Daisy and Zack walked back to class together, Daisy kept looking at Zack frequently
He knows Lily really well, does he like her? she thought, sneaking another glance at him.
"What, why do you keep staring at me?" he asked, clearly irritated.
"How did you know Lily is allergic to peanuts and I didn't know?" Daisy asked, looking at him suspiciously.
Zack raised a brow. "We went to the same middle school."
That's your explanation? she thought. "Is that enough reason for you to know that?" She squinted her eyes suspiciously. "Clearly I'm her roommate and still don't know."
"She had an accident once in school." Then he paused and added "You've known Lily for a short time to consider yourself her best friend," Zack said and walked away.
His words stung. So what if I haven't known her that long? Does that mean I don't care about her?
"I never said I was her best friend!" Daisy shouted after him. She bit her lips as she watched him walk away.
Lily was someone who had taken care of her and fought for her when she was bullied as a newbie, she made her feel like she belonged. At least she considered herself someone Lily cared about.
That evening, when Lily got back to her room, she immediately went to take her bath. Standing in front of the mirror, Lily stared at her reflection, pain and bitterness clearly visible on her face.
She missed her life before the pandemic. She missed her caring parents and her supportive older brother who she hadn't seen in almost two years.
I wonder what he's doing now, she thought to herself, her eyes softening slightly. Does he worry about me too?
"I must make it to Facility 9 this year... I'm coming, brother," she whispered, as if her voice could bridge the distance between them.
She reached out her hand to touch her locket—a small comfort she always wore—but something felt off. Her fingers met bare skin.
Her locket wasn't on her neck.
Panic surged through her. She immediately searched the clothes she had just taken off, but it wasn't there. Her hands trembled as she dug through her backpack—still nothing.
No, no, no... where is it? It can't be gone. The feeling of dread suffocated her. That locket was the only thing she had left of her family—it can't just disappear.
She ran her hand through her hair, trying to recall where it might have fallen off. Her mind raced with fragments of the day, each moment blurring into the next.
Just then, Daisy came into the room. Seeing Lily standing in that posture made her ask,
"Are you alright?"
Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired," she answered in a dismissive tone, forcing a smile .
"Oh, OK. I guess you won't be going to the library then. Rest well." Daisy picked up the book on the bedside desk and walked out, closing the door gently as if afraid it would make Lily feel unwell.
After Daisy left, Lily calmed her mind and went to take her bath , . Eventually, she went to bed without eating dinner.
I'll find it, she assured herself. But even as she closed her eyes, her heart ached with the emptiness around her neck.
The next day, classes went by smoothly. Lily was still worried about her locket. No one noticed that she looked down—she had always been gloomy and quiet, so it didn't seem out of the ordinary.
The bell rang for recess before gym class. The sharp clang echoed through the halls, followed by the murmur of students filing out of classrooms. Lockers clanged open and shut in rhythmic chaos, and the low buzz of conversations filled the air.
Lily and Daisy went to the locker room to drop their books and pack up their gym bags. Sneakers squeaked across the tiled floor as they approached their lockers.
Dustin was already there, leaning against the wall near Lily's locker with one leg propped up, arms crossed. A group of girls nearby burst out laughing over something, but Lily barely registered the sound.
She paused a little when she saw him and frowned. What does he want now?
"Hi, I came to apologize and to..."
"Enough, stop being a creep," Daisy snapped at Dustin, cutting his words short.
A locker slammed shut somewhere behind them with a metallic bang.
Lily blinked at Daisy's sudden fire. She really doesn't trust him, huh.
"What is wrong with you? I just wanted to return something to her," Dustin said calmly.
"Oh yeah? You came to return peanuts?" Daisy said sarcastically, eyeing him coldly.
"That's not even funny."
"It wasn't supposed to be, darling," Daisy replied with a smug expression.
Dustin was left speechless.
She's always so sharp, Lily thought, almost amused. But maybe she should hear him out...
"Daisy, let him be." Lily turned to Dustin, her voice soft. "What is it you wanted to return?"
Please let it be the locket, she prayed inwardly. It might've fallen when he bumped into me... I really need to change that chain.
"You dropped something yesterday," Dustin said, reaching into his back pack. The quiet jingle of metal keys and zippers could be heard as he searched. Then he brought out a locket and handed it to her.
Lily looked at it and smiled, breathing a sigh of relief. Her fingers closed gently around it as if afraid it would vanish again.
This single act made Daisy and Dustin freeze.
Lily smiled?
She actually smiled!
This was something she hadn't done in a long time, and in that brief moment, they both realized that this unremarkable silver locket meant a lot to her.
A locker door slammed again, and someone ran by, their footsteps pounding briefly and fading away.
Seeing this, Dustin asked curiously, "Aren't you going to ask me if I opened it?"
"You can't open it," she replied nonchalantly, her smile already gone.
"Why?" Dustin asked, still watching her. "What's in it that you had to lock it with a mechanism?"
"None of your business," Lily said sharply, stuffing her books into her locker. There is no way she was going to tell him she didn't know either.
She took out her gym bag and walked away with Daisy, who was waiting by her own locker as the overhead speaker crackled with an announcement in the distance.
"Thanks, by the way," Lily turned slightly to Dustin and gave a small, reserved smile. Then she walked away.
Dustin smiled back and turned to walk towards the other end of the hallway. Lockers clattered as students packed up for gym, the students chatter continued all around him. As he moved, his eyes met Zack's.
Zack had been standing there the whole time and had seen everything.
He gave Dustin a warning glare as he walked past him without a word, footsteps deliberate against the tile.
Dustin just shrugged and walked away
I wonder what his problem is?