Lilith

 

“Lilith!” Joanna cried. “You're still here! I totally thought they would have shipped you back home.”

    “My mom thought about it,” Lilith replied. She was sitting on the swing in Jill Smith's backyard. Jill's mother Jenny had invited the Goth family over to swim in their backyard pool. It was a beautiful day for mid March in the desert Lilith guessed, but it didn't matter to her. She wouldn't be swimming – she hadn't packed a suit.

    “That was quite the show you put on at Spritzkies the other day,” Joanna continued.

    “Really, Joanna?” Kelly chided.

     “I'm serious. The whole town won't shut up about it. That was all my parents talked about at dinner that night. And I was like, I don't need a recap Mom. I was there.”

    “Wait a minute,” Randy said, “I thought you were supposed to babysit your sister today.”

    “One of her old friends called. Turns out the family took an impromptu trip to the next town over. My mom took her over there and told me to 'do whatever.'”

    “Did she say you could leave the house?” Bella asked from where she and Jenny Smith were sitting on the deck. It was just the women – Jenny's husband had gone to a town council meeting and Mortimer had stayed home.

    “Don't worry,” Joanna called back. “I asked her.” She turned back to Lilith. “This is great! Now you can come swimming with us!”

    “News flash,” Lilith said, “I'm not here to swim. I'm here to make sure Alice doesn't fall in the pool.” The group looked over to where Alice sat in Bella's lap.

    “Doesn't look like you're needed right now,” Randy said.

    “I still don't have a swimsuit,” Lilith reminded him.

    “That's okay,” Kelly said. “We can still hang out. We're just really glad you're still here.” Kelly probably wouldn't be that enthusiastic if she found out the real reason Lilith had come to Strangetown in the first place. “Hey, don't look sad.”

    “I don't deserve to have fun, Kelly,” Lilith replied. “Not after the way I treated my sister.”

    A couple of screams filled the air as Amanda and Anne came running into the backyard followed by Kelly's cousin Jan, who was also staying with the Smith household for the week.

    “Don't run near the pool!” Bella called after them.

    “I got it,” Randy said as he and Joanna took off to stop the girls.

    “When I was seven, my dad thought it would be a good idea to take me to the science lab,” Kelly said as she led Lilith over to the pool. “I saw this really cool looking part there and nobody was doing anything with it so I took it home. Turns out it was an important part to a machine and I didn't want to get in trouble so I told my dad I had no idea where it was. When he figured out the truth, he was furious at me for two whole weeks. Since then, I've always been straight with him. We all do stupid things, Lilith. Some of us take machine parts and some of us hit our sister in the face. I don't hate you because you made a mistake.”

    “It's no good!” Jill exclaimed from where she had been testing the pool water. “The chemical balance of the water is off. Somebody didn't take care of it like he said he would.”

    “Jill on the other hand... Well she's not going to hate you either, but I can't say the same about her brother, especially since he apparently didn't treat the pool.”

    “Don't you have to take care of that 24 hours in advance?” Lilith asked. Kelly and Jill looked at her. “That's my job at home. At least that's what my parents told me to do.”

    “Yeah, and Johnny said he would come over here and do that this week,” Jill said. “My brother will have to do some explaining when he shows up.”

    “That's too bad,” Bella said. “The girls were really looking forward to it.”

    “There might be something else we can do,” Jenny replied. “I know the pools here haven't opened yet, but...”

    “Looks like none of us get to go swimming,” Randy said as he and Joanna walked over to where the other girls were talking.

    “At least I don't have to sit and watch everyone else have fun,” Lilith mumbled.

    “Jill could have lent you one of her swimsuits, right?” Kelly said. Jill nodded. “I'm sure it would fit.”

    “Anyway, what happened to your sister?” Joanna asked.

    “Mom came and took her home.”

    “And she let you stay?” Kelly asked.

    “Look,” Lilith replied. “I need to be honest with you. Randy already knows this, but I didn't come here for a fun vacation. I came here because I was causing too much trouble at home.” Everyone stayed silent, so Lilith began explaining about how her parents had favored Angela and how she hadn't wanted them to meet her boyfriend. “We got caught sneaking around at night, I threw a last minute party that went terribly, and I... I ran away from home.” Lilith closed her eyes, bracing herself for rejection. “It was a stupid, impulsive decision. I just couldn't stand being at home anymore.”

