The sun was warm as it shone on Harrison’s back. The air smelled of the promise of summer as he walked down the sidewalk, Lili at his side. The two had been strolling the campus for about two and a half hours and had already covered half a lifetime's worth of stories. Although they had not met until then, they found a common ground that brought them closer than they could’ve imagined during this first real conversation with each other.
Claire had suggested Harrison and Lili spend an afternoon alone talking things out. Harrison had helped Claire previously with so many issues that she thought he’d be the perfect person for Lili to use to help pull her out of the pit she had found herself trapped in. For months Lili had refused to share her problems with Claire’s boyfriend, but after her most recent break up with Mark again, Lili had finally given in to Harrison and Claire’s pleas for her to help herself.
Lili surprised herself when she reflected on how much she had enjoyed the afternoon sharing with Harrison. The walk had been relaxing and easygoing, and she drove home that evening thinking about how great it felt to get all of her problems and past mistakes off her chest, and was relieved to find out that someone had just as messed up of a past as her.
Over the next few weeks, Lili and Harrison met after school most days to walk and talk out life, homework, and anything else that was currently making life unbearable. The two traded stories, pulling each other out of the depression they had both sunken into over the past few years. Lili looked forward to every meeting, text, and chance interaction with Harrison, and within a month she found she loved the boy who had put her back on her feet.
Harrison, on the other hand, found himself conflicted. Claire was great, and she was simple and easy to be comfortable around, but Lili lit a fire within him that he couldn’t put out. Every time she laughed, it rang in his ear for minutes past the punch line of the joke, and he lost himself in the intensity in which Lili threw herself into every single thing she did. Everything about her made him long to be beside her from that moment on and for the rest of his life. But Lili continued to hurt and he found he wanted nothing more than to save her, and to be saved by her. His bottled up fears and troubles began to thaw as his love for Lili warmed everything up in his life, including the rumor mill.
Harrison sat up gasping, drenched in sweat. The white room blinded him, and he immediately closed his eyes again, tight. Breathing heavily and throwing off the sheet, Harrison sat up and put his feet on the floor, his head in his hands. The door whooshed open and Kate bustled in with her usual cart. Harrison didn’t react. “Dinner time, sleepy head,” she said cheerfully to Harrison’s unmoving form. After a few silent moments, she prodded again, “Hungry?” Harrison looked up slowly at Kate, shook his head, and then laid down again, this time facing away from her.
Lili rolled over and slowly opened her eyes, pulling herself gently from a dream where she found herself safe in the arms of Harrison, shutting out the cruel realities of the world. The clatter of metal dropping to the floor made her bolt up straight, all attention on the door where a tray of food had been thrown through the slot. Disgusted, Lili turned away from the door and faced the wall. In the whiteness of her surroundings, all she saw was Harrison.
The lights blared in her eyes as Lili stepped on stage, Harrison coming towards her slowly from the opposite wing, step by step. They both put their microphones to their mouths and began to sing. The band played, the rest of the choir danced, but all Lili saw was Harrison and in turn, all he saw was her. The audience, Claire, Mark, the past, and the future no longer mattered as the words 'let's make believe we're in love' rang out while Harrison and Lili held the final pose of their number. The concert ended, but Harrison and Lili's relationship was just beginning.
As the audience filed out of the theatre, Harrison caught Claire's gaze from across the room, a big tear rolling down each cheek and anger burning in her eyes. Harrison's stomach dropped as Claire turned and left the room in a hurry, Eliza following quickly behind her. Lili saw the entire interaction and hurried over to Harrison's side, placing a hand on his arm softly, Harrison looked back at her, both knowing that Monday morning was their end.
Sure enough, on Monday morning when Lili arrived at school and walked down the main hallway of campus, people whispered and stared at her, malicious secrets flaring up between the speaker and the listener. Lili parted the student body down the center as she walked from class to class that week and for the next four months following the choir concert.
Lili woke again, her sheet wet with tears and sweat drenched her clothes, she had forgotten the things in her real life that brought her hate. The rumor mill of her past drove her fury right back through the roof, and Lili was once again made of rage.
