Back to School
Miley felt as though she had just finally fallen asleep when the alarm went off. She had tossed and turned all night long, dozing fitfully and then waking up. She rolled out of bed with a groan and stumbled to the bathroom. She examined herself in the mirror.
"God, I look as bad as I feel."
Fortunately a shower managed to bring her part way back to life. She dressed and went downstairs where the scent of the pancakes her Dad was making roused her even further.
"Good morning princess," he greeted her and slid a full plate to her.
"Good morning Daddy." She looked around the room. "Where's Jackson?"
"He's sleeping in after yesterday's work out."
"Is he alright?"
"He's okay. We're going to sit down today and discuss the amount he is going to have to pay towards the rebuilding of Rico's place. It won't be much, the little weasel had insurance and he's going to have to cover most of the rest of the damage in exchange for my not suing his ass off for slander and defamation of character."
"But Daddy, from what I understand Jackson told him that he saw Lilly and I in bed together. If he told everyone that she and I are Lesbians then he's actually telling the truth isn't he? How can that be slander?"
"Because I found people that he told who will testify that he did so maliciously and without confirmation. Your brother was ill and under the influence." Robbie Ray shrugged. "Anyway that's not the important issue. What is important is that Rico figured he might lose and therefore came to the negotiating table ready to concede."
"Enough of Jackson though. How are you feeling this morning?"
"Nervous. Unsure of what's going to happen today."
"No doubt princess. I talked to your principal Mrs. Weatherly last night."
"I heard you. Well, I heard you asking for her."
"She'll probably talk to you sometime today but here's the gist of what she has decided. It won't help to make a big fuss so everything will be kept low key. Fortunately Lilly did not actually hit Amber. Now SHE'S in trouble. It seems that basketball player who ran into you confessed he did that because she urged him on and promised to be his friend if he did. Coupled with calling you a "dyke couple", which is pretty close to hate speech, especially the way she said it, it puts her on shaky ground."
"Anyway she'll be walking a fine line for a while. And you are to tell a teacher if anyone tries to pick on you. Yes, I know you want to handle things on your own but I don't want Lilly flying off the handle again. Next time Mister Boyne might not be there to get his hand in the way of her fist."
"Okay Daddy."
"Promise me Bud."
"Sweet niblets Daddy. I SAID I would."
"That's my girl." He hugged her. "Now go on and eat. The rest of your life is about to start."
Miley parked her car in the student lot and turned off the engine. She took several deep breaths before getting out and rapidly walking towards the front door of the building. She hesitated halfway when she saw a familiar vehicle pull in and park next to hers. Should she wait for Lilly or go in on her own?
Her Dad and Lilly's Mom had advised them to be cautious. But Lilly was her best friend as well as her girlfriend now. Miley raised her head, the determination flashing in her eyes and waited.
"Hi there," puffed Lilly, who had scampered across the parking lot as soon as he saw Miley was going to wait for her. "I wasn't sure if we should go in together or not."
"We have all year long now, well, since we first became friends," replied the taller girl. "I won't change that now."
Lilly's eyes sparkled. She nearly kissed Miley but thought better of that. The two settled for lacing their fingers together and squeezing for an instant before they released each others' hand and walked to and through the front door.
"Geeeeshhhhh, we thought you two were never going to get here," complained Oliver as soon as they came in the hallway. Standing beside him Joannie nodded. Other friends had gathered to welcome them back.
Miley's eyes threatened to fill with tears as she realized their friends had gathered there to wait for them and demonstrate their support. Joannie noticed and shook her head.
"Golly Stewart, its just another school day. Nothing to get emotional about." She turned her attention to Lilly. "Truscott you're a pretty good roller hockey player you know. Can't you teach your girlfriend something about the game? Get her out of that girlie mode?"
Everyone smiled. By acting as she always did, Joannie was showing that she accepted Lilly and Miley as a couple and was not going to treat them any differently.
