There was a knock on Miley's bedroom door. Miley was inside, organizing her books and things into her shelve. "Come in!" She called out, well aware who was on the other side. She did her best to hold in her anticipation.
Lilly opened the door and stepped into the room. Miley lit up, a wide grin crossing her face. "Hey Lilly!" She set her books down on her desk and walked to her friend to give her a hug. "How was visiting your dad?"
"Good," Lilly answered as they both pulled away from their hug. She looked nervous. "Dad's got this new girlfriend he's moved in with. She has a kid our age."
"Oh?" Miley cocked her brow as she turned to continue seeming occupied, organizing her books. "Boy or girl?"
Lilly looked away. "Boy."
A pause.
"Was he cute?" Miley asked in a voice that sounded odd to her.
"Kind of," Lilly stammered, "I mean, not really my type but he's not ugly or anything,"
Miley nodded, noting Lilly's odd behavior. "Hm. Is something on your mind? You seem a little..."
"Okay...it's like this..." Lilly sighed, and then took a deep breath. She finally looked up at Miley, a scared look on her face. "Miley... I had sex,"
Miley dropped the stack of books she was carrying, but seem unphased by the loud crash they made as they hit the floor. She turned to Lilly to make sure she had heard her right. Lilly was back to looking at the ground.
"O-oh..." Miley had to sit down, her head felt like it was spinning with a handful of different emotions. Seating herself on the edge of her bed she blinked, and glanced up at Lilly. "With... the... dad's girlfriend's son?"
Lilly nodded, looking as if she was being scolded.
"So... you.. what... huh?" Miley could no longer form a valid sentence or question.
Lilly sighed again, seeing Miley's struggle. "Dad and his mom went out to dinner, so it was just him and me," She spoke slowly, as if having difficulty, "He brought out some alcohol.. and... I don't know, it was weird. He started acting funny and grabbing me and stuff,"
Miley closed her eyes, "Wait," She opened them again, "Lilly did you actually want to... have... sex? With him?"
"Uh, well..." Lilly creased her brow, trying to think how to answer. "I mean, it wasn't something I would have chosen to do, if it had been up to me.. but I was a little tipsy, and he kept telling me how beautiful I was and going on and on, and I just got swept up in it. He was kinda all over me, and I wanted to tell him to knock it off, but my body just kinda responded, and my brain turned off, and then it just... happened."
Miley desperately wished that her brain wasn't as good at producing mental images as it was. She realized Lilly couldn't think of anything else to say, and she inhaled sharply, knowing it was her turn to speak. She still couldn't sort through her emotions, but she did realize that she felt as if she were burning with jealousy. It confused her. It couldn't have been because Lilly had lost her virginity first. Miley knew something that simple wouldn't, or shouldn't upset her. It was something about the whole situation that felt off. She kept replaying in her mind, this random guy staring into Lilly's eyes, touching her body, kissing her lips...
"Miley?" Lilly's timid voice broke through Miley's racing thoughts. Miley looks up at Lilly, who still looked terrified, and realized she needed to think of something to say.
"O-oh, sorry, I just.. Sorry, I had to take a minute to absorb all that. I wasn't really expecting...that..."
Lilly shifted nervously. "I-it's okay, uhm... You're not mad, are you? You can tell me."
"No!" Miley exclaimed after blinking and shaking her head. She looked up at Lilly again and noticed she was still standing near the door, as if frightened to come further into the room. "Come sit down, we can talk," She patted the space next to her on the edge of the bed.
Lilly hesitated, and then stiffly walked across the room and sat down on the bed. Miley gazed at her, studying her carefully. Lilly felt the intensity of Miley's eyes on her, and couldn't bring herself to meet them.
"So..." Miley did her best not to come off as awkward. "How was it?"
Lilly fiddled with her hands anxiously. "I-it was okay, I guess. I mean... I don't really see what the big deal is. It actually really hurts, and I was just waiting until it was over.." Miley could see the tears in Lilly's eyes, even if Lilly wasn't going to allow them to escape.
Miley rested her hand on Lilly's own restless hands. "I think it would've been different if it had been with someone you really loved. I know, I'm not one to talk, I have no idea, but... It just kinda sounds like this guy took advantage of you, and was thinking more of himself than anything else,"
Lilly nodded, sighing, "Yeah, I know, but I could've stopped him. I just didn't. Ugh, I'm such an idiot. Miles, you can be pissed, it's totally okay."
