Expect a confrontation in this chapter. And expect the unexpected
The next morning, I awoke with a yawn. I looked around in confusion before giggling; I was sleeping between Miley and Jake in my queen sized bed. We probably looked like a family who's little kid at a nightmare. They were holding hands over my stomach, which made me giggle even more.
I looked at the clock; it was ten o' clock on a school day! We'd already missed most of first period...
"Miley! Jake!" I exclaimed, shaking them awake. "Crap! It's ten!"
"What?" Miley groaned, sitting up. Her hair was absolutely huge and I broke into laughter, as did Jake when he woke up.
"Looks like we're taking a sick day," Jake said, stretching out on my bed with his hands behind his head.
"Sounds good to me," Miley sighed, lying back down. "I see no reason for school."
"You know, besides education and the like," I said, grabbing the remote and clicking on my TV.
"Cell phone check," Jake groaned as he picked up all three of our phones. "Ready for parental freak outs."
I turned my phone back on, feeling it vibrate repeatedly in my hand. The display read
7 New Voicemal
Listen Now
Listen Later
I opted for listening later, only to have another alert pop up.
9 New Messages
View Now
View Later
I sighed, pressing view now. All nine of them were from Oliver, asking what was wrong, begging me to talk to him. I chucked the phone onto the nightstand with a sigh as I listened to Miley talk to Robbie Ray.
"What's up?" I asked when Miley got off the phone with a big smile.
"Well," she drawled, "oddly enough, my dad is totally okay with the day off. In fact, he had some ideas of his own."
"As in...?" Jake asked, gesturing for her to continue.
"As in, get your asses outta bed! We're doing something fun."
"And when you say fun, you mean...?"
"You'll see," Miley said mischieviously. "Let's get this party started!"
I laughed and crawled out of my bed. "Wardrobe?"
Miley went to my closet, pulling out clothes for me. She handed me a pair of jean cut-off shorts and a plain white tank top.
"I dunno about this, Miles," I said, holding up the short shorts.
"Yeah, well, I do," Miley smiled. "Now put 'em on, Hottie McHotstuff."
I laughed, rolling my eyes as she sent Jake out of the room and into the kitchen to make us some pancakes. She rummaged around some more, trying to find something to wear.
"Hey Lily, what's this?" she asked, holding up a ratty old shoe box.
"I dunno," I shrugged. "Open it."
She opened the lid, and we crowded around the small box. Inside was several keepsakes of my friendship with Oliver; a 64 pack of crayons, a piece of a plastic shovel, a picture from each first day of school since pre-school...the list goes on and on.
Miley looked at me cautiously. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and closed the box, pushing it into the back of the closet.
"I'm not gonna let him ruin our fun day," I said firmly. "Now let's beautify."
Miley looked uncertain as she smiled at me shiftily. "Yeah. You're right."
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Half an hour later, I was sitting in the front seat of Miley's car, having made Jake sit in the small backseat.
"Where are we even going?" I asked.
"I told you, you'll see," Miley grinned.
"You scare me," I said teasingly, reaching over and clicking on her iPod through the car stereo.
You used to talk to me,
Like I was the only one around,
You used to lean on me,
The only other choice was falling down,
You used to talk with me,
Like we had nowhere we needed to go,
Nice and slow,
To no where in particular...
Miley reached over and changed the song immediately just as Jake's phone began to ring. He flipped it open.
"Hello?" he answered. "No. You can't talk to her...Yeah, I'm with her...What do you care?...Leave her alone, Oliver."
I leaned back against the leather seat and closed my eyes. Miley huffed, reaching her hand back. Jake put his phone in her outstretched hand.
"Look, Oliver. I'm taking Lily out for a wonderful day. Now if you could just dissappear, that would be fantastic. Kay, thanks, buh-bye."
I looked at her with my eyebrows raised. "Wow."
"That's how I do," Miley joked.
"Will you please tell us where we're going?" Jake said, changing the subject.
