Tap. Tap. Tap.
One of the screws in the wooden panel of the bench under her feet was coming loose, and the toe of her sneaker kept kicking at it. It was an unconscious thing. And every time she noticed the tapping, she tried to stop herself. She did. It wasn't like she wanted to pull the bench apart or anything. She was just getting impatient. Lilly gave a sigh, sitting on the bench backing, and leaned forward over her knees. On one side of her legs was her backpack, on the other was a bag with the promised bagel.
Where was Miley?
She glanced at her watch, and rolled her eyes. Okay, so she was a little early. It wasn't her fault that she was so impatient. Really, it wasn't. She just wanted to get as early of a start as possible. That way she could get home in time and no one would think she had been missing or anything. Lilly reached down, grabbed the plastic cup that was resting near the bag with the bagel, and took a quick sip from the iced coffee she had brought to ensure she was on Miley's good side. And when Miley still wasn't there, she rummaged around in the bag and broke off a small part of the bagel.
She always had been a nervous eater. Miley would understand once she heard her request. She might make a snide remark or two as a joke, but she would get it. She always did.
When Miley's bright red car pulled into the space in front of her, half the breakfast was gone and Lilly gave her best friend a sheepish smile. "I got hungry." She handed Miley the bag with the other half of her bagel and the iced coffee.
"So..." Miley took a sip of the coffee before she went on, "why'd you want me to meet you here so early? And why are you tryin' to butter me up?" She pointed to the honey butter lathered on her slice of the whole wheat bagel before taking a bite.
"I need to borrow your car," Lilly said without preamble, sitting up straight on the back of the bench.
Miley gave a shrug, stepped up onto the seat next to her before settling on the back as well. "Sure, I guess, when do you need it?"
"Uh, kind of right now."
"What do you mean right now?" Miley groaned.
"Okay, you know how you said small towns have their own history centers and everything? Well, this guy who works for the historical society in Lola's hometown is the same guy who put the video up online of Lola's movie parts. He wants to be a film historian, but he moved back home for a while. And I'm gonna go meet up with him so he can help me find Max." Lilly looked out of the corner of her eye at Miley as she spoke as quickly as possible, anticipating Miley's reaction.
When she paused for breath, Miley asked a question. "Let me get this straight, you're already grounded for your mom catching you with Oliver, you've got detention in another week for getting caught with Oliver at school, you won't tell your mom our project is even on Lola, but you want to borrow my car so you can skip school and go meet some stranger who might be able to give you information about your aunt, or he might be a serial killer?" Miley narrowed her eyes at Lilly, taking a long draw from the iced coffee when she was done speaking, waiting for Lilly to say something to defend herself.
After a moment that felt like forever, Lilly said, "Miley, I just need a day to try and sort things out, get away from everything, and if I can find Max, that's a bonus, right?"
"Yeah. A bonus," Miley deadpanned. Lilly still wasn't looking at her, so Miley pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and sent a one handed text message to Oliver asking for his help while Lilly talked.
"Where are you going so early?" Nancy Oken was pouring coffee from the pot into her "my mom could put your mom in jail" mug that her youngest son had given her for her last birthday.
"Got a group project meeting before school. They want to get in some more work before the break." Oliver grabbed the mug and took a large gulp of his mother's coffee, then fanned his neck in an effort to cool his throat down while he grimaced at the bitter taste.
"It's hot," Nancy remarked sarcastically with a shake of her head, deciding it was probably in her best interest to not ask whether or not Lilly was in this group.
"Thanks, mom," he responded hoarsely, grabbing a banana from the counter.
"Please don't get into anymore trouble today, alright? You're giving your father grey hairs, and the stress is just going to make his ulcer act up."
Oliver paused in the doorway of the kitchen to say, "you know, ulcers aren't actually caused by stress, they're caused by this bacteria-"
But Nancy waved him off with a smile and said, "don't be late for your meeting."