    She was surprised when she felt someone pull her into a hug. She opened her eyes to find Kelly's arms around her in a friendly gesture.

    “You needed one,” Kelly said and Lilith hugged her back.

    “Thank you,” Lilith said, although the words barely came out.

    “We're your friends,” Kelly said as she pulled away. “We're not gonna hate you because you told us about running away.”

    “Yeah,” Joanna added, “friends don't do that to each other.” Jill nodded in agreement.

    Lilith felt tears coming to her eyes. Friends. She actually had friends. Girlfriends she could go shop for makeup and get her nails done with. She knew that Dirk would be willing to do all of that stuff with her, and he had a couple of times, but she knew he wouldn't really be enjoy himself and it wouldn't be as fun as it could be. It was just too bad they all lived so far away from her, but if she could make friends here, surely she could make some at home, right?

    “Oh, look who's here,” Jill said, pulling Lilith out of her thoughts. They followed her over to the front of the house where a blue car had just pulled in the driveway.

    “That's his cool sports car?” Kelly asked.

    “Gotta start somewhere,” Jill replied.

    The young man who got out of the car had to be Jill's brother, but unlike his sister, his green skin was exactly the same color as Kelly's. He had is mother's blonde hair and green eyes, however.

    Jill ran over to him. “Johnny, what is wrong with you?” She playfully slapped his arm.

    “Nice to see you too, Jill,” he replied.

    “You didn't treat the pool did you?” Jill asked.

    “I thought you were going to do it.”

    “You said you were.”

    “No, I said I'd come over and do it if nobody else got around to it. You never said anything so I assumed you had.”

    “Yeah, well we didn't and now we can't go swimming!”

    “Are you kidding me?” said the woman who was getting out of the passenger seat. Her skin was as dark as Dirk's and her hair, which was also blonde, was braided into cornrows. “I was so looking forward to lounging in that pool. Thanks a lot Johnny!”

    “Chill, Phi,” Johnny said. “It wouldn't have worked out, anyway. Not with Kelly and Jan in the pool.”

    “Guys, guys,” Jenny said, rushing to the scene, “let's not overreact.”

    “Oh, I almost forgot,” Jill said. “Lilith, this is my brother Johnny and my sister-in-law Ophelia. ” Jill continued with the introduction, but Lilith couldn't help but think about herself and Dirk. It happened every time she was around Mortimer and Bella, and now these two as well. How was she ever going to make it to Saturday?

    “We're getting it all figured out,” Bella said as she carried Alice into the front yard.

    “It looks like Majestic Waves is open,” Jenny informed them.

    “Really?” Anne asked.

    “Yes, they're open for a three week period for everyone on spring break.” Jenny showed them the website on her tablet. It looked like a water park. “Why don't we just go there?”

 

    Forty-Five minutes later, everyone was in their cars for the hour and a half long drive to Majestic Waves. Lilith sighed. She was sure the only reason she was going was so there was an extra person to keep an eye on Alice. She sat in the back of the van with Amanda and Anne, busy texting Dirk about her new friends and how much it was going to stink to be at a water park and not be able to go on anything. She didn't deserve to have fun, which is why she hadn't complained when the others had gone in Johnny's car. Dirk reminded her that at least she would be able to help Alice have a good time. That made her smile and her heart ache. Kiss emoticons were nothing compared to the real thing.

    “Did you really hit your sister in the face?” Amanda asked suddenly.

    “Yeah,” Lilith replied, “I did.”

    “Why?”

    “Because she made me mad.”

    “That's stupid,” Anne replied.

    “Yeah, it was,” Lilith agreed.

    “I'd never hit my sister,” Amanda said.

    “Well that wouldn't be fair,” Lilith told her. “She can't hit you back yet.”

    “Yeah, she can. She's done it too.”

