The Monroe Legacy - G.4. Chapter 2 - Sink or Swim

Daisy had the look of a creature who realised it was out of options as a predator backed it into a corner, Lillia knew she had won.

The girls were sitting on the deck in front of Daisy's house the weekend after homecoming and the atmosphere had been tense. On Lillia's arrival Daisy had launched into an accusing rant, threatening her place in the group and only stopped when she realised the normally apologetic Lillia was simply staring her down. Behind the steely facade, Lillia waited with baited breath, playing the mean girl wasn't natural for her but she knew this might be her only chance to change the dynamic in her favour. Who knew, maybe she'd even be able to improve things at school!

When Daisy looked to Rose for back-up, Rose sensing a change had only shrugged, said she was disappointed but that at least one if them had won. Lillia had already been to her cousins house and apologised for what had happened, laying the groundwork to defend against Daisy's manipulations.

Once Daisy had burned out her anger Lillia began to speak.

'I didn't campaign for that crown, you'd have known, there would have been gossip and I was constantly with one of you campaigning for Rose. I don't really care if you believe me.

But know this. If you try to undermine me, spread rumours, snub me or "replace me" as you're so fond of threatening, you will regret it. Our school-mates love me and I will not hesitate to start over, Rose is my cousin and our families are close and just as you say I'm replaceable, so are you. I've had a multitude of texts since the dance from pretty, popular girls who would love to be in my circle.

None of that has to happen. But screw with me and you will see just how lonely high school can be.'

The threat hung in the air like a heavy perfume, rewriting the dynamic of the group and as Lillia turned to leave Daisy stopped her.

'So what are we wearing tomorrow?'

Lillia smiled, until that moment she'd never known the giddy rush of power.

'This week I'm thinking florals.'

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Those outside of the inner circle at Brittlebush might have been forgiven for thinking nothing had changed. Most of the same people sat in the cool tables and come Spring Fling, the king and queen were the same as at Homecoming.

But for Lillia it was a whole new world, one where she pulled the strings and it was intoxicating. She'd heard enough of Casper's theories about power whilst playing chess or Risk with him that she knew she needed to start out strong, so she began by ensuring that Daisy knew she wasn't messing around. She brought two new girls into their circle, they were sophomores, irritating but eager to please and held huge sway over the lower school, exactly what Lillia needed. Every time Daisy tried to take control or alter a plan, Brooke and Nina would take Lillia's side, it wasn't a solution she enjoyed but it worked.

Her next move was less of a power play and more for her. She asked out Jeremy, explaining away the homecoming scenario and trying out some of the unused flirting tips that Rose constantly talked about. By Spring Fling they were going steady, Jeremy still amazed that the undisputed queen of their school wanted him. Even Rose had admitted he was kinda cute, especially after Lillia took him shopping for Christmas, revealing with tight t-shirts a physique that the maths shirts had hidden.

Daisy was the only one who would roll her eyes when he turned up at things, but rarely and only when she was sure Lillia couldn't see. It truly was as if the upper echelons of the Brittlebush Academy student body had turned upside down.

Less successful had been Lillia's attempts to break-down the social divides. When she'd invited some of the swim-team girls to eat at their table it had been crazy awkward, her cheerleader/scholastic decathlon mixer hadn't even got off the ground. Lillia had begged Casper for advice, her brother knew a lot about strategy for someone who hated to socialise and he'd given her a very strange look.

'Lil, not everyone wants to be like you, perhaps the smart people are happy hanging out with smart people and would prefer not to hang out with you?' Casper's bluntness was often borderline offensive and Lillia had to remind herself that his Aspergers prevented him from realising this. Still, she wished that her various activities could overlap more. She found that between parties, training, Jeremy and tutoring she was constantly exhausted.

With college a little over a year away Lillia knew that she couldn't afford to take a break. She'd been scouted by the top swim schools in the country, Texas, Arizona and Stanford were all interested. Rose and Daisy were planning on Arizona, Rose in a cheer scholarship and Daisy on her parents money. They fully expected Lillia to join them, to take the Flowers to a new state and find a new kingdom to rule. The thought filled Lillia with dread, but Arizona was a good school and had the lowest academic requirement of the three.

Given how hard Lillia was finding it just to stay on top of her schoolwork, it might be the most she could to make Texas. If she could on,y find those extra hours, find  way to make the trigonometry make sense and the French sentences stay in the right order. Her nights got later and her morning earlier as she tried to find the time, Lillia wanted desperately to be able to choose but all she seemed to do was get more and more exhausted. The only time her head was clear was in the pool when everything but the rhythm of her stroke and the pressure in her ears fell away.

Her parents made it clear they would support her, whatever her choice but they were busy planning the launch of their new bistro, a family friendly place where good food was reasonably priced and they were as tired as she was. It wasn't unusual for the three of them to all fall asleep in front of whatever nature documentary Casper was currently obsessed with and be woken up hours later in the middle of the night by one if the increasingly frequent explosions that came from Casper's room.

It was a funny sort of set-up they had, Lillia mused, always had been really, her parents loved them and worked hard for them but they also gave them a lot of freedom to try things out and make mistakes. Maybe too much freedom Lillia thought, with Eva's happy little family just down the road she could see for the first time how things might have been different. Like if she had been told no more often, but still, she had never wanted for anything, she had everything she wanted and compared to most of her friends she had so many opportunities to do crazy things.

Which was why she ended up in situations like these. Rose had been pushing for a party. And not just a slumber party but a wild college style party. When Gray and Rachel announced they were flying to New York for a weekend to interview a maitre d that Rachel knew from the past, Rose spied her opportunity. The senior Monroes were told about the gathering and approved it, though they weren't told about the keg, the college kids or the extra 50 people Daisy and Rose had invited. Lillia hadn't even been told about them.

At first she'd tried to laugh it off, ignoring the stony stare of her brother as he barricaded himself in his room. She poured herself a warm beer. And then another and tried to distract herself by making out with Jeremy. 

But now dawn was breaking. There were people unconscious all over the floor, half the kitchen china was broken and her parents were due back in a few hours.

Lillia's head pounded with the stress of it all, she didn't think even her parents could laugh this one off and prom was only a week away. Lillia cursed. The whole point of taking over the Flowers had been to avoid getting pushed into situations but she hadn't even been able to do that, let alone use her position to bring the school together. She had been so naive.

Lillia arrived poolside barely even aware of what she was doing. If was instinctive, her stress relief and as she hit the water she felt the cool pressure begin to erase all the worries. 

Two lengths in she realised that perhaps she shouldn't be swimming. She was exhausted and she'd had a few drinks. Even as the thought crossed her mind she felt the crunch of cramp in her lower leg.

A flash. She panicked. It passed.

Shaking with relief Lillia started for the side and the cramp hit again.

Her leg spammed as it locked, throwing her down in the water, then her stomach cramped. She gasped involuntarily, the water shocking her tongue and the chlorine burning her throat. Lillia struggled, thrashed hard but her body wouldn't obey her. The water, her old friend darkened around her and became an enemy, weighing her rebellious body down and pulling her into its deadly embrace.

As she felt the hard floor of the pool at her back and opened her mouth once again to find only water Lillia's vision clouded and was gone.

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Read the next chapter - Broken Reflections now!