Hello! This is where you can follow the process of my current attempt on writing a 50,000 word novel this month! I will update the story here as often as possible, so stay tuned. 

Everything might not be in order, but things should be fairly easy to follow. 

The story is readable here plus there's a download link to the file at the bottom.

Last updated: November 6, 2013 at 00:10am [GMT+2] 

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1.

"Lily... Lily? Miss Lewitt!"

She had been daydreaming again. In surprise of hearing her name, Lily snapped out of her imaginary world, shook her big, thin ears and, with wide eyes, looked up to her group counselor. The ginger spitz looked a bit frustrated at first glance, his curvy tail restlessly twitching about, but the look in his eyes was merely amused, catching the absent-minded she-cat's mind wandering yet again.

"S-sorry sir", Lily muttered, embarrassed, glancing at the floor. Her flowy, mahogany hair fell on her face, covering the intense blush running on her cheeks. She couldn't help it - the chilly Winter day outside was just too distracting to keep following the tuition today. It was the beginning of March, the Sun was shining, not a breeze could be felt, at times an occasional snowflake floated across the scenery. A lonely bullfinch was skipping happily on the frozen ground. Lily loved these beautiful days of the Winter. Then again she pretty much loved something about every season of the year. There was always something to be happy about.

”It's okay”, said the teacher, now smiling, ”just try to concentrate. We're going through some rather important topics today.” With that, he turned around to continue the lesson, muttering a bit to himself while picking up the green marker again, writing another paragraph about blood cells on the whiteboard almost full of biological facts, most of which were complete gibberish to Lily.

Having nothing better to do, Lily finished copying the texts on the whiteboard and went on aimlessly scribbling frills and curls on the corners of her notebook. The curvy lines slowly started to take different forms in her mind, they were like clouds on the sky shifting shapes, morphing into chirping songbirds and buzzing bees and little flowers one after another. The real world around Lily warped and drowned into those scribbles and drawings, they became the reality. In her mind, she was frolicking on the fields, playing in the woods – this time her thoughts were interrupted by the school bell ringing, ending the lesson. She quickly gathered her belongings from the desk and sweeped them into her bag, hurrying to find Jason - he'd had psychology if she wasn't utterly mistaken.

She found Jason one floor down, leaning against the wall in the middle of all the hurry, his bright blue eyes focused on his phone, probably playing that meaningless balloon popping game again. His short, ginger hair was as messy as always, sticking out in every direction, but somehow it still managed to look good and stylish on him. The bright colour of his hair was even better highlighted by his pale ivory complexion, shining bright in the dimly lit hallway as white as the freshly fallen snow outside. As Lily had expected, he did not pay attention to anything happening around him, so it was the perfect occasion to sneak up on him – again. The poor boy never suspected anything.

”Booh!” Lily exclaimed only a few inches away from Jason's semi-erect ear, making the Jack Russell squeal and jump a good foot high in a brief moment of shock. Lily let out a burst of friendly laughter as her friend tried to even his breath and heart beat.

”You are always so easily startled!” the cream-yellow cat teased her best friend.

”You would be too”, the canine snorted back at her, giving her a supposedly irritated glance, ”if you were concentrating on something important or highly interesting and suddenly scared to death.”

”Something important, like Bubble Pop 2?” Lily commented with irony in her voice, making Jason take a step back as his face notably reddened a bit. He lifted his eyes to look at Lily, they could both see that neither was actually serious about the subject, broke into a mutual grin and laughed it off.

”Come on, gamer boy!” Lily said and turned around to leave the hallway, ”we both have Physics next, don't we?”

*^*^*^*^*^*

The two hustled to the next class only to find they would still have to wait for the teacher to let everyone in. Looking around they could see other first year students waiting for their lessons as well. Jason checked his watch – the teachers weren't late, the students were just early for class. While standing on the hallway a bunch of older students walked past Lily and Jason, one of them clearly intentionally bumping into Jason. Lucy heard a spiteful utterance:”Watch your step, faggot”, escorted by muffled guffaws.

”Excuse me?” she called out after the older guys before Jason had the time to hush her down. Now he could just whimper meekly and try to hide behing his friend's back. The gang turned around. Lily didn't back off one step.

”I won't tolerate anyone calling my best friend names”, she snapped, looking the nearest boy straight in the eye, ”especially jerks like you”, she continued, stressing every word. Despite their usual warmness, her hazel eyes could be incredibly piercing and demanding if she so wanted. The boys looked confused, being confronted by a girl, even one younger than them. They looked at each other, shrugged and turned to walk away, rolling their eyes.

”You okay?” Lily turned to the slender boy awkwardly cowering behind her. Uneasy, Jason peeked at the direction where the bullies had gone. He then stood up, regained his posture and coughed a little.

”Yeah”, he replied, ”it wasn't really necessary for you to do that though. I'm fine with the comments I get, I've gotten used to them.”

