The Good Old Days

“Wake up, Lily.” Dad said, poking my cheek.

I was still lying asleep in his lap on the swing. It had gotten dark outside.

“Dad-?”

“You were sleeping peacefully after so long. I didn’t want to wake you up.”

“Were you here the entire time?” I questioned, getting up from his lap. I rubbed my head a little, still as sleepy as I was.

“You slept in my lap after sixteen years. I wasn’t gonna lose the opportunity to treat you like my little angel again.” He patted my head and got off the swing, leaving the swing moving. I pulled my legs on top of the swing and sat crisscrossed. “I’ll go have supper now, dear.”

“Alright...I’ll stay here…”

He walked towards the mansion, slightly touching the tulips with his fingers.

“PICK OUT A FEW GOOD ONES FOR ME, EH?” I yelled, forcing a smile on my face.

The pain in my chest was there. It was spreading to my lower abdomen at this point. I sighed. When will this pain end?

I held onto the chains of the swing, slowly crying my eyes out. I sobbed endlessly, messing my hair, dress and my makeup up badly. I pulled the end of my dress and wiped my face, hoping that would fix something at least.

I hopped off the swing. I went in through the back door, knowing that no ones there at the back of the house this late. I stumble with all my force. I forced my weak posture to enter the house.

Quickly climbing the stairs, I started to fix my hair and dress into place, in case I accidentally happened to stumble upon someone. There was no one in my way. I ran into my room, bearing with the pain. I dropped myself on the bed, bawling my eyes into a pillow.

“Lily-?” Dad’s voice trembled.

“Dad…” I cried.

“Why are you crying?”

“It hurts, oh gosh, it hurts so much.”

He sat on my bed and said, “You know, I need you to ignore the pain. I would like it if you spent more time outside, with people your age. You’re going to be a college student in a month and I can’t bear to see you not blending in there.”

“So...I can meet my friends?”

“Yup!”

“For the love of grandpa, don’t say ‘yup’ again.”

“Now that’s more like the Lily I knew.” He patted my head and left the room.

I’ve got permission to hang out with my friends...why not make the best use of it.

I change into something more comfortable, a nightgown, perhaps. I took my laptop out of the bag. It’s been ages since I looked at my laptop.

I blew the dust off the screen. “How long has it been since I opened you, my baby?”

I had seven hundred unread emails, three hundred notifications from Skype alone and a lot more. I was terrified to open Skype.

“Better late than never,” I said to myself.

Most of them were from Carol, my best friend. She flew to Spain as soon as her high school ended, two months ago. Luckily, both of us will be continuing in the same university.

There was a video. I clicked on it. She was screaming, “JASPER BROKE MY PHONE.” And then her little brother, Jasper, in the back just running from their mom. I chuckled a little.

I always wished I had such a beautiful and chaotic family. I knew Carol was family to me but it’s just...a feeling. I felt alone without a mother. I knew dad tried his best to make me feel like I had company but the emptiness still remained.

I texted her,

‘I’m back, baby!’

I was shocked that I got a message back instantly.

‘You know how much I missed you? We need to meet up soon.’

I explained to her how situations with my dad had a turnaround and how both us were on good terms for once.

‘Seems like the old man turned around for once’

‘Seems likely. Are you still in Spain?’

‘Came back this morning.’

‘Meet me tomorrow at St. Monica’s Local Park.’

‘What?’

‘No Jasper.’

‘Got it.’

I got one of my three friends to meet me. I was too lazy to text Harry and Jack separately so I made a group chat with everyone.

I explained the situation again and ended the conversation with:

‘Tomorrow; St Monica’s Local Park.’

Harry and Jack both replied, agreeing to join me at the park.

My door opened. I looked at it. Dad stood there, with a bowl of noodles. He said, “I knew you didn’t eat anything so I decided to make you your favorite noodles.”

“Oh, wow, thanks…”

He placed the bowl on my bedside table and left the room. He was acting weird. “Um thank you!” I yelled, but he was gone before he could hear me.

***

Natasha was driving me to the park. Dad didn’t trust me enough to let me drive yet. I said, “Yes, Natasha, right here.”

“Alright, Miss Smith. Take care of yourself and ring me when you need to get back.”

“Thanks,” I said, getting out of the car. I took my sunglasses out of the bag and wore them.

“Fancy lady.” I heard a male voice say. I turned to see Jack, standing on the pavement in his bedazzled hoodie.

“Jack Johnson.”

“Lillian Victoria Petit-Smith,” he said, placing his hand on my waist and helping me onto the pavement. “I missed you and your presence.”

Carol’s car drove in. I didn’t exactly know it was her but the driving gave it away. She was a rash driver.

She parked the car in front of the gate, nearly crashing into seven people on her way.

“Carol Watson…” I and Jack said in unison. He chuckled a little.

I pulled him down to meet my eye level and said, “You like her, don’t you?”

“Yeah...I mean she is fabulous in every way possible.”

I patted his shoulder and said, “Go talk to her. I’ll sit on the bench and wait for Miller.”

I stumbled to a bench and pulled myself with all might to sit on it. Someone covered my eyes from behind. A voice said, “Guess who?”

I could recognize it was Harry’s voice. I said, “Hmm let me think. Harry?”

“Correct!” He yelled out of excitement. I wrapped my arms around him tightly.

Carol squealed, “Oh look at you both, lovebirds.”

“We could say something similar about you and Johnson, Watson,” Harry snapped with a smirk on his face.

I sighed and looked at Jack, mouthing the words, ‘Help’. He just shrugged. Both of us knew that it’s not possible to stop Harry and Carol’s fights.

I finally decided to speak up. I said, in a stern tone, “Stop it, both of you.” I turned to Harry, hopping off the bench and asked, “Shall we?”

He nodded and took my hand. We walked inside the park. Harry stated, "So Johnson, how's life?"

We were shocked because we didn't get a response back. I turned my head to look behind us but there was no one. "Is it possible they are lost somewhere, between the crowd?" I questioned, being concerned for my friends.

"There's no way they can be lost. This is our private park," he said.

He grabbed my wrist and pulled me to the cherry blossom. I winced in pain. I fell onto the fresh green grass. Harry kneeled beside, worry taking over his happy face. He exclaimed, "What's wrong? Talk to me!"

I gasped for breath. After a few moments of breathlessness, I was back to normal. I whispered, "Help..."

"Alright." He helped me up from the ground. He gave me support to sit against the tree.

I sighed and rubbed my hand over my face once. He said, putting his arm across my shoulders, "Remember? We used to sit like this when we were-"

"Fourteen...yeah. It was fun." I continued the sentence. I was head over heels in love with him. I just wished he felt the same way as me.

I was in love with him ever since we met. His bright green eyes, his fluffy brown hair with the added blonde highlights, his marvelous physique, his voice and mostly his kind and peaceful nature. I loved it all. I smooched a kiss on his cheek.

He grabbed my face and looked at me in the eyes. He touched my cheek with his thumb. He leaned in to kiss me. I-