Chapter 15: Chapter 15

Lydia’s P.O.V

“You need help with that?” I nearly jumped out of my skin.

“Lyric! You scared me!” I said placing a hand over my racing heart, even though I knew my face won’t show anything.

I thought he would make some snide comment about yesterday, but somehow Lyric never fails to surprise me. He pulled up the sleeves of his black T-shirt and began helping me out with the weeds himself, working silently beside me without making any complaints. It was almost two thirty in the afternoon and we were currently in the college backyard, where a small strip of land had been transformed into a miniature garden.

We hadn’t spoken yesterday after Lyric took me out of that crowd yesterday and to my surprise, followed me back home so no one tried anything funny while I was alone. And this morning, I’d avoided bumping into him by volunteering in the gardening club. I didn’t need the extracurriculars but it helped me think or brood in silence. It was also an added bonus that I had a green thumb.

Everything almost felt like it had gone back to the way it was, if I ignored the fact that everyone was now giving me a wide breath and avoiding me like I’m the plague. The petite blonde I’d somewhat made friends with in psychology class wouldn’t look me in the eyes anymore and the nerdy red head I’d met on my first day, the guy from my sociology class, kept on running in the opposite direction whenever he saw me. So if I ignored the fact that the so-called friends I’d tried to make were running from me too, I guess everything else was back to normal. It was almost two in the afternoon when the club had offered me a chore and I had been regretting volunteering to work in the sun when Lyric finally tracked me down. I had known it was inevitable. Something had changed between us yesterday, even though I didn’t quite pinpoint what that was. And even though we weren’t bantering anymore, I think we somehow always seem to seek each other out.

It was almost sundown by the time we were done. I have to say though, without his help it would have taken me a lot longer. Why did I volunteer for this stupid club anyway? I was so done with this! I’ll be removing my name from the volunteers list first thing tomorrow morning.

“Thank you, for helping me.” I said gratefully as I wiped some sweat from my brows after both Lyric and I had washed our hands. The school was pretty much deserted and I was so tired I felt like I was about to pass out.

“Are you okay?” he asked all of a sudden, looking dead serious and I knew he was talking about yesterday’s event.

I sighed; feeling weary all of a sudden. “I’m fine Lyric, really.” I turned to leave but he caught my arm.

“You’re lying” he said, a statement, not an accusation.

“I’m not. I’m fine.” I told him while freeing my hand from his. “Thank you for standing up for me.”

I don’t like how vulnerable Lyric makes me feel sometimes, especially at times like this when I suspect he can see right through me. I’m fine as long as I’m fighting with him, arguing with him about his big ego, but I can’t do these little heart to heart moments, especially when he’s being nice. It did things to me that I didn’t understand, that I was afraid to understand.

“You know, it’s ok to cry. I know you’re not weak and besides, it cleans you eyes”, he joked trying to lighten my mood.

“I’m not going to cry, Lyric.” I told him sternly. “I’m just a bit under the weather but I’m fine. It’s…I hope I didn’t have to but it’s something I’ve gotten used to in the past couple years.”

“My brother once told me that sharing your demons makes them less powerful.” Lyric said as he held a door open for me to let me pass through. “It was back in the days when he was still a Navy SEAL guy and wore these shiny medals and mostly stayed away from my business.”

“Your brother sounds like a nice guy.” I told him, missing the comfort and strength of my own brothers. “So, does the trick really work?”

“I don’t know, I never asked him.” Lyric shrugged.

We reached the parking space in silence and unlike when we had been weeding, this silence was comfortable. The parking was completely empty except for Lyric’s bike and my bicycle. The guards by the main gate gave us exasperated looks while we were passing through and Lyric gave them a sheepish smile as we walked off the school grounds and the doors were shut soundly at our backs.

“Let me walk you home.” Lyric said after we were a few meters away from the campus.

I stopped dead in my tracks. “Alright!” I turned to him sharply, trying to master a glare but it wasn’t working. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Me?” Lyric gave me a genuinely startled look as he turned to face me, having walked a couple feet away when I stopped unannounced. “Why would there be anything wrong with me?”

“I don’t know, maybe you hit your head in a fight or something?” I shrugged as I crossed my arms across my chest, after putting down the breaks on my bicycle. “Because that’s the only reason I can think of for you acting nice.”

Lyric blinked a couple of times, like he was surprised at himself as well. “I guess I own you an apology for how I’ve treated you at the beginning. We got off on the wrong foot…maybe we can start over?”

“Are you saying that because you know about my condition now?” If that was the case then I’m never talking to him, ever! I didn’t want his pity for God’s sake! And I realized right then that one of the main reasons I kept seeking him out was because he didn’t pity me. At least he hadn’t until yesterday. With Lyric, I’d felt normal, whole, after two long years of everyone treating me like some breakable china doll.

Lyric must have understood at least some part of what was going through my mind because his next words mimicked my thinking. “I’m not going to start pitying you just because you’ve been through some shit, Lydia. You deserve my respect after what you’ve survived. And yeah, I hate to admit it but knowing about your condition does change certain things but not the way you’re probably thinking of.”

I tilted my head to one side, studying the hard lines of his face illuminated by the street light above. Somehow, I understood what he thinks had changed…just like he had understood how I’d been feeling not two seconds ago. “Victims and bullies.” I told him quietly. My life story was making him realize his own mistakes, making him question his decisions, his behaviors. And despite my previous opinion of Lyric, I just might have made a few errors in judgment myself.

“Jared, the guy you were beating up on my first day of school, he’d tried to sexually harass a freshmen during lunch hour.” I told him and watched his eyes snap up to meet mine, surprise written clearly in the green orbs. “The last time you got sent to jail was for beating up a guy who had stolen question papers from the headmaster’s office and wounded a night guard in the process, the same night guard who just waved at you. And as for Sophia, a friend of hers had tried to leak a few nudes of her and you had confiscated that phone and promised her that you’d never bring it up…until she pulled that trick yesterday.”

Lyric narrowed his eyes at me. “How did you know about Sophia?”

“She told me herself,” I told him now, because Sophia’s secret wasn’t common news and the only other person who knew about the photos, the guy who Sophia had sent the pictures to, had suddenly dropped out of school last year, right after Lyric had paid him a visit. “She came to me this morning and apologized for her mistakes personally.” And I understood that her crime had been committed in a fit of jealousy.

“So I’m guessing we both have changed opinions about each other.” Lyric shrugged before flashing me a breathtaking grin. “Guess we’re even.”

“Don’t get too cocky,” I shook my head at him. “You’re still a bully, even though I understand now that someone needs to be the bigger bully to keep the others in check.”

“Hey-“

Lyric never got a chance to finish that sentence because a small pick-up truck came to a screeching halt a few feet away from us and a short boy jumped out of the driver’s seat looking close to tears as he literally fell to Lyric’s feet.

“George?” Lyric helped the boy up from the ground and dusted him off. “What happened?”

“Help me, please!” George’s voice broke as he tried to control his panic. “Avery! Avery’s missing!”