Jason had always been picked on for his sense of fashion and style. He liked pastel colours, skin tight jeans and plaided blouses. His hair always looked good no matter what, he smelled more like flower perfumes than musky deodorant, and he preferred shoulder bags over rucksacks. In spite of all this he was undoubtedly straight, and Lily had taken over the responsibility of keeping people from insulting him. Sometimes Jason couln't help but feel like she was putting too much effort into what she did but didn't have the heart to tell the well-meaning girl to tone down a little. After all, if Lily hadn't first stood up for Jason the two of them might have never had met in the first place.

Finally the teacher arrived and the lesson could start. The subject of the course was general physics, which practically meant Jason would ace the exam without even opening the book and Lily would probably get an okay grade by studying hard the preceding night. Their teacher, miss Porter, a determined but heartfelt Boston terrier with colourful clothes and a big pair of red eyeglasses that she always forgot on top of her head, wasn't exactly known for difficult exams – she would rather have her students learn the basics on a wider scale than make them struggle with little details.

The physics class had separate desks so everyone had to sit on their own. Lily's seat was next to the windows where she liked it the best, whereas Jason had his place somewhere in the middle of the classroom. Lily was just about to dig up her pencil and sketchbook for another hour of simply doodling, when a knock on the door was heard. It was always as hilarious to see fellow students react to unexpected noises; you could see everyone's ears simultaneously perking and taking a turn to the same direction, as well as tails flickering in the air here and there. A knock on a door always had this effect.

The door opened, slowly and quietly. Puzzled, Lily took note that everyone in the classroom had somehow turned dead silent, just staring at the door. There was something highly intriguing about the way the door was being opened. Its shadow hid the person behind it, you still couldn't see anyone. Lily paid attention to the door knob on the classroom's side of the door; it looked slightly pushed down. The person at the door was holding the handle lightly, not pressing it nervously, nor in excitement or boredom either. No, the hand on the other side of the door knob was delicate, reserved and secretive.

The door was almost halfway open now, but it opened towards the classroom to block the view from everyone but miss Porter. She looked up from her paperwork on her desk and took a look at the door. A smile spreaded on her face as she said:”Yes, come in, come in! You must be the new student, hm? I've never seen you around before!”

The silence in the class had turned into eager whispers and soft chatter. A new student? They were well on their way through the second term, things like this did not usually happen in the middle of the school year. The person at the door finally stepped inside.

He was a wolf. Taller than average, with a normal body build and ash brown hair, almost with a tint of grey, falling unevenly to his face and partially covering it and the back of his neck. His sturdy ears pointing straight up were observing the classroom, no signs of panic or inner chaos could be felt. There he just stood at the door in his loose jeans and t-shirt, slowly waving his tail behind him, while on the background miss Porter went on with her welcoming speech that unfortunately no one was paying attention to. Everything Lily could catch was that the boy's name was Lucas. She observed his deep, jade green eyes slowly gazing over the classroom, when he unexpectedly turned his head in a swift motion and laid his eyes right on Lily. This made the cat girl freeze; his eyes were even deeper when you looked right into them, as if you were staring at a gloomy, swampy forest path surrounded by mossy pines. She stared back with her own, brown eyes. Lily marked the tired look, the gloomy shadow cast on his rough yet fragile features, the noticeably dark circles below his eyes. Miss Porter's voice chimed at the background, telling the boy to take a seat so they could move on. He broke the eye contact, gazing away, apparently spotted a chair to his liking at the back of the class and, without a single word, slouched to sit down. Lily glanced at Jason's direction to find that he was staring at her with a confused look on his face. She shrugged, just as confused herself.

The following recess was lunch break. Lily and Jason often spent it sitting in a hallway or strolling outside in the school park, neither wanting to cram themselves in the crowded cafteria with hundreds of other students. Today's weather made it almost impossible to resist a little midday walk, so they grabbed their hats and scarves and dashed out as soon as the bell rang. The wind had intensified during the lesson and it was now blizzarding lightly. Lily pulled her long, beige winter coat tighter, Jason in his dust grey jacket shuddered beside her, adjusting his woollen scarf to better cover his neck. Lily glanced at the misshapen, holey, olive green thing and huffed to herself, rolling her eyes – she had made that scarf at an afternoon handiwork club last Autumn and given it to Jason for Christmas as a joke, as it had failed miserably as a project, and the silly guy still wore it. The color went quite well with his hair, though, but it could have looked a little neater. She would make a better one for his birthday.

For a while they just wandered around the park, talking about everyday things like hobbies and homework and whether or not they should eat dinner out someday that weekend – it was already Thursday after all – but eventually the conversation was bound to turn to the new boy, Lucas.

”I think he's... an interesting person”, Lily admitted vaguely, and continued, ”I mean, he seems like an intelligent and smart guy. Quiet, though. Do you think he has friends?”

”I wouldn't know”, Jason shrugged, ”he kinda seems like the lonely type.”

