𝖭𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗆𝖻𝖾𝗋 𝟣，𝟤𝟢𝟤𝟣
𝗹𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗵'𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘃

"there's signs from the universe that tell you, they're the one for you" ivor said as dad was making breakfast for us.

"give me an example all the while explaining that" i said as harley gets her laptop out to finish schoolwork.

"he's not wrong" she quipped.

"dad, lucian soto do you agree with your son?"

"i do, princess. when i met the woman i've been seeing now i got some signs"

ivor interrupts me by saying, "like the feeling of 'right time, right place' you'd see them, recurring angel numbers maybe. when you look into their eyes you don't see what they want you to see you, see the core, see the soul. stuff you don't normally do happens. it strange but true i believe it"

"i've felt it but let it pass me by. one look at him and i knew but i didn't want to believe it" harley smiles as if she's remembering the moment. a smile full of melancholia. dread of a lost love.

"lilith! you ready in there!" john b's voice could be heard for miles man. "here take it to go, have a great day make good choices" dad kisses my forehead. i hug my peeps goodbye. they drive to school in ivors car.

the twinkie is parked and the tunes of bittersweet symphony by the verve is playing which is our theme song for the mornings. we'd belt out the lyrics as we drive way past the speed limit.

kildare county high school, the epitome of all the children of the cut. we have your average teens, sports enthusiast, surfing all day all the time they show off their boards via phone, the popular wannabe kooks, and then there's us. the pogues. we have our own table in the lunchroom. we know just about everyone. everyone either knows us or hates our friendship.

jj actually craved all our names on the edges of the table. john b is raving about the touro girl from the party who took up all his time. pope was reeling over his insane hangover. jj was just wallowing in his own thoughts. me, well i'm in my head about a certain kook.

"are you okay?" i'm looking at jj since he's staring off into space. i am hugging his waist when he winced away, his muscle tee is giving the bruise away.

"fuck, jj.. hey was your dad drunk again" he nods, "but i've been sneaking out to stay at kie's or as you know sometimes i can't walk that far and go to the chateau"

he continues "it was because i never brought the groceries and the beer he requested. i forgot"

"when did this happen?"

"one day ago i'm good lili promise" his blue eyes lock on mine as he nods. placing my forehead on his shoulder i shake my head and imagine a scared jj. when he's the bravest of us all even reckless.

"jj can you score me some tonight. here." harley's voice takes me out of my daydream.

"har by tomorrow is that cool"

"fine thank you!" she kisses his forehead walking away.

"your sister is a trip"

"don't i know it" laughing i turn my attention to pope who's shades deep in sleep. funny enough. john b is listen to this surfer girl she's talking about how surfing durning a hurricane can wash away bad juju. bring things to light and clarity on decisions.

getting up my feet take me to the vending machine in the cafeteria. hmmm cheez-its or? "doritos get that" looking in the direction of the sound "oh you?"

"me? you know you loved me once" Ryder Wilcox smiled at me. my ex boyfriend, who put me through the ringer in that he cheated on me. ryder introduced her as a friend, made me get close to her for me to end up finding out about them.

he even stooped low as to take her to one of my secret hangouts. they were having sex when i found them.

my body turns cold as i stare at him. leave. leave. leave.

he does just what i wanted.

"did he say anything to you?" john b is right on his tail.

"nothing serious thanks"

"welcome lili, ivor's waiting on you"

"i'm coming" grabbing my snack i make my way to the table "what's up"

"i need you to cover for me with dad tonight, not gonna be able to make it to dinner"

"work.. so i won't be home to cover for you did you ask harley. also dad might not even be home he said he had to do something tonight yesterday at dinner remember"

"ohh yeah and i did har has to do something tonight too, but okay thanks i'll see you later"

"see ya" i punch him in the arm which causes him to punch me back. by the time that's done lunch is over.

"pope! wake up... you slept for all of lunch. you can not be that tired"

"oh lili but i am" he rubs his eyes as we walk out the cafeteria to our lockers to prepare for next period.

