always felt like something stupid was going on in the hallways of the school and that morning was no exception. Right as she made it to the second floor, she suddenly heard shouting off to her right and she irritably turned to see what was going on.

Two boys were fighting nearly a dozen lockers down from where she stood, violently swinging their fists as if they were trying to kill each other, while many of the students around them backed away to avoid getting hit, though that didn’t stop them from quickly pulling out their phones to record the incident. The faces of the two boys were contorted in utter rage and she could only guess that this had started over something pointless and dumb. They were, after all, two of the school’s most infamous problem students: Evan Wright and Damien Clark. They were shouting curses at each other and within seconds, Clark had Wright on the ground as he continued to try and pound his fists into the downed boy’s face.

“Hey! Clark! Wright Stop that right now!”

Lilly glanced over her shoulder just in time to see the P.E. teacher, Mr Kurtis, sprinting over to them to try and break it up. Knowing the fight was about to end, Lilly became disinterested and continued to Mrs. Kentz’s class.

What fucking idiots. But at least they’ll be suspended for a while so I won’t have to deal with them. That is, if Wright doesn’t end up in the hospital and Clark doesn’t get his ass expelled. She snorted. Not like Wright didn’t have it coming. I’ve only been here for barely a year and even I know you don’t mess with Damien Clark. The guy’s a loose cannon that’ll probably wind up in jail before finishing high school.

Lilly sighed as she arrived at Kentz’s class. Like always, the old woman was standing by the door and said a brief “good morning” to Lilly as she passed through. When she looked around, she found most of the usual people already there. Bradley Fischer and his friends, excluding Evan Wright, were sitting in the back corner and laughing to themselves. Near the front of the room, another loner like her was sitting with his head down and was probably asleep, though that wasn’t an uncommon sight for Vinny Mickelson. The only other students already there were two girls sitting in the desks in front of her own, chatting with each other. As Lilly approached, Alice Mendez and Audrey Moore spared her barely a glance before going back to what they were discussing.

Welp, time to power through another day, she thought irritably.

Lilly slid her bag under her desk and sat down in her seat before turning and gazing blankly out the window. The last five minutes before class passed far too quickly for her liking and when the bell rang, the rest of the students filed inside and took their proper seats. Lilly absently watched everybody and when the bell rang to signal the start of class, she was about to turn back to the window when something odd caught her eye.

Why’s the seat next to Mickelson empty? Where’s—”

“Ah!” she cried out softly, a sudden spasm of pain erupting throughout her skull.

“Don’t disappoint us, Lilly Harper.”

“Yes. I’d hate to see all that confidence go to waste. If you’re so certain you can save them, then let’s see you try.”

She frantically looked around the room, trying to find the sources of those voices, but couldn’t find where they had come from.

“Miss Harper? Is everything alright?” Mrs. Kentz asked from the front of the room.

Realizing everybody was looking at her with confused expressions, some even trying and failing to stifle their laughs, Lilly felt her cheeks turn red and she hurriedly nodded.

“Y-yeah, sorry,” she murmured.

Kentz nodded and didn’t press the issue before returning to roll call, leaving Lilly to lean back in her seat and sigh.

What the hell was that? Where were those voices coming from? Am I just going crazy?

She spared a brief glance back at the empty desk next to Mickelson and quickly scoffed at herself. Maybe I am. That stupid desk has been empty since the start of the year. I don’t even know what I was thinking.

Anxious to put the strange incident behind her, Lilly Harper turned back to stare blankly out the window, anxious for the school day to end. Yet, as it went on, she couldn’t help but keep thinking back to those weird voices she heard in her head.

Save them? Was there somebody…I was supposed to save?

But she couldn’t remember anything and so, she wrote it off as a figment of her imagination and pushed all thoughts of it from her mind.