Disclaimer: Refer to the first chapter.
In case you haven't figured it out, regular typing is present tense. Italics is flashbacks. It can be kind of confusing, so I just wanted to clear that up.
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Lilly finishes her-I mean, my-bacon in record time. She licks her fingers off, getting every last bit of grease. I have to smile at this, even though I find it totally gross. When she is finished, she washes her hands off in the sink then dries her hands off on the dish towel.
"That was good," She says with a smile, tossing her long blonde hair over her shoulder.
"Glad you liked it." I smirk.
"Oh, I did." Lilly nods. "You're a good cook."
"It was microwave bacon, Lils!" Oliver cuts in. "Anyone can make it."
"Well I didn't see you making it." She puts her hands on her hips and looks at him, glaring with her blue eyes.
Oliver sighs and flips his shaggy brown hair out of his matching brown eyes. Oliver and Lilly are so perfect
for each other when they aren't fighting. That's why they are the school's cutest couple. Gag. But seriously,
I am happy for them.
"Okay, lovebirds, enough." I pick up my back pack. "School time."
The pair groan but start making their way to the door. Oliver reaches out for Lilly's hand. A huge grin breaks out across her face as she laces their fingers together. Anyone watching would think they are just the cutest thing ever. But me, they make me want to burst into tears. Watching them walk off my porch like that, it's almost too much. My head starts to get fuzzy. I'm so dizzy I have to sit down in the chair near our front door.
I take a few deep breaths. Just when I think I am ready to stand again, I remember exactly which chair I've placed my butt in. Damn me.
Oliver brought me home early from the dance. I had been the worst date ever. I didn't dance with him at all. I just stood in the corner, trying not to fall asleep or cry or hyperventilate or any combination of those three. I made him bring me home only about an hour after being at the dance.
I went up the front walk, digging for my keys in my purse. My head was down, so I didn't see who was sitting in the chair by my door.
"Hey," a familiar voice said softly.
My head snapped up and I dropped my purse in shock. Jake Ryan was at my house.
"Hi," I said, my voice barely audible.
"Can we talk?" He asked, standing, then taking a small step towards me.
All I could do was stare. I was at a loss for words. So I did the only thing my body allowed me to do. I nodded.
"Thanks." Jake gave me a small smile and sat on my step, gesturing for me to follow.
I sat not too close but not too far from him. I was afraid that at any moment he would bolt. Or worse, he'd come to finish telling me off and then he would once again walk out of my life.
"How was the dance?" He asked, looking at my outfit.
"It was fine." I continued to stare at him.
"Did you shake your thang?" Jake smirked.
I sat there, dumbfounded. Was he really trying to make me laugh?
"No," I said stiffly. "I did not."
"Why not?" He tilted his head to the side, looking confused, as if the answer was not obvious.
"What are you doing here, Jake?" I asked, not answering his question but asking one of my own.
"I came to say I am sorry." He looked at me, his beautiful green eyes staring into my light blue, sleep-deprived ones.
"For what?" I wanted to know.
"For cutting you out of my life." He looked down. "I shouldn't have done that. I overreacted."
"At least you didn't faint." I looked at him. "Oliver fainted when I told him."
"Yeah, but he didn't cut you off." Jake reached down and started pulling at the grass.
"So is that why you're here?" I took in a shaky breath. "To tell me you're sorry that you broke my heart into a thousand pieces, but you still want nothing to do with me?!"
He shook his head quickly. "Miley, if I didn't want to talk to you anymore, I wouldn't be here right now."
I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth down, trying to keep myself under control. "Then why are you here?"
He reached over and took my shaky hand in his own. "To tell you that I need you in my life."
I did a double take, not sure I'd heard him right. "What?"
"Miley, I need you. I was up all night crying my eyes out. My dad wanted to take me to the hospital." He looked down a little and the street light caught his golden hair, making it shine. "You have to be in my life, even if it's just as a friend."
Ouch. Friend. Even though the first part made my heart beat inhumanly fast and the last part broke me a little more, I had to smile. He needed me just as much as I needed him. And that made all the difference. At that moment, it was like the world had started spinning again. I knew I could make it through to another day. It would kill me to just be his friend, but it was better than not having him at all.
"I need you too, Jake." I said softly. "More than anything else in this world."
I rub my eyes gently, trying to clear my head of the memory. I don't know how long I've been sitting there or how long I've spaced out, but when I remove my fingers from my eyes, Lilly and Oliver are standing in front of me. Their faces show the love and concern they have for me, their best friend. They know how much I've been hurting. But they think I'm getting better. Too bad that is very far from the truth.
"Are you okay?" Lilly asks, kneeling in front of me.
I nod. "Yeah. I'm just tired. I didn't sleep well last night."
"Are you still not sleeping?" Oliver asks, crouching next to his girlfriend. They really are cute. Both of them. Looking after me like that. Butting in. It's what they're good at. Getting involved when you don't want them to. That used to be my specialty. When I actually cared about stuff, that is.
"I'm fine. I was just up all night writing a song," I lie, shaking my head. "You know how I get when I'm inspired. I can't stop writing until I'm done."
The couple nods and share a glance. They don't buy the lie I've just fed them. But they know better than to push me. Because then I will push them. Push them away.
Lilly and Oliver know about everything with Jake. I've told them. I've let them in. And I don't do that very often. And they know I could freeze them out when I felt they were getting too close.
"Miley!" Lilly snaps her fingers in front of my face, trying to get my attention. I grab her hand and glare at her.
"What?" I hiss at her.
She gives me an annoyed look. "You spaced out. Come on, we have to go to school." Lilly never did have patience for my mood swings. And since they have been more frequent recently, things have been sort of stressed with us.
"Fine," I say, standing up.