    Lilith watched Amanda and Anne for a bit. It was stunning how well they got along. They weren't twins, or even siblings, but they were close enough. It wouldn't be so bad to have that, Lilith thought. It would be good to have someone she could enjoy spending time with when everyone else was busy. But she couldn't see that person being Angela. They had been like that when they were little, when she had been too young to realize how unfairly they were being treated, and she guessed they could be like that again if they tried. But did she really want that with her sister? She still didn't know.

    The water park definitely lived up to it's name. It was huge with towering water slides, a giant wave pool and a lazy river. The first order of business was getting Lilith a swimsuit, since she still needed one in order to follow Alice everywhere. She sent a somewhat risque picture of herself in her new bikini to Dirk. He responded almost right away with “beautiful.” Not sexy, not hot, although Lilith was sure that those thoughts had crossed his mind when he saw the photo, but beautiful. She could feel her heart ache for the boy she now knew she loved, hoping that he would be able to join her the next time she came here.

    Lilith took Alice to the kiddie area where the baby enjoyed playing with the spraying water. Alice had a hard time navigating the steps of the play area, but she was determined to climb them. Once she reached the top, she took off and Lilith had a hard time keeping up with her. She had to pull Alice off one slide that had a splash pool bigger than she was and went down with her to make sure she didn't get a ton of water in her face. Surprisingly, Lilith enjoyed herself. Seeing Alice smile lifted her spirits.

    After a while, Bella came and took Alice and the other girls to the wave pool leaving Lilith to relax in her chair.

    “We're going on some of the big slides now,” Kelly said suddenly. Lilith opened her eyes to find Kelly, Randy and Joanna standing next to her. “Do you want to come?”

    “I can't,” Lilith said. “I'm supposed to be watching Alice.”

    “Alice isn't here,” Joanna pointed out.

    “I know that,” Lilith replied. “I'm being punished remember?”

    “Come on,” Randy added. “Bella wouldn't have let you come here if she didn't want you to enjoy yourself.”

    “I don't deserve to enjoy myself.”

    “Yes you do,” Kelly replied. “You shouldn't beat yourself up over one slap. Just because you screwed up doesn't mean you shouldn't have fun.”

    Lilith sighed. Kelly was right. There was no way she was going to let her mistake decide how much fun she was going to have. No, she would not be beaten that easily.

    “All right, I'll go,” Lilith agreed.

    “Just in case, I'll cover for you,” Randy said. “I did that slide once. That was enough.”

    They joined Jill, Johnny and Ophelia at the end of the line. Through Johnny, Lilith got to hear the full story about the fight between his and Buck's dads. Johnny was cool. Dirk would like him as well. Jill was lucky to have a brother like him.

    “Did you hear about Buck?” Jill asked. “His dad totally freaked when he heard Buck was at Spritzkies during the fight.”

    “Really?” Joanna asked. “I would have thought he would have totally encouraged Buck to get involved.”

    “He probably would have,” Jill said, “except he found out that I was there and that's what made him lose it. He put him under some sort of ridiculous military house arrest.”

    “That's crazy,” Kelly replied. “He didn't go that berserk when Johnny was his age and was hanging out with his brother.”

    “I think he's really afraid that Jill and Buck will start dating,” Johnny said. “He does not want any of his grandchildren to have alien DNA.”

    “Stop it Johnny,” Jill said. “I'm not interested in dating Buck.”

    “His dad doesn't know that,” Johnny teased.

    “That's too bad,” Lilith said. “Buck seems like a nice guy. He doesn't deserve to be treated like that.”

    “But the good news is in less than a year he can move in with his brother,” Jill continued, “and his dad won't be able to do anything about it.”

    “You sure you don't want to date Buck?” Johnny asked.

    “Shut up, Johnny,” Jill fired back lightheartedly. No one spoke up. No one questioned the fact that Jill had just told her brother to shut up. Lilith guessed it was one of those things normal brothers and sisters did. Every time she told Angela to shut up, she meant it. What would it be like to be able to playfully tease each other like that?

    “Still, it's better than what my dad did,” Lilith said to fill the silence.

    “Come on Lilith,” Kelly replied. “What could your dad possibly do that's worse than that?”

