Crossing the line

Another morning dawned, and it was the most beautiful start of the day, for Lillian thought it to be. Winter still reigned, but Lillian embraced it as nature's way of bringing people to share the warmth. Ever since she woke up, she'd been going around the house uncontrollably. And she'd woken up pretty early.

A loud buzz at the door paused Lillian's enthusiasm, and she answered the call to find Jenna making a surprise visit.

"It's a great morning, Ms. Grey! Isn't it?" Jenna greeted hideously.

"Ye-s, it is- why are you- well, you're here, come on, inside," Lillian welcomed.

Lillian was feeling motivated. Now that Jenna is here, she wanted to make use of her time effectively. She wished to cook something special for the little girl, in a way to honor their time together. This new bond was going to last forever, and Lillian wanted to celebrate that journey. Having so much time to spare, she considered cooking a breakfast feast for Lia along with Jenna, who went along thinking that she needed Lillian to be happy to listen to her later.

Lillian started right away by taking over the kitchen and dumping most of the items from the refrigerator onto the kitchen counter. The box of blueberries, milk, butter, cheese, bacon, yogurt, eggs, etc

Meantime, Lia woke up feeling the complete opposite of what was going downstairs. She looked exhausted already. These days have been tough to go through because of how things changed at school. The little girl wanted to get under the warm blanket and sleep again. All the energy in her had disappeared, and Lia felt like crying. In the midst of going through a tough time at school, Lia missed her mother more than anything. She was and would be happy with Lillian, who took great care of her all these days. However, Lia missed her mother desperately. She missed her mother's warmth, her irritating smooches at random times, and most of all Lia missed her momma bear hugs.

As soon as she felt the tears swelling in her eyes, she wiped them away and quickly got down from the bed. Lia couldn't let herself be weak. She ran to get ready for school. Although unwillingly and utterly unmotivated, she was still ready to face everything.

Begrudgingly, Lia got ready for school and came downstairs to meet Lillian Grey. She was caught in a trance upon reaching down the steps.

Lillian and Jenna stood with a feast spread around the table. Both welcomed Lia with a great smile. The little girl was taken away by surprise and found it unlikely to believe.

"Lilly, Jen, this is…" Lia gasped in awe.

"Surprise!! We cooked us a feast today!"

"Why- what's going on?" Lia asked, smiling through the scene. Momentarily, the little girl forgot about facing school today again and focused on the unexpected surprise.

"You don't know?" Lillian exclaimed.

Both Lia and Jenna looked puzzled from the hint. Lillian could accept Jenna's look of confusion, but she barely expected Lia to remain oblivious.

Lia continued to look dazed until Lillian pointed out that today was the day Giselle's returning home. Lia's face lit up in shock. The poor little child must have forgotten over time because she couldn't believe it the first time and kept asking Lillian again and again, if what she said was true.

Joy returned to lighten the pretty face as Lia happily hopped onto her seat with the lavish spread in front of her. She was excited to eat as Lillian explained the menu one after the other.

Despite Lillian's effort to harvest her time into cooking great meals, even under Jenna's guidance, some of them ended up backstabbing her like the blueberry muffins. They were underbaked, and so with a little help from Jenna, Lillian turned them into French toast. There were a few happy incidents like that. Besides the few impressive dishes, she kept the classics like pancakes, toast, eggs the same. It appeared that Lillian had emptied her pantry for a simple morning breakfast. The table was overflowing with food that could fit more than three people.

"You should eat a lot, Lia. Ms. Grey worked hard to cook for you!" Jenna complimented.

"I know already that Lilly doesn't cook that often or that well, so all of this must be you, right?"

"No, it's all Ms. Grey today. She was so happy that she chose to suffer herself," Jenna jokingly remarked.

"That must be true! So, what's the occasion? Did Lilly get into trouble at work, or is she not doing her job well?" Lia moved on to inquire about Jenna's surprise visit.

"Excuse me?" Lillian interfered.

"No, she's doing her job very well."

"No one's listening to me. Well- why are you here then, Jenna?" Lillian interrupted the two to join.

