3 WHAT, COULD POSSIBLY GO THAT WRONG?

FEBRUARY 24, 2020. LIVERPOOL.

“Please tell me that you landed already…”

“I landed already.”

“… And you forgot to text me…”

“I forgot to text you.”

“… And Lilliana has picked you up…”

“Lilliana has picked me up.”

“… And you’re okay.”

“I am.”

“Uh, alright then, I guess.”

“Anything else Your Majesty would like to hear?”

“Text me on reaching, which of course I know you’ll forget anyway. Stay safe, have a great term, don’t get into trouble, I should not hear complaints.”

“Okay m-awh-m.”

“Fine, I won’t act mom anymore. Have fun.”

“Will do.” I let out a small smile.

“Now don’t you hang up on me.”

“I’m hanging up on you. Bye. Love you.”

Celia will never stop worrying. I let out a deep sigh and turn to my side to meet the amused face of Lily.

“What do you get out of it?” She asks, her eyes fixed on the road ahead of us.

“Out of what?”

“Your age old habit of hanging up on people. Did it ever cross your mind that it might be rude?” She says with her lips still curved up in a curious smile.

“Did it ever cross your mind that it might be fun?”

She gives me a look of somewhat annoyance and I roll my eyes amusedly.

“It’s fun, Lily. It’s just a different genre of sadistic gratification.” I reply with a laugh.

“I don’t understand how your sister bears with you.”

“She is used to me.”

Celia Callister, was indeed used to me. She is five years older than me. Born with black eyes like my own, the biggest heart, and an incurable habit of worrying. To the point where it got annoying sometimes.

But then I never complained. I guess I was used to her too.

“Oi, where are you?”

Lily’s voice brings me out of my reverie.

“Nothing. Just tired.”

The flight has undoubtedly been exhausting, not to forget the dream that extracted too much of my energy. A place I don’t want to go to right now.

Or ever, for that matter.

“Fine. Just for today I think I can let you rest. But tomorrow is going to be mighty fine, okay. It’s going to be so – much – fun.”

I chuckle in amusement.

Liliana Preston had the talent of extracting second hand fun from dreaming of having that fun, in the near or not-so-near future, which made her a ball of sunshine. Well, most of the times, at least. I can’t imagine how amazing staying with her is going to be.

She has been my closest friend since middle school, back in Cambridge. It was only after sophomore year at high school that she had to shift to Liverpool. And I had missed her terribly for the past two years.

Energetic, bubbly and always on the hunt for an excuse to party. Not exactly academic, but yes, attractive. Very. I used to envy her blonde hair a lot.

And yet, I loved her.

Love her.

And I couldn’t have been happier that we would be staying together for our term in the St. Stephen’s University of Liverpool.

She pulls up before the apartment and gives me a proud you-better-be-grateful-for-this look.

“You are so lucky you’re not having to live on campus.

Dorms are a total nightmare you know. The food sucks.

And you should see the washrooms…”

The elevator dings and she leads me towards the apartment. Lily has been rambling all throughout while I am struggling to carry the burden which was fortunately, just my luggage, for now.

I had told Celia not to pack bloody any and every thing she laid eyes upon. No brownie points for guessing that she did exactly that.

“… And plus the population, noise, girls… It’s such a nuisance, you know...”

She opens the door and I drag my bag along to thump it on the floor the minute I’m inside.

I let out a deep breath and thrust my backpack on the couch, while wiping the sweat beads on my forehead that made my hair stick to my skin.

I hate it when this happens. When my hair disowns me and decides to go a total sticky candy, all-over-my-face. Every other time though, I love my hair. I always thought it to be my best feature.

“… Last week we even had rumours of a student suffering from food poisoning after dinner at the mess. The mess food is truly and literally ‘mess’.”

She draws imaginary quotation marks with her fingers with a chuckle.

“… And the seniors, oh my God, don’t even get me started on tha - “

“LILY! Why don’t you show me the way to the kitchen, yeah?” I grip her shoulders and ask her louder than I had intended to.

“Oh, you’re not hungry already, are you?”

“Not at all, I just thought you must be tired after all the… talking?” She is unbelievable.

“Actually, you’re right. Some water won’t hurt. Straight and left.”

It takes me a minute or two to realise how miserably she has failed to understand my sarcasm, before I was on my way to the kitchen.

I down a full glass of water.

The kitchen is actually good, in fact the whole apartment is beautiful, now that I pay attention to it. Not too large, but just cozy and old school that radiated subtle positivity.

Lily didn’t live with her parents in their mansion of a house.

Georgia and Dylan Preston were filthy rich. But Lily had recently shifted to this apartment which was conveniently closer to campus. Dylan covered the expense, of course.

The expense I’d be paying half of. Even though Lily constantly assured me that there was no need to.

