the car accident. What did her mother mean? After thinking about it for a while she decided that it didn’t mean a whole lot, because all mothers think their child is the most special child in the whole world. Even if that was the case, her mother’s pep talk had helped. Lily knew everything would be fine, and her situation would improve as time went on. Her mother was right about one thing for sure; she had Aunt Jenny, her cousins, and Malaya to support and help her through anything life would throw at her. Her thoughts were interrupted by Ruthie skipping into the room.
“The phone’s for you,” she said handing her the out of date cordless phone. After Ruthie turned on her heel and twirled out of the room Lily spoke into the receiver.
“Hello,” she said curiously.
“Um, hi, this is Landon. I just wanted to see how you were doing.”
“Oh, hi.”
“You must be really glad to be home.” Landon’s usually strong voice sounded nervous.
“Yeah, I am,” Lily responded. It had been a week since she woke up to see him staring at her. She was still leery of him, even though since that day he seemed like a genuinely good guy. His past behavior was so hard for her to overlook. In the back of her mind he was still a total jerk.
“So when do you come back to school?”
“I wanted to go back this Monday, but the doctor and my aunt both want me to wait another week to build up my strength. They’re probably right, because I still feel a little weak sometimes.”
“That makes sense, I mean, you may feel fine around the house, but walking, well, um, rolling around school all day would probably wear you out.”
“I’m sure that is what they were thinking too. I’m okay with it. It’s kind of nice to have a break. Although I guess it’s not much of a break, because I still have homework piled a mile long,” she said glancing at the towering stack of papers on her dresser.
“If you need any help with plowing through that mile, I’m available if you need it. I mean, not do it for you, but maybe help it go faster somehow,” he said fumbling over his words. “My specialties are algebra, geometry, and history. Anything else and you’re on your own,” he said with a laugh.
“I think I’ll be okay on most of it, but I may take you up on your offer when I get to the algebra part. I really stink at algebra.” Lily couldn’t believe herself. Had she really just accepted an offer from Slade, one of the biggest jerks at her school, to tutor her? As in, come to her house, sit at the table, and do homework together? She would have to squirm her way out of that one later.
“Oh, thanks for the flowers, by the way,” Lily said, glancing at the bouquet on her nightstand.
“You’re welcome. It’s the least I could do.”
“Pink roses are one of my favorite flowers. My mom used to grow them in her garden.” Lily smiled at the sweet memory.
“So why doesn’t she grow them anymore?” Lily didn’t know what to say. Most people who knew her already knew what had happened. She never had to explain it to anyone. She wanted to just hang up the phone, but that would have been rude and he didn’t seem like the sort of person to give up easily anyway, so she just told the simple truth.
“My mom died in a car accident a few months ago. I survived with severe injuries. That’s why I was in a wheelchair to begin with.” Lily hated saying it because it made it so real. It made this nightmare in her life actually true. There was silence on the line for a moment and then Landon spoke in a reverent whisper.
“Wow, I am so sorry. I’m sorry, Lily, I didn’t know.” His voice was so sincere and heartfelt that Lily believed he actually meant it.
“It’s okay.”
“I don’t know much about a parent dying, but my dad left a few years ago, so I know it can be hard when they aren’t there.”
“Yeah.”
“So do you live with your dad then?”
“No, I never really knew him. He died from cancer when I was little.”
“Lily, I’m sorry. I wish I had known. That must have been really hard not even knowing your dad.”
“It was hard sometimes, but most of the time it was okay. My mom and I were