    “He slept with our maid.”

    “You have a maid?” Kelly asked.

    “Kelly, that's not the most pressing part of what she just said,” Joanna pointed out.

    “Yeah,” Lilith continued. “I came home from school, the bedroom door was open and my mom was staring at them in bed.”

    “That's terrible,” Jill said.

    “Dads are screwed up,” Kelly responded. “I told you I'm the product of an alien abduction, but did I tell you that my dad set the whole thing up? He got abducted on purpose just so he could experience an alien pregnancy. And the worst part was, he wasn't even fully prepared for it. Taking care off a baby, that he could do. But actually raising a child, I think he was in way over his head. I can't count the number of times I've had to get advice from Aunt Jenny. At least you weren't born as a science experiment.”

    “At least you were wanted,” Lilith said quietly.

    “What do you mean?” Joanna asked.

    “I've only ever told one... no two other people this,” Lilith answered, “but I did overhear my mom say that they had only planed to have one child. They didn't even know I was coming until my mother's water broke a second time. I'm pretty sure they just opened a book to a random page to pick out my name. I'm just the extra twin nobody wanted. Sometimes I wonder if anyone even loves me.”

    “What about your boyfriend?” Kelly asked. “Doesn't he love you?”

    “We haven't actually told each other that yet,” Lilith admitted.

    “How long have you been dating?” Kelly said.

    “Officially, it's been a little over six months.”

    “And unofficially?” Joanna asked.

    “A couple more than that.”

    “But you love him, right?” Kelly asked.

    “Yes,” Lilith answered, “and I don't know if I should tell him. What if he doesn't love me back?” Kelly put a hand on Lilith's shoulder.

    “Maybe he's waiting for you to say it first,” she pointed out. “Jan and I grew up in a house full of men. I know how they work. Sometimes guys are just sensitive. My uncle stayed silent about a girl he liked for two years before she said anything to him. Now they're happily married. It just depends on the guy.”

    “You really think so?” Lilith asked.

    “Look,” Kelly said. “He stayed by your side when you ran away and he went out and bought a game just so he could play with you. If he isn't in love with you already, he's falling for you fast.”

    “We'll meet you guys at the bottom,” Jill called out from her raft. Then the lifeguard sent her, Johnny and Ophelia down the slide.

    “So you think I should tell him?” Lilith said as she got in the three person raft.

    “Definitely,” Kelly told her. She took a seat in front of Lilith.

    As soon as it was safe, they were headed down the slide. Lilith smiled as she felt the wind blow through her hair, a feeling that she loved. She was so glad she decided to go.

    They turned a corner and a huge half pipe-like slope loomed in front of them.

    “What is that?” Joanna asked from behind Lilith.

    “The slide,” Kelly replied.

    “Kelly!” Joanna shrieked. “You didn't tell me about this!”

    The slide dropped from under them, and Lilith couldn't help but scream as they plunged down towards the slope, Joanna clutching her tightly. They shot up the half pipe at a fast speed and when they reached the top, Lilith could feel the tickle in her stomach as they began to fall back down. As they coasted to the end of the slide, Lilith could see Jill laughing at them.

    “You should look at yourselves!” she said.

    As Lilith got out of the raft, taking a look at Kelly and Joanna. They were quite the sight, and she laughed along with them. Then a wave of sadness hit her as she realized that the ride hadn't been as fun as could have been. She couldn't help but wish that Dirk was behind her holding her tightly, and she knew that was exactly why Bella had let her come to the waterpark.

 

Bella

 

Bella saw Lilith take off with her friends, and decided to let her go. It wasn't like she could do anything about it anyway. She was relaxing in a tube with Alice in her lap and Amanda asking when the waves were going to start for the fifteenth time. In all honestly, she knew Lilith's rebellious nature would kick in at some point and that Lilith would not be content to sit on the sidelines for long.

    “Bella,” Mortimer asked from the tube next to her, “why is Randy sitting all by himself?”

    “He's probably covering for Lilith,” Bella explained.

    “She took off?”

    “She went off with the other girls, yes.”

    “Aren't we supposed to be punishing her?”