"jj don't we have english now"

"that we do. isn't it quiz day and we are being quizzed on the poetry book"

"mmhm this one"

as soon as we get in the classroom, ms.dumas hands us our quiz.

looking out the window quickly to compose myself i spot a vehicle that looks exactly like rafe's.

my attention falls back on my quiz, i'm finished by the time she says pencils down.

it was six pages of multiple choice questions on various poems and references from the book.

"on the topic of our next discussion you all will get assigned books of your choice to write a report on. must be double spaced, four pages, i'll have the rubric and requirements for you tomorrow. class dismissed" the bell rings to signal next period.

book of your choice. which should i choose?

𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔

"mr. c i got a double cheeseburger and fries for table two, a gumbo for table five, and a root beer for a to go order" i tell him as i move from, my spot on the register to the order window.

"lili are you able to work the double which is tonight until close and tomorrow morning until mid-afternoon. you'd have to miss some morning classes. i could write a note so that you'd get time to make up the work" kiara's dad smiles at me as he sees my answer all over my face. i'd be delighted to take the shift.

"of course and the note be much appreciated"

"lili doll, could i get a refill on this espresso?" one of my many regular patrons asks.

"coming right up"

"lili any scraps for us. we are starved!"

"kieeee!!! i missed youuu and i'll ask john" i hug her with such force she almost knocks over.

"got some tea to talk to you about away from --" she mouths "our bodyguards"

laughing i nod "stock room in five"

after a few more tables we meet in the room "what's up?"

"so our resident 'king' asked for you"

"no he didn't"

"yes he did girl" kie expression telling me she is serious, "what did he say? i thought he wouldn't even remember me the way he was drunk and high"

"he did, he wanted to know your name and said he wanted to speak to you"

"did you tell him?"

"no but you dropped him home the night of the party"

"i did" she looked like she wanted to say something but she closed her mouth instead. continuing "wanting to remain a mystery with him for now"

"great thinking. all of us archived our posts with you on socials. suggesting maybe deactivate for a bit until you guys establish first name basis"

"ok i can work with that" mr.c calls me to the front as we walk out the room together. kie goes to see her pops and get the food finds for our pogues who might i add are putting on their rare shows for the customers.

"excuse me, i'm here to pick up a take out order for cameron" the baritone voice shocks my system at first but looking up i realize it's rafe's father. his salt and pepper hair, intense eyes the same shade as his son.

"yes hold on" heading to find the order the looks match smiling to myself one things missing the drinks. bring the bag to the front i make the drinks putting a smiley on the one i think belongs to his son at the bottom of the cup. if the light hits it just right you'd see it.

"here you go, mr.cameron. please dine with us again"

"thank you--lilith" he gives me a warm smile after looking at my name tag. he has something else in his eyes as he looks at me that's akin to craving. my eyes cast down as he walks out the door. whoa.

"ahem, lilith. sorry for interrupting your thoughts but we need a refill on the sodas" ms.vivian the resident baddie who is over 30 but she looks so pretty. surprised she's not with mr.cameron. she'd look good on his arm.

"it was two sprites right?"

"yeah"

i finish my shift on a high note. walking home i see branches that must symbolize when i overheard kie and rafe's conversation. a home is playing ghost by halsey on blast. a teen it must be a teen because room 93 was a angsty ballad to youth. putting on my headphones for the rest of the walk.

"how was work?" my father is curled up on the couch with a book in his lap. the smooth jazz coming from our sound system on for added white noise

"it was fun today, back tomorrow. how was whatever you had to do tonight" i head to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water.

"it was nice one of the first dates i've been on in a while. i had a great time" he smiles fondly like he's reminiscing.

