I ditched school to write this. I'm in a mood I tell you!
"I know it was you, Truscott!" Joannie screamed at me as she charged down the hall, her two little dolls glued to her side once more. Amber and Ashley, or as I liked to call them: the Appalling A's. The first thing I happily noted was that Joannie appeared to be completely pissed off. Serves her right too. That girl chose to mess with the wrong person and now with me as an enemy, she was going to have to keep her defence shield at its max.
"What did I do?"
Miley had gone unusually quiet, contrasting with her mood a minute ago. She was happy, talkative and couldn't stop telling me about her dream she had about surfing. It was nice just listening to her voice and nothing else. There was something about it that made me appreciative. Like when you walk outside and instead of the uproar of traffic, you're welcomed with the sounds of nature. It didn't last long, but you treasured it while you could.
"You dobbed me in, you asshole! Don't even try playing coy!" she growled, outraged. At a time like this, I'd gladly add gallons upon gallons of fuel to the flames, but I was quite literally being held back. Miley's hand had snuck its way into mine and the adrenaline brought on by the idea of messing with Joannie all but vanished. I didn't know what Miley had done, but I was hit by a wave of calm and instead of mouthing off and telling Joannie where to stick it, I shrugged my shoulders and went on my way, ignoring the vicious remarks Joannie spat after me. I actually felt pleased with how mature I had been. All thanks to Miley. Who, by the way, hadn't said a peep since Joannie came along.
I wondered if Miley was aware of what was going to happen before she grabbed my hand. Did she know the simple touch would stop me? I couldn't be sure and when I looked at her, she was staring at me with... it couldn't be... admiration?
"What?" I asked, perplexed.
"Nothing," she said with a smile, tightening her grip on my fingers before letting go.
Miley was lounging on my bed, making herself comfortable between my pillows. She was hogging the whole bed without even taking my position on the floor into consideration. Now I was certain Miley would never be such an inconsiderate jerk, so she must have been acting like this on purpose. Not that I cared either way, because I had my own style of reclaiming what was rightfully mine. While she was engrossed with watching TV, I climbed up onto the bed and pushed her off. As a last minute act to save herself, she reached for whatever she could find, which was my quilt cover. She pulled it down with her and I was dragged to the end of the bed since I was on top of it. I laughed when a small shriek escaped her and I rolled back to the middle of my bed, stealing Miley's place.
"Bad move, Lilly Pad," she said menacingly, climbing back up.
"Oh, I'm scared," I mocked, sticking my tongue out, and her eyes narrowed in response. I knew the smile I was battling against was peeking through, but it faltered when the air rushed out of me, due to Miley jumping on me. I groaned and laughed, moving over so it was just her legs that hung over my stomach. "Miley you're retaliation is supposed to be harmless, not life threatening," I scolded playfully over her uproar of giggles as she lay across me.
"Yeah and pushing me off the bed is totally harmless. I could've broken my arm, you know."
"Don't be such a baby," I retorted, poking her in the side. She laughed and slid away from me. I intended on going after her, planning to use that ticklish stomach to my advantage, but I was too caught up in a very crucial matter. Miley's ass was pressed right against my hip. I knew I should've just ignored it, seeing as it wasn't really a big deal, but I couldn't. When she moved down my body, her legs drew dangerously close to my lower regions and that set something off. The playful mood was dissipating because of it and Miley sat up as best as she could and gazed at me.
"Sorry, am I hurting you?" She asked, not waiting for my answer as she carefully moved off of me. I shook my head, not trusting my voice to say anything appropriate and shuffled over to the edge of my bed, giving Miley space to lie next to me. I couldn't seem to grasp why my body reacted the way it did, but I allowed my appreciation of having Miley as my friend, with our nothing but platonic relationship, to overcome my insecurities and questions. It was easier that way.
After my little dilemma, Miley was surprisingly energetic and started unpacking for me again, finding my Xbox in the process. Like a child, she begged for me to let her play it and when I said yes, she had no clue how to set it up. I was planning to give her a hand, but it was just so funny watching her getting all the wires tangled and putting plugs in the wrong slots. She ended up figuring it out, but when the game came on, she didn't know how to use the controller and that's when her independence left her.
She had this pout on her face and my God, I couldn't believe I didn't launch over there instantly and obey her every command. It was hard to imagine that one little expression could be so overpowering, but what's worse was that my humoured resistance against helping her just became a craving need to be next to her and doing everything I could to satisfy her.
It wouldn't be the first time I'd questioned Miley's hold on me. The girl was changing me and I could actually feel the shifting within myself. It was a foreign feeling, but I knew it couldn't be bad. Miley, from what I could tell, was a good person. Her heart was in the right place as far as I knew. Yes, she had secrets I was itching to know, but that didn't change my opinion. She could tell me when she was ready, when I'd earned her complete trust. And I knew for a fact that I'd stick around her until that happened.
