Andante con Brio

XXV

"Girl-friend!" he called the second he walked onto the school square and saw the familiar backpack bobbing up and down closer to the school door. He was shouting uncharacteristically loudly, he knew, but today he didn't care. He was about to be out of here anyway, right? Lily and he were about to have their English exam together. He had spent the whole day holed up in his room studying, yesterday, for the two exams he had to do today, so he knew he was prepared. Somehow it had been easier to focus than ever before. Like the whole world was sharp and in 20/20 vision after his audition. 
And he had spoken to Lily several times during the day, because she had had exciting news of her own to share. 
She turned around and beamed at him now, that bag slung loosely over her shoulder. And when he saw her smile like that he couldn't help himself. He ran up to her and picked her up, swinging her around, making her squeal. He didn't even care who might see, right now.
As they spun he could just about make out that horrible kid Andrew over there in the corner of the square with some of his posse, that nasty guy who had always picked on him years ago. Well. Until he had met Lily. She had been his protector, always, since that day, because everyone had simply assumed they were an item and Andrew had backed right down. 
"Jeez, Eddy!" Lily panted after he put her down. He grinned broadly. 
"How are we doing, oh little miss I-got-into-the-dance-acadamy?"
He was sure her smile was reflected on his own face. 
"Yeah, pretty good, mister I-got-into-the-con."
"It's awesome, right?"
"Yeah."
Her eyes were bright and wide and luminous, and he saw the joy, but... there was also the shadow of something else. 
"It's weird though, right?" she said, before he could even really articulate the thought. "Come on, let's sit. I mean, we're going to be graduated and shit. We're not going to spend every interval together any more."
She walked off to the corner, and he followed her automatically as she sat down on their bench and looked up at him. She was quiet for a long moment. 

"I... I'm going to miss this, Eddy. We've had such good times here, we've shared so much. You're my best friend and... well, I'm going to miss you. Like, a lot."
He sat down quickly opposite her, one leg on each side of the bench like always, and put his hands on her thighs. 
"Oh, Lily! Yeah, I know. I'm going to miss this too, sweets. But you don't have to miss me, I'll be around, won't I? I'm not going anywhere. Of course not."
She smiled the smallest, whistful little smile. 
"Yeah. But it'll be different."
He nodded, because he knew at once that she was right. It would be different, right? And with all the new friends they would both make, who would certainly fit so much better into their lives than the stupid numnut kids at school had... who knew? 
He decided then and there that he was going to make very sure he wasn't going to lose Lily, though.
"Look, don't worry about it now, okay? Focus on your exam. We'll just have to make sure we see each other plenty. Come on, we need to get inside before we get too mellow on each other's arse. Maybe... maybe we can go camping or something, this vacation? The four of us?"
Lily snorted softly. 
"You were born mellow, Eddy. I like the idea of a trip though."
He chose not to respond to the first part of that comment, instead standing up and extending his arms to her. She got up too, walked into him and held him tight. He could feel her emotion, and he got it. He kissed her once, on the cheek. 
"Don't worry, Lily. It'll all be good."

They walked into the school building together, one of the last times they ever had to in their lives, past the lockers and on to the exam hall. There were only a few more exams to go, before a whole different building would be centre stage for his life.