"You really shouldn't be doing that,"
Oliver Oken looked up lazily at his brunette best friend in humor. He held up the file folder and waved around,
"Ooh you mean this?" He opened the file again and read through some more of it. Her eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms over her chest before looking at the closed door in anxiety.
"I'm serious, Oliver. Any minute a teacher or Principal Hodges could come down here and catch us!"
He rolled his eyes and placed the unknown person's file back.
"Thank you!!" She cried as she threw up her arms in thanks. Oliver merely smirked and with exaggerated slowness, searched through the other files in the open file cabinet drawer. Miley groaned again and checked the door for the hundredth time it seemed.
"Ah!" Oliver yelled in euphoria as he held up a manila folder, "Here's your folder!"
Miley Stewart's eyes snapped directly to the folder in her best friend's eager hands, "What?!" She cried.
He smiled and took time dramatizing opening the folder. She walked around behind him and peeked at the name on the Permanent Record folder. Sure enough, it read MILEY STEWART in big, dark block number.
"Oliver," she screeched, "you can't look at my permanent record!"
But he already had the folder open and was skimming the first line, "Ha, listen to this "Miley Stewart is a smart, social, wonderful young lady. Although, she tends to get into trouble somet—
Before Oliver could finish his sentence, Miley lunged at him and knocked him on the ground. She rolled on top of him and yanked her record out of his hand. Once she had it, she smiled in victory and sat up, still on him. He stared at her with wide eyes,
"Damn, what is so bad that you're willing to straddle me to keep it a secret?!" He yelled. She looked down and registered her current position, before jumping up with a very red face. She brushed herself up and stuffed her record back into the file cabinet hastily.
Oliver, however, wasn't thinking about how potentially embarrassing the last event could have been. All his small attention span was on that lovely manila folder and what it contained that made his cute, popstar best friend turn into a wrestler. A hot wrestler, he thought to himself. He grinned at the thought. As his imagination went off to thinking about the said girl wearing female wrestling outfits that probably wouldn't be allowed on national television, his short attention span forgot about what he was here for, for a second.
A second was all Miley needed. She grabbed the key off the table and jammed the drawers shut and locked them all back. She stuck the key in the right pocket of her jeans.
Once Oliver managed to pull his teenage boy mind out of the wrestling gutter, he noticed that the drawers were shut. Once again, his thoughts were on Miley's permanent record.
He narrowed his eyes and pulled himself up. He walked menacingly towards Miley.
"Give me the key," He growled. Miley, however, wasn't that intimidated. He was just Oliver, the once dorky donut that had transformed into a sarcastic, hormone-crazed, high school donut. And quite gorgeously sexy she mused. Instantly, she felt guilty for thinking that. He was her best friend, and he never thought of her in that way. If she thought of him like that, it would eventually slip out and that would just be awkward for the both of them.
"No." She said simply, patting her pocket. His eyes shifted down to the pocket. She clamped her hands over it.
"Seriously, Miley, I won't look at yours. I'll look at Jon's like I said I would!" He exclaimed in what he hoped was a sincere voice.
It wasn't.
"It's not even worth it, because two things could happen if I gave you this key. One, you'd get us both caught looking at another student's confidential file. Or two, you'll look at my file anyway."
He rolled his eyes and said, "What could be so mortifying that you can't let your best friend see?! You've only been going to this high school for three years, nothing that bad could have happened."
"You may think that," She murmured underneath her breath.
He faked like he was walking away, then suddenly turned back and reached for the pocket. Just as his hands brushed the denim, she had the key in her hands.
He reached for it, "Give it here, Miley, or I'll tell Jon that you wanted me to check his permanent record to find out who that girl was he got caught smoking with behind the school." Oliver blackmailed, with a big smile.
She yawned, "Boring. Can't you come up with a better blackmail?"
He smiled widely with a childish glint in his eyes. Miley instantly regretted the words she had spoken.
"Oh, I could. And you know it. So why don't you give me the key or I'll accidently let it slip that you told me that you weren't just "talking" with Andrew in the boys' locker room last Wednesday."
She knitted her eyebrows in confusion, "But I told you I was just talking!"
"Really? I think I heard you tell me you guys had a little fun in the shower—
She winced and exclaimed in defeat, "Okay, okay. You win."
Just as he reached for the key, she grinned and promptly dropped it down her shirt into her bra.
Oliver looked from her hand to her chest in surprise. He didn't expect such a bold move from his best friend.
"Now, why don't we leave this office before we get caught."
He wasn't listening, though. He really wanted that key. And if it meant he would have to feel up his future girl, then that was a risk he was willing to take.