"Come on, Lilly. Please teach me how to play. I've never had one of these things before," she pleaded with wide eyes. I rested a finger on my chin, physically pondering her request, though my mind was already made up.
"I suppose," I gave in with a sigh, moving over to her and joining her on the floor. Miley smiled gratefully and wound her arms around my shoulders, hugging me and thanking me. I allowed myself a moment of pleasure and sunk into her, awkwardly turning my torso towards her to return the embrace wholeheartedly.
However, such a wonderful night couldn't always end the way you wanted it to. My ideal night would be Miley forgetting she had to leave and sleeping over, in my bed of course, cuddled up with me all night and then waking up next to me in the morning. That would definitely be the best morning ever; waking up to Miley's face. It wasn't wrong to value her beauty, okay? Friends do that. However, like I said, things didn't happen the way you wanted them to. This was what really happened:
My mom came home, alerting me of the time. It was late. Very late. Miley wasn't aware of the time and she seemed relaxed, when she usually freaked out about being home early. She didn't even care that I gave her junk food for dinner. Did she know it was way past dinner time? I couldn't be sure, but I wanted her to enjoy herself and she seemed just fine chilling between my legs, her back squashing my boobs. Not that it mattered. Miley didn't like how I kept kicking her ass in the game so she decided to block my view and force me to have to reach around her to get to my control. When I got the upper hand, she would push a button on my controller and I'd fall behind once more.
Just as she was winning, a loud banging practically shook the house from downstairs. I heard the front door open and a male's voice asking for his daughter. Miley gasped and sprung up. I could breathe properly now without her weight on me, but I was so busy revelling in her warmth that I didn't notice the trouble I had with inhaling. The light-headedness could've been either from that or from her hair. Fuck if I know what products she used, but I was taking in the smell of her hair as if it were my only source of oxygen rather than paying attention to the game on the TV screen.
"Lilly, I have to go. Daddy doesn't sound happy," she said, sounding scared. Not being able to withstand her defenceless appearance, I took her hand and went downstairs with her. Mom and Miley's dad were arguing and I knew this wasn't going to end well.
"Why I've never met someone as rude as you! I'm telling you my daughter's here!" Miley's dad yelled. Mom, looking on the verge of exploding, glanced at us as we reached the bottom step. "See!" Her dad pointed at Miley and then to his side, gesturing for her to go to him.
"I'll see you tomorrow," she whispered, dropping my hand and rushing towards her dad.
"Oh, I don't think so. You're not allowed over this girl's house again Miley Ray! You completely forgot about your curfew!" he scolded angrily and I winced along with Miley.
"But daddy-"
"No buts! Now get in the car, you're in a heap of trouble!" Miley looked at me, devastated. I returned the shattered gaze, both of us too frightened by the anger of her father to speak up against him. I hated myself for being so careless, for not reminding her of the time. I was being selfish, acting as if there'd be no consequence if she stayed for just a little longer. Now we were in a load of shit.
The two travelled down the driveway and as Miley glanced over her shoulder, Mom slammed the door shut. She was pissed.
"Lillian," she growled. Shit, she full named me. I really was in trouble. "Why didn't you tell me you had a friend over?"
"Well, I didn't think you'd mind..."
"I didn't until her father decided to bite my head off! I stood there saying no one was here like an idiot!" she shouted and I stared at my feet. Miley's dad forbidding Miley from coming here again really did a number on me and all this yelling wasn't helping. I usually fought back when Mom's like this, but I just didn't see the point anymore.
"I'm sorry," I muttered sadly.
"What?" she sounded surprised. I guess she'd never heard me apologise before. It had been a long time since I'd cared about what trouble I'd caused her.
"I said I'm sorry," I repeated. "It's just... I really like her and she was my first friend here. I didn't know what time her curfew was and we were having so much fun." I could feel my innards twisting with grief and I tried to hopelessly fight against the overwhelming dejection that threatened me with self-destruction.
"It's okay."
I wasn't ready for that. After Dad died, Mom had never been okay with anything I did. I thought she hated me.
Shocked by her behaviour, I looked up and never before had I seen her appear so worn out. She wasn't angry, wasn't sad, wasn't anything for that matter. So, I left it at that. I didn't want to make her go through any more shit, which was new for me. A few months ago, I would've wanted to put her through hell, but the more time I spent with Miley, the less I wanted any kind of conflict.
I think embracing the new person I was becoming was the best thing to do.
Oh snap! Miley's really losing herself at Lilly's! Surely things will improve. But hey, what would I know? It's not like I'm the author or anything...