    “We had her watch Alice for an hour.”

    “Do you think that's enough?”

    “Trust me, Mortimer, she won't be having nearly as much fun as she could be.”

    “What makes you say that?”

    “She told me she's in love with Dirk. You know as well as I do that she won't be completely happy until she sees him again.”

    “She feels that strongly about him?”

    “I seem to remember being in love too when I was her age.” Bella could feel her cheeks beginning to turn pink.

    “I don't doubt her feelings for him, it's just at first glance, you wouldn't think they'd be a couple. To be honest, I was surprised to hear they'd gotten together.”

    “Have you met him?”

    “Darren did bring him over a couple of times when he came to visit Cassandra. He would try to play with Alexander, but that never lasted that long. Dirk was not good at Chess and Alexander never had any interest in playing video games. It was hard to find something that they could do together.”

    A big cheer emerged from the pool as the waves began. Bella relaxed and let Amanda do all the work of trying to keep them from getting pushed to the edge. Alice seemed a little scared at first, but eventually she started enjoying herself, a big smile appearing on her face.

    Once the waves had finished, Bella and Mortimer left Alice with Jenny, who was more than willing to watch the baby while enjoying a rest on her lounge chair. She said that Randy had gone off with the others and that she was to inform them that Lilith had gone to the bathroom.

    Bella figured that the girls would want to spend more time in the children's area, but once Amanda and Anne heard that the others were riding the sides, they wanted to try it too. Anne hadn't wanted to go one one, and was an inch too short for another. The lifeguard had been very strict about that, and Amanda had stuck her tongue out at him, causing Mortimer to walk both her and Anne back down the stairs. But after a quick time out, Amanda was ready to behave herself and Bella and Mortimer took her and Anne down another side. Lilith was waiting for them at the end, her hair soaked and her makeup completely gone.

    “I want to do that again!” Anne shouted as they got out of the tube.

    “Maybe in a little bit, sweetheart,” Bella told her. She turned to Lilith. “Is there something you need?”

    “You knew I wasn't going to have any fun today, did you?” Lilith asked as they made their way back to their things.

    “You mean to tell me that you haven't enjoyed yourself at all?” Bella asked.

    “I guess that was an exaggeration,” Lilith replied, “but I still can't help but wish that Dirk was here too.”

    “I was going to take Alice on the lazy river next. You can join us if you want to talk a bit.”

    “Yeah, I'd like that.”

    “You might want to put some more sunscreen on first. Your skin's pretty pale and will burn up very easily. I should probably go change her diaper anyway before we get too comfortable.”

    They found an empty double tube floating in the river and got in, Bella setting Alice in her lap.

    “I don't think I've ever seen her that content to stay in one place,” Lilith observed.

    “That's because she's tired,” Bella told her. “She'll be asleep in a couple of minutes.” Sure enough, Alice's eyes were closing.

    “How did you do it?” Lilith asked. “I know what happened to your memory, but once it returned, how were you able to keep going without being able to contact Mortimer or your family?”

    “By taking it one step at a time,” Bella said. “Yes, it was hard, but I had to keep going or I knew I would never find them.”

    “All I really want to do right now is tell Dirk I love him. But I can't and it's driving me nuts.”

    “You're doing the right thing though.”

    “What do you mean?”

    “I had my friends to cheer me up. We went out and had some fun when we could, and that made everything better for a while.”

    “Is that the reason you let me come?”

    “Yes, pretty much. And you're right. I knew you wouldn't be enjoying yourself completely.”

    “Is that my punishment?”

    “Part of it, yes. But I'm not going to keep you away from the new friends you're making. You need something to take your mind off things.”

    Lilith laughed. “You know how hard that is, right?”

    “Yes, but I also know just how much you need it. That's why you should enjoy yourself while you're here, Lilith.”

    “Have you seen these people? I've seen couples everywhere. And that...” she pointed to an approaching waterfall under which a couple kissed. “...doesn't help.”

    “It's a park tradition to kiss under that waterfall. I kind of want to do that with Mortimer, but I know he won't want to get wet.”

    “He wouldn't do that for you?”