"am i the first one home" he nods as i continue "i need your help for a class assignment, why do you continue to wait up for us"

"because my kids deserve to be safe, and which assignment?"

seating on the couch with him i point to his novel "english"

"yup, must choose a book to do a report on and i need my resident liberian to help me pick from our collection"

"mmm ok give me a day or so. i'll have your novel ready"

"ok thanks dad" closing my eyes drowning in the music i ask "so who is this mystery woman you went on a date with"

"we met at the grocery store, she's very interesting and charming we have another date lined up this weekend"

"ohh go dad! go dad!" his chortles fill up the living room as i do a dance. ivor comes in the house smiling his ass off.

"who's got you smiling like that?" i question. he doesn't say a word but comes into the living room.

"it was a girl, who happens to be my girlfriend"

"go ivor! go ivor! go ivor!" we all laugh this time.

"well i'm gonna hit the hay" ivor comes and hugs me and then hugs dad before heading upstairs.

"pops your gonna wait up for har?"

"yes, darling i am. it's 1 right now she has an hour left to get home or its grounding time"

"goodnight pop, love you" i hug him before heading up to bed, in my sanctuary i spend quite some time i have to go scrub off todays shift. its about a thirty minute bathroom routine i have down to a science.

my bonnet is on, my skin feels refreshed, my pjs are comfy dreamland here i come.

𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔

awoken by the screaming match dad is having with harley. i groan as i get out of my bed to go see what's going on. ivor is right behind me "you too huh" i laugh sleepily because he ain't lying.

"it's four in the fucking morning! harley!"

by the time we reach the bottom of the stairs i can smell it off of her the booze, smoked filled rooms, cigs and juana. "you're in big trouble" i say under my breath.

"i'm sorry, mr.soto sue me"

"it's a school night, why would you hang out with your friends for this long. do you even remember what we went through before... fuck. you're grounded for two months"

"but dad!"

"nope. your drunk maybe even high but i won't tolerate this from my kids too. goodnight" our fathers voice was laced in sleep, sadness and his calm tone showed how disappointed he was. he's loud when he can have a grip on the situation, the control is in his favor but this time he can't even deal.

"harley what the fuck, is something going on that we don't know about" ivor asked as he approaches her to drag her to the kitchen. fixing up a hangover cure so tomorrow the headache won't last.

"don't want to talk about it. i'm fine both of you don't grill me" she looks my way because she saw i was ready to say something.

"give me time i'll eventually tell you both" she looks away from us. "alright i'm gonna go get ready for school it almost five so why not"

"i'll wake you if you fall asleep" i spoke as she moves to go upstairs. "do you think she'll be ok"

"hope so sis" his hands on my shoulders as we struggle up the stairs. one hour is all i need before i must wake up again.

my alarm is blasting turning it off i get up outta my bed to start my morning. mr.c's expecting me for my shift so i gotta be quick.

going to check in on harley but she's not in her room, dad is still asleep leaving him a note. "ivor i'm headed to work i'll get to school late"

"get the dollas sis" he laughs at his joke and walks out the house with me.

"do you want me to drop you off" waving his car keys in front of me i nod and say "thank you did you see har when you got up"

"mmhmm she went to school already something about meeting jj and that she needs to get an early start on her report"

"okay, she probably didn't sleep her bed was made but a bit disheveled"

"yeah, lilith did something happen at the halloween party"

"why?"

"some touro named nicholas asked me for you on ig and your account is deactivated so i couldn't share"

"oh nicholas we just made out and danced together but i didn't expect him to want to contact me. a party people hookup and never see each other again. ya know"

"okay that's a relief"

"i'll let him know you are unable right now"

"perfect"

"this is your stop" i hug him before exiting the car.

𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔

✎𝗌𝗎𝗇𝗃𝖾𝗐𝖾𝗅☀︎︎ 𝗍𝗒𝗉𝗂𝗇𝗀 ．．．

I'm trying to write this as a slow burn so we'll see if it's giving what I want it to give.

✩d𝗈𝗇'𝗍 𝖿𝗈𝗋𝗀𝖾𝗍 𝗍𝗈 𝖺𝖽𝖽 𝗍𝗈 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗅𝗂𝗌𝗍𝗌, 𝗏𝗈𝗍𝖾 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝗆𝖾𝗇𝗍✩