The bell rang, jolting Eliza out of her thoughts. Students shuffled around, the usual chaos of first period settling in. But all she could focus on was the way Lucifer leaned slightly toward Lily, his easy grin lingering just a little too long.
It was stupid. So stupid. He smiled at everyone. He was always charming and ridiculous and completely, infuriatingly unaware of what he did to her.
Ava nudged her as they gathered their stuff. "You good?"
Eliza forced a smile. "Yeah. Totally fine."
Ava raised an eyebrow like she didn't believe her, but didn't push.
They made their way to the next class, but Eliza felt off the entire time.
---
At lunch, Ava practically dragged her to their usual table. Lucifer was already there, lounging back in his seat like he didn't have a care in the world.
Lily was with him.
She perched on the edge of the table, laughing at something he said — her voice soft and melodic, like she belonged in one of those cliché teen romance movies Eliza pretended not to like.
Eliza's stomach twisted again, hard enough to kill her appetite.
"Oh good, you're here," Lucifer grinned as they approached. "Lily, meet the gremlins. Gremlins, meet Lily."
Ava snorted. "Rude."
"Accurate," Eliza muttered, sitting down harder than necessary.
Lily's eyes sparkled with amusement. "Nice to meet you guys. Lucifer's been telling me all about you."
Eliza blinked. All about us?
"Oh, has he now?" she said, her voice trying (and failing) to sound casual.
Lucifer smirked. "What can I say? You're hard to explain. A walking contradiction, really."
Eliza narrowed her eyes. "You're dangerously close to losing your lunch, Hayes."
Lily laughed — this light, effortless sound — and for some reason, it made Eliza's skin crawl.
"So… how long have you guys known each other?" Lily asked, her gaze flicking between Eliza and Lucifer.
"Since forever," Ava answered before Eliza could. "They're basically attached at the soul."
Eliza felt her cheeks warm, but she didn't look at Lucifer.
"Wow," Lily smiled, tilting her head. "That's sweet."
It didn't feel sweet. It felt like a knife wrapped in velvet.
---
The next few days passed in a blur — and Eliza hated all of them.
Lily seemed to be everywhere.
In the halls. At lunch. By Lucifer's side.
Lily wasn't doing anything wrong. That's what Eliza kept telling herself.
She was nice — really nice. Too nice to even hate. And that made it worse.
She wasn't trying to steal Lucifer away. But somehow, it felt like she was.
She tried to tell herself it didn't matter. Lucifer looked at lots of girls like that before, and it never meant anything. He flirted for fun — it wasn't serious.
But something about Lily felt different.
And Lucifer wasn't helping.
He wasn't ignoring Eliza or anything — he was still his usual, obnoxious self around her. He still teased her about her terrible taste in music, still stole fries off her plate at lunch, still walked her to class like he always did.
Ava noticed, though.
"You're brooding," she said one afternoon, watching Eliza shove her books into her locker with more force than necessary.
"I'm not brooding."
"You're brooding."
Eliza slammed the locker shut. "I'm not."
Ava gave her a look. "You're mad that Lucifer's paying attention to Lily."
Eliza rolled her eyes. "I don't care what he does. It's not like we're… anything."
Ava didn't say anything for a second. Then, quieter: "Maybe you should tell him how you feel."
Eliza froze. Her throat tightened.
"I can't," she said quickly. "It'll ruin everything."
Ava stared at her for a second, then sighed. "You're such an idiot," she muttered — but her voice was softer now.
Eliza swallowed hard and didn't answer.
Because she knew, deep down...
She wasn't mad at Lucifer. She was mad at herself.
For waiting too long.
For never telling him the truth. She wasn't ready to lose him. Not yet.
---
It was after school when things really started to unravel.
Ava had bailed early for a dentist appointment, so Eliza wandered toward the field to wait for Lucifer. It was routine — they always walked home together after practice. Always.
Except today, Lily was already there, sitting on the hood of Lucifer's car like she belonged there.
Lucifer walked over, running a hand through his messy, sweat-damp hair. He grinned when he saw Lily.
Eliza felt her stomach twist.
She was about to turn around and leave when Lucifer spotted her. His face lit up, like it always did when he saw her.
But then he glanced back at Lily — and his smile faltered.
"Eliza!" he called, waving her over.
She hesitated.
Lily looked over, her expression polite but unreadable.
Eliza forced a smile and walked toward them.
"Hey," Lucifer said, his voice warm, familiar. "I was just—"
"Actually," Lily cut in, her voice smooth and sweet, "I was gonna steal him for a bit. I need someone to show me where the good coffee places are. You don't mind, right?"
Eliza froze.
She hated how the question was phrased. Like it wasn't really a question at all.
Lucifer glanced at Eliza, waiting for her to say something.
She wanted to tell him no. To remind him that they always walked home together, and that she was waiting for him — like she always did.
But the words wouldn't come out.
"Yeah," she said instead, forcing her voice to stay steady. "It's fine. Go."
Lucifer hesitated, his brows pulling together. "You sure? I can—"
"Seriously," Eliza cut him off, her voice too light, too fake. "I was heading home anyway."
Lucifer didn't look convinced, but Lily gave him a gentle tug on the wrist, and he let her pull him toward the car.
"See you later, Princess," he called over his shoulder.
Eliza nodded, but her throat felt tight.
She watched them drive off.
Her chest ached in a way that scared her.
Eliza didn't talk to Lucifer that night.
It wasn't that she was mad at him. Not really. He hadn't done anything wrong.
But it still hurt.
She kept telling herself it was stupid. He was her best friend — had been for years. If he wanted Lily, that didn't change anything.
Except... it felt like it changed everything.
To be continued....