    “I'm sure he would, but I don't want to force him if he won't be comfortable.”

    “I think you should try it. At least you have someone to kiss.”

    “Something like that happened at another water park. We were running after the girls when the giant bucket at the top of the play structure started to tip over. I knew Mortimer would be less that thrilled about getting caught in that deluge, so I did the first thing I could think of to distract him.” I kissed him right there just as we got dumped on. I never thought that would be romantic, but it turns out it actually was. It was a nice surprise for both of us. And you know what? We started a trend. Several couples were doing that the next time the bucket tipped over.” They both started laughing.

    “Thanks,” Lilith said playfully. “Now I want to do that with Dirk too.”

    “You'll get your chance,” Bella told her. “Maybe even start a trend of your own.”

 

Lilith

 

After a day of waterpark fun and another study session, Lilith was pretty much blitzed. But as she tried to rest, she found her thoughts kept wandering to the same thing. Her father, the maid, and what things would be like without him in their home. She definitely needed to talk to an adult to get these thoughts out of her head.

    Lilith found Bella in the master bedroom. The door was open so she didn't see a problem with coming in. Still, she knocked on the door frame to get Bella's attention.

    “Bella?”

    “Yes Lilith, what is it?”

    “Can we talk for a bit?”

    “Of course.” Bella showed her into the room and they sat down on the ornate couches.

    “This may seem inappropriate, but I have to ask somebody and I didn't think it would be a good idea to talk to Cassandra about it and... ” Bella was the one she trusted.

    “Is this about your father?” Bella asked.

    “Yes and no,” Lilith answered. “It just doesn't make any sense. I've never really liked anyone in my family, but when I think about what's about to happen with Dad moving out... I'm not sure what it will be like living with just Mom and Angela. I mean, I suppose I should be happy that there's one less person around that I don't like, but I really don't feel that way at all and it's just confusing me.”

    “Maybe because that's not how you really feel about him,” Bella suggested. “It's normal to feel that way when a family breaks up. We've dealt with it ourselves. It's not easy for anyone involved.”

    “Does Amanda ever talk about her father?”

    “Not really.”

    “How much does she know?”

    “She knows her father hurt her mother,” Bella explained. “She probably knows that he had kissed another woman. Anne saw them and most likely told Amanda about it, but if she's made that connection she hasn't let anyone know.”

    “Was she sad about it? Did she have a good relationship with him?”

    “Yes, to both of those questions,” Bella said. “She was hurt by it, we all were, but we came together to get through it. That's what families do.”

    “Not my family.”

    “But that can change,” Bella explained. “Your sister wants to try. Your mother wants to try. You need each others support now more than ever.”

    “Like Mom's going to support me,” Lilith complained. “She won't even treat me like an adult.”

    “If you want to be treated like an adult, then you should start acting like one.”

    “I already do, Bella.”

    “Adults don't hit their sisters in public places.” Lilith looked at the ground.

    “I guess I have some growing up to do.”

    “That's because you're not grown up yet,” Bella informed her.

    “But I'm not a child anymore either.”

    “No, you're not,” Bella said. “Look, I was a teenager once too. I know how hard it is. And believe it or not, your parents do as well.”

    “No they don't. They've completely forgotten what it's like to be expected to act like an adult and get treated like a child.”

    “I think your mother is serious about wanting fix things between you, but she won't be able to do that alone. You have to try as well. And I don't know what your father thinks but...”

    “He lost his say when he hopped into bed with Kaylynn,” Lilith said.

    “But he's still your father,” Bella told her, “and he might want to try to make things better too.”

    “I highly doubt that. Not after what he did.”

    “His relationship with your mother doesn't determine his relationship with you.”

    “But he didn't even think about any of us, Bella. If he had, he would have never gone to bed with our maid.”

    “Look. You ran away from home because you didn't want to live in a house where everyone fought with each other all the time and treated you horribly. But it doesn't have to be that way. If you don't want to live in that kind of environment then you should take the opportunity to change it. It starts with you, Lilith. And you'd still have a home with people who love you.”

    “You think they love me?”

    “I'm sure, deep down, they do.”