Of all the Fridays at school spent counting down the clock until I could leave, this was the longest and most anxiety-inducing by far. I wasn't stoked about the idea, but being the often shortsighted teens that we were, it felt like there was no better option.

I had told my parents I was going over to Sadie's, which was almost true. Sadie, Kai, and I piled into her car as soon as the final bell had rung and drove to Lily's house.

She lived further out from school than the rest of us, but not by much. It was maybe twenty minutes before we were parked across the street from her house. Every muscle in my body was tensing and the stress and anxiety had me feeling nauseous. I felt every beat of my heart in the space between my ears and my temples. I could tell the others were equally nervous, but it wasn't like we were going to turn back.

It certainly was not a part of the plan to spend almost ten minutes in the car as we prepared ourselves, but none of us were willing to speak, or make a move towards her house. Finally Sadie opened her door and began to walk over, Kai and I following quickly and close behind.

We marched up to the door and I took it upon myself to give several loud knocks to announce our presence. There was a bit of bustling inside, but eventually the door creaked open. It was Lily's dad, beer bottle in hand.

"Who are you? What are you doing here!?" he demanded.

"We're Lily's friends. She wasn't at school and we wanted to make sure everything was alright," Sadie had the courage to respond. She might fret beforehand, but she would always get amped up in the moment, especially when she faced resistance.

"That's none of your business... Now get off my property," he said very matter-of-factly. He attempted to close the door, but it was stopped from closing completely, by Kai. I was very grateful for his height, as he was slightly taller than Lily's dad.

Once Kai had stopped the door from closing, Lily's dad swung the door wide open and sized the three of us up. He scanned our faces and when he settled on mine a sneer ran across his face.

"I figured you'd know better than to show your face here."

All eyes were on me.

"Where is she? We're not leaving until we know that Lily's okay," I responded with as much gusto as I could muster. I didn't regret my transition, but at a time like this, a deeper voice would probably have helped.

"You sure have some guts. Somebody ought to put you in your place... freak."

I gulped. I could easily see him tensing up for a fight, and Kai and Sadie were quickly reacting. From the smell of alcohol radiating off of him, I figured that three on one was good odds, but that didn't stop me from being terrified. My martial arts reflexes were sizing him up for the impending altercation.

Lily's dad smashed the bottom of the bottle on the door frame leaving some sharp edges, escalating the situation, and forcing me to recount those odds.

"I'll tell you one last time. Get out of my sight!" he shouted, and it echoed for another few seconds.

None of us moved. Everything was silent, except for the sound of our breathing. Then there was movement inside the house and Lily stepped into view. She looked a bit disheveled, but seemingly unharmed.

"Dad! STOP!" she yelled, breaking the silence. The look on her face exemplified what all of us were feeling: outright terror.

He turned to face her.

"You get your fuckin' ass up those stairs or there's gonna be hell to pay!" he shouted.

She stood where she was, half defiantly and half out of fear to do anything but freeze.

She and her dad stared each other down for a few seconds. Then he raised the broken bottle at her.

"I said GET THE HELL UP THERE!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Then another voice came from inside the house.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Lily's mom stepped into view.

"Are you threatening her!" she said as though it wasn't a question. Then the shouting ensued. It was so abrasive and fast that I didn't have much ability to process it. Her parents were in an all-out screaming match. At one point she pulled out her phone and dialed 911, and the she pointed at the three of us.

"You take her the hell out of here!" she ordered us. The four of us didn't miss a beat and practically sprinted to the car.

We drove off and didn't stop or think to look for a place to go until we were back in downtown. None of us said a word, and I could see tears streaming down Lily's face. Sadie pulled into a motel parking lot. Kai got out and walked up to the desk. He was getting a room for Lily that night, while Sadie and I hung back.

We continued the silence, and shuffled into the room once Kai got a key. Any pretense of holding back tears was gone as Lily let loose. Sadie was close, comforting her. Kai and I took the opportunity to grab some food from nearby and let things chill out. I figured it was still best that I keep my distance.

