I'm Still Here

Chapter 1, The Beginning of Part Two

-Lily-

I took a deep breath in. It's a new school year, and after this, high school will finally be over. I take a moment to reflect on all the wonderful events that happened during my high school years, and also the shocking ones. Who can say what this year will bring? What awaits my friends and me is still a mystery, and it will remain a mystery until it actually happens. Whatever does happen though, I know there will be a purpose... one that might change the rest of my life. 

I walk into school with my head held high, adjusting the backpack on my shoulders. Everything is all too familiar, the lockers, plain white walls, and the cramped hallways filled with kids rushing to class. After stopping at my locker, I head to the office to find the new student I was supposed to show around before class started. It must be so hard to come to a new school during senior year, so I volunteered to help show the new girl around. It's stupid how I only have about fifteen minutes to show her everything, but I definitely was going to try my best, it wasn't her fault she couldn't come to orientation. 

I spotted her immediately. Her expression was as if she were looking for someone, and I definitely hadn't seen her at our school before. 

"Hi! You must be Melody?" I asked, stepping closer to the new girl.

"Mhmm!" she smiled, looking up at me, "And you're Lily?"

"Yep!" I held out my hand, returning her smile with a grin. She was so cute; an Asian complexion with soft brown eyes and cute short hair. Not many girls my age could pull off the look of both cute and beautiful, but she pulled it off easily. 

"Nice to meet you," she nodded.

"Nice to meet you as well!" I looked down at her schedule she had in her hands and looked up, waving towards the door. "Follow me!"

We zigzagged through the halls at a fast pace, making sure we got a peak of all of her classrooms. As we walked, I hoped to run into some of my close friends. 

My eyes lit up when I spotted Abby, my all time best friend. "Abby!" I waved her over, smiling. 

"Oh, hey girl!" she laughed, walking over to where Melody and I were standing. "How've you been since I last saw you this summer?" she asked, briefly nodding to Melody as well.  

"Pretty good..." I shrugged, "Nothing special, you?" 

"Same here," she looked at me, sighing.

"Well, I'd like to introduce you to my new friend Melody!" I grinned, introducing them to each other. "Melody's new here and I'm showing her around."

"New school during senior year? That's tough, girl..." Abby looked at Melody with sympathy, shaking her hand. 

I nodded, waving farewell to Abby and heading to Melody's first-hour class. 

"Over here is the art room, and most of the freshmen classes are down this hallway," I babbled on to Melody, telling her all about the school.

"So what's your opinion of the kids here? Are they nice?" Melody asked, looking around the hallway at all the kids rushing by. 

"They're nice for the most part!" I shrugged. "I'm sure you'll make friends rather quickly..."

We continued to walk down the hallway, stopping every once in a while to point something out or answer a question.

"Over there, there's Tara, Christina, Lillian, Sofia, and Willow. They're all really nice and intelligent, so if you're looking for friends they might be a good friend group to join." I looked at her, pointing to the small circle of girls chatting.

"Alright cool!" Melody nodded, gazing around the hallways at all the kids again. "Ooh! He's cute!" she laughed, pointing to one tall, dark-haired boy talking to someone standing near the lockers.

I looked to see who she was pointing at and smiled, feeling my heart flutter. I did get to see him quite a bit over the summer, but finally, we'd be seeing each other every day.

"He is cute isn't he?" I laughed, "Too bad you can't have him, he's already taken," I felt a warm glow in the center of my chest as he made eye contact with me, smirking with a knowing glint in his eyes. I winked at him, gently kissing my fingers and blowing him a kiss.

I giggled when he caught the pretend floating heart in the air, opening his palm and looking surprised to see it there. For me? He mouthed, pointing at his hand with the air-filled heart. 

I laughed as he played, rolling my eyes and motioning for him to come over here.

"Hey babe," he took my hand in his, talking in that sweet low voice and planting a soft kiss on my forehead. 

"Yep... I can see he's definitely taken," Melody giggled, looking at Jack and me together.

I smiled, looking up at the beautiful, almost flawless face of my boyfriend. 

"He's been taken for a long time..." I mumbled, looking over at Melody.

"He has... coming up on our fourth year together," Jack mumbled, taking my other hand and causing me to shift my gaze to his mesmerizing eyes.

"Well, see you guys later!" Melody chirped, obviously feeling slightly uncomfortable in the situation. 

"Oh, bye Melody!" I waved to her, feeling bad for being a bit rude. At least I had already shown her to all her classes.

I sighed as the warning bell rang. 

"We better get to class," I mumbled, looking up at Jack again.

"Mhmm, do we have any classes together?"

"I think just Language Arts. Oh, and lunch too."

His shoulders slumped, "well It's better than nothing!"

"Yeah..." I nodded, trying to look on the positive side.

"Cya around!" he grinned, waving to me as we went out separate ways. 

I walked into my first-hour class, slumping in my seat. Maybe this year wouldn't be so bad with friends like Jack, Abby, Grayson, and maybe Melody around. I thought it might even be a bit boring. Boy, was I wrong. I could never have prepared for what was to come.