”Yeah,” Lily agreed. They walked in silence for a while. The fresh snow was covering the branches of the bare Winter birches by their path. Jason broke the quiet atmosphere.

”...He was ogling at you for an oddly long time in the class, wasn't he”, Jason pondered. Lily chortled:”'Ogle' is probably not the word I would go for, but yeah, we did have a little staring contest of a kind there”, she smiled into the distance, ”he has very peculiar eyes.” Jason sighed.

”You're not... you're not, uh, attracted to him now are you?” he inquired, sounding cautious. Lily bursted into laughter.

”Jason, please, I have barely even met him, let alone heard him speak a single word! How on earth could I have a crush on him? You can be so incredibly naive sometimes.” Jason shrugged, looking a little irritated and replied:”How could I tell? You girls are so weird in your ways sometimes.” Lily had a hard time breathing regularly. Then her expression unexpectedly froze. She pulled herself closer to Jason, nodded to the clearing to their right and muttered:”See who's there.”

Standing alone at the clearing in a black jacket, with his hands in his pockets and his back leant against a large oak, was Lucas. No scarf or hat was there to keep him from the cold, even his shoes were just regular sneakers. He didn't seem to be paying much attention to his surroundings, just stood there staring at the ground. The snow was sticking to his wind swept hair but he didn't seem to mind the chilly weather at all.

”I wonder if he wants to be lonely like that or if he's just isolated and would actually want company”, Lily thought out loud.

”I would go for the former”, replied Jason, ”wouldn't he rather be loitering around the other students if he wanted to be noticed? I doubt he's waiting for people to come find him here. We can't really go to him anymore either, we need to get back to the school or we will be late.” He eyed his watch. Turning around, Lily laid her eyes on Lucas one last time. In a way she felt sympathy for the 'lone wolf'. As she was carefully observing the scenery, Lucas moved a bit, pushed himself away from the oak and started slowly stomping back to the doors. He seemed to be taking the same route as Lily and Jason, but was extremely careful with not crossing paths with them, staying behind them like a shadow. This made the two feel a little uneasy about relaxed chatter so they started an awkwardly plain and regular conversation about the beautiful day to fill the silent moment with.

*^*^*^*^*^*

Lily shoved open the front door and wearily tossed her schoolbag to the floor. The sound echoed in the high, empty lounge. The white walls, grey parquet floor and large mirror on the opposite wall welcomed her home like every day. Lily hung her coat on the rack and slogged to their equally white and grey kitchen where she found her mother reading the newspaper on the table. The smell of coffee filled the room. Noticing her daughter had arrived, the tortoise feline lifted her eyes from the paper and adjusted her red, half-rimmed glasses. Lily sweeped her hand toward her in a tired greeting and plopped down on one of the metallic chairs, slamming her head on the table and letting out a loud ”uufghhngh”. Her mom sipped on her coffee and turned a leaf.

”Tough day at school again?” she inquired.

”Yeah, well, the regular kind of tough I guess”, Lily murmured without lifting her head. Her hair was falling all around her on the white table top. ”The maths lessons are killing me. But we got a new student in today! I didn't yet get to talk with him but he seems like an interesting person.”

”Oh, is he... special?” Mrs Lewitt smiled knowingly. Lily lifted her face from the table and leaned far back in her chair, rolling her head.

”Gosh, Mom, why is everyone asking the same thing? No, I just think he might be worth getting to know, that's all! Geez!” she splurged and quickly went on to changing the subject, ”is Alyse home yet?”

Mrs Lewitt gave her a motherly grin and answered:”I think your sister is still at school, she should be home around three.” Lily nodded and stood up, went to pick her bag and dawdled to her room.

”Don't forget to feed Dolphin!” her mom called out after her.

The dim hallway, as almost all of the house, was grey and white as well. Sometimes Lily couldn't help but feel like a little splash of colour would not hurt anyone around, but her parents had wanted a neutral and modern house inside out. Lily pressed down her door handle and sighed in relief as the sunlight reflecting from the warm coloured surfaces hit her face. At least she still got to decide what her own room was to look like. She threw the bag on her floor all covered in her clothes and other belongings – she hadn't had the motivation to clean it all up in some weeks – and jumped on her bed that she had almost had the time to make in the morning. The colourful bedcover was just slightly off and the deco pillows were not in a perfect row but no one was there to complain. Lily sighed, hugging one of the pillows. She let her eyes wander on the light yellow walls covered in posters of all-girl bands, cute animals and chick flick movies, her messy, cluttered desktop and the red armchair in the corner covered in laundry. Dolphin, her pet goldfish, was swimming gleefully in his tank next to the window. She turned to lay on her side and reached out to the drawer of her nightstand to dig up a screw top notebook covered in stickers and little post-it notes with doodles on them. She clicked her pen and wrote down:”Hi, Diary.”

2.

