Demons

Chapter 15

It had been 2½ months since my mother had mysteriously left for rehabilitation. I never questioned her leave because I knew she needed it, badly. Lillian had proven to be the perfect replacement despite her lack of knowledge on parenting. However, I wasn't exactly used to nurturing parents so I couldn't judge. And right now, my life couldn't be better.

"Lacey! You are going to be late sweetheart, and Damian is on his way to pick you up! I tried to let you sleep in but now I made you late." Lillian called for me.

It was going to take a while for me to get used to waking up to a kind voice. She acted as my alarm clock as she woke up a whole hour earlier for work. Damian was my usual ride to school when we realized that Lillian needed our only car and he lived 4 minutes away.

I sleepily turned to look at my iHome clock and saw: 8:45 am. School starts at 9:00. Damn it. Falling out of bed, I ran to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, washed my face and did my makeup. My hair was already slicked straight and my outfit was laid out on my desk. I didn't pick that out, but it was super cute. Lillian. Do you get what I mean when I say she is literally the best? Quickly slipping into the outfit and checking my phone for messages, I responded to a "good morning" text by saying, "good morning baby And then I realized who I had sent that to. You're an idiot. Panicking, I swiftly sent Zayn an apologetic text:

Me: I am so sorry, I meant to send that to Harry.. But good morning to you too

Zayn: ...

Smooth. I groaned and walked grudgingly downstairs. I'm so stupid. We haven't had an awkward moment since he was hoping that I would tell Harry that the two of us were more than friends, but maybe I was just overthinking that situation. Maybe he was just upset about Malcolm at the time. I can remember it, though. He looked so sure that I would tell Harry how much I loved Zayn but that wasn't going to happen; I don't love anyone. Seeing Lillian's happy face soothed my frustrated conscience, and I hungrily ate the bagel she offered.

“Lace, I am really sorry about waking you up so late!” Lillian exclaimed, looking at me as if I were mad at her.

“It really isn’t your fault, I have been slacking off because I have you now, but I should be used to waking up at my designated time.” I gave her a reassuring smile. She surprised me with a frown. “What’s wrong?”

“You are just so independent! And that’s amazing for you and makes my life so much easier, but you don’t have to be. Don’t worry, I’m not Sandra. I am not walking out on you anytime soon. So just, lean on me a little, okay?” She sighed. She needed to get that off her chest.

“Okay, I will try to be more dependent on you. Sorry for hurting your maternal instincts,” I joked and she laughed along with me. The doorbell rang and in walked Damian.

“Where are your manners, creep?” I scoffed at his barge-in but we were all used to it. Damian, Ava, and Harry were all used to Lillian and treated her like my older sister.

“He knows he’s welcome anytime, don’t you Damian?” Lillian said with a smile and he smiled back.

“Sure thing, ma’am,” He responded in his most southern accent.

“Don’t call me that! I feel like a grandma,” She laughed and playfully punched his arm.

“Hello? We need to get going! Bye Aunt Lil!” I pulled him away from Lillian and pushed him towards the door. He grabbed my hand before waving his other one at Lillian as she locked the door behind us. As we walked to his Audi, he whistled and opened the passenger door for me.

“Who did you hook up with last night?” I asked.

“What makes you say that?” He replied, with a teasing smile on his lips.