"Fine. We're going car racing," she said excitedly.
"Serious?" I squeaked. "Where?"
"It's this place called Speed Zone. Daddy took me there over the summer. You load your money onto this card, digitally, and you just scan it for these really fun arcade games. There's a bunch of different races you can do, and you just scan the card at the tracks..."
"This is gonna be awesome!" I exclaimed, giggling.
"Yeah," Jake agreed. "I'm totally pumped."
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Two hours later, I found myself sitting a drag racing car, buckled into the seat by a thick restraint. Miley and Jake were sitting in little miniature stands off to the side, Miley jokingly screaming like a fan girl. I laughed as I watched the light before me turn green. Releasing the brake, I slammed by foot onto the gas pedal, and the engine roared, shooting the car forward.
I reached down next to me, switching the gears, causing the car to go even faster. I screamed with joy. The adrenaline rush of the raw speed of the car was sending me on a high. I truly felt alive for the first time in months.
When my race was done, I looked at the board. I had been going over one hundred miles per hour in that tiny car! I couldn't believe it.
"That was insane!" I gushed to Miley and Jake. "Seriously, that was amazing."
"Good to hear," Miley said, hugging me as we walked. "That was my plan for the day."
"Yep," Jake agreed, ruffling my hair. "Anything for our Lily."
I laughed, truly enjoying life. Miley and Jake seemed to have that effect on me. Too bad it was only temporary.
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That night when I got home, exhausted but giggling with the fun of the day, I was surprised to find my mother, sitting on the couch with a half-empty, giant bottle of vodka in her hand.
"Lily," she slurred. "My baby."
I crossed my arms and glared at her. "I'm not your baby." She looked at me with pained eyes. "You lost that right the moment you walked out of that door and left me here with no phone call, no e-mails. Nothing."
"I just needed time," she tried to explain, but I cut her off.
"And you want to know what I needed? I needed my mother. I needed my mother when my father left. But you know what I got instead? I got an empty house, a shitty best friend, and a stupid half boyfriend. I can't live like this anymore. I just can't do it."
"And what are you gonna do about it?" she said, her voice now cold. "There's no where for you to go. Who would want you besides me?" Her voice then took on a wondering tone. "You know, you're quite a bit like Cinderella. Only you won't get pretty in the end. And no one will love you. Surely not a prince."
I pursed my lips as I stared at her, fire in my eyes. "There are people who love me. My friends love me. Because they are my family because no one else fucking cares! You don't fucking care!"
"Go," my mother said simply. "Go. Leave."
"Gladly," I growled, storming up the stairs. I couldn't let her words affect me. I told myself to build up walls around my heart. She was drunk, she didn't mean it. Suddenly, a flashback to freshmen year in health class stuck in my brain, something my teacher had said.
"Drinking never makes you do anything you want to do. It only releases your inhibitions. Anything you say or do, is what you truly want. Whether you're too scared to say it or it's something that just should not be said, drinking will bring that out in you. It's liquid courage; and liquid humiliation."
I bit my lip as tears flooded my eyes. I glanced at my broken mirror before pulling my suitcase out from under my bed and beginning to throw my clothes in it haphazardly. I honestly wasn't sure where I was going to go.
I couldn't go to Miley's; Robbie Ray was sure to notice my new habit of never eating. I couldn't go to Jake's; I just wouldn't feel right, living with my best friend's boyfriend. Going to Oliver's was completely out of the question.
When I was done packing, I still had no clue where I was going to go. I dragged my suitcase down the stairs, past my passed out mother, on the couch. I walked out of the front door, sparing one glance backward.
"I'm never coming back to this place," I whispered before closing the door behind me.
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Okay, kind of a short chapter. But I wanted to end it right there, with a kind of dramatic pause. Plus, the next chapter will be up soon anyhow. Where is Lily going to go? Who can she turn to?
And more importantly...
Who will she meet?