"Right." Oliver nodded, jogged quickly over to her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
For some reason, his mother hadn't gotten mad at him and Lilly yet. He wasn't entirely sure why she was being so good about everything, but he wasn't going to take it for granted. He was just grateful she wasn't giving him the same looks Heather Truscott was. The glare he got from her when she saw him checking the mail last night was enough to make his blood run cold. He didn't know what that woman's problem was... other than him getting repeatedly caught with her daughter, of course. She just seemed to be taking things a little on the crazy side lately.
In the car, Oliver waited until he was out of the neighborhood before he floored the gas pedal. All Miley had said was "beach parking lot Lilly hurry" in her text message, and Oliver wasn't entirely sure what that meant. It was kind of confusing, and it could be nothing, but he was worried all the same.
"Today looks to be mostly clear skies with a balmy breeze coming in off the coast. For all you surfers out there-"
He switched the radio off. He didn't want to be tempted by good weather conditions. Todd had called him at four o'clock in the morning to see if he wanted to meet some guys with him at the beach. Apparently Todd's Surfing Master, that was all Oliver knew him as, was going to be leading some sort of surfing seminar this morning. Oliver wasn't as zen as Todd when it came to the water though. He didn't think he would be able to handle one of the Surfing Master's seminars. They tended to get intense.
Of course, early morning meetings with his two best friends were usually intense too.
Catching every red light between the neighborhood and the beach, Oliver was beginning to get a little jumpy. He could even feel a muscle below his left eye starting to twitch while he sat at one. To distract himself, he ate the banana he had taken from the kitchen. Which then made him wish he had grabbed his own cup of coffee, even though he couldn't stand the stuff normally. Or at least some water. The next red light, he was rifling through the items behind his seat, finding an unopened bottle of gatorade, and chugging it before the light turned green.
Better.
But his eye was still twitching. And he didn't really want to think about how long that bottle of gatorade had been in the car.
And there was the parking lot. And Miley's bright red car. And there were the girls. Sitting on top of a bench in jeans and tee shirts, both looking completely fine, having a very animated conversation.
"You called Oliver?" Lilly asked crossly, without actually looking to make sure it was his car pulling into the lot. She knew that car's distinctive rattle anywhere. It wasn't quite on death's door, but she was sure it would be making its trip to the big junkyard in the sky by the time the school semester ended, summer vacation's end at the latest. The gas gauge not working was just one small problem in a list of many that Oliver kept trying to get control of.
"I texted him." Miley noted the look on her best friend's face and said, "we should all discuss your plan. It's a group project, remember?"
"But this isn't just about the project!"
"I know that!"
"What is going on?" Oliver asked, stepping up on to the sidewalk, car keys jangling in his hand, the key ring flipping around and around on his index finger. As he had walked up, their voices had gotten louder and louder, but he still didn't know what they were being so loud about.
"You want to tell him or should I?" Miley asked.
Lilly crossed her arms defiantly, strands of hair curling around her face in the faint breeze.
"Fine. I guess I'll tell him," she continued with a forced smile. "Your girlfriend here-"
Oliver winced when she said that. Miley only referred to Lilly as his girlfriend when she was really annoyed with her.
"-wants to take off for the day and go meet some guy who might know a few things about Lola, maybe Sandy and Max too. She isn't really sure. He could be a kidnapper or a rapist for all she knows. But she thinks running off for the day to see a complete stranger is the answer to all of the problems she's having with her mom and will give her a much needed break from reality." Her tone had turned sarcastic.
"What?" Oliver directed the word at Lilly, the twitching eye becoming more pronounced now. He rubbed at the skin below it and blinked. "What is she talking about?"
So Lilly explained the whole story again, but this time with a smile and lots of hand gestures, trying to show Oliver what a good idea it was. But she could tell he wasn't really convinced.
"I just-" She paused to think, her eyes locked with his, pleading with him to understand. "I just need a day, Ollie. Just one day away from here without my mom looking over my shoulder. One day where I don't really have to worry about anything."
"One day?" he repeated, taking a step closer to her, his hands shoved in his pockets now. When she nodded, so did he. "Okay."
"What?" Miley jumped up from the bench. "You're supposed to be helping me convince her this is a bad idea!"