In addition to getting food, Kai and I used the time to call our parents, and explain everything that had gone down. She was silent as I recounted it all.

"The three of us are staying with Lily tonight to make sure she's okay and that nothing happens," I told her.

"Amy..." she only called me that when she meant business, so I was tensing up, "That was dangerous and reckless, and you should consider yourself lucky to be alive!" she scolded, but clearly kept a handle on her volume. Then she took a deep breath, "Is Lily okay?"

I let out a sigh of relief. I could tell she was worried out of her mind and was truly grateful for her not blowing up at me. She probably figured that it wouldn't do any good, especially not until we were in person.

"She's really shaken up, but I think she'll be fine."

"Does she need anything? Blankets? Clothes? Food?" she asked.

"Maybe tomorrow, but right now I think she just needs rest," I replied.

"Well, she's always welcome with us," Mom said. I knew she would try and angle things closer to home, literally.

"I think right now... I'll tell her Mom."

"Should I stop by, make sure everything is okay?"

"I think that would probably just overwhelm her," I responded, "The three of us are going to stay the night here and make sure she's okay..." I didn't ask, hoping that putting it as a statement would increase the chance she would actually let me.

"Alright," she agreed.

I had only 5% anticipated her to actually go along with the plan, so I was shocked that she did.

"I'll touch base tomorrow morning, okay?"

She agreed, and we finished up.

When the two of us got back, the TV was playing some home renovation show that Sadie and Lily were half watching. Lily was buried under blankets on the bed and Sadie in the recliner close by. We dropped the food on the small desk in the corner of the room and all sat around, quickly devouring the meal. Afterward, Kai plopped on the other bed while I grabbed a pillow and sat between the two. We didn't really "watch" the show as much as we were in the same room as it. Before too long, the four of us began to drift off.

I woke up sore from having slept on the floor but was thankful it was the weekend. I got up before everyone else and took a second to stretch outside. Then I sat down in one of the rocking chairs outside the motel room. The morning chill helped wake me up completely and sharpen my senses. Yesterday had been a crazy day. I wasn't sure exactly what Lily's mom had said to 911, but I felt that it'd be remiss not to assume some sort of official questioning or investigation at some point down the road.

I walked to the nearby diner and got some waffles to-go so that when the gang woke up there'd be something to eat. When I got back Lily was sitting in one of the rocking chairs, staring idly into the distance. I walked up and set the to-go bags down.

"They up yet?" I asked.

She just shook her head to indicate they weren't. I sat down in the adjacent rocking chair.

"Do you want some waffles? I got some chocolate chip..." I asked in a failed attempt to lighten her spirits. We sat in silence for minutes, both of us staring off at the cars going by.

"Lily... I'm sorry."

She continued the silence.

"I love you..." I said.

Another few minutes of silence fell over us.

"I love you too," she said. She never turned to look at me, but I figured it took about all the energy she had just to say it.

I waited another minute before saying what had been on my mind since Thursday night.

"I need to confess something--" I started to say, but she cut me off.

"Sadie told me..."

Words stopped being able to be formed. I suppose I ought to have seen it coming, and some part of me was thankful that I didn't have to say it. The fact that she still loved me hit even harder since she already knew what I was going to say. Confliction and guilt came at me in what was beginning to be a daily occurrence. Eventually, I regained my ability to speak and stumbled out the best that I could.

"I was going crazy with worry and I lashed out and... and I made the biggest mistake of my life..."

While my eyes were trained squarely on Lily, she was still looking blankly in the distance. I got up and opened the door to walk inside.

"You deserve better than me Lil..."

Sadie and Kai were waking up when I walked inside.

"Mmmmm. Is that golden fluffy heaven?" Kai asked groggily.

"Just about," I responded with a forced laugh.

Kai then quickly stumbled to make his way towards the waffles.

"Foooood," Sadie groaned.

The three of us began to chow down and Lily made her way inside. Pretty soon we were all consumed in our waffles. At a quick glance, one might have assumed everything was back to normal.