Lily bounced out of her bed sheets so hard it scared Dolphin, who sprinted behind a seaweed to hide from possible danger. The clock on the wall told Lily she should have woken up almost half an hour ago – her alarm had not gone off in time. No wonder, she realized, glaring at the alarm clock that was lying on the floor upside down with its batteries out of place, it had probably fallen down at night. Had she kicked her nightstand or accidentally swiped the clock off the edge it didn't really matter, she was late all the same and she would have to take the bus this morning. She picked whatever clothes she could first find on her floor, gathered her schoolbooks for the day and crammed them in her bag, and sprinted to the kitchen to make a quick sandwich to go. As she was tying her shoe laces with the sandwich tucked in her mouth, her mom came to the lounge, rubbing her eyes.

”Slept in again?” she mumbled and yawned, ”hope you will not be late sweetie. Have a good day.” And with that, she slouched to the kitchen. Lily could only let out a muffled sound through the sandwich as she snatched her coat from the rack and hurried out of the door. In the kitchen her mom switched on the coffee machine.

Lily made it to the bus stop just in time. The yellow bus appeared to the end of the road just as she reached the stand and she waved at it furiously to make it notice her in the foggy weather. She found an empty seat and sat down breathing heavily. Finally she had a little time to concentrate in her surroundings a bit.

The weather really was incredibly foggy, she could barely see the road twenty meters ahead, the headlights of the bus were clearly visible in the mist. Yesterday's gorgeous sunny afternoon was as good as nothing, and if it was going to snow today it was likely to be hail. The Winter had been rather unstable this year. Lily looked out of the window, letting the scenery pass by without really taking notice of anything. Everything looked the same; woods, dull grey and beige houses, more woods, occasional traffic signs partly covered in frost and snow. In the bus the people were all sitting quietly, no one was talking. The only sound apart from the roaring engine Lily could hear was the beat of the music echoing through the headphones of a rebellious looking squirrel kid sitting nearby. She wasn't very old, maybe a middle schooler, but her face was covered in layers of make up and her eyelids were as black as her clothes, which seemed to be way too cold for the weather. The numerous piercings in her face and ears were glimmering in the traffic lights. She sure stood out from the crowd, though Lily wasn't sure whether it was in a good way or not. She liked observing strangers when she had nothing better to do. Guessing why they wore the clothes they wore and sometimes coming up with her own stories and personalities for them, some were quite normal and others just plain bizarre. Lily imagined the squirrel actually living a double life as the boss of a huge company and just faking it real big at school so that no one would know. Maybe she intentionally scored bad grades to hide the fact that when it came to real business she was straightforward and determined. Lily smirked to herself as she imagined the teenage girl in formal working clothes behind a large office desk, filling out paperwork and giving out orders, her bushy tail flickering behind her.

Lily let her imagination take her further and soon noticed she had started developing a made-up story for Lucas. In her mind, he was a kid from a very poor family pretending to be rich and ignorant, but underneath was very caring and took part in charity actions. Lily was amused by her own mental images and after playing with them for a while she shook them off with a huff. She looked out of the window again and went to adjust her bag strap on her shoulder for they were soon to arrive at the school.

Lily stepped out of the bus door, slipping a little on the icy ground but managed to stay on her feet. She checked the time; good, the bus had been in time and she would still be able to make it to the class. She quickened her pace, her bag bouncing against her hips and her breath pushing steam to the air. She passed a group of students drawing the last smokes out of their cigarettes before a lesson and let out a frustrating snort. She had never understood why people would do that, ruin their lungs and health by smoking. There were so many better ways to spend her time and money.

In the main hall she met Jason, who greeted her eagerly.

”Morning!” he hollered, ”did you sleep well?”

”Too well to be honest,” Lily replied, ”I slept in. I had to take the bus. Can't believe it's me saying this, but luckily it wasn't a nice weather, it didn't feel so bad to skip a morning walk.” Jason smiled:”You and your obsession with walking in nature.”

”It's a hobby! Just like your obsession with Bubble pop II,” Lily replied, poking Jason on the ribs teasingly. He jumped a little and gave Lily a cheeky grin. They both knew each other's 'weaknesses' and just how far they could go making fun of them without insulting the other.

Jason leaned back and spread his arms, showing off his chest:”I bought a new shirt yesterday!” he smiled proudly. The lilac plaid blouse on top of a light pink t-shirt actually fit him quite nicely, even though he usually sticked with more earthly colours.

”Nice!” Lily complimented. She had to admit, Jason was a pretty good looking guy. Despite that she knew he was nothing like the type of guy she would ever want to date, and vice versa, so being just friends was not a problem for either.