"If you don't give me the key," he threatened to her, "I'll get it myself."
A red blush rose to her cheeks as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Y-you wouldn't," she choked out, embarrassed.
He walked closer to her. She backed away from him.
"If you do, I'll tell my dad and you'll get in trouble. That's called sexual battery." She said, proud of her statement.
"You wouldn't let them send your best friend to jail, would you? Besides, if you say that then you'll have to explain whose key it is. And then, technically, you'll be one who broke into the office and stole the key and that'll be another bad mark on your file."
He was full out joking now, and they both knew it.
She just uncrossed her arms and shrugged. She knew he wouldn't have done it.
She smirked, "Yea, I knew you wouldn't. You're not man enough."
Oliver cocked an eyebrow at that. Not man enough? That was insulting to him!
"I am man enough; I just respect you too much." He said stiffly, pulling at his collar. She smiled sweetly at him.
"In that case, Oliver, you can have the key."
She pulled it out and held it out to him. He looked at it in surprise, and thrust forward to finally grab it. But, before he could, she tossed it across the room. He tried to stop, but he was off balance now. He crashed into the small desk beside Miley, making it fall.
She gasped and bent down to help him move the desk off him.
"Ow…" He whimpered.
"Oh, my gosh! Oliver! Are you okay!?" She screamed, reaching to help him sit up.
He brushed himself off and stood up.
"Yea, I'm fine now. It was just a….Oh, shit!!" He exclaimed suddenly.
"What?" She cried, looking around frantically for the subject of Oliver's panic.
"My mom is going to murder me! I'm a dead man!" He cried as he looked at his pants. Miley now noticed a big, black stain.
"What is it?" She cried in slight disgust, drawing away from it. He touched the stain then looked where he had fallen, seeing a broken ink pen on the floor.
"Oh no…it's black ink!" He exclaimed, licking his finger and trying to rub the stain away. He only succeeded in making it bigger.
"What are you doing! Don't do that!" Miley exclaimed, pulling his arm away from the stain.
"Well what the hell am I supposed to do? My mom is picking me up in a few minutes and when she sees this she's going to ground me until the end of forever! That means Lilly, me, and you can't go on Hannah's tour this summer!" He cried.
"It's just a stain!"
"It's the seventh pair of pants I've ruined this month!"
She bit her lip in sympathy. Poor, poor Oliver.
Wait!
Suddenly she had a great idea.
"What if I told you I could get the stain out before your mom came to get you?" She asked carefully, "would you be willing to let my file go and never look at it?"
He pouted and crossed his arms. He wanted to know about that file…but he couldn't get grounded again.
"Okay…as long as you're not planning to do anything illegal." He reasoned.
She looked at him incredulously. She motioned to the files and said in a sarcastic voice, "Yea, because you totally don't drag me along to your illegal rendezvous'"
"Damn straight. Now, help me!"
Ten minutes later, they were walking down the steps to the school's basement.
"It's dark! Turn on a light!" Oliver whined as they descended the long steps.
"Oh quit whining you baby." Miley snapped, but felt around for the light switch anyway.
"Oh, damn it! I think a spider or snake just bit my arm!" Oliver cried as he made a point of staggering into Miley.
"Stop acting like a five year old! A snake did not just bit you! It was probably just a mosquito or something like that." She scolded as she tried to focus all her attention on the stairs.
"Must have been one big ass mosquito because that thing was BIG!" he cried as he rubbed his arms and moved a little closer to Miley.
"Ah! Here we are!" She flipped on the light switch, bathing the room with light. There were a few old desks and chalkboards lying around, a lot of dusk bunnies, an old mop and bucket, and some ropes. But what they both noticed the most was the giant washing machine and dryer taking up most the room.
"Wow," He muttered, "Maybe that thing bit me! It looks big and sharp enough!"
Miley just rolled her eyes and walked over to the washer and started it up. It worked fine. As the water started, she looked around. Sure enough, there was stain remover and a small table between the washer and dryer.
"Right," She said as she read the instructions taped to the table, "I'm going to need you to take off your pants."
Oliver felt a shock run through his body. Sure, he'd fantasized about doing some R rated things with his best friend and potential, future lover (if he succeeded in earning her love before graduation) but not like this in a creepy, dirty basement with big ass mosquito's and possible anaconda's and that spider from Arachnophobia.
He flushed and said, "Uhh…"
He couldn't seem to form a sentence. Okay, even though it was a basement he was still extremely turned on by her boldness.
She suddenly understood and looked at him with a hand perched on her hip that was jutted out with attitude.
