The Empaths (Book one in The Empaths series)

Chapter Five

Sunday seemed to drag on forever. At one point, Lucy was standing at the counter of the café and hadn't even noticed that a customer was standing right in front of her trying to place an order.

"Let me take over." Rachel guided her toward the back of the room, sitting her down at a table with a fresh cup of tea. "Drink that," she said. "It'll help you feel better."

Lucy bent over the cup and inhaled. Peppermint. Her favourite. God, she loved Rachel.

She was sitting with her head resting in her hands when Lilith walked into the cafe and sat down at the table with her.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, reaching over to give Lucy's hand a comforting squeeze.

"Tired," Lucy replied. She sat up a little and took a sip of her tea. "How about you?"

"Me?" Lilith responded, wide-eyed. "I'm fine." She pushed a stray piece of hair off her face. "I wasn't the one who went through what you did last night."

"Still," Lucy said. "I feel like I may have frightened you a little." She lifted her shoulders. "Or a lot."

Lilith waved it off. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine," she repeated. "Really."

Lucy smiled back. "That's exactly what I say when I want people to leave me alone. If I was being totally honest, I'd be saying, I'm not fine and nothing is okay. Not really."

Lilith leaned her head on her hand and sighed. "Okay, so I was a little freaked by what I saw last night, but not for the reason you think."

Lucy nodded. "Understandable."

"The thing is," Lilith continued, "I lost someone close to me, too." She quickly wiped a sudden stray tear from her cheek. "And it wasn't an accident either."

Lucy slowly put down her cup. "I'm so sorry," she replied. She bit her lip before tentatively asking the next question. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Lilith took a frustrated swipe at another tear. "God, I'm being such a baby."

Lucy reached across the table and took Lilith's hand. "You're not being a baby, Lilith. Something has obviously upset you, and it's totally fine to cry as much as you need to."

Lilith nodded. "Thanks Lucy." She took a deep breath and blew it out, puffing up her cheeks before continuing. "I had a girlfriend in Arizona. Her name was Jamie." She smiled as her eyes glazed over, like her mind had wandered to a place long lost. "She was amazing. So strong and confident. When I first met her, I was really struggling with who I was, and I was terrified. She was so fearless and brave that just being around her made me braver."

She was picking at a small chip in the table, avoiding Lucy's eyes, but Lucy could feel Lilith's pain building up. It hurt to watch.

"She was the one who helped me come out to my parents. And to everyone else, too." She looked up and her blue eyes were shining with tears now. "We were really happy."

Lucy took a breath to keep herself from crying. Lilith was broken, yet she was trying so hard to keep it together, and it was heartbreaking to witness.

"For the first time in my life, I felt free. Like I wasn't trapped in my own head or in my own body. I was me and it was okay. And it seemed like, for a while, that was alright. People seemed fine with it." She looked down at the table again. "But I was wrong. We were so wrong."

She wiped her face with both hands now, shaking her head. "The bullying started online first. Just stupid comments about Jamie and I. But it just got worse and worse. They were cruel. The kids were cruel. And over time, I watched that light in Jamie slowly fade away."