The Pretenders (ON HOLD)

Chapter 29

            It was dark and chilly out, but the stillness was nice. Lily would often come and sit on her front porch to get away from all the noise inside, even after the sun had set. It must have been a fair bit past eight 'o clock. It didn't matter, as long as she wasn't cramped up in that small house with her millions of siblings.

She smiled at the word; siblings. Of course none of the children in there were related to each other. Just children living under the roof of the kindest man and woman Lily had ever met. Rob and Jen had been married for five years before it became apparent to them that they could not have children. So instead of giving up, they decided to share their life with children whose parents had died or abandoned them. They adopted Lily when she was just three years old.

Sure they weren't related to her, but they were her mother and father, no question about it. And all those kids were her siblings; her three sisters and three brothers. Altogether there were seven kids, and they considered themselves lucky. It was a luxury, for them, to have a family at all. So instead of being sad about what they missed out on, they all agreed to love what they'd been given instead.

If anything happened to anyone of those kids in there, Lily would...well she didn't know what she'd do. At the moment, she was the second eldest. The eldest child was Jake, who was soon to be eighteen. In two weeks it was his birthday, and all the kids had planned a surprise party. They had been saving up since his last birthday. They were planning to give him enough money for a trip overseas and they had done it eventually. It wasn't much but it was just enough. They loved Jake. He was the best big brother anyone could ask for. Lily saw him as more of a friend than a brother. That's why she hadn't minded being alone at school; because she had all the friends she needed at home.

A rustle sounded from one of the bushes nearby, making Lily jump.

A rustle of leaves? How cliché. Stop being stupid, she told herself. Feeling paranoid, she pulled out her phone and dialed the first number that came to mind. After four rings they picked up.

"Lily?"

"Yeah. Who is this?"

There was a silence.

"Uh...Peter. Shouldn't you know? You're the one that called me." He sounded confused. He always sounded a bit confused. It was one of his trademarks.

"Yeah, I was just testing you," she told him, dismissing the issue. She didn't get embarrassed easily. Where most girls would blush, she would get bored. "So what happened with the teacher today? Did he get you in trouble?"

"I guess." He sounded edgy.  "So anyway, what are you up to?"

"Oh just, chillin' with the dudes."

"No, seriously." She could tell that he was smiling on the other line.

"I'm sitting outside, by myself on the front porch," she told him honestly. There was a pause on the other line. The silence was tense.

"You should go inside, Lily." The smile was gone from his voice now. Peter sounded grave and anxious. "It's late. It's not safe for you to be outside by yourself."

Lily considered what he said. She looked behind her to her front door. The sound of overly energetic children was audible even from where she was sitting. She wanted some extra minutes of quiet.

The sound of clumsy footsteps, like someone stumbling over a crack in the pathway, sounded out from somewhere in front of her. Lily went rigid.

"Lily? Hello?" Peter's voice was urgent on the other line.

"Uh - Peter I think - I'm not sure but....uh, never mind. There's something I want to check." Her voice came out no louder than a whisper. Lily wasn't sure why she was so scared. Maybe it was Peter's tone; like he was scared for her, like he could sense something bad.