Lily

There I stood, in the middle of the hallway as kids went back and forth to classrooms, passing by me and not offering a single bit of help. I’d never been to a school before but I was going to make this work the first time around.

“Excuse me, do you know where this classroom is?” I showed a boy my schedule.

He squinted. “Sorry, no. I’m trying to find mine and nobody will help.”

So we were in the same predicament. How lovely.

“Maybe we can help each other?” I smiled a bit.

He nodded. “Sure, what’s your name?”

“Lily. Lily Anderson.” I put my hand out. What a stupid human name I chose, right?

He chuckled. “Teenagers don’t normally shake hands. I’m Axel.”

I put my hand back at my side as my cheeks burned red. “Alright, Axel. Let’s find our classrooms.” I walked through the adjacent hallways, searching for the number that I needed to be in.

Axel stopped, hitting my arm a bit. “Here I am. I’ll see you around.” He disappeared into the room and left me alone.

A sigh left my lips as I walked through the halls, unsure of where I was going. A woman caught me wandering and stopped me. “Excuse me, you should be in class.”

I shrugged. “I was trying but I can’t find my classroom.”

“First time in public school? They said you were homeschooled before this.” She looked at my paper.

So she knew who I was? Did everyone know? Were homeschooled kids a bunch of celebrities around here?

“It looks like you’re going to be on the second floor, towards the end of the building.” She pointed to the stairs.

I nodded and thanked her, following the directions. I found the room and stepped inside. I held my books close to my chest as everyone’s gaze landed on me. Attention—the one thing I despised.

-

Lunchtime came and I sat at a table, picking at my food. What was this? It was disgusting. I jumped at the sound of a tray hitting the table and someone plopping themselves next to me.

“I told you I’d see you around.” Axel chuckled.

I narrowed my eyes at the girl behind us who couldn’t keep her eyes off of Axel. She had a boyfriend and it was obvious when he leaned in for a kiss.

“So, Axel, where did you come from? You’re new so were you homeschooled or did you just move here?” I asked him, pushing away the tray.

He shrugged a bit and ate some food. “I can’t tell you where I came from because we’re still strangers and I would much rather keep that to myself. Just know where I came from was a very small town. We didn’t have schools of this size.” He looked up at the ceiling.

The girl from earlier came over, spilling her lunch on Axel. “I am so sorry. I did not mean to do that. These tables are so close together that it’s so easy to run into them.” She scoffed at the faculty. She grabbed napkins, cleaning up the food from Axel’s lap.

I lifted an eyebrow. I may have been homeschooled but I was no stranger to flirting. She did this to get closer to him. She had a boyfriend and she was actually cleaning food from Axel’s pants, right where his penis would be?

She glanced at me but didn’t say anything. Was I a threat to her or something? What the hell was up with this school?

I stood and threw away my lunch, leaving the two of them to screw each other in the janitor’s closet if that’s what they wished to do.

Entering the girl’s bathroom, I sighed. The mirror showed me a girl who was fed up with this entire world. Humans were ridiculous creatures. Who thought making them a species was a good idea? Who in their right mind gave humans intelligence? They didn’t use it. They’d just spill their food on a guy’s junk and pretend it was an accident. They didn’t help a girl who was clearly lost. Humans were useless.

I pulled the rubber band and snapped it against my wrist. “Don’t think like that, Ismene. Calm down. Just take a deep breath.” I breathed in, held it, and exhaled.

The girl came in and stood beside me. What the hell was she doing here?

She put lipstick on. “Lily, is it? The homeschooled girl? I can give you some pointers about public school.”

“Sure, does one of them include hitting on guys when you have a boyfriend?” It slipped. How could I contain my hatred for these creatures? Harmeni was going to be displeased but Nepheilise would be proud.

She turned to face me. “I was going to say that here in public school, the prettiest girls get the guy. Whatever you think you have with Axel is never going to happen.”

I choked. “Axel? I hardly know the guy. He’s cute but he’s just a boy. There’s nothing special about him that makes me want him. He’s all yours. Just do me a favor and dump your current boyfriend before you both cheat on each other.”

She rolled her eyes and walked towards the door.

She stopped and looked back as I added, “It’s cute that you’re jealous of me. If you want the guy, you might want to get rid of me so you’ll be the prettiest girl again.”

She stormed out and slammed the door behind her. I shook my head. “You are doing the worst job of blending into high school.”

-

The water was as still as the mountains. The leaves were frozen in place, not moved by the lack of wind. Today’s weather was a bust.

Second day of school? Oh this better be good. Yesterday was a trainwreck.

Axel was already waiting for me and I wasn’t sure why. “Care to tell me why Holly was rubbing on me?” He laughed.

I made a face. “Do I care? No. Axel, do you like Holly? She has a boyfriend and I just think you should know.” I turned to face him.

“I know, Lily. I know she has a boyfriend. They always do.” He pulled a snack from his bag and began to eat it.