The school day went by and nothing extraordinary happened. The lessons were arranged according to the old familiar pattern, the food in the school cafeteria tasted as dull as always, the weather stayed the same blunt shade of nothing. When the last lesson finally came to its end, Lily and Jason headed straight out. They had decided to spend the Friday afternoon at Lily's place and, as Lily had insisted, were going by foot. Jason had only fretted a little, but given up in the end, admitting that a somewhat longer walk every once in a while wouldn't hurt. Besides, as Lily reminded him, her house was really only a couple kilometers away and it would actually be quite silly to take the bus if they weren't in a hurry anywhere. As they were ambling along the road side Lily spoke up.

”Did you see Lucas today at all?” she asked Jason. Jason looked at her with a suspicious look on his face.

”No, I don't think so. What does it matter?” he frowned a little.

”I was just thinking I could have tried speaking to him today!” Lily snapped. It was only the second day after Lucas had arrived and she was already getting tired of people misinterpreting her tries to befriend the silent boy.

”Listen, I don't even know a thing about him okay? He's lonely and I want to find out if he would actually enjoy company if someone offered it to him.” Jason shrugged. To him Lucas was just another kid at school.

”Well, it seems you'll have to wait until next week now”, he reckoned, ”I doubt he will appear at your front door during the weekend.”

”Yeah”, Lily admitted, ”but I will try again on Monday, you will see. Maybe we just lost him in the crowd today, the school is quite big after all.” Jason simply shook his head. Sometimes Lily really knew how to be persistent.

”Hey, what do you want to do today?” Lily changed the subject, ”I was thinking maybe we could bake something to snack on and watch the newest episodes of True Lies, you know we have been falling behind.”

”Mmh yeah”, Jason agreed, reminiscing the last plot twists he could remember from their mutual favourite show, ”we really have. The last revelations I can remember is Jessie turning out to actually be female and Emil finding himself pregnant and that was at least an eternity ago. How would you feel about apple pie and ice cream? I have been craving that for a good week.” Lily nodded happily. They both got the kicks from baking and cooking, and doing it together doubled the fun.

”I think we will have to stop by the grocery store then but it's no big deal”, Lily pondered, ”we're going to need eggs, sugar and the ice cream. Other ingredients I think we should have at home.”

*^*^*^*^*^*

Arriving home, after they had checked the mailbox and once again returned their neighbor's misdirected mail to its correct recipient, Lily and Jason cut straight to the case. Lily went to turn on her computer and make it download the necessary episodes, Jason sprinted to the kitchen to heat the stove and dig up useful recipes. The cooking was unprofessional and made a big mess, but they had loads of fun, after cleaning up and finally sitting down in front of the computer, the ice cream topped pie sure was delicious. Lily clicked on the 'play' button and let the show start.

”This really is the queerest show I have ever seen in my life”, Jason muttered as the intro song started playing in the background.

”Yes, and that's exactly the reason I love it so much!” Lily whispered excitedly, eyes keen on the screen.

They ended up watching six forty-five minute episodes in a row and devouring all of the ice cream and almost the entire pie. When they finally took the time to look out of the window, it was already surprisingly late. Jason looked at his watch and exclaimed:”Gosh, it's already half past eight!” Lily was equally surprised:”Wow, we seriously just spent almost five hours of our lives watching TV.”

”Well, I think that's a good sign of an awesome series then, isn't it?” Jason smirked. Dolphin splashed the surface in his aquarium. Lily walked over to him, slided her finger across the glass to make the fish follow it, and tilted a can of fish food over the tank to drip some of the contents to the water. Dolphin instantly forgot the finger and started eagerly catching the floating flakes in his mouth. Jason watched. He liked Dolphin and wished he could have afforded even something as small as a pet fish.

Jason stretched in his chair and stood up.

”I think I had better get moving then if I want to get home by tonight”, he said. Lily nodded, and they went to the lounge. She waved goodbye to her friend who headed towards the bus stop in the darkness. Silly people, not finding walking interesting, though Lily did understand taking the bus when it was dark outside.

She went back into her room, chose a playlist with relaxing music, and lay down on her bed. Her head had barely hit the pillow as she heard her sister stomping in the hallway and in a flash her door was slammed open so forcefully it was almost teared off its frames. Lily jumped up with a yelp as her sister zoomed into her room with her tabby tail swooshing all around and her unkempt, blonde hair fluttering behind her. She looked giddy about something, her light green eyes sparkling with enthusiasm and all her front teeth showing in a smile most eager.

”Jesus-damn-Christ Alyse!” Lily gasped, trying to even her heart beat, ”what on earth?!” The excitmenet on the twelve-year-old's face didn't decrease a bit, she continued bouncing on her place.

”Mom's letting me dye my hair!” she squealed. Her tail was now swishing so rapidly Lily was afraid it would soon hit something. She gave her sister a cheer, not wanting to let the little oe down, and replied:”Cool! What colour?”

