Chapter 27
Lily slammed her locker door shut. She was back to her normal life just as she had wanted. The first several days back to school were almost torture for her after her New York adventure. How had she ever thought that she would want to come back to this? Half her classes were boring or made absolutely no sense to her, and she was realizing more than ever how dumb some of the other students at school were. All they cared about was looking good, being popular or making the football team. These things all seemed so superficial to her now. It wasn’t that there was anything wrong with wanting those things, but it was as if that was all they lived for. She was realizing that there were so many more important things in life.
When school was finally over Lily needed to unload her restless thoughts and went to find Malaya at their lockers, but she wasn’t there. Lily waited a few minutes and decided that she must have gotten held up by a teacher. Lily made her way down the hall to see if Landon was ready to go home. Even though she no longer needed protection from her psycho stalker, the pattern they had established still stood. Monday was a Landon day. Tomorrow she would ride home with Malaya.
“Hi,” she said approaching his locker.
“Hey,” he replied happily. His mood had improved considerably since they had left New York. It had gotten better after their talk in the breakfast room, but he still had had a dark cloud hanging over him that didn’t fully go away until he was back in Texas. “Ready to go?”
“Yep,” she smiled and he kissed her quickly before they ambled down the hallway. They were halfway to the exit when Lily caught sight of a familiar pink shirt. It looked exactly like the one Malaya had just bought in New York.
“Wait,” she said and then backtracked to where she had seen the shirt from around the corner. As she rounded the corner she saw Malaya in the arms of Robert the gorgeous nerd.
“What?” Lily couldn’t manage to get anything else out. When had this happened?
“Oh,” Malaya said in surprise. She looked just as shocked as Lily was. Embarrassment flooded her face. “Hi, um, Lily, you know Robert don’t you?”
“Yeah, hi” Lily said still in shock.
“Nice to see you again,” Robert said with a gorgeous smile spreading across his face. “How’s algebra going?”
“Alright, I guess,” Lily smiled back.
“This is Lily’s boyfriend Landon.” Malaya said proud that she was able to get the introduction out.
“Hi,” Robert said cautiously.
“Hey man,” Landon said extending his hand for a friendly handshake. At first Lily was surprised at Robert’s reaction to Landon, but then remembered that Landon had been involved in tormenting Robert throughout high school.
Robert reluctantly shook Landon’s hand
The four of them stood in silence not knowing what to say next.
“We should be going,” Landon smiled beginning to gently pull Lily after him
“It was nice to see you,” Lily said as they retreated down the hallway.
“See you later,” Malaya called after them.
“When did that happen,” Lily blurted out once they were outside.
“I know as much as you do,” Landon said, defensively throwing up his hands.
“Wow, Malaya and Robert. He’s one of the biggest nerds in the school. I would never have guessed she would seriously be interested in him.”
“Maybe she’s not.”
“No,” Lily said firmly. “I know her, and I can tell she’s serious. I think I’m going to have a nice long chat with Malaya tonight.”
***
“Why didn’t you tell me Robert was your secret admirer?” Lily and Malaya were sitting in Lily’s room giving themselves pedicures. Lily had insisted Malaya come over for a girl’s night even though it was only Monday. They needed to talk.
“I was going to,” Malaya said keeping her eyes on her toes as she brushed a thin coat of bright pink polish onto her nails. “But you were busy with New York and Landon’s moodiness. You had a lot on your mind, and I didn’t want to distract you. I also wasn’t sure how you would react. I mean, he is a little on the nerdy side. Okay, a lot on the nerdy side.”
“I don’t care if he’s nerdy. If you like him, and he’s a nice guy that’s all that matters to me. You still should have told me.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“I am kind of surprised you’re interested in him,” Lily admitted.
“He’s really nice, Lily,” Malaya swooned. “And he has the most gorgeous grin with dimples. You know I’m a sucker for dimples.” Lily nodded knowing her friends weakness for a dimpled smile.
“So were you surprised to find out it was him?”
“Yeah, and when he called later that Friday night to apologize about missing our date, I almost tried to get out of going on a make-up date, but he was just so sweet about it that I couldn’t say no.”
“So why did he miss your date?”
“He chickened out,” Malaya smiled. “He said he wasn’t used to being around girls, let alone one as beautiful as me. Isn’t that sweet? Since that night he’s called or texted me every day. He is so easy to talk to, and always has something interesting to say. He is so smart. He’s going to help me study.”
“Well, he’s a lucky guy to have a chance with someone as wonderful as you.”
“He is really nice,” Malaya said. “I really like him.”
“Then I can’t wait to get to know him better,” Lily smiled. Malaya beamed and leaned in for a best friend hug.
“Good,” Malaya said sheepishly. “Because I already invited him for a double date on Friday.”
“Sounds good,” Lily said grinning. She loved seeing her best friend so happy.
***
Lily stepped into her room and flopped onto her soft bed. The double date with Robert had gone better than she had expected. The four of them got along well, and there weren’t any awkward silences that Lily had dreaded. They spent the evening at a nice restaurant, and then they went to a movie. They all had a great time together. Lily finger combed her hair as her thoughts wandered from one thing to another. She jumped slightly when she heard the black, sleek cell phone on her night stand ring. It was the phone Mr. Turner had given her before she left New York. He had wanted to have a secure way to communicate with her, as well as a way for Lily to contact him if she ever needed him in any way. She was curious as to why he was calling her so late. It was almost midnight.
“Hello?”
“Lily,” Mr. Turner’s voice said hesitantly.
“Yes.”
“I know it’s late and very last minute, but I’m in a bit of a tight spot, and I could really use your help.” Lily had decided to say no to him right off the bat, but a part of her wanted to know more.
“What do you need my help with?”
“Well, do you remember the man who owned the warehouse we raided in New York?”
“Gambino?”
“Yes, he had security cameras inside the warehouse apparently. I don’t know how we missed them. The street men said there weren’t any, but they must have been too small to see, or at least hidden extremely well. Luckily the majority of the team were disguised enough to not be recognized, but of one of them was, and he has been taken by Gambino’s men.”
“Oh no,” Lily gasped alarmed. “Who?”
“Matt, he is one of my best street men. I want him back. I need him back.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“Well, I plan on getting him out of there, but we are at a huge disadvantage. We will have to go into Gambino’s mafia territory. There is a lot of risk involved in retrieving him, but I can’t just leave him there.”
“No,” Lily said thoughtfully. “You can’t”
“So will you help me? I’ll pay you extra if you want.”
“You don’t need to pay me extra.”
“So you’ll do it then?”
“Yes,” Lily agreed. She just couldn’t say no. Lily may not have felt like she was a part of Mr. Turner’s work family, but if there was anything that she could do to help that man escape from Gambino, she would.
“Oh, good,” Mr. Turner said, relieved. “I don’t think I could pull this off without you. We have to get him out fast, so I will need you on a plane early tomorrow morning so we can go get him later that day.”
“Alright,” Lily said sleepily. “How early?”
“I’m going to try to get you a flight as early as possible, but before noon for sure. I’ll email you all the ticket information.”
“Okay,” Lily yawned.
“Thank you Lily,” Mr. Turner said sincerely.
“You’re welcome.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Goodnight.”