All That I Need

Episode 19

Klarissa’s POV

I could finally breathe again, now that Lily was back at school.

I hadn’t slept much, worrying about her. I knew she wasn’t okay, and that upset me. I couldn’t stand the thought of her being stuck in thoughts and memories from her horrible experience.

We normally sit across from each other at the damaged and dirty table we spend lunch and recess. But today I sat beside her. She needed comfort. Plus, I was making it my personal job to keep Daryl away from her.

“How have the last few days been for you?” She asked.

“Pretty bland,” I said.

“School isn’t very exciting,”

“Has Daryl approached you again? Or Kiara and Sarah?”

“Yes. To threaten me and whatnot. But he hasn’t been able to drag me to his van yet, thank god,”

“I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen,” Lily said, looking into my eyes seriously.

“I will not let you go through the same experience that I did. I will do anything to stop him,”

“Just like how I should’ve stopped him from doing it to you,” I said, frowning.

“I could’ve stopped it.”

“You couldn’t do anything about it. He’s forceful, and would probably have hurt you. And there was no way you would’ve been able to get into that van,” she placed her hand on my leg, and sparks began to spread from where she was touching me.

“I could’ve called the police, and they would’ve seen what was happening,”

“Klarissa,” Lily said, looking into my eyes. Her blue eyes were shining, and she was biting her bottom lip.

“There’s nothing you could’ve done. Don’t beat yourself up about something you couldn’t change,”

I realised that her hand was still on my leg, and I was still tingling.

“I just feel so upset that you have to live with this for the rest of your life,” I said quietly.

“I’ll get through it.” She said.

“I’ll be fine,”

“I hope so,” I replied.

“Because you mean the world to me,”

She smiled, the biggest smile I had seen her smile since everything horrible that she had gone through. My heart beat a little faster.

“And you will never know how much you mean to me. Without you, I don’t know where I’d be right now,” She said, blushing. And I didn’t know whether it meant anything or not. I brushed my thoughts away. She couldn’t possibly like me, right?

I was brought out of my thoughts when her warm body was against mine, enveloping me into a hug.

Her head was on my shoulder, and her body so close to mine that I thought my heart was going to explode. I wrapped my arms around her back too, and appreciated the moment. I was really falling in love with Lily.

It was a long hug, and seemed much more meaningful than all the other times we’d hugged. We only let go when we heard a quiet voice beside us.

“Excuse me,” the person said.

Lily pulled back, and my body was still warm and tingly from the encounter. My face was probably redder than a tomato. I looked at Lily, noticing that she was blushing too. Maybe she was embarrassed.

“Yeah,” I said. I had never seen this kid before.

She had a short, fair ponytail, and black-framed wide glasses. Two other girls stood beside her. One had red hair, and the other had dark brown, and was so short she looked like she belonged in kindergarten. I decided that they must’ve been in year 7, because they were so small and I’d never seen them before.

“We’re handing out flyers for the school social next Friday.” She passed us one each.

“We hope to see you there,” the short girl with brown hair said, smiling, and they walked away.