Chapter 24 I love Her
Wade's POV
While the teacher taught, my mind wandered far away. Far away to when life was so good to me. To the park, the wildflowers, Lily laughing with her whole face. To the pool house and the warmth of her against me. To the Sunday that felt like the beginning of something real.
"Wade! What was the last thing I said?" our teacher asked.
"No idea," I said without thinking.
"What? You weren't listening?"
"Obviously," I said.
"Is that how you respond to your teacher? I can see why your grades dropped in the last test because you are now distracted by who knows what!"
"If you can excuse me sir," I said and left the class without turning back.
The whole class gasped but that was the least of my concerns.
I knew Lily would leave immediately after class so I waited patiently for her at the exit.
I sighted her from afar and something struck me.
Lily was no longer the same. She was becoming more beautiful day after day, carrying herself differently, moving through the school grounds like someone who had finally decided she belonged there. Something about seeing her like that, thriving without me, made everything worse and better at the same time.
As she came closer I ran toward her.
"Lily, Lily can I have a word with you?" I asked but she completely ignored me.
"Lily please. Please we really need you at home," I said keeping pace beside her, but she kept walking.
I held her hands trying to stop her. "Listen to me. It's hell at home. Mia won't talk to anyone except you, please forgive me and come back." My eyes were reddening and I did not care.
"Let go of my hand," she said.
"I can't. Not until you hear me out."
Suddenly a young guy of my age, tall and handsome, stepped out of the Mercedes Benz parked ahead and walked toward me with calm, deliberate steps.
"Don't you dare touch her," he said as he removed my hands from Lily's and guided her to his car.
"Lily!" I muttered as jealousy filled my heart.
What did she see in this boy? He drove a Mercedes Benz, I had a BMW. He was tall, of course I was too. He was handsome, I could bet I was too. On paper there was nothing he had that I did not.
Except her walking away with him.
I couldn't let this boy take her away from me but what could I do? She already hated me.
I stood on that pavement and watched the car disappear and made a decision.
My home was breaking and my love for Lily was growing so rapidly I could no longer contain it and I was not born a loser. I would fight to the end to get what I wanted even if it meant losing my reputation at school.
The next day I brought the same wildflowers she had loved at the park, along with the special picture we took together, and placed them carefully on her locker.
Chris came to my aid without question. We decorated her name all over the classroom, letters across the walls and board. Clara walked in first and her expression shifted between confusion and fury and settled somewhere between both.
When Lily stepped into the class I knelt in front of everyone and the room went completely still.
"I'm so sorry for everything I've done Lily. You deserve everything the world has to offer. The home isn't the same after you left. I really need you to come back, come back to my life."
Lily simply walked past me to the surprise of the whole class.
I bent my head in shame.
"Well, well, see how you've disgraced yourself in front of the whole class," Clara said, her voice carrying perfectly. "I told you she doesn't deserve you. Now see the mess you've made of yourself."
Her words stung like a bee but I stood up, and walked to my seat and said nothing throughout the rest of the day.
When my friends came to cheer me up I dismissed them one by one. Their noise scraped against everything I was feeling.
Only Chris remained.
"I know how hard it is at home, but you don't have to let it kill your joy," he said advisingly
"My joy is dead already. Only Lily can bring it to life," I said helplessly
"I can help you, if you let me," he said.
"What else would you do? After you gave me the idea that almost ruined everything?" I said.
"It almost ruined but also brought you closer to Lily," he said.
I looked away.
"I have evidence that Clara locked you two inside that pool house," he said.
"You saw her and didn't do anything?" I asked.
"She thought it would bring disaster but I knew she was only bringing you two together," he said.
I sat with that for a moment then shook my head. "All this is happening because of me. Because I let Clara into my life and she used that opportunity to blackmail me."
"Blackmail? Is there something you're not telling me?" he asked.
"Lily was supposed to be at the top of the Golden List. Not me," I said.
"What?"
"I couldn't bear the new girl beating me. So I succumbed to Clara's plan," I said. I took a breath. "Clara drugged teacher Ken and slept with him," I whispered.
"What!!!" He almost screamed
"Calm down. She used it to blackmail him into making me the top of the Golden List and her the third which she didn't merit," I said.
"And you knew about this Wade? You knew?"
"I swear Chris, I didn't know she'd go to this extent. She only told me that Lily was at the top and that she was going to help me. She didn't specify what the help was. She told me what she did when the deed was already done," I said.
"Why would she do all this? Why?"
"I don't know! I don't fuckin know!" I said pressing my hands flat on the desk.
"She went too far. But that should not justify the reason why you became her puppet," Chris said.
I bent my head down and wiped the tears that gradually formed in my eyes.
"Chris, she threatens me with my nude," I said.
"Nu—"
"Shush," I said and closed his mouth quickly, looking around.
"Wade, this is getting out of hand. Why not report to the appropriate authorities?" he asked.
"You don't understand! Look around. I am the quarterback of this school. My father is a well known man. Think about what it would do to my reputation. I'm stuck, I'm really stuck," I said and buried my head on my desk.
"You're not Wade. I'm here for you and I'll make sure everything goes back to its rightful place," Chris said patting me on the shoulder.
I looked up at him and the tear I had been holding back dropped silently to the desk.
"I love Lily," I said. "From the very first day she stepped into this class. When you talk about fixing everything, can Lily be among the things you fix?"
"I knew you loved Lily," Chris said quietly. "Clara knows too. That's why she made Lily's life so miserable."
"I've told you my secret Chris," I said gently. "If you want to ruin my life you can reveal everything to the whole class. But if you really care about me the way you claim to, please keep it a secret, just for now."
Chris stood. He looked at me for a long moment without saying anything.
Then he left.
I sat alone in the empty classroom and stared at nothing and wondered how long a person could keep carrying this much before something finally broke.