Thirteen year old Oliver Oken was confused. He didn't remember doing anything wrong. Sure, there was that whole thing where he handcuffed Lilly and Miley together, but that had worked out for the best – his two best friends had made up. And he didn't remember saying anything stupid recently…
So why was Lilly glaring at him?
He slowly got up from the blue and white cafeteria table that he was sitting at and, picking up his lunch tray, walked towards the table that Lilly was sitting at.
Lilly watched through narrow eyes as he approached her table. He put his tray down on her table, and she immediately huffed and looked in the other direction.
Oliver scratched his head. "Lilly?" he asked as he sat down. "Are you okay?"
Lilly spun her head back around to glare at him. "Of course I'm okay, Oliver, WHY WOULDN'T I BE OKAY?" she practically yelled.
Oliver snorted. "Yes, you seem just peachy keen, jelly bean."
"NO, you know what Oliver, I think you have made your feelings toward me perfectly clear," she growled.
"Woman, you have finally lost your mind," Oliver pronounced slowly. "That or aliens have abducted the real Lilly and left a cheap imitation."
"No you want to know what a cheap imitation is? Our friendship is a cheap imitation!" Lilly chortled. "And you know what else –,"
Her rant was cut short as Miley joined them. Lilly greeted her warmly, and the two girls proceeded to gossip about boys, clothes, movies, whatever it was that they talked about, leaving Oliver to ponder on his friend's strange behavior.
Thirty minutes later, Oliver was still confused. All his attempts to make eye contact with Lilly had been brutally rebuffed.
"Anyways, I gotta get to class!" Miley bubbled. "Bye Lils, see you Ollie," she breezed, her hand ruffling his hair softly as she left. Oliver watched her leave, a little surprised. Miley never called him Ollie.
Oliver was left sitting across from Lilly. The glare had returned and she was shaking her head at him. As soon as she noticed him looking in her direction, she got up to leave.
Oliver stepped in front of her, grabbing her arms. "Lill! Stop! What did I do?"
"I don't know Ollie!" she said, putting emphasis on the word Ollie. "What did you NOT do?"
"What is wrong you nutjob! Is this about Miley?"
"You were going with her!"
"Going where with her?"
"I don't know, wherever she was going!"
"Where was she going?"
"Better question. Why were you going with her?"
"How would I know why I was going to go with her if I don't know where she was going?"
"I don't know! To get her nails done for the Country Booty Awards!"
Oliver stopped, flabbergasted. "WHAT?"
"Yeah!" Lilly said, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration. "Now the donut finally gets it! You had to choose between Miley and I, and you were going to choose Miley. And we've been friends since kindergarten. But that's fine, I get it, I'm just stupid old Lilly, who eats paste and beat up Bobby Carter in the first grade because he kept pushing YOUR STUPID BUTT off the swing, but do I get thanked, NO! I guess Miley must just be a better friend to you, cuffboy, enjoy. AND NO I DID NOT MEAN TO RHYME."
Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she stormed away.
Oh, brother.
Two hours later, Oliver was sitting in seventh hour, staring at the back of Lilly's blonde head.
And, as he tried to focus on the teacher droning on or even the hot girl that sat two seats over, he kept coming back to what Lilly had said. Stupid girl. What was the big deal? It wasn't like he had actually chosen either of his two friends that afternoon on the beach. Miley was funny. She was new, interesting, different, and really fun to be around. But Lilly had to know that at the end of the day, she was his best friend, that they had known each other for so long that they just fit, like a favorite sweatshirt, or worn tennis shoes. Didn't she? Had he been neglecting her feelings?
Sighing, he leaned forward, gently tugging a lock of her blonde hair. As he had expected, she ignored him. He did it again. Sliding his chair even farther forward, he began rubbing her shoulder with the pad of his thumb. Quietly, he began singing the theme song to Three's Company, a childhood favorite of hers, into her ear.
Lilly tried to maintain her scowl, but the cheesy lyrics and the apologetic look on Oliver's face melted her a bit. Grudgingly, she began to smile, then giggle a little.
"I'm sorry Lilly," he soothed her. "I guess I didn't realize that, three's company toooooo."
Lilly groaned and rolled her eyes, but when the bell rang, she fell into step with him on their way out of the classroom.
"Want to go find Miley and go to the beach?" she asked.
Oliver smiled indulgently. "Of course, Lill."
Lilly, Oliver, and Miley were seated at a table outside the Surf Shack.
"I'm bored," Oliver complained.
"Ooh let's go for a swim!" Miley exclaimed.
"But there's no sun, the water will be cold!" Lilly groaned. "Let's go to the mall."
Both girls looked at him expectantly. Oliver sighed to himself. He really wanted to go swimming.
"Actually, I kind of feel like the mall…" he found himself saying.
Lilly, Oliver, and Miley were standing at the entrance to the mall.
"Where to first?" Oliver asked.
"How about the food court?" asked Miley. Yummy, food! Oliver had missed his burgers and his fries and his…
"Actually, I kind of wanted to check out that new store on the second floor first," Lilly commented.
Oliver looked around. "Uhhh…okay. I vote…new store?"
He didn't even notice the weird looks the girls gave him because he was to busy comforting his disappointed stomach.
Lilly, Oliver, and Miley were (finally) seated in food court.
"I want a burger!" Miley exclaimed happily, throwing her arms over Oliver's, which were spread across the table. He moved his arms to his sides quickly.
Lilly looked at Oliver for a second, her head tilted sideways. "Well, I think I'm going to have Middle Eastern food. Hummus! Yum."
Oliver's stomach banged in protest, but he braced himself. "Yummy, hummus."
Miley and Lilly both froze, their arms crossed.
Miley began first. "What is up with you? You've been making us do everything Lilly wants all day!"
"Yeah!" Lilly exclaimed. "You hate hummus, ever since your mom tried to make it on her own! What are you trying to pull?"
Oliver scratched his head, slowly. "Lilly is my best friend?" he asked softly.
Miley sucked in a deep breath, obviously a little hurt.
Oliver was looking at Lilly, who was beaming at him slowly. "Oh Oliver!" she said, shaking her head at him. "Since when have we ever agreed on anything? It's practically the basis of our best friendship."
Oliver smiled back, relaxing. "Thank God, 'cuz Oken's gonna get him some Orange Chicken."
"If I'd known y'all were in the mood for a heart to heart, I would have made us stay home to watch Oprah," Miley joked