Oliver rolled his eyes. "For the record, it probably is a bad idea." He shrugged though. "But... if she wants to go, she's gonna go. She doesn't need our permission."
"I'm not saying she needs our permission," Miley snapped back. "She should just think about how much trouble she'd get into if her mom found out."
"Which is why I thought you could cover for me if I run late?" Lilly asked hopefully, her expression strained at Miley's mood.
"You know I'll cover for you," Miley muttered with half a smile, her tone returning to normal. "You always cover for me. I wouldn't dessert you like that. I just... I don't know."
Lilly smiled back at her and hopped off the bench as well, picking up her backpack and slinging it over one shoulder. "So, I can borrow the car?"
"Maybe..." Miley hesitated. "Maybe we should visit Lola first, talk to her about your plan to visit this guy. What's his name?"
"Walter."
Oliver rocked back on his heels when Lilly glanced at him and he nodded.
"Fine," she agreed. "But I want to go see her now. I can't do it this weekend. My dad'll be visiting her tomorrow, and my mom''ll be home all day on Sunday. Today is my best chance." She looked back and forth between them.
"Let's go," Oliver agreed instantly.
"I guess I can miss my first couple of classes," Miley said offhand, her own keys dangling from her finger tips now. "Want to take my car?"
Oliver was relegated to the back seat, which meant he was stuck with the Top 40 radio station and a lot of makeup tips flying back and forth. When he couldn't take it anymore, he decided to complain, loudly, and repeatedly, about how hungry he was. The girls were forced to make a stop for his breakfast of choice, pancakes, when they were about half way there. Miley called the school and informed the woman in the guidance office, in her best Nancy Oken voice, that all three of them had some sort of stomach bug, and they wouldn't make it in for their first period class. In fact, she wasn't sure if they would make it in to school at all. The woman believed her and recommended a doctor in Malibu for them and everything.
They pulled up to the center just as visiting hours began, and when the guard gave the three teenagers a suspicious look, Lilly informed him that they were on spring break. His eyes narrowed, but he handed Miley the clipboard to sign in, and then waved them through.
Unfortunately for them, Genie wasn't on duty, and Lola's current nurse refused to let them in.
"She's in physical therapy right now. Her hip's been bothering her a lot lately. You'll have to come back when her session is over." Before they could even ask, she added, "About an hour."
Lilly shrugged while the three of them walked back to the car and said, "I guess I should just go then. I've already delayed my drive a whole hour."
"No," Miley instructed her, "you should talk to Lola first, just in case she remembers something important and you don't even need to take the trip." After thinking it over, she added, "besides, we still have to go all the way back to the beach so me and Oliver aren't stranded here."
Oliver didn't say anything, just shoved his hands in his pockets again and leaned against the passenger side of Miley's car. When the two girls began to argue though, he interrupted with, "do either of you have your laptop?"
"Why?" It was Miley who asked as she unlocked the trunk.
"I never got to see the video the guy posted. I thought I could check it out."
Pulling a bag from the back, she shoved it in Oliver's direction and slammed the trunk closed. Lilly found her own bag in the back seat while Oliver booted up the computer, pulling out one of Lola's photo albums and the journal. She handed the album to Miley and found where she left off in the journal, but was too impatient to read, so she closed it again and slipped it back in her bag. Miley had the album open on the trunk and was slowly scanning the pages for labels, years, events, anything that she remembered from the journal. So Lilly paced.
And after five minutes Miley called to her, "you're making me dizzy."
"Sorry." She sat down in the back seat next to Oliver where he was watching the video. He had connected to the center's wireless internet, but the connection wasn't exactly stable, and the video was playing in a fit of stops and starts.
"You know, I always thought you looked a lot like your mom, but you look like Lola a little bit too."
"Yeah, the blond hair and the shortness. I know."
Oliver cracked a smile as the video ended. He asked Lilly a series of questions about Walter, the guy who had posted the video, and Lilly answered them to the best of her ability.
"I don't think you should go by yourself," he finally told her.
