William
My mind felt blank that night. There was no chance of me getting any sleep after what had happened. I replayed the events of that night over and over in my head as I stared at the ceiling of my new dorm. There wasn’t any extra bunk so I had to sleep on the floor. I almost died twice on the same day. If Lilian hadn’t been there I don't know what would have happened. She saved my life but why had she done it? I thought Lilian hated my guts! She seems kind of like a loner. At lunch, I didn’t see her sitting with anyone and she rarely talked to people. I just didn’t get it. Why would the notorious Lily Burns save me? After attempting to ease my mind I tried to get some sleep.
***
“Morning William!”
“Bro, that was some cool stuff last night.”
“I know right!”
“Do you want to come to the breakfast hall with us?”
I had only just come out of the dorm when a horde of guys started congratulating me for something. Are they still talking about Level E? Not knowing what else to say, “Yeah thanks…” On the way to the breakfast hall, the guys kept on talking and congratulating me. I had already gotten used to the attention yesterday but I thought they’d be over it by now.
“Lilian must be jealous.”
“Ha! I know right?! William is some major competition.”
“Dude you killed a Level E and a Level H in the same day.”
Wait...what? I cleared my throat. “What are you guys talking about?”
A guy named Mason nudged me, “Only what everyone is talking about. We know all about how you killed that Level H last night.” Some other people I didn’t know joined in the discussion.
“I saw Lilian walk out of your room afterward. She seemed mad.”
“I bet it was because she didn’t get in the fight!”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Guys that’s not-” I got cut off. “Man don’t be so humble! If it were me I would be bragging nonstop.” But that’s not what happened at all! I could feel my face heating up. How could such a rumor spread so fast? Lilian was the one who did everything! All I did was sit there helplessly. I wanted to clear up the misunderstanding but didn’t know-how. My best bet was to find Lily. “Hey I need to go but I'll catch up with you guys later.”
“But we’re about to go to breakfast...”
I did my best to force a laugh, “I’ll meet you guys there.”
“Alright.”
I left. I didn’t know where I was going but I just needed to find Lily. Maybe she’s still in her dorm...What!? No! I can’t go to the girls' dorm! But I mean she did go to the boys' dorm last night, right? Yeah but that was an emergency! After arguing with myself for a good few minutes I decided I would wait outside of the girls' dormitory. Just along the boundary so I wouldn’t technically be in the restricted area. I waited for what seemed like 20 minutes and she still hadn’t come out. Maybe she went to breakfast early? While I was standing there I earned the stares of girls who thought I was a peeping tom until they recognized me as “The New Kid who killed a Level E and a Level H.” The name is a work in progress.
I was about to give up and return to the breakfast hall when I saw Lilian walking down the hall. She hadn’t yet seen me. What surprised me was that she was yawning. It was the first time I had seen Lilian with her guard down and for once she looked like...a normal girl. Once she stopped yawning I was spotted. She looked around as if expecting a teacher to come out and tell me I was in a restricted area. “Why are you here?” I could tell she was annoyed to see me so early in the morning. “I wanted to say thank you-”
“Great and now that you’ve said it you can go.” Ah, I got blown off right away.
“Wait! There's something else.”
She sighed, “Well can you hurry up with it? You look like a pervert standing here in the girls' dormitory.” I was about to open my mouth and say that I wasn’t technically in the girls' dormitory but thought better of it. “Lily Everyone-” She glared at me. “...Lilian everyone thinks that it was me that killed Level H last night! There’s this huge rumor going around that you're mad about me killing the Level H and I know it's not true but everyone else doesn’t!” I looked at her expecting a reaction but all I got was a blank expression.
There was an awkward silence before I spoke up again and started rambling. “So I was wondering if you know how this happened.” Still, nothing “O-Or if you could help me clear up this misunderstanding?” In the end, my voice cracked but she finally gave me a reaction. “Why should I help you?” The question wasn’t a question. It was sarcasm through and through but I still had to answer. I just didn’t understand how she could put up with this.
“What do you mean?! This-This isn’t fair to you! I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t there! I didn’t have a gun or anything to protect myself, Lilian. You saved my life! If it weren’t for you I would be dead right now!” At this point, I was breathing hard and had to pause for a moment. “Lilian...it's not fair that I should get all the credit or any credit at all. You're the one who did everything. You saved my life.” When I said that she saved my life I wasn’t saying it to her, I was saying it to myself. To remind me that I was greatly indebted to Lily. “It's not just unfair to you. It's like…I don't know, it's like lying to the entire student body.”
I didn’t even know what to say anymore. I slid down to the floor and sat there against the wall. I didn’t want to look at Lily but I needed to see what she was thinking, even just a glimpse. From down on the floor I looked up at her and as expected she looked irritated. No. It was more than that. This time it was as if she was disgusted just by the sight of me. That put a huge dent in my pride.
Looking down at me Lilian spoke. “Why?” At first, her voice was a whisper almost as if she was speaking to none other than herself. “Why don’t I want to help you clear up this misunderstanding?” She laughed half-heartedly “Believe it or not it's not that I don’t want to help you. It's just what difference would it make? What good will it do me, you, or anyone really if they know the truth? All that will do is make me waste energy and time I could be using to train.”
I wanted to say something to that. I wanted to say something that would make her question if she was right or not but I couldn’t. There was no way I could do that because I found myself doubting as well. What good would it do? For me? Nothing. For Lily? She might have some friends then...But it sounds like she spends all her time training. It's no wonder she doesn’t have friends, she just doesn’t have time. I found myself pitying her.
“Also-” Her voice broke me out of my inner thoughts. “-I just figured that I might as well let them believe what they want to believe. Some kids saw me in that room with you but they still thought that it was you that got rid of that Level H. So apparently that's what they are choosing to believe. Maybe people don’t believe it was me because I’m on the least popular side.” This time I said something. “Hold on. You're popular!” She raised an eyebrow. “I’m well-known. There's a difference.” I couldn’t argue with her there.
“Putting that aside there's one last reason why I think it's better not to clear up the misunderstanding.”
I sighed, “And what's that?”
“You would probably prefer it if this matter didn’t get cleared up.”
I shook my head “What are you talking about? I’m the one who suggested this to you.” I was about to laugh but then I saw Lilian's expression. She was smirking ominously. “Because...then you would be able to keep your popularity. By the way I have a question of my own for you, New Kid.”
“What’s that?”
“Why would you care about lying to the whole school about this matter when you’ve already done it once?”
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