Jenna gave an uncertain look at Lillian and chose not to address in front of Lia. The little girl was smart enough to understand their silent conversation.

"Alright, you two can talk freely later. Let's eat now," Lia replied to taste the blueberry muffin turned French toast first. Contrary to Lillian's blunder, it did end up tasting the best out of all, next to the cornflakes coated crispy bacon and the Mexican breakfast burrito.

Lillian and Jenna joined in as well as the three indulged in enjoying their scrumptious breakfast.

***

Lia had a full tummy even before the classes started for her. She literally fell asleep on the way to school, and upon reaching, Lia got down wearily. The drowsiness from the ride was ready to accompany her to the classroom, and Lia feared facing the day. She said goodbye to Lillian and turned to walk away when Lillian's voice summoned her.

Even the little spin to turn around felt too much to do.

'This is a mistake!' Lia thought to herself for every step she took. She reached the car and looked at Lillian, painfully staring at her.

Lillian hesitated but ended up asking if Lia would miss their car rides together. Even if it was driving to and back from school, Lillian asked since she doesn't know if she would get to continue this even after Giselle returned.

"I might have bought you some unwanted trouble, but I want you to know that I love taking you to school and picking you up at the end of the day. I never once felt tired or annoyed. And I'm sorry for today. I just want you to know that I love you so much, Lia!

Sorry for keeping you along. Have a great day at school."

Lillian was about to drive off following an emotional epilogue. But this time, Lia summoned her back.

"It's not like the end, Lilly. We're family, and we are going to live together; you, me, and mom. Yeah… I would miss it, but I am also looking forward to our next ride… to wherever it would be. So, don't feel down.

Oh- please tell Jenna to come again sometime to play with me. I miss playing with her!"

"I will! Maybe not today because she looked like she'd busy, but I will tell her to come again," Lillian replied with a smile before driving away.

Lia's words made her happy, and she drove back to Jenna, who was waiting without stating her purpose of visiting.

***

Lia's friends were a little thrown off from looking at her lunchbox. Lillian and Jenna's breakfast feast ended up becoming Lia's lunch with careful picks.

In the middle of breakfast, Lia asked about lunch. Already knowing how well Jenna cooks, she anticipated taking one from home itself. Upon Lia's gaze, both Jenna and Lillian froze. They were only fixated on cooking breakfast that none of them thought about lunch. Thankfully, Jenna saved the untouched ones to pack Lia to eat at school. Her lunchbox was heavy and filled with a variety of dishes from the feast. Lillian asked her to share with her friends. And thus, during lunch, when the girls assembled to eat, they caught a glimpse of Lia's morning breakfast resting inside her lunchbox.

"Lillian cooked more today!" Lia remarked as she requested her friends to try out the food.

Andy was the first to initiate and thus followed by Stephanie and Jessica.

"Is that bacon?" Stephanie asked as she forked into the crispy meat stripes.

Lia was glad to see that her friends helped her finish the food. The little girl lacked appetite from already having a heavy breakfast. She barely had a few bites before saving it for her friends to savor. It's been a while since they had such a pleasant atmosphere together. The recent events drew unnecessary distance between the four, where Lia's friends acted reserved while spending time with her. To witness them now enjoying her lunch made Lia happy. She feared losing her friends over anything. And that became the reason why she didn't want to eat and just share. While the four of them had a great time together, a strange voice intruded into their space.

"How convenient to have two moms to cook big lunch!"

Lia turned to find Luther with his friends approaching. They chose to sit close to Lia and her friends. Andy asked Lia if she wanted to change tables. And just like that, the distance reappeared as Jessica and Stephanie's expressions changed upon reading the situation.

"We're still eating… it would be inconvenient to change now," Stephanie whispered.

Meanwhile, Jessica and Andy exchanged glances secretly. Jessica pointed out the possibility of getting triggered upon sitting close to Luther and his friends. Neither did she suggest leaving the table or agreed to ignore it. The three of them looked at Lia for her word.