”I haven't decided yet”, Alyse announced, ”but I would like it to be something rad! Like pink or green!” And with that, she stormed back to the hallway, of course forgetting to close the door behind her. Lily smiled to herself; how could a single soul contain so much energy? Maybe it was the weekend or the fact that it was already so late. Mom probably would not approve of Alyse dyeing her hair ”something rad” but she guessed an agreement could be achieved. Not really her problem, except that she would be the one Alyse would come crying to if and when mom would reject her suggestions. Lily opened her diary and started:”Apple pie and True Lies – jealous?”

3.

The weekend passed. Lily was constantly out in the Winter wonderland that had presented itself again after the fog, mainly staying away from home to avoid hearing her sister whine about how their mother was indeed not very fond of the idea of neon hair colours, but also to enjoy the last moments in the bare, white forest because, she assumed, the Spring was well on its way. The Sun, warmer every day, melted the snow on roofs and treetops, just so that they could freeze again at night, and the frost on the windows kept appearing and disappearing depending on the time of day. On the warmest times one could even see water dropping from drainpipes as the thick chunks of ice stuck inside them melted. Yup, Spring was definitely coming.

So came Monday, Lily had replaced the batteries to her alarm clock the night before and was pleased to get to walk to school in peace, watching her steamy breath and listening to the frost crunch below her boots. The cold morning made her feel a stinging sensation on her legs and she wondered if she should not have picked a skirt today, but the thick tights kept her warm enough as she was walking. What she was more concerned about were her fingers; she had not found her woollen knitted mittens in the morning and had settled with regular gloves instead. It was easier to handle things with her fingers separated but it sure made them feel cold as death.

Jason greeted Lily at the school gates. She was a little surprised at this, he usually appeared a lot earlier than she did, even on the days when she wasn't late. Jason went on explaining that he had lost his psychology books and looking for them, found an old box that had not been opened after he had moved to his current apartment. It had turned out to be full of really old pictures that he recalled having stored for putting them in a scrapbook later, and had sat on the floor for a good while just looking through them. Most of them had been from his ground school times, but some of them were even older. Now they were spread all over his floor in an organised chaos that he intended to continue sorting out later.

As they were speaking, Lucas slouched by behind them. Lily suddenly stiffened. This didn't go unnoticed by Jason, who had as well remembered what Lily had said last Friday.

”Still planning on approaching him today?” he questioned, sneering.

”Shh!” Lily hushed him down, ”yes I am, but quiet down will you? He is still right there!” Lily carefully leered at the boy. Lucas was slowly walking away from them. His posture was slightly crooked, he had his hands in his pockets and his head hung low as well as his tail. His pace was dragging, he did not care to lift his feet off the ground properly. Lily noticed other students silently observing him as well. There was something distinctive about this new student that made others utmostly intrigued by what he might be hiding, if anything. Be it charisma or something else, he could actually be fairly popular if he wanted to, Lily speculated to herself. If he only wanted to. The school bell ringing reminded them they should not be standing at the gates anymore and they jogged inside.

On lunch break, after two boring lessons of Religion and Economics, subjects Lily doubted she would ever need in her life, the girl gathered all her courage and went to look for Lucas. She supposed it would be best if she went alone, so Jason wished her luck and headed to the school cafeteria – they were serving cabbage casserole with lingonberry sauce, a dish which was not in great favor of the mainstream but which Jason happened to really like. Lily took the opposite direction to the school yard, hoping to find Lucas in the park again.

With every step she took, Lily got more nervous. She realized that apart from her own observations and assumptions she did not really know anything about Lucas. Come to think of it, she had never even heard the wolf speak a word. She lifted her shoulders to make her scarf fall more comfortably, but it only made her bag to switch spots and start hurting her neck, so she had to take her hands off her pockets to adjust it back, which in turn made her left sleeve wrinkle. Straightening the sleeve she almost tripped on her own feet and only barely avoided tumbling into a pile of snow. Geez, she snarled disgruntled. Just how nervous was she?

Lily brushed off the hairs on her face and checked her beanie was not sitting crooked and making her look stupid. She turned her head to see if the person she was looking for was anywhere to be found, and was suddenly taken by surprise noticing the dark character leaning on a tree not very far away from her. The ash brown hair was covering most of his upper face, but Lily could see that his lips were bent on a... smile? For a moment she just stared in awe as she could not do much else. She was confused, he had obviously seen all her clumsy stumbling, but at the same time she was oddly enchanted by how the smile on his face looked. It was not much, just a trace of how people usually smiled, but it was genuine, it was personal and fascinating. The fact that he was smiling at her faults was of no importance to her at that very moment.

Lily reminded herself that the time had not magically stopped and if she would keep staring at Lucas for any longer she would make herself look like a creep, so she picked herself up and carefully stepped closer to the silent boy.

As she got closer, the smile on Lucas' face melted away and turned back to his regular exxpression, but Lily could still sense a glimpse of curiosity in it. She stopped two steps away from Lucas and waited an awkward, silent moment. She gulped, sighed, and opened her mouth to inhale - -

”Hey”, Lucas greeted her softly. Lily was about to choke on her own breath. Her eyes widened at that unexpected ”hey” she had been afraid she would never even get to hear, and there Lucas had just started their first conversation.