"What? Why not? Oliver, I'll be fine." She turned in the seat, scooting a little bit closer to him, choosing not to notice that they were sitting in the back seat of a car. She reminded herself that Miley was just on the other side of the back window.
"What if you need some help? What if something happens? I think we should all go. Miley already called us all in sick." He swallowed hard when she sighed and leaned her head back in the seat with her accompanying eye roll. "I know Lola's your aunt, and you're the one she asked to do this, but you let us use her list for our group project, so I think we should all go."
"Fine," Lilly mumbled. "I just don't want anyone blaming me if we get into any trouble." She sat there silently for a few minutes, watching him type. "But Miley already said she'd cover for me."
He slid his gaze sideways, looking at her without turning his head. "That's true. She did say that."
"So, I guess it's just you and me then?"
"We'll see."
He sounded like her dad when she asked for something expensive. His response was always "we'll see what your mom says about it." Of course, later, he usually argued with her mom, then bought it for her in secret anyway. And Oliver had that same look on his face, like he was exasperated with her, but trying not to smile at the same time. It was kind of cute.
Miley hopped in to the front seat of the car, facing the wrong way, and shoving the photo album in their faces. "Do you think this is Sandy?"
The picture she pointed to was black and white and it showed a young Lola with another young woman who looked a little bit like her. The other girl was scowling though while Lola appeared to be throwing a ball to a boy with a bat in his hands.
"Maybe. She said her sister used to babysit him." Lilly shrugged, her knee bouncing as her heel tapped on the floor of the car. She didn't think a picture of Sandy playing baseball as a child was going to do them any good.
Miley and Oliver watched her for a second, but the tapping just got more insistent. It was Oliver who finally reached out and placed his hand on her knee, applying enough pressure to get her to keep her foot still.
"What's Sandy's real name again?" Oliver asked.
"Bryan Sanderson. Why? You gonna look him up?" Miley was teasing, still not believing that he had been the one to find Rachel and her little bakery online.
"Yep."
The keys on the laptop began clacking. Lilly scooted even closer to him when his hand left her knee and she watched the screen intently, wanting to see the results.
"There are thirty-seven Bryan Sandersons who were enlisted in the army during the Korean War," Lilly read to Miley with a smirk. She didn't know why Miley doubted Oliver's investigative skills. Did she forget who he lived with?
"Thirty-seven? I doubt there are that many from Lola's hometown."
"No..." Oliver typed a few more words and clicked through a few more screens. "It doesn't get that specific though. Probably to protect people's identity. There are eight from California though." He paused and then frowned. "Two of them died in the war, one looks like he's career military, three aren't listed in California anymore, one died in the nineties, and one was declared missing in action."
"Well, that doesn't sound particularly promising. Why don't you try running a search for Max instead?" Miley turned back around and began looking for Sandy and Max in the photo album, trying to find clues as to how they might have ended up. They only really needed to focus on Max for school anyway. They could find Sandy after. She didn't understand why Lilly wanted to go through everything, or why it was taking so long.
"There's nothing. It's like after he went back to school, he doesn't exist."
Lilly crossed her arms and sighed again at Oliver's announcement.
"Don't worry," he told her. "There are still a few things I can try."
Lilly closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, attempting to find her center. Emptying her mind, she focused her ears on the sounds of Oliver typing, the electricity buzzing from the laptop battery, and the occasional flicking of pages by Miley. The noises were oddly soothing while she sat there and contemplated her poorly planned excursion. She was losing precious time because she was having to sit here in a parking lot at an upscale assisted living center. She only had a week to find the guy of her great aunt's dreams, her mother probably needed to be put on Prozac, her best friend didn't trust her judgment, and maybe most distressingly, the thought that Oliver was proving to actually be really good at detective work was, for some reason, one of the most attractive things about him right now. It was driving her crazy. And it wasn't fair because Oliver driving her crazy was part of the reason she was going to have to get her mom on Prozac.
And that line of thinking made the deep breathing technique quit working because all she could think about now was how much easier her life would be if her mom was a little more mellow and Oliver was allowed over all the time. A dull ache was beginning in her temples, so she climbed to her feet and began marching through the parking lot.
