Chapter 581: Lily’s Morning Just Won’t End

This chapter still is from Lily's perspective

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After repeatedly stating she wasn't engaging in any sort of activities with anyone, and watching the smirk on Evaline's face grow as Lily was barraged with variations of 'you doth protest to much' she finally managed to settle things down.

Lily wasn't entirely out of the woodwork though, as Evaline asked, "Now that I've had a bit of fun with you, I'd like a serious answer. Have you talked about it with Kat?"

"Yes" said Lily

Evaline starred her daughter down at the short answer. Lily cracked slightly but retorted with. "Look, we've discussed it. Why do you need to know Mum? It just feels so weird to talk about with you. Even if we include the madness that has been the whole conversation up to this point I feel like this is taking it a step too far."

"Maybe you're right" said Evaline with a long sigh. She glanced at her coffee before swallowing the rest of it and getting up to brew another cup. As she prepared the coffee maker she kept talking, a bit quicker then before just to get what she wanted to say out of the way before the noise started. "I just worry you know. Maybe I'm latching onto the obvious issue with Kat now that I can't just think of her as Stella 2.0. Which" Evaline held a hand up, "I will admit I was doing. I was wrong, but I don't really feel like apologising either.

"Maybe that's petty of me, and considering I'm in the wrong I'm not even going to deny that but Kat did nothing to defend herself from my taunts, or correct even a single one of my mistaken assumptions. I won't go so far as to say she's at fault for it, but neither of you really tried."

Lily spluttered but before she could answer the coffee machine started whirring much too loudly for any conversation and Lily felt herself starting to seethe a bit. *We DIDN'T TRY? I DID. I tried SO HARD to get you to see she wasn't just Stella. I used to tell you what we got up to daily to show you how much she was helping me. I told you how many times Kat saved my from the bullies when normally Stella WAS the bully or at least just let it happen. 

The fact that you can say we didn't try IRKS ME. I'll maybe accept that Kat didn't try, but that's because she didn't want to get into a fight with you because you're my mother not because she couldn't. It was more important that your anger was directed at her and not me potentially so she just let you rant to her face. 

Yet all the work I tried to put in, in the past, apparently has gone completely unnoticed?! Granted even I haven't bother too much in the last few months but I was busy with exams and then once school was over I didn't really need to justify anything or defend her overmuch… ok that's a lie, she was turning into a demon and I didn't know how to talk about it. Still don't really but it might be getting there. 

You know me. I was this close to telling Mum about become a magic Kat sometime this week. I was going to do it. Maybe not the part about being magical stuck to Kat forever, but I was so very close to just telling her about it instead of using it as a bit of petty revenge. Now though. I'm not too sure. Mum seems sweet right now, even if she's embarrassing me. 

She's listening though. Which seems to have been a rarity these last two years. I mean… what do I even say to the fact that she didn't even notice I'd been trying to show her Kat was nothing like Stella.* Lily, was of course forgetting how Stella was when they were younger, as she had helped with the bullies. Of course, Stella was more about redirecting them while Kat was happy to act as an enduring wall against Lily specifically and everyone else incidentally.

*So do I tell her? On the one hand, this might be the best time. She's listening to me and if her past behaviour is anything to go by I might not actually get a proper chance at that again for a long time, perhaps ever. On the other hand we've already gone over so much and I'm not quite so pleased with her anymore after being made fun of and then finding out she wasn't even listening to me!

I can put up with her being a bit invasive and trying to embarrass me. She's just asking questions out of concern and for a bit of glee, but she isn't being malicious about it. On the other hand… I wonder if she IS being malicious about how wilfully blind, she was… and maybe still is? Has she just separated 'Kat' and 'Lily's Girlfriend Kat' in her head or something? 

That's not even getting into the whole 'revealing magic' thing. It's not illegal like in that one book series by JK, but I certainly don't want it to be spread further than it needs to be. Of course having your daughter turn into a Kat does seem like a good reason for 'needs to' but I just don't want to do it. 

How would I even do it without Kat here? Plus I don't want Evaline going off about the fact Kat is a demon. Urgh, this is becoming such a mess. I just wanted to eat breakfast and head over to Kat's house. While I'll admit the start of this conversation was… ok no it was a bit rocky but I don't regret it at least. I feel annoyed now. And tired. And I just woke up too.* 

The coffee machine finally silenced itself and Lily let out a sigh and put her head back onto the table. Perhaps not facing her problems (Evaline) in a more literal sense would help matters? Lily didn't really think so but she was willing to try it at this point.

Evaline breathed carefully over her full cup of coffee to ensure it didn't spill as she tried to cool it down. Glancing at her daughter, she wasn't really sure what to make of the current situation. She was wondering what exactly had pushed her daughter a bit too far. She could see that. That Lily had at some point already decided this conversation had become more effort then she was willing to put in and Evaline was on the fence about what she should do.

Giving up wasn't really an option. She could practically feel in the air that this was a chance she wouldn't get for some time if she didn't use it. Why that was, she couldn't say. Perhaps it was something in Lily's eyes or posture? Perhaps it was a hidden message in the half eating cereal bowl that her daughter seemed to have forgotten. Wherever the message was it felt real enough and Evaline was willing to listen.

Didn't mean she had a good answer for it in response though. Lily had clearly checked out mentally from this conversation. Dragging her daughter back into it would be hard, and likely met with no small amount of spite. So the question was how to do so. She knew her daughter well. Perhaps not well enough though.

Evaline took another sip of her coffee and found the taste to be more bitter than she was expecting, though perhaps it was simply the situation affecting the taste. Her options were certainly limited. She'd never really had much success dragging Lily back into conversation anyway. Neither had her husband. Normally when it got to this point you just asked whatever really needed to be asked, accepted the slightly angry answer you got and moved on. Or you waited for another day.

Evaline could already tell both of those options would fail. Any 'angry' answer wouldn't be the one she needed and certainly wouldn't be one Lily actually wanted to give. Leaving it be didn't seem like a good option at the moment either so Evaline added a little more sugar to her drink and sipped it again. Still bitter.

Countless inane questions rose up into her mind. 'How are you', 'What do you want to do now school is over', 'Did you decide if you want to look for a job', 'What are you researching at the moment' were just a few of the questions in her mind that were instantly discarded. None of them were what was needed right now and there was about a fifty percent chance Lily simply wouldn't answer them.

Evaline dug through her mind, wondering what possible way she had available to her that would calm Lily down but she realised there was none. Something had upset her little girl and by the books she held dear, Lily would be staying that way till she had some alone time, or perhaps time with Kat. This was something Evaline knew. Then she got another idea. An idea she didn't like at all. But one that she felt might be her only shot.

"So, now that she's your girlfriend when is Kat coming to visit?"