Caught In The Boys Locker Room

Chapter Twenty-Three: Being Brave

"Why don't you just call him?"

I frowned at Lily's suggestion as I stuck a large spoonful of caramel ice cream in my mouth.

"Are thew crathy?" I tried to ask with a mouthful of ice cream. Lily raised an eyebrow and, swallowing the large amount of delicious sugary cream, I spoke up again.

"I said, are you crazy?"

Before Lily could respond, the top of my head began throbbing and I slapped a hand to my forehead.

"Ahh!" I shouted, bringing my knees up to my chest and leaning back against Lily's passenger seat while grimacing at my now very evident brain freeze.

Lily let out a few chuckles beside me, "That's what happens when you eat like a pig."

Keeping my hand on my forehead, I slowly turned to look at Lily, dumbfounded.

"Rude!" I shouted incredulously, "Aren't you supposed to be making me feel better?"

Lily burst into laughter and put her hands up defensively, "You're right." She took in a deep breath, "I'm just kidding."

I folded my arms as I glared at her, but my eyes wandered back to my cup of tasty ice cream and, not caring if I ate like a pig or not, I shoved another spoonful of deliciousness into my mouth.

Lily spoke up again, bringing the original conversation back. "Oh come on, Kays. Just do it! What's the harm?"

I quickly swallowed down the ice cream so I'd be able to take in a sharp gasp, "Are you serious right now? Me calling Chase? Out of my own free will?"

Lily rolled her eyes, "You're so dramatic. It's just a phone call."

I barked out a sharp, quick laugh of unbelief and turned my attention back to my ice cream.

"Just a phone call," I repeated under my breath, shaking my head. Had Lily gone insane? I couldn't call Chase! That's probably what he wanted me to do!

"Why won't you do it?"

I snapped my head back up to look at Lily to see if it really was her talking. It was, and she continued to stare at me knowingly with her head bent to the side, holding her own ice cream in her hands. I looked passed her, where my house sat. I then contemplated just ignoring the question completely and instead making a run for it when she spoke up again,

"Kaylee. Is there something you still haven't admitted to yourself?"

Her question made my stomach clench anxiously. Now I really wanted to run away, although I wasn't sure why. I opened my mouth to tell her she was talking like a mad woman, but couldn't bring myself to. Was there something I wasn't admitting to myself?

Lily sighed, "Just think about it. But I gotta go to work, so I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"What?" I frowned, startled by her sudden confession, and stayed firmly planted in my seat. "Since when do you work?"

Lily half smiled, "I figured now is as good a time as any to tell you." She shifted her gaze out passed the window and her voice lowered to a whisper,

"My parents need some help. And... " She took in a large gasp of air, as if the next few words she was about to speak were weighing down on her ability to breathe.

I moved closer to her, placing a hand on her arm and squeezing it in support, worry pintching the pit of my stomach.

"Lil, what aren't you telling me?"

She bit the inside of her lip, and after another moment of staring off into space, she moved her attention down, onto her lap.

"It looks like my parents needed to use my college savings for their restaurant."