Lilly grinned and folded her arms. She pretended to stand nose to nose with Joannie, as they had more than once before they had become friends.
"I happen to LIKE my girlfriend in girlie mode Palumbo."
Joannie rolled her eyes. "No accounting for some people's tastes I guess," she pretended to grumble. The two girls flashed each other winks and laughed.
The bell rang and everyone scattered to their first classes.
The morning went by. Miley realized her Dad was right. Now she knew who her friends were. Some people she had never got along with before now seemed to be nearly hostile to her in a subdued fashion. That she didn't care about. Some people she had thought were friends shied away from her. That hurt.
What was interesting was that most people didn't seem to have changed at all. Miley realized that the world, the school didn't revolve around her and Lilly's situation. The teachers, the staff, the other kids all had their own lives to lead and their own concerns, worries and thoughts. It was comforting.
Oh sure there were some seriously poisonous glares from Amber and Ashley and their crowd, which seemed to be noticeably smaller today. But those bounced off. They had never liked her anyway so who cared what they thought now? And when she saw the boy who had jostled her yesterday he swerved and headed the other way. But before he turned away she noticed that he moved awkwardly, favoring his side and that his nose was covered in white tape, which set off his black eye rather nicely Miley thought.
What had happened to the basketball player she wasn't sure, but she had an idea about who was probably responsible. She cornered him at lunch, wordlessly questioning him with a raised eyebrow and a jerk of her head at the battered teammate standing in the lunch line. He attempted an innocent look that failed miserably.
"Gee, you seem to have scraped your knuckles recently."
"Oh really? Must have barked them against a tree or something."
Miley folded her arms. "Okay Jake Ryan. Enough tap dancing around. Why did you do it? And DON'T try 'Do what?' with me. you know darned well what I'm talking about."
"Okay," the tall boy looked sheepish. "I didn't like what he called you. The first part, well 'fag' isn't a nice term and as for the second part, no one that I have ever dated fits the classification of 'hag'. You don't for sure Miley. Finally," the grin disappeared from his face. "I don't let people knock my friends around. A guy doesn't have any business slamming into a girl like that jerk did to you. I won't put up with it."
Miley looked thoughtfully at him. "Jake Ryan, if I was straight I'd marry you."
He threw back his head and laughed. "Why thank you Miley. That's a very nice compliment."
"So we're still friends? Even though I'm..."
"Gay? A Lesbian? A carpet muncher?" Miley rolled her eyes at him. "Of course we're still friends. Hey, in fact in one way I'm relieved by all this."
"What do you mean?"
"The night we had our date. When I kissed you." Jake grinned and even though Miley knew it would never happen again and that she was no longer attracted to him she smiled with him at the memory. "You know, it has been said once or twice that I'm a pretty good kisser. I was really drawn to you Miley so I gave it my best shot."
"You are a VERY good kisser Jake. It was a fantastic kiss."
"Thanks. I went all out with that one. But I could tell Miley, I could tell that it wasn't doing a thing for you."
"You knew?"
"Well not that you were gay but that my best effort was going no where. Now I'm relieved to find out it wasn't me, it was just that you prefer kisses from a certain surfer friend."
"Jake, I had no idea that night what was going on. I was really confused because I liked you, still like you of course, and I couldn't understand why such a wonderful kiss wasn't doing a thing for me. I'm really sorry."
"Hey it's okay." He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and squeezed. "I can still do that right? Hug you as a friend?"
"Absolutely." Miley giggled. "In fact do it often. I wonder if I can make Lilly jealous."
"I doubt that Miley. I've seen the look in both your eyes. You're meant for each other and there aren't any questions in either of your minds about it."
"You know for a straight guy you're pretty perceptive."
"And for a fag hag you're pretty cute. See you later Miley."
Miley checked her watch. Nearly time for Physics class and a certain lab partner. She smiled and hurried out of the lunch room and down the hall.
(To Be Continued)