"Lil, no," Miley frowned, and Lilly finally looked up at Miley when she gave her hand a loving squeeze. "The only thing I'm upset about is that you got taken advantage of, but if you're okay, I guess I can be okay with it. I'm here, for anything and you know it. I just hope you never get put in that situation again." After saying this, Miley realized she was on the verge of becoming overwhelmed with another burst of emotion and pulled Lilly into a hug.
Lilly sighed, feeling Miley's arms around her. Miley was trying her absolute hardest not to cry as more waves of jealousy and confusion rushed through her. She composed herself enough by the time their hug ended.
"So, I have to ask," Miley shifted awkwardly after a pause, "Did you use protection?"
Lilly blushed and looked away, embarrassed, then nodded, "Y-yeah. I more or less told him that there was no way it was going to happen without one,"
"Good," Miley cleared her throat, somewhat relieved, but still bothered by all of it. " She noticed Lilly still seemed to be struggling to say something else and looked as Lilly inquisitively
Lilly exhaled, seeing Miley's look. "Okay, here's the deal.. You know how we have a 3 day weekend at the end of this week?"
"Yeaah...?" Miley spoke slowly, not sure if she liked were this was going.
"My dad got this idea in his head... that his girlfriends son, his name's David... that he should come check out the beach, and stay with my mom and me for the weekend."
Miley's mind had already been thrown back into her rampant racing thoughts. She was not happy about this at all. Even more, she was immensely confused by the fact that she suddenly felt extremely territorial and protective (more than usual) over Lilly, in a very odd way. She couldn't speak.
"Miley? Miley! Hellooo, Earth to Miley!"
The next morning at school, Miley found Lilly sitting at the tables in the quad. She looked lost in thought and didn't see Miley until she taking a seat across from her.
"Morning, Lil, how you doing?" Miley greeted as cheerfully as she could. She had been up all night, restless and confused. When she finally did manage to get to sleep she had had strange dreams, all of which Lilly were in.
Lilly looked up at Miley and smiled lightly. "Hey Miles. I'm okay. How are you?"
"Good!" Miley fibbed. Then, she suddenly couldn't think of anything else to say. Luckily, Oliver saw them and was making his way over.
"Hey ladies!" He took a seat next to Lilly at the table, and immediately noticed the tension coming from Miley's direction. Quickly, he tried to lighten the mood. "I know, I know, it sucks that it's Monday, and we're back in school, but hey! Look at it this way! We get next Monday off! 3 day weekend, baby!" To his surprise, Miley grimaced, and became even more distraught. He decided to change the subject. "So Lil, how was catching up with your pop?"
Lilly swallowed, "It was good. Uh, speaking of all that, as a matter of fact, his new girlfriend's son is coming to visit for the three day weekend. I figured, we could all show him a good time, you know? It might help to have another guy around."
Miley liked this idea. She glanced up at Lilly, who of course, seemed nervous.
"Sure," Oliver replied, grinning. "We can all go out and surf, or something. What kinda guy is he?"
Lilly frowned. "Uh, well I don't know too much about him I only just met him when I went down to visit."
"Oh, okay. No prob, we'll figure it out. I'll find something fun for us to do by the end of the week!" Oliver glanced over at Miley who was obviously agitated.
Miley had more trouble hearing Lilly talk about this than she thought she would. She decided the thing that bothered her most was the fact that Lilly had to talk about all of this like she hadn't slept with the guy.
The bell rang, and all the students started shuffling off to class. The three of them did the same, but Miley hung back, and tugged on Oliver's arm, signaling to stop and wait a minute.
"What's up, Miles?" He lowered his voice. "You seem kinda... annoyed,"
Miley got straight to the point. "Listen, Oliver, I really want your help this weekend, okay? I don't want this guy macking on Lilly,"
Oliver glanced at Lilly, who was entering the classroom. "You sure you're not overreacting Miles? We don't even know the guy, and Lilly's only met him once, he can't be that bad,"
Miley glared at Oliver, letting him know just how serious she was.
Oliver gulped, and nodded. "Sure thing, I'll keep my eyes out. If he ends up being funny, I'll use bro power to distract him or something."
Miley sighed, slightly relieved. "Thanks, Oliver,"
"No prob. We should get to class though,"
"Yeah," He and Miley walked towards the building doors.
It was Wednesday afternoon. Things had settled down, and Miley felt like she had almost come to terms with everything that was going on. She and Lilly were hanging out in her room after school when Lilly's phone buzzed. Miley watched as Lilly reached to open her phone, and couldn't quite decipher the expression that crossed her face.
"Who is it?" Miley couldn't help but ask after she saw Lilly stare blankly at the screen, and then slowly start texting a reply.
Lilly creased her brow, and answered after a brief hesitation. "It's David. I guess my dad gave him my number so we could work out his flight schedule and picking him up at the airport on Friday."
