Chapter 10 Lily
Lily
The secret door inside the bookcase creaks open. “Knock, knock!” Luna’s voice calls through the doorway, drawing my attention away from my statistics homework.
“Yay!” I squeal and jump out of my seat. She wraps me in a hug, one hand occupied with a box of my cookies. Henry follows behind her, and his hug is a warm embrace from the big brother who knows nothing but security and comfort.
Henry isn’t my oldest brother, but he’s taken on the role of the most responsible, steadfast, loyal sibling. After our mom died, Henry and I were the only two left in Silver Lake City, and we got really close.
Well, as close as you can get with your sibling while hiding a relationship with the world’s most idolized actor.
“It’s good to see you, Lily,” Henry says.
“You were just here last week,” I say, stepping back. “Am I any taller?”
Henry snorts a laugh, and Luna tilts her head to the side, pretending to assess my height. “I think you’re done growing,” she finally says with a grin.
“Darn. I hoped I had another few inches to go.”
“It’s not too terrible being short,” she says.
“You’ve still got a couple of inches on me,” I say, then hold out my hands for the cookie box.
Luna passes them over, and I greedily open it up, debating which cookie I should eat first. It’s a hard call, but I end up choosing a raspberry macaron.
I pop it in my mouth and gesture for them to sit on my little sofa.
“You’ll never guess who we saw at Cookies I’ll take advantage of any opportunity I can get.
But the minutes tick on, then hours, and when it finally reaches midnight, I give up hope. I put on my pajamas, wash off my makeup, braid my hair, and climb into bed.
Even with my eyes closed and my heavy weighted blanket, my thoughts keep racing, and I can’t fall asleep.
The push and pull between my desire and terror to go outside; my dreams of falling in love and having a family; my crush on Ryder that’s getting a little out of control, especially since I’m locked up here with just my imagination as company.
Frustrated, I throw off my blankets and walk over to the kitchen table, where my Bluetooth speaker sits.
I take it off the charger, connect it to my phone, and pull up my favorite piece of string orchestra classical music—Fantasia on a Theme by Ralph Vaughan Williams. It’s not going to put me to sleep, even though it’s a slow piece, but it’s one of those pieces of music that makes you feel from the top of your head to the tips of your toes.
When my thoughts are racing like they are right now, the only thing that stops them is music that consumes me.
Whenever I listen to this piece, I lie on the floor like a starfish with my eyes closed. So I put the music on and stretch out on my rug, flat on my back, and let the music consume my thoughts. Ryder might not be coming, but at least I have my music.