Head Above Water

Chapter Eleven

Lilith walked through the front door of the house, dropping her coat and kicking off her shoes.  She yelled out, knowing someone in the house would hear her. “Who’s idea was it to have the cookout that I just learned about?”

Her father appeared in the kitchen doorway, wearing a tacky Kiss the Cook apron that her mother bought for him as a Father's Day gift a few years back.  “That would be me. Why do you sound disappointed, you usually love these things?”

“I’m not disappointed, just annoyed I guess.  Did you also invite Toby?” She followed her father into the kitchen, seeing her mother and younger sister sitting at the counter top, eating their breakfast.

Her sister, Lena, lifted a hand guiltily, “That would be my idea actually.  Toby seemed like a nice guy, and like he had taken a liking to you, Lilith.  We have to see where it could go.”

Lilith glared at Lena, “Did you all know about this?  None of us even know Toby, he could be a horrible person deep down.”  Her family laughed, shaking their heads at her nonsense.  

“I actually have met Toby before, and hired him.  He’s a good kid.” Her father leaned against the counter, facing the three girls.  He noticed the confused face on Lilith and explained further. “Toby runs his own landscaping and contracting business, he worked on the house last winter.”

Lilith was flustered over her words, still wanting to fight this dinner party but she knew she would never win.  It was going to happen whether she liked it or not.  She blew air up at her bangs before heading out of the room.  Her father yelled out after her, "Love you too, Lil.  We'll tell you when we start cooking."

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The smell of the grill heating up woke Lilith up from her midday nap.  She rubbed her eyes, looking out the window to make sure she hadn't slept through the night.  Surely enough, there was the majority of her family standing around the back deck, along with Toby.  Part of her wished she had stayed asleep at this point.

She continued to watch for a moment, realizing his mother wasn't there with him.  Maybe she was somewhere in the house, or she could've got scared that Lilith would throw her under the bus, or what if she got sick?  Lilith had so many thoughts about what could be real, but she was snapped out of it when Toby looked up and she figured he had caught her staring.  Lilith fell back onto her bed, rolling off the side and onto the floor.  She started army crawling towards her closet, closing herself in once she was out of sight of the window. 

She began changing into a less wrinkled outfit, giving herself a mental pep talk the whole time.  She then hurried down the stairs and out the back door.

Her dad shouted out once he first saw her, "Lilith, you're awake!"  She nodded, slowing down once she got closer.

"I thought you guys were going to let me know when you started cooking?"  Lilith grabbed a drink from the ice bucket, going to stand with the others.

Her mother moved a chair over next to her, motioning for Lilith to come sit.  "Well, you were sleeping and we thought you might need the rest.  You've seemed stressed lately, sweetheart."

Lilith smiled, taking the seat.  She quietly thanked her mother, her eyes wandering until they met Toby's.  "Hey, Toby."

He gave a quaint nod, "Hi, Lilith."  She noticed he seemed quiet, and he wasn't all smiles like he was the other day.  Something was off.