When In Rome

Non cadere fuori dell'amaca

Don't Fall Out of the Hammock!

Hammocks are surprisingly comfortable. Really. I could almost fall asleep (and believe me, I've been up for twenty-four hours straight, so I'm tempted), lying here with the sun out and the peace and quiet, swaying in this hammock. And that might be the point of the hammock, but I don't really care.

In fact, lying here, the whole events of today seemed trivial. Sure, I'd been pushed into a swimming pool because I wasn't paying enough attention to those around me, and I'd had to be saved by my best friend. And while we're on the subject of my best friend, I'd been struck by the notion that he looked hot in nothing but swimming trunks. But none of that was really that bad, was it?

Ugh, who am I kidding? Of course it's bad. It's terrible. It's horrendous. If I wasn't in a hammock and afraid of falling out of it I have kicked myself, but if I fell out of it, I'd feel like even more of an idiot. If that's even possible.

It isn't the fact that Oliver is hot. It's the fact that I, Lillian Truscott, find him hot. We're best friends, and best friends don't think that about each other. Does he think that about me? No. Because it's an unwritten rule in the Best Friend Rulebook, that best friends don't find each other attractive. They just shouldn't. Yet I'm breaking that rule.

Wanting to drown out my thoughts, I picked up my iPod, and stuck both of the headphones in my ear. I scrolled through the list of artists, and picked one of my personal favourites. 'Hey There Delilah' echoed through my head, and I closed my eyes, letting it wash over me. Forgetting all about it was the best option. Just forgetting about it all.

"Hey, Lilly?" A voice that didn't belong in the chorus of the song made me jump slightly, and I turned my head to see Oliver standing at the doorway. I smiled at him, and reached up my headphone to listen to what he was saying. Or about to say. Whatever. He really was hot though.

STOP IT. STOP IT NOW.

"Hey Ollie," I said, trying to appear nonchalant. Whether it worked or not, I don't know, but Oliver didn't say anything, so I suppose it was all good.

He walked over to me, and sat on one of the chairs beside the hammock. "Are you okay?" The way he was looking at me made me feel like I shouldn't be. Okay that is.

Okay? Yeah, I'm fine. I just fell into a swimming pool and made myself look like a freak, am in a country where I can't speak a word of the language, and I'm apparently falling for my best friend. One of them anyway. Everything is just dandy.

"Am I not supposed to be?" I asked, looking at him. Wow, I should totally be an actress.

"I just wondered, after your fall and everything. I know you said you were fine, but I just had to make sure. You hit the water pretty hard."

I smiled at him. "I'm totally okay Oliver. Jackson just hit me with the water when I was distracted, and I didn't have time to react; I'd hit the water before I knew it. Your help was much appreciated though."

"It was no problem. And I can be a lifeguard now, right? You think I could get a job as a lifeguard now, and when they ask for experience, I can put you as a reference?"

"Totally. I'd come along to your interview, and explain in detail exactly how you rescued me. We might have to fabricate it a bit, but our story can be fixed later," I grinned at him, and wrapped my headphones around my iPod, knowing that I probably wasn't going to listen to it again for a few hours. When me and Oliver get started...

Oliver nodded. "I'm sure it can. But we need to make it a trillion times more dramatic. It isn't exciting enough as it is."

I waved my hand, shrugging it off. "That can all be arranged later. We can add sharks and piranha into the mixture at the same time. Will that be exciting enough for you?"

"Maybe."

Oliver looked at me, and our eyes connected. I wanted to keep looking; keep staring into his eyes until he did something, but couldn't. Instead, I raised my eyebrows, and stuck my tongue out at him. He grinned, and rolled his eyes.

"So, what do you think of Italy so far? Not that you've seen all that much of it," Oliver said, looking away and out at the pool, which unoccupied. Miley had gone to sleep for a few hours, and then had to get ready for a Hannah meeting. Jackson was... somewhere. And Mr. S was probably doing the same thing as Miley. So it was just me and Ollie.

"I like it. This part is awesome. The lying on the hammock and the private pool are amazing," I said, sitting up as best as I could in a hammock. "What about you?"

"There are definitely parts of it that I love," Oliver said, and tapped on the armrest of the chair with his fingers. "Is Jackson staying here while Miley is off being Hannah?"

I nodded, rolling my eyes. "Unfortunately, yes. Although he probably wouldn't be any good going with them. I wouldn't put it past him to completely ruin everything, so it's no surprise that we've been assigned to baby-sit him."

"He'd say that it was the other way around though," Oliver corrected.

"He'd say that, but everyone else would know that he was wrong. Who, in their right mind, would trust Jackson to look after anyone? He couldn't even look after a fish without drowning it."

Oliver looked at me and laughed. "A fish can't drown, Lil."

"I know that, but Jackson doesn't. I'm sure he'd be able to manage it. He could be the first person in history to have drowned a fish. Don't ask me how he'd do it, but this is Jackson," I said, raising my eyebrows.

Oliver laughed again, as a figure appeared in the doorway, yawning.

"Hey guys," Miley said, stepping out onto the verandah and adjusting her wig. "You both okay?"

I nodded. "Why does everyone keep asking me that? I'm fine!"

Miley looked at me, a strange expression on her face, before shaking her head and turning to Oliver. "Me and dad are leaving in a few minutes. I'm sorry for ditching you guys and making you put up with Jackson, but I couldn't get out of it. The charity concert workers want to have a meeting with all the stars, and they demanded that I be there."

"It's fine Miley," Oliver said, grinning at her. "Me and Lilly can hang out. We've been doing it our whole lives; we'll be fine for just one night."

"Well, we'll be back soon, okay? I'd say about three hours? It'll be dark, but we'll bring back pizza. Dad says you can help yourself to anything in the fridge until we get back. Will that be okay?"

I nodded. "It'll be more than okay, Miles. Just go already!"

She laughed, and folded her arms. "Anyone would think that you wanted me out of the way." Directing a look at me in particular, she raised her eyebrows.

I rolled my eyes, and swung my feet over the side of the hammock, resting them on the floor so that I'd have no chance of completely falling off of it. "We just want you to go already, so that you'll be back sooner. Because we love you that much."

"Ha. Ha." Miley said sarcastically, unfolding her arms again. "Okay, well I'll be leaving you now. Don't do anything that I wouldn't do, Lilly. See you later Oliver."

I faked offence. "What was that? Why did you direct that statement at me. What are you expecting me to be doing?"

"Just don't do anything that I wouldn't," Miley said, turning around and beginning to walk away.

"That doesn't leave a lot of things for me to do." I replied, laughing when she stopped walking and turned back at me, one eyebrow high above the other. "Joking. Maybe."

She just laughed, and kept walking into the house.

Oliver looked at me and smiled. "Okay, so. Once she's gone... what do you say we do?"

I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING THIS. YOU CAN YELL AT ME IF YOU FEEL IT NECESSARY.

Next update should be here tomorrow. But don't count on it or anything.