A Certain Metamorphosis || Rosalie Hale

Chapter 24 - A Falling Out

Lily was finally able to collect her thoughts and make her way into town. The empty gas station looked eerie being only illuminated by the harsh artificial light. She silently filled up her car. She thought about going inside to grab a snack, but the thought made her nauseous. She also was starting to realize she needed somewhere to crash for the night. The last thing she needed was to go back to the house. She needed to do this to prove herself. She knew she could text Micheal, but he would ask questions. Bella was completely out of the question. That left Lily with all of two options: Amber or Becca.

Amber was sweet, but she had obviously been stressed lately. Between her boyfriend and college applications, she had become slightly short-tempered. She also liked to ask questions. She wanted to be well informed of the comings and goings of the people of Forks.

So she guessed she only had one option.

Lily waited for 10 minutes before getting back into her car. Becca had not answered yet which was no surprise. She frequently went for long stretches without checking her phone and Lily knew her simple 'hey' text was unlikely to garner a response. She ran the risk of looking desperate by sending another message 'Where are you?'

A few more minutes passed and Lily was about to give up on getting a response and sleeping in her car when her phone dinged.

'Driving back from the lake. What up?'

Lily rolled her eyes. Of course, she had been out. 'Need a place to crash for the night.'

'Crashing at a friend's house tonight.'

'Amber?'

'No. Rick. Emily is going too.'

Lily vaguely remembered Rick. He graduated the previous year. Emily was in their grade. She was nice. 'Would they mind if I crashed?'

'I doubt it. I'll double check though. Running away?'

Lily swallowed nervously. She knew Becca would have questions even if she wished she wouldn't. People did not want to cross her family.

'No. Maybe something just as dramatic though. I'll keep you updated.'

'Cool.'

Before Lily could respond, her phone dinged again. 'Rick said it was cool. I'll send the address. Be there in 25 minutes.'

Lily put in the address and saw it was less than 20 minutes away. She let herself put back on her walls and then drove into the night.

Maybe she would take Becca up on one of her joints.

_____________________________________________________________

Lily ended up staying at Rick's house the next few nights as well. The four teens decide to skip class on Friday and start their weekend early. They wanted to enjoy the last of the warm weather for the year. Becca's parents had always been more hands-off and none of the Cullens had bothered Lily. Rick's dad owned a boat which they took full advantage of. This was exactly what Lily needed. She needed to have some dumb human fun. The days seemed endless. She knew everyone probably assumed she was with her family and her absence would not raise any suspicion at school. She knew she should reach out to Bella, but she had closer friends. They had only dated a few months, she should be okay. Lily knew that wasn't true because she wasn't okay either.

Lily ended up returning to her house as late as possible Sunday night. She quickly identified some loose papers on the kitchen island. It contained any and all paperwork she could need. Her fake birth certificate, her fake social security card, a passport, and what she could only assume were fake emancipation papers. Sometimes her family resources were handy. There was also banking information that she chose to ignore. She wanted to make her own way in the world. She identified Carlisle's handwriting letting her know that the school had been informed of the changes. There was a second smaller envelope that included a fake id and a note from Alice that said to have fun in college. Lily was laughing before she could stop herself. Even though the house looked the same, it felt hollow. The closer she looked, the more she noticed was missing. A part of her wished they had taken all the photos. She felt a sinking feeling in her gut with each look at the photos. Finally, she found herself losing what remained of her lunch.