<h4>Chapter 554: It was Perfection. And it was Pain.</h4>


    "The worst part was… when Iy in bed that night. I didn''t feel bad for Devan anymore. I didn''t hate the person Ste had be. No. In more foolish, na?ve, gravely incorrect mind. I thought I had a chance." Lily let out a shaky breath. Looking away from everyone but still willing to continue her story.


    "I''m sure you''ve worked it out at this point but I was in love with my best friend at the time. Ste. It wasn''t necessarily hard to work out. I may have stared a bit long when I saw other girls change a few times… I found myself wondering what it would be like to kiss Ste more than once… and a few other girls as well.


    "I found myself drawn to romance novels from a guys perspective, mostly because I couldn''t find any Lesbian romance. Yes I said it. I can do this. I''ve said most of it. Come on." Lily let out a long breath and steadied herself. At this point even Kat could see where this was going but couldn''t find it in herself to tell Lily to stop. To tell her it was ok. To tell her she knew what was wrong now.


    But the story continued. "So I''d figured out I was gay. Devan was turned down and I decided that maybe I had a chance with Ste. I mean… despite all the horrible stuff she''d said, Devan was actually a pretty cool guy. He was nice to everyone, liked to y basketball, he was tall? I think he was attractive… maybe? Obviously not to me… but I remember some of the other girls liked him at least.


    "So I asked Ste if we could hang out just the two of us. She shot me down… but I kept pressing. I brought up the old days even knowing it would be NOTHING like them. I asked her quietly for a few weeks until eventually… I don''t know if she figured it out, or was just done with me asking her and decided to get it over with. She said yes, but we were going to y some tennis.


    "I said this was fine, spent the afternoon losing to her horribly of course but that was fine. Eventually when I can hardly move shees over and says, ''so what''s this really about?''. I''m actually on the ground at this point. I can hardly move, I''m face up on the ground and she staring down at me. At the time I thought it was one of the most breathtaking sights I''d ever seen. Now I like to say I didn''t have enough air from all the exercise.


    "Still, I steeled myself, getting to my feet was a challenge but I did it. I looked her in the eye and asked her if she wanted to be my girlfriend. Steughed in my face. I was shellshocked, and when she finally stoppedughing she said, ''Fucking dyke. We aren''t even friends anymore, haven''t been for years. Why would I ever want to date you even if I was faggot like you?''


    "Then to rub it in further, she walked away, swaying her hips, in that way some women do when they want you to stare at their ass… and walked over to a friend of hers and gave them a high five whileughing and asked if they had it all on camera. The other girl said yes."


    Kat''s eyes widened in horror but Lily put freed a hand to put a stop to anything Kat might have said so she could keep talking. "Now, the idiot had the lens cap on, and you couldn''t hear anything. A saving grace if there ever was one… still by the next day the entire school knew. Suddenly I was the only target for Ste''s groups bullying. Every single one of them took a crack at me. I didn''t hear the end of it until I broke down from the stress. My grades were suffering. My parents were worried. And one day I just copsed in the middle of ss. That''s when my mum heard the whole story."


    Lily sighed the wind starting to leave her sails somewhat before suddenly she got a second wind. Her eyes started to gain that light back in them as she nced between Kat and Vivian. "So, I was pulled out of school. A broken girl. I spent about a month doing home school stuff before I went back for just a day and nearly copsed again after they all came after me again, talking about ''my poor constitution.'' As if they hadn''t been harassing me for ages. I couldn''t do it and I left that school for good.


    "I spent another… month? I think… recovering at home and we moved. I moved here in fact. Going in to a new school was terrifying, but I knew that nobody would have heard about my sexual preferences… so I hoped it would be better. Instantly I picked up a trio of bullies you know very well Kat…"


    Kat nodded and hugged Lily tighter burying her head into Lily''s frizzy hair just to get the sense that she was ok. And Lily… kind of was. The momentum from her story continued to build and she just took Kat''s actions in stride. "Then in swooped you Kat. If I was terrified of school… initially you were my biggest nightmare. I say that with utmost affection. You were everything that Ste was and more. You had better legs SOMEHOW despite not ying sports. You were taller, you have nicer breasts, your face just looks nicer, you have perhaps the best hair I''ve ever seen, and you did back then before you turned demon and now it''s BETTER SOMEHOW.


    "Your ass is alright. Honestly… Ste probably still wins that department but that was never my fetish." Lily shook her head, clearly away her lewder thoughts. "Right… anyway. So the best looking girl at school, who looks like my ex-crush except better in basically every way and definitely all the ones that matter starts defending me from bullies and I start freaking out. I don''t know what I''m supposed to do with this.


    "But you''re so nice. You sit with me. You listened to me talk. You''d join me in the library and just… just sit with me. And… OH GOD. It was nearly too much in those first few weeks because I just didn''t know how to handle it. Your body was already great and then you had to show your personality was just as good if not better. I didn''t know what to do.


    "And then came the day. The day you told the bullies to target you and not me. That you wouldn''t even fight back if they did." Lily sucked in a deep shuddering breath as tears of joy started to leak from her eyes, "I cried that night you know. I gave up fighting my crush on you and decided to be your friend as soon as I could work up the courage.


    "I decided that same night I wasn''t going to tell you. You were too nice. Too perfect. I half believed you''d say yes to a confession just because it would make me happy. I wasn''t going to ruin something by telling you. Never. So we became friends and they were the happiest days of my life.


    "Then you became a Subus and… GEE Kat do you even know what that was doing to my insides. My dreams took a… so much more… specific and erotic nature after that. I tried. You were my friend it was wrong to think that about you no matter how much I loved you but… I couldn''t stop them any more and frankly didn''t want to try."


    Lily let out a long breath that somehow just seemed like her winding up for the next blow. "So then you fulfill my other dream. You just basically hand magic to me ''here you go Lily you can have magic now''. It wasn''t even a question for you. I was your friend and you… you were just HANDING ME the one thing I''d dreamed about since I was a small child. Something I had long since considered impossible.


    "I nearly confessed to you right then and there. It was so close. But I chickened out. Then I tried to stick to my promise once again… until we got here. I found out that the best race would quite likely be a Memphis Beastman… and I would be bound to you forever. Oh it was everything I could ever want…


    "But I also felt like a disgusting shell of a person. I knew I could go through with it easily. You''d say yes Kat. Of course you''d say yes… because you''re just that nice. I''d have everything I''d ever want… and it would be a lie. I''d have betrayed the trust of the most important person in my life. And I couldn''t do it.


    "So here it is Kat. My confession. I''m in love with you. I had a crush on you since we met. You are beautiful. You breathtaking as a human and NOW you are otherworldly gorgeous. Your personality is brilliant and you are so kind. And I love you dammit. I just needed you to know"