”H-hey”, Lily stuttered back. She suddenly felt really small.

”I was just wondering”, she started, ”you looked so lonely here, I mean, maybe yo wanted to be alone but I was just thinking that, I don't know, maybe if I asked you if you wanted company you might just enjoy it, or well, if you would rather be alone I can just go. I'm Lily.” Lily blurted. Realizing what a loudmouth she had been, she quickly shut up and her face turned bright red. Lucas lifted his eyes to gaze away at the yard. He shook his head to flip back his hair and reveal his features some more. The little smile was back. Lily felt her heart beat fast like a hummigbird's wings, her knees were shaking and she wanted nothing as much as she wanted to run away, escape the nerve-wrecking situation, but the move had already been made and there was simply no backing off now.

”Hi Lily”, Lucas replied, ”how thoughtful of you.” His deep, calm, and velvet soft voice made Lily instantly feel less anxious, like it was surrounding her and soothing her nerves. He spoke in short, simple sentences, but it was in no way to indicate that he was dumb. No, the way he spoke, it only made it clear that he was clever enough to find excess talking unnecessary. He laid his eyes on the ground in front of Lily and slowly lifted them up along her body, inspecting every inch. The look was not despising nor hungry, like it would have been on most boys looking at a girls body, it was merely interested. The gaze reached her face and suddenly Lily gasped quietly as she saw his intense green eyes staring right at her.

”I would very much enjoy getting to know you. Please join me for a walk”, the look in his dark eyes was just as intense as the first time they had met in the class last week. He pushed himself away from the tree the same way he had the last time she had seen him in the park. He was actually quite tall when standing upright, Lily noticed looking up to him; her eyes leveled with his chin. They turned to the path leading around the park, deciding to go around since they still had plenty of time.

The first few moments were embarrassingly silent, Lucas not having anything to say and Lily not coming up with anything smart. All that could be heard was the snow scrunching under their feet.

”Where do you come from?” she decided to go with basic questions for the start.

”The next town over. Valwick. I was born here, though, but my parents decided to move there when they got an enticing offer on a nice house”, he replied, ”and then moved back here for the same reason.”

It turned out Lucas was nothing like the ignorant poor boy pretending to be rich she had imagined him being. Rather he was the only son of filthy rich parents and just did not care. He did not wear branded clothes, had no expensive hobbies – or actually any hobbies at all - and most certainly did not drive a car of his own, even though all of that could easily have been afforded and his parents would have been completely willing to help him get it if he only had wanted it. Lily was all ears. Lucas' world was so different from her own. She listened carefully as the boy went on about himself and stated questions every now and then. Lucas seemed to enjoy a nice talk when he got the chance, though Lily still doubted he would have ever started one himself.

They arrived back at the school. The afternoon could not have been more plain and common for an early Spring day; the temperature was around zero, it was light yet not sunny, and not a breeze was waving the branches. Lucas stopped at the park gates.

”I don't have any lessons left for today”, he explained, ”but if you want to see me again, I will be here tomorrow around lunch time too.” He gave Lily that same deep look and the little smile visited his lips again. Lily nodded, smiling widely. With that, Lucas turned around and walked away. Lily was left alone, staring at the receding back of the wolf that had just a shy hour ago been a complete stranger. A little sparrow flew from a nearby tree and made a couple funny loops in the air above her before continuing its flight to another tree. Lily followed the sparrow with her eyes and as she turned her attention back to the park road, Lucas was gone. Lily wondered which turn the boy could have taken to disappear so fast, but decided to shrug it off as not important. She had to go herself, she was almost late for class again anyway.

She had to look around for a good while before she finally found Jason, and when she did, she almost bumped into him. He was standing right aroud the corner with his face buried in a French book as he was furiously trying to study some last-minute words for a test he was about to have within ten minutes. Lily took a swift turn at the said corner and avoided crashing into the determined Jack Russell by a measly inch.

”Whoa!” she gasped, halting her pace in the middle of a step. Jason dropped his books. The terrified look of surprise on his face quickly turned into a relieved smile when he recognised Lily.

”Oh, gosh, it's just you. Hi! How did it go with you and him?” He bent down to pick up the books. Lily giggled a little.

”We talked the whole recess through! He is an interesting person and he did enjoy the company – I told you he could not be a bore!” she rejoiced. Jason grinned and stood up.

”Well I am glad he has someone to talk to now”, he said, but his expression got more serious as he continued, lowering his voice, ”but to be honest, Lily, I still get some really weird vibes from that fella. As if he was hiding something. I did not say this right away because you seemed so eager to meet him, but it's just how I feel.” Lily looked at Jason with a face mixing confusion and frustration.

