REAWAKENED 2: SHE IS LILA

You're not pathetic

Minutes later, it was class time, and as Arthur was in his class learning English, Blake was in her class waiting for Mr. Martin to show up; and when he did and he greeted the class and they greeted him back, he introduced a new topic; genetics. It was one of the most difficult topics in secondary biology and the moment he wrote it on the board, everyone murmured.

09:45 hit and it was time for break. Blake and Arthur met in the cafeteria and ate and when they were done, they returned to their respective classes; and as Blake was standing by her locker gathering her textbooks for the next lessons, Jackson meekly walked up to her.

“Hello there?” he greeted and she immediately stopped and turned to him, giving him a look that was so blank he had no idea whether she was going to say something good or something bad

“What the heck was that?” Blake calmly asked.

“I’m sorry. That’s why I didn’t even come and greet you today like I always do, I figured you needed some space from me after what I did yesterday.”

“You think!”

“Come on Blake I’m sorry I just . . ,” Jackson said wanting to explain himself but she interrupted him.

“You showed up at my home, and that’s not even the worst part, you following me home like a serial killer, that’s the worst part. And did you stop there? No you did not. You went as far as knocking on my door and talking to my mom. Seriously???”

“I’m sorry I just . . ."

“Never show up at my house ever again.”

“What if . . .”

“No,” she said firm.

“Or even . . .”

“Uh-uh.”

“You . . .”

“Never! Hear me Jackson and hear me well, you are never to show up at my house ever again.”

“Ever is such a long time,” he said. “What if . . .”

“No nothing, even if there’s a zombie apocalypse you are never to come to my house ever again.”

“O.k. then, how am I supposed to come and pick you up for our date tonight?”

“Goodness keep your voice down, it’s not a date, it’s just dinner,” Blake said.

“I confessed my feelings for you Blake . . . It’s a date.”

Butterflies immediately flooded her tummy, and not the good kind. What had she done? She had created a monster. Had she told him from day one that she wasn’t into him, he wouldn’t have fallen for her more and gone as far as ambushing her at her own home and asking her mother to grant him permission to take her out on a date. It was all her doing and now she was going to have to deal with the consequences of her actions.

Blake grabbed her textbooks and shut her locker door. “Don’t worry about picking me up. I’ll pick me up and drop me off,” she said and walked off into the classroom as Jackson remained wondering if what he did was the right thing or not. It was the right thing in that he asked her mother for permission first, a sign of respect, and it was also a bad thing because he crept behind her back and she really didn’t appreciate that.

Jackson began to worry. The way she talked to him just now was different from the way she usually talked to him, she seemed not herself and it made him very uneasy. Was it because of what he did? Had his grand gesture backfired and done the complete opposite of what it was supposed to do which was to woo her? He started to think so.

Hours later, it was knocking off time, and not wanting to give Jackson a chance to talk to her lest he say more things to her that make her uncomfortable, she quickly gathered her stuff and left. Getting into her car, she then drove off and went home, and when she got there, she quickly dove into The Golden Quintessence, hoping to get her mind off the date, even if it was just for a few hours.

She just needed to not think about it for a little bit because thinking about it made her feel like a villain; first for not telling Jackson the truth and in a kind of way giving him false hope, and second for breaking his heart. And the fact that it was something that could have so easily been avoided, had her beating herself up inside so hard she battered and bruised.

Lila entered Geldah’s cottage and when she saw William tied up and gagged in the corner, not just alive but conscious also thank goodness, she sighed in huge relief and quickly ran to free him. She removed the gag and cut the ropes, and then helped him up to his feet where she then pulled him into a hug and warmly embraced him.

“I was so scared. I thought that wicked witch had cooked and eaten you,” she said.

“She was about to, the cauldron was ready and everything,” William said.

There was a large black cauldron in the fireplace and inside it was bubbling a green tar-like soup that Geldah wanted to throw William into but thankfully, Lila showed up just in the nick of time and stopped her.

“Are you alright?” she asked as she softly pulled away from him and held his face in her hands, truly concerned about him.

“Um, I think so,” he answered dubiously.

"O.k. let’s go.”

They took just a few steps when out of nowhere, William screamed in anguish as he curled forward holding his stomach and fell to the floor.

“William!” Lila wailed and immediately went to kneel down next to him. “Oh my goodness, what’s wrong?”

“Ugh!” he loudly groaned.

“William what’s wrong?”

"Burning! Something's burning inside!"

"What do you mean burning? What’s going on?” she asked.

"The witch, she gave me a drink of water. I thought nothing of it at the time but now I think it was poison. She poisoned me," William said and began to cry; he felt like his stomach had been set on fire and the pain was harrowing.

"Oh no. What do I do? I don't know what to do."

"The market; go to the market and buy anti-poison herb juice, it’s the only thing that’s going to help. Quickly go, I don’t think I have much time left.”

"O.k. William hold on, I'll be back just now, hold on.”

Lila blasted out of the cottage and as she ran to the walkway, a new objective popped up; REACH THE MARKET AND PURCHASE ANTI-POISON HERB JUICE.

Lila followed the map to the market and when she got there, she began searching the area for a herb stand. Like Geldah’s cottage, the market sat on a piece of ground, and it was made up of small wooden stands that were selling all sorts of items. There were a few people here and there doing some shopping, and meandering her way passed them, Lila continued to look for the herb stand; desperate to find it as she needed to purchase the herb juice and return to William before it was too late.