The room to be mine feels nothing less than… home. Exactly what Lily herself was, to me. Home. I never had many friends back in school. I had acquaintances, many of them. Not to brag, everyone kind of knew me, and I knew, well- most of them (okay, a little to brag).

But then, that was all it went to – knowing.

Lily and I were so close, it almost felt like we were the one and the same person sometimes. And neither she, nor the previous sentence made sense, ever. But they felt special.

I turn my eyes, a full 360 degree, drinking in the room, I would be calling mine. A window exists behind transparent lilac curtains beside the table. Wooden walls go around a single bed that smells of detergent.

I silently take small steps towards the bed, and smoothen out a crease on the bedsheet with my hand.

I take my time in the shower letting the hot water cascade down my body washing away any signs of exhaustion, or the dream.

Speaking of which – I don’t understand why I still had it. That day had long been over, and I thought I was done with these.

You actually thought this could happen?

I close my eyes shut as those images continue to flash before me, one after another.

The mere sight of you pisses me off like hell!

And now look at your very own – pathetic – delusional self!

Never remind me of your worthless existen -

“Dello? Are you done? Dinner’s up, come on.”

Lily’s voice breaks my train of thoughts and I reach out to the towel on the side holder. I take a look in the mirror to see my drenched self.

Surprising how you never fail to differentiate between the water from the shower and from the eyes. I wipe it angrily.

Why is it all still fresh in my memory?

*

The tempting aroma of pizza fills me up as I reach the couch Lily was currently on. Awh my, its pizza.

“Julia will be here from tomorrow, okay? So don’t be too happy. Pizza’s only for today.” She must have seen me drooling at the food.

“Uh, Julia?”

“Oh yeah. She cooks for me. And cleans the place.” Well that explains the detergent smell.

“Looks like you’ve got mail Lily.” I pick up the envelope on the table and take a glance at the contents.

“Yeah? Go ahead, open it.”

I open the letter with utmost care as the paper seems delicate and kind of expensive.

From the looks of it, perhaps it’s an invitation.

“Annual Founders’ Brunch.

Invitation for two.

Hayden Mansion.

Five p.m.

The Founders’ Association will be deeply esteemed and delighted by your presen - What even is this thing?” I read out loud and look up to find Lily listening intently.

“Thank God, they printed two this time. You know, I had to send the previous one back because of that!”

“Did it ever cross your mind, that it might be rude?” I speak in a sly voice, with an oversweet, sarcastic smile, as I deliberately recite her own words back to her. She looks up at me, with a confused face and I cross my arms.

“Wha - sending it back?”

“No, dumbball, ignoring my question. I mean, not that sending it back isn’t either – ”

She rolls her eyes flashing me a ‘does it look like I care?’ face, raising her eyebrows lazily.

“The Founders’ Brunch is, like, a thing we have every year, you know at the start of term. All the founding families of major universities gathering up for brunch to flaunt their achievements, money, power and sometimes their overly beautiful, oh-so-amazing children, like me?

And my parents being among them, I have to kind of attend? Surely you would know. Ethan never told you about it?”

I narrow my eyes at the oh-so-amazing children part and look down at the invitation again.

“These things still happen?”

I am familiar with the idea of the Founders’ Association given my father Ethan Charles Callister was a part of it ever since he had moved to Liverpool after Mom had died, and had been pretty devoted himself to it.

That was when Celia and I’d stayed back to finish our education. I had attended a few of these when I visited him. I had almost forgotten all about them after Dad had transferred to his London branch.

My life has been so much travel, it’s almost irritating.

“Yeah clearly, they do. You still don’t take ketchup, right?”

I shake my head disgustingly as Lily unboxes and serves the food. So she’s going to this brunch tomorrow. But wait, didn’t she say that she wanted invitation for two? So who’s she going with? Does she -

“Lilliana Preston. Tell me you finally managed a date!” I smirk, as she passes me my plate with the pizza.

“Yeah, you wish.”

She lets out a chuckle with a bored expression and takes a huge bite of the pizza. I take a tissue, and wipe off some of the crust she somehow manages to scatter all over the table, while shaking my head.

“You hid it pretty well, I’ll give you that but the ‘invitation for two’ gave you away.” I tell her, as I carefully roll the tissue into a sealed ball.

“Oh so, if by ‘date’ you mean my obnoxious little OCDing bitch of a best friend, then yes, I do.”

What?

“What?” I look at her, bewildered. She remains unbothered, munching on her pizza, with a sly smirk on her face, not even looking up at me.

Every time. Every time Lily has roped me in, to do something I haven’t been particularly enthusiastic about, it has ended in a canon level disaster.

On second thoughts, it’s just a brunch. What could possibly go that wrong?

Author's note:

Who else has a mother-hen elder sister?! Or a living trouble magnet of a best friend. What could really go wrong, especially when Alanna has both.

** sarcastic sigh **

And pizza, because why not. Why the freaking hell not.

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