Having been forced to make a choice, Lia wanted to leave the place right away. However, leaving would make her a loser and more vulnerable to becoming a victim. Luther might keep toying with his friends if he saw Lia running away. And Lia didn't want to give him such a chance. If not anything, Lia was taught to be brave by her father ever since she was young. Ethan knew Giselle well enough to teach his daughter to stand up for herself and her mother's sake.

Giselle wasn't very bold or the type of kid to stand up against a bully. She quietly takes the pain, and it was the result of the environment she grew up in. Ethan never wanted to see Lia go through the same, even for an act.

Lia remembered her father. She informed her friends to ignore the boys and continued eating. Andy and Jessica followed right away while Stephanie glanced over at the boys, who kept mumbling to themselves while constantly peaking. As soon as one of them reacted, Stephanie turned away.

Luther tried his best to trash talk indirectly. He wanted to make fun of Lia and her friends and was targeting Lia overall. He repeatedly highlighted the new gossip spreading around the school; some kid living with an author. Lia patiently ate in silence ignoring. Their pleasant atmosphere was no longer alive as the three girls didn't even bother chatting. All of Luther's words were meant to toy Lia because she lives with a strange woman who might be in a relationship with her real mother. The more Luther provoked, the more Lia restrained herself. She didn't want to react. The boy's play started irritating everyone near them. Thanks to the absence of teachers, their chance to humiliate a classmate had become easy. Seeing how unaffected Lia appeared on the outside, Luther stopped focusing on Lia and started talking about Giselle and Lillian. He may not know their names, but from what his parents might have had commented back in his house, Luther tried his best to mimic.

Luther's parents were not great supporters of homosexual relationships and often used harsh words to comment when they saw something on the news or the television. One evening after school, the little boy informed his parents about a rumor he had heard in his school about his classmate and her new guardian. Without any hesitation, the parents jumped to make harsh remarks. It is only a matter of the fact that Luther, who grew up in such an environment, also picked up his parent's habits, which is why he started picking up on Lia.

First, sharing with his friends and giggling within themselves. Second, they started making passive comments whenever Lia appeared in the scene. Third, their teasing expanded to aim at her directly. And lastly, having Lia remain calm even though his little back-talks, Luther grew annoyed and ended up using the exact words his parents used to describe such people.

Even Luther's friends paused their giggling to stare at him in shock. Luther grunted from not being able to break the girl. And having heard him use such foul language, Lia finally reacted.

The little girl had been keeping to herself all along. She endured the teasing and never bothered to respond because she thought it might only bring trouble, which meant Lillian would hear about it. Lia didn't like worrying Lillian, especially in the absence of her mother. But not anymore. Luther had crossed his line today. Letting him tease her while she remained quiet was nothing difficult. But, having him use words against her mother and Lillian made Lia very angry.

As soon as Luther growled at his friends for warning him about his language, Lia picked up her lunchbox. She didn't think twice before pointing it at Ethan's face. The boy had just turned around and got directly hit by the flying object. Lia's aim never missed, and Luther fell as his nose started bleeding. The lunchbox, along with the food, was thrown to stop Luther from running his mouth.

Lia's reaction even shocked her friends as they sat speechless.

Not only was Luther humiliated in return with food thrown at his face, but he also broke his nose from Lia's aim. The other kids around them looked up to notice Luther and started chuckling quietly. Some even cheered for Lia for the action.

Luther died from the humiliation. As a result, he picked himself up and went to fight with Lia. Lia didn't hesitate either. In fact, she was ready to give it back to him for all his bullying. The two kids started fighting out in the middle of the cafeteria. Their brawl ended up receiving attention from all around with cheers and screams, and soon a call to the teacher was sent by the bystanders. Meantime, the staff in the cafeteria intruded to separate the two, but Luther kept throwing his hand at Lia, who returned the favor.

***

Lillian and Jenna had gone out for lunch, and it was time for them to part ways. Jenna requested Lillian sincerely to think about today's meeting. She even begged Lillian to reconsider her decision. Jenna usually let Lillian be free and rarely demand anything from her, which is why Lillian promised to obey her words, and the two went separate ways.

As Lillian walked back to her place, she got a call from Mrs. Beth, who asked her to come over immediately.