“Wow, what was that about? Did he ask you out?” Lilly questioned me with a smile that I was happy to see, for a change.
“Yes, last night, and we kissed as well! Actually, it was my first …”
“Ahhhhh, that’s awesome, Jess! I knew it would happen for you soon. Thanks for taking care of me, I would be so lost without you. You have to let him take you out, he’s such a cool guy,” Lilly said as she nudged me.
“It’s not over yet, Lilly. You’re going to be living with me, when we are not at boarding school,” I said to her then, hoping the news would cheer her up.
“What about your parents?” Lilly quickly asked, unaware that I had already spoken to them.
“They know, they’re picking us up,” I assured her. The last thing she needed was nowhere to go.
“What would I do without you, Jess?” she said, as tears fell from her big brown eyes.
She was right; she needed me now, more than ever.
CHAPTER 2
The bus ride back to DC seemed to go quickly. Lilly still hadn’t said much, although I was relieved that she had more colour in her face and looked a little brighter. She had attempted to eat more, and the sleeping pills had helped her throughout the last few nights, so she didn’t seem too exhausted. Ms Mitchell had given Lilly a book to read and hoped it would keep her occupied on the drive back. I managed to zone out and listen to my playlist for most of the trip. I knew that it would be a hard road ahead and I needed to stay strong.
When we arrived back at Brightonfield, my mother was waiting by the front gates for us. She was very emotional and had tears in her eyes as soon as she saw Lilly. My mum had already picked up a few of Lilly’s belongings from her house, as she knew it would have been too soon for Lilly to even walk through her front door. We said our goodbyes to Ms Mitchell and a few of the other girls before we drove off.
“Okay girls, what would you like for dinner?” my mum asked us as we turned into our driveway.
“I’m thinking pizza,” I replied as I looked over towards Lilly, hoping that would cheer her up. She didn’t respond and appeared to be lost in her own thoughts. I carried our bags inside and left Lilly alone for a while.
“She just needs time, darling,” my mother said. “I’ll go spend time with Lilly, why don’t you take a bath before dinner? You’ll feel much better afterwards.”
She was right. I lit a candle and soaked in the tub for over an hour and forgot about everything.
The next few days flew by. Lilly had settled into her new room and adjusted into our family a lot quicker than we had expected. I even heard her laugh a few times at my father’s silly jokes.
One evening at dinner, my dad announced he had something very important he wanted to discuss.
“Lilly, how do you feel about us adopting you?” My father paused for a second as he looked over to my mother. “We want you to know that we are your family, we’ve always considered you a second daughter, and we think it’s important to take this step.”
Lilly looked amazed and taken aback. She stood up and threw her arms around my father.
“I would love that,” she replied in a quiet voice.
I felt very proud to have such great parents. Even under such traumatic and stressful conditions, they knew what to do, they made the right choices.
“Excellent, that settles that!” My father cheered and raised his glass as we enjoyed the rest of our dinner.
The following week in the early afternoon as I was pottering around my room, the phone rang and my mother yelled out to me.
“Jess, phone call for you, it’s a boy.”
I knew who it was and rushed to take the call. Ten minutes later, I walked out into the lounge room. Mum and Dad were sitting on the sofa watching television and Lilly was lying on the floor, sketching. She loved to draw and I was glad to see her keeping herself busy.
“So, how is Joe?” Lilly asked as she continued to sketch what looked like a quirky figure.
“He’s good, he asked me to the movies this Saturday. I said I would think about it,” I replied hesitantly, still not sure how I felt.
“Well, the answer is yes, if you are wondering. You can go,” my mother assured. “Lilly told us about how caring he was towards you both. Your father and I would like to meet him when he picks you up, though,” she added as I looked over to her in surprise.
“If he picks me up. I haven’t said yes yet,” I replied as I sat down on the lounge and curiously admired Lilly’s sketch.
“Go out with him, Jess, he’s a good guy. Go and have some fun,” Lilly insisted. “But first, stay there and let me sketch you, okay?” she said as she turned over a fresh page.
Even though it had been a horrific week, I felt fortunate. I had great supportive parents and my best friend was now going to be my sister.
“These sketches are good, Lilly, you’re really talented,” I said, looking over her shoulder as she sketched. I was so impressed with how quickly her art had improved and progressed over the past few weeks.
“Thanks, Jess. I’ve always dreamt of having my own art show one day,” she said as she smiled and admired her own work.
Lilly had been through a lot and I was proud of her. She still had dreams and I was so glad she did.
The weekend couldn’t come around soon enough. Saturday arrived and Lilly was almost more excited than me. We spent more than an hour picking through my closet, trying to decide what I was going to wear for the all-important first date with Joe. Lilly was my fashion advisor, making the decisions for me when I couldn’t.
“Come on in, Joe, it’s nice to meet you.” I heard my father invite Joe in when he arrived.
Lilly helped me curl my hair while my parents chatted with Joe.
“Have a nice night, kids. No later than eleven, okay?” my father advised, before we walked out the door.
“Of course, Mr Gardener. I’ll have Jess back on time,” Joe replied.
We went to Toscana, the local pizza restaurant on Second Street, before the movie. As we ate our dinner, I got to know all about Joe. Though we had spent time together at the camp, we hadn’t really talked about ourselves or our lives because we were too busy paddle boarding. Joe was nineteen, two years older than me, although he looked and acted a lot older. We chatted about our families and Joe talked about his law degree and his dreams.
“I’m studying to be a lawyer, Jess. I have three more years to go, then I’m going to marry you,” he said confidently, and we both laughed.
“Let’s just get through our first date first, shall we.” I liked Joe’s outspoken nature. He said what he felt, no matter how crazy it sounded.
After the movie on our drive home, Joe talked more about practising law and his dream to have his own firm in DC. He also wanted to have branches in New York and Chicago one day. He was very ambitious and passionate about law. He asked me what I wanted to do and I told him that I hadn’t fully decided. He sensed I felt a little awkward not knowing, and was a real gentleman and didn’t push the topic.
“It will come to you, Jess, you’ve plenty of time to decide,” he said as he placed his hand lightly on my knee.
I felt the warmth of his hand and a tingle went up my spine.
When we arrived home, Joe walked me to the front gate and looked at me intensely. “I can’t wait to see you again, Jess,” he said as he leant in to kiss me.