Where was this going? Was this a friendship? Was I friends with a human?

“I should get to class, Axel. I’m trying to make public school work for me.” I rubbed my tired eyes. Who thought it was a good idea to make teenagers show up at 7:30 in the morning? What kind of bullcrap was this?

“It’s your second day and you already don’t like it. That’s amazing.” His eyes shifted to the faculty. “I have a secret. I don’t like it either. Should we ditch?”

“Ditch? Excuse me?” I cocked a brow.

He crossed his arms. “Don’t tell me you’re seriously debating if you should leave school. Are you a good girl now?”

Well, I had no reason to stay here. It wasn’t like it was doing much good. School was boring. I wanted no part of it. “Let’s ditch.”

Axel led us away from the school and we ended up at some kind of treehouse behind an abandoned house. “This is where I’ve come for a while. The treehouse is pretty sturdy. I built it myself.”

“Didn’t you just move here?” I scanned the structure.

Axel scratched his head. “Uh, not quite. I’ve visited from time to time but then I moved here for good. It’s not important. This is where I hang out when I don’t want to be in school. With a face like mine, I can get away with anything.”

I squinted at him. “Face like yours? Is that supposed to be some kind of egotistical joke? It’s not funny.” Humans were pathetic with their comedy.

“Damn, Lily, you’re cruel.” Axel patted his heart but I didn’t smile or laugh. What was supposed to be funny?

The treehouse shook for a moment and I sat down, grabbing onto the floor. “I thought this was stable?”

“It was!” He looked around the area but the gravity changed positions as we fell sideways. The house got crushed against the ground with us inside. I could never trust humans, could I?

I threw a board off of myself and caught a glimpse of black hair vanishing behind the house. I narrowed my eyes, scowling. Holly was behind this. I knew it.

Axel climbed out of the wreckage and frowned. “My treehouse is destroyed.”

Throwing more boards off, I realized my leg was bending the wrong way. What was I supposed to do about that? I didn’t have insurance. Humans had insurance. Nymphs did not have health insurance.

Axel noticed the direction of my leg and squatted to get a closer look. “Yep, that’s broken. Let me get you to the hospital.”

“No!” I yelled, putting my hands out to stop him. “I mean, I don’t have money for it.”

“Then...what do we do? What about your parents?” He looked at the crooked bone.

Parents? How did I come up with that lie? I didn’t have parents. “My parents left town.” Great lie, Ismene. Really, it’s not going to raise any suspicion at all.

“Oh...?” Axel wasn’t sure how to respond.

I needed to change the subject and fast. “Holly broke the treehouse. I saw her running. She’s been jealous ever since we became...whatever we are.”

“Holly? Are you sure?” He looked towards the abandoned home.

I let out a sigh. “Well, I saw a girl with black hair running away. Holly has black hair. She’s the only girl who is jealous of me.” Well, she probably wasn’t the only one but she was the only one who would show it.

“Is that supposed to be an egotistical joke? It’s not funny,” Axel mocked me.

The broken leg of mine wouldn’t get any better. “Fine, take me to the hospital.”

“What do you say?” He smirked.

I rolled my eyes. “Can you please take me to the hospital?”

He slid his arm under mine and helped me up, being the crutch I needed until we arrived to see a doctor. It was the longest wait of my life. How many people could be more important than my cracked bone?

Axel sat beside me in the waiting room. “Tell me, Lily, why you seem to be so...cold.”

“Cold?”

He turned his head to look at me. “Yes, cold. You can be harsh. You aren’t happy to be alive it seems. What is it that makes you so mad?”

“Humans. You’d understand if you knew what they did.” He had no clue that they were hunting me down right now. Humans were the very creatures wanting to cut me open and exploit me for my beauty. They wanted to ruin a good thing.

“Humans? I know what humans do. Humans can be cruel but not all humans are cruel. Some are kind. They make this world go round. They help injured animals. They makeover homeless people. Humans can be good.” He smiled.

I swallowed. “Show me those humans because I can’t seem to find them. The ones I know want to use me. They want to use me for their own gain.”

Axel looked forward. “I see. You’re not angry. You’re scared. You’re scared of people. You insult them and push them away so you don’t have to get hurt. You don’t have to be scared, Lily.”

“Axel, we agreed not to tell each other personal things. We’re strangers. Humans killed my mom. They made my dad watch. They’re evil and I don’t trust a single soul because people are horrible. Holly tried to kill us today. I broke my leg because of her. I have no reason to trust humans. I have no reason to trust anyone. I’m scared and I have good reason to be. The same humans that killed my parents are searching for me because I saw their faces. They want me dead. Give me a reason to trust one human and I just might say some of them are good people. I have yet to meet a person who hasn’t tried to kill me,” I said.

Axel didn’t say anything else. The doctor came out and called me back. If he didn’t charge me an arm and a leg for breaking my leg, I could maybe believe some humans had hearts.