"So I can get the stain out, Oliver. Sometimes I swear! You really need to stop thinking about…that."
What stain…, Oliver thought to himself as he stared at her. Then, it kicked in.
"Oh! Yea!"
He was suddenly self conscious. He wasn't sure if he really wanted her to see him in his boxers. Especially, after that last misunderstanding.
"The stain is going to seep in even more the longer you wait," she pointed out. He sighed and she turned around to grant him more privacy. He took his new jeans off and handed them over to her with a red face. His Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles boxers were fully visible now.
She tried to make it less embarrassing for him by making small talk and staying turned around while she tried to get the stain out of his pants. Once she soaked it in stain remover, she went about putting in it the washer, adding detergent and shutting it. She took as long as possible, trying to give her friend more embarrassment-free moments. Once it was in there, she pulled up two chairs. She sat down in one, and promptly burst out laughing when she saw his Ninja Turtle boxers.
"They were a gift," he defended himself quietly.
"Oh, it's okay Oliver," she comforted with tears of laugher in her eyes, "everyone loves Ninja Turtles."
He just crossed his arms.
"So, how'd you know about this place anyway?" He asked.
"This is where they wash the uniforms. Lilly let me stick my sweater in here last year when I spilled red Gatorade all over the front."
He nodded and said, "Er…well it's very useful. Even though it has random things that bite you."
She rolled her eyes and said, "Let me see your arm."
He held out his arm, "See? Right there," he pointed at it.
She peered closely, "I don't see anything."
He sighed and pointed with more enthusiasm, "It's right there!"
She looked closer, "I still don't see it."
"Well it is." He said stubbornly. Something caught his attention from the corner of his eye, "Hey! Sharpies!"
He grabbed the handful of Sharpies that were randomly lying on the floor.
"Wow, that's weird." Miley commented.
"Yea, it is." Oliver agreed.
Silence fell over them.
For a while they just sat there, not knowing what to say.
"You know," Oliver said suddenly, blurting out something awkward like people tend to do during long silences, "I love you."
His mouth dropped open and he knew he had no chance of ever denying it when they called him a donut. Had he really just said that?!
Oh hell! This is horrible! I'm such a freaking idiot! He scolded himself.
Strange thing was, he didn't feel very nervous waiting for her answer. He pondered that why she tried to figure out what had happened.
It was because he knew he loved her. And that no matter what she said, he'd always love her and she'd always love him, even if it was just friendship love. She would always be his girl, no matter what way it was defined.
Miley stared at her best friend in shock. He loved her. With those words, she realized that she'd unconsciously felt that way for a long time now. It explained when she blushed around him more then anyone else and got a thrill when she saw him. She loved her best friend.
"I," she choked out, "I…love—"
Suddenly, the washing machine went off. She jumped up, glad for something to do, and pulled his pants out.
She gasped when she saw the stain was still there. They were wet in her hands and she felt bad for not getting the stain out. Oliver, on the other hand, was feeling very nervous right now and couldn't give a damn about his pants. Was she going to say she loved me?
Yes, he decided, she was. At least, he hoped so.
"Oh Oliver, I'm so sorry. The stain didn't come out."
He stared at the pants and realized he didn't care.
"I can wash them again! Yes, that's what I'm going to do! I'll put more stain remover on them and put them back in there!"
She set the wet pants on the table and was about to spray the stain remover on them. Suddenly, she felt someone behind her. She blushed and turned around to see Oliver there holding red and black sharpies.
"It doesn't matter," He said to her.
"Yes it does." She replied sadly.
He gently took the stain remover from her hands and placed the red sharpie in her hand. He placed his hand over hers, and over the stain he guided their hands so they drew a big, wet, red heart. The poor red sharpie was going to be ruined now. Miley stared at it and smiled at him, noticing more then ever that he made her heart beat so much faster then normal. She took the black sharpie from him, and underneath the heart she wrote neatly, Kiss Me?
He grinned and pulled her to him. He pressed his lips to hers gently, and they kissed for what seemed to them like forever. When they finally broke apart, they were both grinning widely.
"I kind of like them," Oliver said, looking at the jeans. Miley nodded in agreement and Oliver wrapped his arms around her waist. He was so caught up in the high from the kiss and the glory that he'd finally got the girl of his dreams that he didn't notice anything else.
Then, suddenly, a thought came to his head.
"Now," he grinned at her, "Why don't we sit down and you can tell me what was so bad in your permanent record."
She groaned in annoyance and said, "Don't worry about it," and pressed her lips to his before he could ask again.
They were both thinking the same thing at that point: God bless ink and permanent records.
A/n: Like it? Hate it? Then click the button.