Lilium

Four

Four

Next Saturday, Lilith was back inside Ms. Longsly's office. The therapist sat in her rocking chair. Lilith perched herself on the edge of the couch, the balls of her feet pressed into the carpet. Thick fibers brushed along her socks, making a rustling sound whenever she moved. Her shoes were gone, discarded to a random corner from when she'd kicked them off.

"I'll be honest, Lilith," Ms. Longsly said as she adjusted the pad of paper in her lap. Not even five minutes had gone by since Lilith arrived. "I was half-expecting for you to not come back."

I was, too, Lilith almost replied. Then she remembered that this sort of thought was rude and she clenched her teeth.

"I know," she said instead. "I must come across as one of those uncommitted types, eh?"

Ms. Longsly blinked in what Lilith guessed was surprise and cocked her head to the side. "Er... Yes."

Lilith winked. "That's the point. Make them think you're not interested." She raised one hand and twirled a finger in the air. "And just when they give up on you, bam. Out of the blue. They never see it coming." She leaned back and sighed, her arms going to the back pillows. Her fingers brushed against glass and she drummed her fingers against the window behind her.

Ms. Longsly bit her lip, staining the lining of her teeth purple as she gave Lilith a look. Lilith arched an eyebrow.

"So, Lilith."

Here we go.

"Let's try this again, shall we?" She set the pad down on her thigh and reached for her mug, which sat on the table between them. The table was made of thick brown wood, lacquered to a near-perfect sheen. Lilith could almost see the reflection of her foot when she extended a leg over its surface.

"Try what again?"

Ms. Longsly's face fell. Her cheeks deflated. "Our..." she paused to flip pages on her notepad. "Our meeting."

"Ah, yes. That." Lilith accentuated this with an eyeroll and hoped that she looked convincingly sarcastic. If Ms. Longsly noticed, she said nothing to signal this. Instead, she focused her eyes on Lilith and waited for several moments, her pen tapping out the seconds.

"Tell me about school." Four. Five. Six.

"It's... It's boring," Lilith replied. Eleven. Twelve. "There's not much to say. I don't have many friends. There's two, in fact, and I got suspended because of one of them. She came to school in a dress once. Got called a faggot."

Ms. Longsly made a noise in the back of her throat. "Er... why?"

Lilith stopped. "What do you mean?"

"Why did she get called... that, and how does it involve being suspended?"

"She's..." Lilith pressed her lips together. "Let's just say she's the sort of person she wouldn't expect to wear a dress. I punched a fucker out for calling her that, though. Our other friend is a video game-obsessed asshole. He hasn't been a reason I've been suspended. Smokes more weed than I do, though. Lives with Jack. You wanna know why?"

Ms. Longsly raised the pen to cut Lilith off. Lilith nudged the table with her foot and pretended to not see the motion.

"Because his mom couldn't take the fact that he hangs out with the 'unusual'. And you know what's worse? That's not the real reason. It's because he's bi. His mom kicked him out and threatened to burn him alive if he came back." Now she was waving her arms for emphasis. "Should've seen her fit, though."