”You most certainly are overreacting”, she then announced, ”I get none of those 'vibes' of yours and I have even talked with him, which you, as far as I know, have not done. Have moderation with those prejudices, Jason! Please.” Jason's pale cheeks blushed a little and his perky ears and bouncy tail drooped. He glanced around nervously.

”... Yeah, sorry... I think I got a little carried away there. I shoul try to get to know him first.” He gave Lily a toothy smile as an apology. Lily smirked and pushed him lightly on the shoulder.

”How will I ever know if you have actually taken something seriously or not?” she laughed as they were finally walking to their classes.

”It's easy”, explained Jason with a wild grin, ”if in doubt, I didn't.”

4.

The next day Lily couldn't wait for lunch. Not because the food would be extraordinarily good, no – she was not a great fan of the kind of spinach soup they served at school – but because she was excited to meet Lucas again. She had tried to spot him on the hallways in the morning but without success. Maybe he spent the breaks somewhere in silence and peace, it did not sound like a bad idea. The school halls were always awfully full of noisy people and often ended up to be more reminiscent of a chaotic mess from the depths of hell than a normal high school passageway. No wonder such a reserved person would prefer staying away from those situations.

As soon as the bell rang, Lily sprinted out, putting on her coat as she went. Jason followed her as she explained to him what she would be up to and how she wouldn't come for lunch again. Jason was about to take the route to the kitchen but Lily grabbed and yanked his sleeve.

”I think you should come too, so that you would get to know him”, she suggested. Jason hesitated.

”I don't know, Lily”, he stammered, pulling his hand away.

”Come on, it's going to be all fine!” Lily smiled encouragingly, moving toward the doors and flailing her arms like a windmill, gesturing Jason to come with her. Jason finally decided to follow her, it had been a long time since Jason had seen her that excited over a certain thing the last time and the feeling kind of rubbed off on him too. He quickly zipped his jacket and followed Lily outdoors.

This time Lily knew where to find Lucas and already spotted him from afar, even though his colourless figure mostly blended in with the background, the shades of brown and grey making him almost camouflage. He was not staring at the ground this time, he was warily looking around and Lily guessed he was waiting for her. As soon as he turned his head to their direction, however, Lucas' eyes instantly dropped back to the ground and firmly stayed there, as if he had seen something he wanted to ignore. Lily, taking little to no note of this behavoiur, marched forward in the snow, Jason panting and trying to keep up the pace behind her.

”Hiya!” Lily greeted Lucas. Lucas did not even glance up. Meanwhile Jason had finally gotten through the snow, now desperately trying to shake it off his way too light shoes. Lily looked at Lucas, a little concerned.

”Hello?” she called. Still no answer.

Is... everything okay?” she asked him. All she got was some muffled muttering. Jason's head appeared over Lily's shoulder.

”What's going on here? I think I got snow in my shoes, they feel wet”, he chattered, ignoring the situation. Realizing the silence he quieted down quickly. The stillness of the three of them was almost depressing, as if someone had just muted the whole world. Jason was the first to react.

”Lily, I think I had better just go now. My stomach is rumbling and I am starving”, he excused himself and staggered back to the school in the snow as swiftly as he could without coming off looking comical in his wet shoes. Lily looked him go.

”Oh, hi.”

It was as if Lucas had just woken up from a dream and returned to reality. He held his head up, looked around with that same dreamy expression he always seemed to have, aimed his eyes at Lily and gave her that little smile.

”Why didn't you answer me earlier?” she demanded immediately, ”I wanted Jason to meet you and brought him along just for that, and you decide to just mope?” Lily was taken by surprise by her own words and she quickly reconsidered her sayings. She then took a more cautious approach and a calmer tone:”... Sorry, Lucas. Is something wrong?” Lucas sighed.

”No, it's nothing. I'm just tired. And I kinda wasn't feeling like talking to very many people at the same time. You know I'm more of a loner”, he explained. Lily, even though she knew how relaxing solitude often was, had never had a problem with communicating in a group of people. Lily felt sympathy for Lucas. She carefully placed her hand on his shoulder, he trembled but did not shake it off. He smiled again.

”Thank you for understanding. Or at least trying to. I prefer having few people around me”, he said, ”I would appreciate it if you could come to see me alone in the future.”

”Okay”, Lily shrugged, ”I guess I can do that. I was just trying to convince Jason that you are a nice person and all, I think he might have something instinctive against you.” Lucas huffed.

”You have a peculiar friend. But I doubt he will mind you seeing me around lunch, he can always play with his phone like he does all the time, right?”

”Well, you have gotten quite an accurate image of him”, Lily smiled shortly, ”and I can explain this to him. He will get it, he is my best friend after all. Sure he'll realize you need a friend too.”

They made a walk around the park again, this time talking mostly about Lily. Lucas was asking most of the questions and lily tried telling him all about her life as accurately as she could. They talked about her hobbies, family, dreams and all else, and Lucas seemed to be genuinely interested.