"Oh," Miley said, disheartened. "What time's he flying in?"
"4:30, he says, if the plane's not delayed. My mom doesn't get off work till after 5 so I guess it's up tp me to pick him up," Lilly showed obvious signs of anxiety.
"I can go with you," Miley piped up.
Lilly looked away from her phone after deleting whatever response she had started. "You don't have to Miley. If you don't want to,"
Miley shook her head. "I don't mind. I want to," Like hell she'd let him be alone with Lilly if she could help it.
Lilly smiled softly and looked up at Miley. "Thanks, Miles. You're the best," Miley nearly melted, though she couldn't understand why.
Lilly began attempting to text a new reply. Miley could feel the troubling emotions she thought she was over resurfacing. She flipped open a magazine and pretended to read as Lilly finished her conversation. After a while, the phone stopped buzzing, and Lilly excused herself to use the restroom. Miley found herself staring at Lilly's phone as soon as she had left the room. She knew it was wrong, but the temptation was too much. Quickly, she sprung up and flipped open Lilly's phone. She smiled, as she saw the background image on the screen; a picture of Lilly and her they had taken when they were goofing off on the beach one day, some time ago. Miley was surprised Lilly hadn't changed it since, but she was also happy.
Remembering she didn't have much time, she opened Lilly's text log and opened the conversation with David. She began reading.
David: Hey! It's Dave! Got ur # from ur dad. I'm all set to fly in at 4:30 on Friday if the flight's on time! :)
Lilly: Okay, I will be there to pick u up. I'm bringing my bf Miley with. u'll meet my friend Oliver too, we r all gonna hang out and show u around while ur here.
David: Bf? I'm hoping u mean best friend and not boyfriend. ;) Haha.
Lilly: Miley's my best friend, we pretty much do everything together. She's really awesome.
David: Cool. Tho I am a little disappointed we won't be by ourselves.. :\ It's okay, I'm sure we'll have more than enough alone time this weekend. ;)
Lilly: hah.. my friends are really great, I think you'll like them. Oliver's gonna find something fun for us all to do.
David: Now, Oliver's not ur boyfriend, either, right?
Lilly: I've know Ollie since we were kids. He's my best pal, after Miley.
David: Ok just checkin. :) So I'll see you Friday! I can't wait!
Lilly: Yeah. Have a safe flight.
Miley shut the phone and set it down where it had been. She was fuming as she went to sit on her best and try to calm herself down. That guy was totally and completely flirting with Lilly, and hinting that he wanted to hook up with her again. Miley wanted to scream. She buried her face in her pillow.
Just then, Lilly came back in. She saw Miley, laying on the bed with her face pressed to the pillow. She walked over and sat down next to Miley. "Hey, you okay Miley?"
"Mmph," Miley grunted into the pillow. "Yeah. This pillow... just smells great... we bought new fabric softener." She was making sure there were no tears escaping from her eyes before she prepared to sit back up.
Lilly laughed, "You're so cute, Miles,"
Her words made Miley excited, which frustrated her even more. Just as she was about to rise, Lilly did something that made Miley never want to move again.
Lilly laid down next to Miley and brushed her fingers through her friends hair several times before resting her arms around Miley's shoulders. Miley slowly turned over and looked at Lilly. Lilly gazed back at her.
"Are you sure you're okay? Your face is all red," Lilly placed her palm on Miley's forehead. Miley was rendered speechless at how close Lilly was to her. She was without a doubt, frozen in place, simply from the smallest touch.
"Y-yeah," Miley cleared her throat, and then mustered all the courage she had to put her arm around Lilly in return. "I'm just.." She couldn't think of anything to say. "Yeah I'm fine,"
"Lilly frowned. "If you say so."
Suddenly Lilly's phone went off again. They both jumped, and then looked at each other. Lilly stood up and went over to it. After opening the message and reading it, she relaxed.
"It's just Oliver. He sent a list of things he's come up with that we could do this weekend. He listed a bunch of beaches to visit, and mentioned that we might try going to the Getty, or head over to Venice, if David's interested."
Miley smiled, remembering she had Oliver on her side too. "Leave it to Mr. Oaken to find everything withing a 50 mile radius to do in a weekend."
Lilly loosened up and laughed. "Yeah, that's for sure. You wanna go get some food? It's about dinner time."
"Yeah, I'm starving, let's go." She stood up and linked her arm in Lilly's. In her head she kept reminding herself she had until Friday afternoon to prepare for anything this David guy was going to bring. She was going to make sure nothing happened to Lilly; not while she was around.