Pushing herself off the wall, Lily noticed her best friend walking towards her.
"I know. I know. I'm sorry. Hello to you, too." Jean Appleton greeted her.
"Sorry for what?"
Jean, with her gorgeous red hair and womanly curves, replied, "You see, I told Milo to come over tonight and spend some time with us. With you, actually. I thought the two of you should get to know each other more, dance a bit, and stuff like that. Maybe a little bit of flirting thrown into the mix. You and him. You know. An item."
Great! A date. Lily could only roll her eyes at the thought.
Her best friend was an advocate for Lily's nonexistent dating life. Lily appreciated the fact that she could always count on her best friend, even though there was no need for actively setting her up with boys.
But Lily had one wish—her love life to be off-limits from the clutches of her best friend. She was being made to be the searcher of Jean's real-life dating show. Introducing Lily to boys was one of Jean's favorite hobbies.
The problem was that her self-professed best confidant refused to heed the memo. Lily felt no connection to the boys introduced to her. Nada!
"So you're playing matchmaker again, huh? And why Milo of all people?"
"Why not?! Lil, come on. You don't have a date tonight, so I invited him. Whew! I didn't have to convince him, all right. He's super game! Can you believe that? Who would have thought? We are talking about Milo here."
Lily found herself still not convinced. "Aha. And I cannot roll my eyes at you enough. Nice try." She looked around to see if Milo was nearby.
Jean Marie Appleton—cute as a button but stubborn as a rock—could be the most annoying person ever. She was pretty and bubbly, and she knew how to use her wiles to her advantage.
"It'll be fun and interesting," Jean winked at Lily.
Lily, more stubborn than Jean, shook her head. "I don't think so. Thank you, but nope."
Not wanting to give up, Jean argued, "You need a boyfriend. Do you even have someone in mind? I mean, someone other than that someone you have in mind?"
"None, and let's not remind me about that someone."
In one corner, both of them were standing, with their drinks in hand. They stayed silent for a moment. The crowd was clueless about them. Somehow, they were in their little world.
Lily could tell what little relevance she brought to the party. She only worked up the courage to come and wasn't exactly hopeful to become the life of the party.
At least, Jean was talking to Lily. The former would always, always, look out for the latter at parties. Jean kept Lily afloat in a sea of strangers.
Amidst the crowd gathered at the party, Lily was ignored. She was getting comfortable with that fact as time passed by. She was not one to revel in the limelight. Many people assumed she wanted attention. She did not. Peace, that was what she wanted.
As for Jean, she was a regular and thrived with her extroverted personality. She was a social butterfly, wings fluttering, and enjoying the flowers called small talk.
Lily kept looking around the room and recognized Missy Finnegan, whom all the males lined up to talk to. Lily was OK with not having that kind of attention.
She was also OK with not being a promising ballerina, like Rachel Lane, who thought she owned the entire dance room. The entitlement was off the charts.
She was more than OK that she was not Miss Fram Hill, Amanda Norris, whose gigantic ego could still fit into a size 2 dress.
For all it was worth, Lily's "Stiff" reputation served her well by keeping her feet on the ground. She knew her place. She knew how to be humble and grateful.
"Jean, I appreciate you. You know that. I know that you have my best interests at heart, but a date with Milo?"
Jean smiled and nodded. "Yes. With none other than Milo Pearson. Who else could it be?"
"Seriously? Me and him?"
She hugged her best friend. "It would be fun."
"Yay!" Lily was anything but excited.
Jean got her sarcasm. They were best friends after all. "I know, right? Spending time with Milo could be super interesting and exhilarating. The school's science guy. You could be discussing rocket ships and string theory all night. It's not as bad as spending time with our Physics teachers, for sure."
Rolling her eyes but playfully this time, Lily replied, "Sure, and your hair is sugar candy pink and ugly. Get me another beer, if you have this much time making fun of me, would you?"
Lily lightly pushed Jean away towards the beer table.
"You're just jealous of my hair. Admit it, girl. But seriously, Lil. Milo is a nice guy. He's probably the only nerd I can tolerate talking about Stephen Hawking with. After hanging out with him for quite some time, I can tell you he's not weird. And the coke-bottle glasses are adorable. He's a cinnamon roll. He's so cute. Literally."
Lily knew Milo was a good person, but she was firm that there would be no date for her tonight. Nothing ever worked with all of Jean's matchmaking dates before, anyway. "I know Milo is great and interesting, but it's still a thank you, but no to the date."
With a sigh, Jean replied, "Are you sure? He's here somewhere. I am sure I saw him just about the foyer. Let me see."
Lily nodded with a smile. "Yes, I am sure. If you see him, please tell him hi."
"Okay—" Jean stopped because something caught her attention. "Oh! Oh! Come with me. He's here!"
"Who? Milo?"
"No. Someone who makes this night more exciting."
And Lily wondered who it could be.
***