"Frontsies!" Oliver calls as we walk to my car.
"No fair!" Lilly pouts. "You sat in front yesterday."
"Well I called them, so I get them." He smirks at her.
"Okay, then I call front for the ride home and for the ride to school tomorrow," she says, smiling triumphantly.
"You can't do that!" Oliver protests.
"I already did."
I simply roll my eyes at their immaturity, but in an amused way, and give a slight chuckle. They do this every day. Sometimes I enjoy it. Others, I wish Oliver had never hit that illegal immigrant in the back, therefore totaling his car and causing me to have to drive him and Lilly everywhere. In case you hate illegal immigrants and live in the U.S., you can thank Oliver for there being one less in the country. Poor guy got deported.
I unlock the door and we climb into my silver Nissan Versa. I place my iPod into Oliver's waiting hand. He connects it to the iPod jack and starts to scroll through my songs. This is how it is in my car. Whoever sits in the passenger's seat gets to pick the music. But sometimes it depends on the person.
After Oliver selecting six songs and Lilly telling him to change three of them, we arrive at school. The parking lot isn't that full. We usually get there pretty early.
Walking across the street from the parking lot, we have to dodge cars. Some stop for you, some don't. Oh, God forbid one of them hit me and take me out of my misery. Sometimes, I want to jump in front of one. Just to see what would happen. Would they stop? Or would they hit me? Would I live? Or would I die?
Inside, we sit at our usual table. Every morning we sit her. Every morning. I smile and talk to friends until the bell rings, allowing us to go to lockers. Lilly, Oliver, and I make our way to the hall with the lockers. We each go to ours. Oliver's and Lilly's are on the other side of the hall. I walk the rest of the way by myself. My locker is a bottom one. When I get there, the guy whose locker is on top of mine is making out with his girlfriend in front of my locker. I (im)patiently wait for them to finish practically having sex in the middle of the hall and then get my books. While I am getting them, Lilly and Oliver walk up, books in their hands. I stand up as the bell rings to go to class.
We do just that. Drama. First period. My home. I sit in my seat as a good feeling settles over my entire body. Drama is one of the only things that makes me happy. I love it. It's my life.
Class goes by. I participate like a normal student. The whole time I'm in there, my mind is blank. I am Miley again. I can let go. Those guys keep me too busy to think about anything else. We are all like one big happy family. Dorky, I know. But it's the one class that I am friends with most, if not the whole class. Well, at least I think I am. You can never tell with Drama kids. We cause a lot of…Drama. For all I know, they could all hate me. But, I have a good feeling I am pretty well-liked.
The bell rings, releasing us to second period. Oliver, Lilly, and I walk down the hall. When we get to the end, it is time for Oliver and I to part with Lilly. She has French in the back of school and we have math upstairs.
Lilly and Oliver hug, both pulling away with smiles.
"I love you," Oliver says softly.
Lilly's eyes sparkle and anyone watching could tell she just got butterflies in her stomach. "I love you, too."
As I watch my oldest friend walk away, my eyes start to glass over with another memory.
Jake and I were hanging out. It was two days after he'd shown up on my porch that night after the dance. We were in my room. I snuck him in. My dad didn't want me to have anything to do with Jake. But I needed him. I was going to tell my dad when I needed to.
Jake and I were just talking. Like nothing had changed. But we were just friends. Then, the conversation took an unexpected turn.
"Miley, can I ask you something?" He looked down at his hands.
I nodded slowly. "Go ahead."
"What do you want from this?" He asked, looking up at me, wearing a serious expression.
"I want to be with you," I said, not even pausing to think about my answer. Because I knew what I wanted. I wanted him.
"Oh," he said quietly. "Well maybe you can have that someday."
"When?" I was growing anxious. I knew I'd screwed up, but if Jake needed me as much as he said he did, why weren't we a couple?
"I don't know." He stared at the floor intently. "You might get more. I just need to know that I can trust you."
"You can!" I said loudly, a hint of desperation in my voice.
Jake stood. "I should get going."
I sighed softly, but nodded anyway. Jake went over to my balcony, where I'd set up my rope ladder for him. Once again, I watched him walk away. He swung his leg over, but stopped and looked at me.
"Miley?"
"Yeah?" I took a small step towards him.
"Thanks." There was a soft smile on his lips.
"For what?" I tilted my head to the side in confusion.
"For not giving up for me." He shrugged. "For fighting for me."
Tears prickled my eyes and a lump rose in my throat, but I swallowed it. "I don't give up on love."
Jake nodded gave me another smile as he started to climb down the rope ladder. He stopped just before his head disappeared over the side.
"And Miley?"
"Hmm?" I went over to the ledge and looked down at him.
"I love you," he whispered.
Millions of butterflies fluttered through my stomach and my heart started beating faster than it has ever beaten before. "I love you, too."
Jake climbed back up a little bit so that his face was close to mine. "I really, really do, baby."
Baby. He'd always called me that before I told him I'm Hannah. And I hadn't heard it in over two nights. It made me want to melt. "I think I'm going to cry."
Jake sat on the edge of my balcony right beside me and placed his hand on my cheek softly. "Don't cry, beautiful."
"I'm just so happy," I said, leaning into his touch. It felt so good. Just like I'd remembered it.
"Goodnight, Miley." He smiled and kissed my forehead. "I love you, baby." At that, he started descending the rope ladder again.
"I love you too, Jake." I waved down to him. "With all of my heart."
"Miley? Are you okay?" Oliver asks, placing his hand on my shoulder.
"Yeah," I say, gently pushing his hand off. "Why?"
"Well, you look like you're about to cry."
I take a deep breath. "I'm fine, Oliver. Just fine."
But I'm not. I'm not fine.
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K, that's chapter two. Review, s'il vous plaît?