Chapter One

Chapter One

 

“Liliana, look at me. I don’t care who you were with, you have to let us know where you are!” Grace said, her voice rising. ‘You’ve really left me no choice,’ she continued. ‘You’re grounded, until I decide otherwise.’

Lili turned, her hand already reaching out for the banister, and began to pull her way up the stairs. Taking the steps two at a time, she was at her room in a matter of seconds. She pulled out her phone, keyed in ‘1’, and pressed the little green button. After three rings, Becky’s sleepy voice came through the phone.

‘Do you know what time it is? I have an English exam tomorrow! Do you want me to fail?’ Her voice had an edge of anger, with slight curiosity peeping through.

‘You know I’d only call if it was something important. And yes, I am well aware of the time, yes, I know you have an English exam tomorrow, and no, I don’t want you to fail. Can I get to the point now?’ I asked, whispering so my mum wouldn’t hear.

Becky paused for so long; Lili had to peer at her phone’s screen to see if she was still there. After what must have been twenty seconds at least, Becky’s curiosity got the better of her.

‘Okay, spill. This better be good, or you’re dead tomorrow.’ Despite everything that had happened, Lili couldn’t help but smile. Becky was known for her evil pranks and plans, and she was amazing at getting revenge. The kids at Wounded Sky feared her " which, Lili had to admit, came in handy when she got herself in some tricky situations.

‘Okay, you know how I go out like, every night with Claire and the rest of them? Well, my mum caught me, and now I’m grounded " but I need to meet Claire in two days " she has some “friends” she wants me to meet.’ Lili got up off her bed, peered down the hall, and then closed her door. After closing her curtains, she sat down on the bed and waited for Becky’s reply.

‘Just tell her to bring them another time. If she wants you to meet them so bad, she’ll wait. I don’t get why you hang with her anyway, she always gets people in trouble " with their parents and the cops.’ With a sigh, Lili rolled her eyes and lay back on her bed. Becky was her best friend, and it’d always been that way. She just preferred to go inside when it got really dark and late, and had a different idea of fun to Lili.  When they were younger, Lili had moved from London up to the North East of England. She’d ditched the accent pretty early, and found that the only way she could fit in was by doing strange and outrageous things. Not the smartest thing in the world to do, but it’d always worked for Lili. Meeting Becky for the first time had been… odd. They hadn’t exactly clicked in that sense " more the exact opposite really " but after a while, they had grown used to each other, and were closer now than ever before.

‘Can we not have this conversation? I just want to know what I should do " and you know what Claire’s like. I couldn’t just “cancel” " she’d eat me alive. Nobody cancels on Claire, it’s like the law.’ Lili could practically see Becky thinking " she knew the exact face she’d be pulling, and that she’d be looking down to the right, searching for something to say.

‘Why don’t you ask Gabe to help?’ She groaned. Gabe was not the answer she was looking for. He was a good friend, sure, but he had an annoying happiness about him. It was stupid, but to Lili it looked like he almost glowed " and not in a good way " a kind of white aura that only she could see. She didn’t like anything she didn’t understand " so Gabe was a definite no.

‘Look, Becky, it’s late. I’ll talk to you about it tomorrow, okay? Good luck with that whole English exam by the way.’ She was just about to end the call, when she heard Becky’s voice bellowing through the phone.

‘This is about Gabe, isn’t it? Why don’t you like the guy? He’s amazing!’ With yet another sigh, Lili ended the call, put her phone on the side table, and took a peek out of her window. The sky was a luscious blue - a blue that could only be used to describe midnight. Beams of moonlight shone through the trees surrounding her home, dancing on the dark grass. The dark sky was almost clear, with only thin clouds scarcely spread across it. A few stars shone through, and the longer she looked the more stars seemed to appear. After what felt like an eternity, Lili pulled herself away from the window, and closed her curtains yet again, cloaking the stunning sky behind them. With a muffled yawn, she crawled into bed, and drifted slowly in to a dream-filled sleep.