There was only one herb stand in the market and when she finally located it, she bought the anti-poison herb juice for 700 coins and quickly rushed back to Geldah’s cottage.

Bursting in, she found William curled up on the floor. He was still alive, quietly groaning and crying, and was sweating so profusely his shirt was completely drenched. He was shaking also and realizing just how much pain the poor thing must have been in, Lila’s heart broke some more as she quickly went to his side and gently lifted his head off the floor to administer the anti-poison herb juice to him.

“Open your mouth William, drink," Lila said as she trickled the herb juice into his mouth. "Good, drink.”

She emptied all the contents of the bottle into his mouth and when he had swallowed the last of it, he was instantly rejuvenated.

Sitting up, he then gave out a huge sigh, greatly relieved that the torment was over for it was one that was so blistering he was so sure he was going to die.

“Are you o.k.? How do you feel?" Lila asked.

"The anti-poison herb juice worked perfectly, I feel wonderful. Thank you Lila, thank you so much,” he said and hugged her, and she hugged him back.

“Don’t worry William, I’ve got you. I will do everything in my power to keep you with me. I promise.”

A moment later, they were back on their path; walking down the walkway and continuing to follow the trail of golden dust as they went on wondering just where it was taking them.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Lila asked.

"I’m fantastic, thanks to you . . . Again," William said and sulked. "Goodness, how pathetic am I?"

"You’re not pathetic.”

"Yes I am, you're always having to save my life."

"That doesn’t mean you're pathetic," she said.

"Yes it does. I mean look at me, I can't even defend myself against an old lady, what is that if not pathetic?”

"Excuse you but that old lady put up a very tough fight. She almost killed me . . . Twice.”

"What?” he wondered.

"Yes. She was old and wrinkly but she had the bones of a sixteen year old. And like that was not hard enough to deal with on its own, she kept throwing these lethal explosive viles at me.”

"Uh, so those were the explosions I kept hearing."

"Yes and they really hurt. Had I not had spare bottles of tulip syrup, that witch would have been the end of me," Lila said.

"Wow, and even still, you manage to defeat her."

“I had to. It was the only way I was going to get to you."

William humbly smiled. "Thank you,” he said.

"Stop thanking me so much, it's what friends do, they look out for each other."

"Yes each other, but so far it’s just been you looking out for me. Goodness, maybe you were right, I shouldn’t have come. I should have just stayed back in Zelham."

Lila chuckled. “You don’t mean that,” she said.

“You’re right I don’t. I despise being around that woman so much the mere thought of her makes my skin crawl,” he said and they laughed. “It just gets me so down that ever since we came out here I've been nothing but a damsel in distress."

"That’s not fair. You’ve been a huge help too. All your shortcuts have saved us so much time.”

"Yes but they’ve also almost gotten us, me, killed."

"William stop. You are being way too hard on yourself. It’s dangerous out here and we’re both just trying to do the best that we can,” Lila encouraged.

“Yes, one much better than the other.”

“Yes because that one has trained her whole life whilst the other hasn’t, it’s unfair to compare the two.”

“Well, it’s not so much comparing, it’s just that you have this thing that you’re good at and I don’t,” William said, sulking on.

“What are you talking about? You’ve known exactly how to get us to everywhere we’re going, what is that if not a skill?”

“I suppose that’s something.”

“Yes it is, so stop beating yourself up,” she said. “Besides, having you out here with me has been really nice. I never planned to have a companion on my quest but I’m so glad I have you. It weighs heavy on me sometimes, and having you here helping lighten things up, means more to me than you will ever know.”

His mouth curved in a warm smile as his eyes began to glisten with tears. “Really?”

“Really.”

"Oh Lila, that’s so nice of you to say, thank you. That makes me feel so much better.”

Lila cutely chuckled. “You’re welcome,” she said and they smilingly walked on.

Done playing for the day, Blake exited the game and started getting ready for her date, dinner, whatever it was with Jackson. She took a quick shower and as she dressed up, she talked to mom on loudspeaker on the phone. She was still at work working and was going to meet them at The Blue.

"Oh my gosh honey, coming all the way to your home to ask you out on a date, so romantic. How come you never told me about Jackson?" mom said, sitting at her desk.

"Because there was nothing to tell, there is nothing to tell. Jackson is just a friend,” Blake said. She was in the bathroom standing in front of the mirror combing her hair, wearing a black lace tutu dress and a pair of silver pumps.

"Well I think it’s pretty clear that he wants to be more than just a friend to you.”

“He does but unfortunately I’m not into him like that.”

“Uh, playing hard to get I see,” mom teased.

"It's not playing hard to get if you don't like the person mom, it's just you not liking them."

"So you don't like him?"

"I like him as a friend that’s it,” Blake said.

"But he's so cute."

"He is cute, I just don’t like him like that.”

"But you said yes," mom said.

“No, you said yes, and now I have to go on the date, dinner, whatever it is so that neither of us looks bad.”

“So what’s going to happen?”

“I’m hoping to use this as an opportunity to finally tell him the truth,” she said. “It’s been way long overdue. Gosh, I just hope I don’t chicken out. I don’t want to drag this thing any longer than I already have.”

“Aw shame, he’s going to be so heart broken.”

“Yes he is, and then, he's never going to speak to me ever again.”