CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER 6

Willow Creek High's hallways buzzed with the familiar thrum of teenage chaos. Bodies pushed and rubbed against one another in a turning sea of hormones and indifference. While banging lockers and wild laughing, Lila Emerson's Absence went completely unnoticed.

To most, she was nothing more than a silent shadow on the outskirts of their awareness. A mystery cloaked in the impenetrable cloak of her silence. Caleb Matthews, on the other hand, saw her as a strange form of entertainment—a punching bag on which he could unleash his cruelest jabs and most savage derisions.

As he swaggered into the crowded corridor, a malicious smirk formed on his lips, his alpha pheromones billowing through the air like a toxic cloud. Beside him, Yuria, his fiancée Miranda's best friend, was practically crazy with excitement, her anxious eyes flitting over his carved features.

"Heard the mute freak decided to play hooky today," Caleb snarled, his words oozing with contempt. "Lucky bitch gets to skip out while the rest of us poor souls are stuck in this hellhole."

Yuria's chuckle was high-pitched and irritating. Her fingertips traveled along the ridges of Caleb's forearm in an obvious display of suggestiveness. "I'm sure you'll find a way to make her regret it on Monday," she said, her voice seductive and full of promise.

Caleb's eyes had a sinister gleam to them, and he turned to pin Yuria with a predatory stare. "You know it, babe." His gaze swept across her slim figure in a brazen display of possession. "Why don't you and I leave this popsicle stand early?" I can think of a lot nicer ways to spend our Friday afternoon.

A delicate flush appeared on Yuria's cheeks, and she bit her lip in a subtle display of false innocence. "What about Miranda?" she asked quietly, canting her body towards Caleb's.

He scoffed, curving his lips into a disdainful sneer. "Do you recall she's out of town till Monday with her parents? "There's no reason we can't have some fun while she's away."

Yuria's pupils dilated, her fragrance imbued with the distinct tang of excitement. She opened her lips to answer, but the loud clanging of the warning bell drowned out her words.

Caleb muttered loudly under his breath, his gorgeous face twisting into a grimace. "Looks like we'll have to pick this up later." He leaned closer, his lips brushing against the soft shell of Yuria's ear. "My place, following the last period. "Do not be late."

Caleb swung on his heel and walked off to his next class, vanishing into the swirling crowds of students, his parting smirk leaving no doubt about his intentions.

Yuria shivered, her knees weakening as her deceitful mind generated vivid visions of the afternoon ahead...

***

While the chaos of high school continued without her, Lila remained contentedly immersed in the peaceful sanctuary of her house. The grandfather clock's soft ticking seemed to reverberate through the silence, its constant cadence a soothing metronome against the fragile peace she and her father had recently established.

Ethan remained asleep in the ancient recliner, his bandaged hand tucked against his chest. The severe angles of his face had softened in repose, and the continuous furrow that wrinkled his brow had smoothed into an almost youthful calm.

Lila couldn't resist a warm smile as she strolled about the living room, clearing the clutter of abandoned magazines and half-finished whittling projects that had accumulated like a tangible reflection of her father's inner struggle.

These peaceful domestic moments had earlier felt like an insurmountable abyss, a stinging reminder of everything she had lost following her mother's death. But now, as she gently placed the tattered throw pillows on the worn sofa, she felt an unusual sense of... satisfaction, perhaps? A ray of optimism that the rift between them could be repaired.

A faint groan from the recliner stopped her thoughts. Ethan awakened, his brow furrowing as the shroud of sleep gradually lifted. Lila quickly crossed to his side, her hands moving in a soft inquiry.

_ "How are you feeling?" _

Ethan squinted blearily, his movements sluggish, as he noticed her presence. "Hey, Lila," he mumbled, his voice still hoarse from sleep. "I'm fine." "That stuff you gave me packed a punch."

A smile pulled at Lila's lips as she watched her father gently rouse himself, noting every twinge and grimace that flared across his aged features. She stretched out, brushing her fingers across the improvised bandage in a subtle gesture of help.

But Ethan dismissed her with a rough toss of his head. "I got it, Lila," he groaned, pulling himself up from the recliner with effort. "No need to fuss."

His comments had no sting, no bitter undercurrent of bitterness, only a gruff devotion that Lila had badly missed in the long, agonizing years since her mother's passing. She took a step back to give her father room to find his feet, but she remained nearby, ready to help if he needed it.

A tense pause stretched between them, with the weight of unspoken words hanging heavily in the atmosphere. Ethan cleared his throat, his gaze shifting away from Lila's inquisitive attention.

"Listen, uh..." He trailed off, his brow furrowing as he sought to find the appropriate words. "I, um... I just wanted to say... well, thank you, I suppose. For yesterday. And for sticking around."

The words appeared to be spoken with considerable effort, with each syllable forced out by pure willpower. But the emotion behind them was noticeable, sending a warm glow through Lila's breast.

Her fingers glided calmly and comfortably. _"Of course, father. "I'll always be there for you."_

The creases around Ethan's eyes crinkled, and his harsh appearance softened slightly. For a brief time, Lila saw the man he had been before tragedy had honed his edges: warm, affectionate, and dedicated.

Her father.

The intimate moment was abruptly interrupted by a muted buzzing from the depths of Ethan's damaged recliner. With a mumbled grumble, he pulled out his damaged flip phone, gazing at the shattered screen.

"Ah, hell," he snarled, his shoulders tightening. "This is Rick from the shop. "I need to take this."

Lila nodded in agreement, her hands falling to smooth across the tattered fabric of the sofa as her father walked out to the kitchen, phone held to his ear. As she observed the aged furnishings and fading knick-knacks that had been such a constant feature throughout her difficult childhood, she felt a sudden wave of nostalgia.

It wasn't much - a jumbled collection of second-hand odds and ends that never quite fit together into a coherent whole. But this was home. Their home. The one source of stability and familiarity in a life that had been brutally upended way too quickly.

As Lila stroked her fingertips over the fading fabric, her gaze drew to the delicate patterns of stains and worn patches that told the narrative of a thousand calm family moments - hot cocoa spills and languid afternoons sprawled in front of the TV, tears and tantrums and laughter.

She could almost see the ghosts of those memories flickering at the edges of her vision: a younger, carefree version of herself curled up in the corner of the sofa, endlessly patient as her mother patiently walked her through the complexities of sign language; her father's rumbling chuckle as he tossed her squealing form into the air, her bunches flying in wild disarray...

The muted rhythm of Ethan's voice coming in from the kitchen jolted Lila out of her trance with a searing ache of need. Her fingers gripped the faded fabric of the sofa, her chest squeezing with a sudden ache so intense, so intense, that it took her breath away.

In that moment, she mourned not just for her mother and the huge wound her death had left in their lives, but also for the bright, joyful little child she had once been, the innocence and naivety that had been so cruelly taken away before its time.

But, as painful as those memories were, they also served as a clear reminder of how far she and her father had deviated from those treasured memories. The chasm that had formed between them, inch by painful inch, threatened to destroy the very soul of the link they had shared.

Until now.