The annoying nurse was just going to have to let her in. Lola was her aunt and she wasn't taking no for an answer.
Miley and Oliver scrambled to follow her to Lola's door, Miley pausing to lock the car and Oliver running into a garbage can in the process.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Lilly didn't rap on the door with her knuckles, but used the fake brass knocker that was supposed to carry the sound better. She wanted to make sure someone heard her; there would be no excuse for not answering the door. The frown on her face was tight while she waited, but when it was Lola who opened the door, her hair half in curlers, Lilly's expression relaxed into a smile.
"Lilly! I didn't know you were coming. I was just doing my hair. And you brought friends! Come in, come in." She shuffled out of the way, wearing neon green slippers with thin black stripes running across them. "I'm sorry the place is a mess. I just got back from my physical therapy. You know, that crazy doctor thinks I might need to get a new hip? I told him my old one has worked just fine for twice as long as he's been alive, and I'm sure it will be just fine for the rest of my life." She huffed and sat down on her couch, a silver tray with rollers and pins on the coffee table in front of her.
"Curling your hair for a big date?" Miley asked her with a smile.
"Oh, no, I just love the curls. They make me look younger." Lola took a section of hair in her hands, wrapped it carefully around a roller, then pushed the plastic pin through it to hold everything in place.
"Why don't I help you with that?" Miley moved to sit next to her on the couch, picking up a roller as she did so. "I love playing with hair. That's why I keep extensions in." When Lola turned to allow Miley better access to the back of her head, Miley gave Lilly a significant look, indicating she should start talking.
Oliver quietly took a seat in a chair and waited. He glanced around the room and saw several things that weren't there on his last visit. Namely, two easels in one corner of the room where there used to be a metal shelving unit full of houseplants. He wondered where the plants had gone.
"Aunt Lola?"
"Yes?"
"You remember that list you gave me of things you want to do?"
"Of course I do. I'm not completely senile, you know."
Lilly smiled with relief, and heard Oliver sigh from his seat. Lola remembering would make things much easier. "Well, I've been working on the things you hadn't finished yet, like you asked me to."
"Oh, good. How're they coming?"
Oliver stood silently and ambled over to the easels while no one was paying any attention to him. One featured a sketch of Lola's fishtank, which would explain why it was facing that direction. The detail she had gone to on the plants and the rocks, in addition to the fish, of course, was incredible. Oliver could almost see the gills working on one that looked like it was about to leap from the page. The second featured an almost finished sketch of a man's face. It looked like the same one Lilly had shown him of Max, but the eyes and the nose were finished now. It was his mouth and his ears that had been smudged and erased over and over. Lola still couldn't make up her mind.
"Good. Oliver helped me find, or at least, I'm pretty sure we found, Rachel. I sent a letter to her bakery, along with the recipe. Her granddaughter runs it now. She probably hasn't gotten it yet, but I'll let you know when I hear back." Lilly bit down on her lip as Miley got to her feet and sat down on Lola's other side, not wanting to inconvenience the older woman when she switched to the new section of hair. "We've been working on finding Sandy and Max, but, they're a little harder to track down."
"I'm not surprised about Max. He always joked about picking up and leaving one day, not leaving any trace. He thought he could blend in anywhere. I didn't believe him back then, but, you know, the way you see things changes after... things happen." Lola sat primly in her seat.
"Things?" Miley echoed, her voice curious.
"Yes, things," Lola snapped back, and there was a bit of the Truscott temper evident in the way she said it. "I do wonder about Sandy though. I kind of believed he would be a real home body, go back the first chance he got."
"Yeah, well, that's why I was thinking about taking a trip to where you're from. Visit some of the places where you used to hang out... maybe check out the historical society or the library..." Lilly trailed off and Miley scoffed in disappointment.
"What she means is that she contacted this guy on the internet who says he's from the same town and that he works for the historical society. And she wants to go and meet him to see if he can help." Miley paused, her fingers working swiftly through another section of hair, wrapping it a little too tightly around a roller. "Today."
"Today?" Lola didn't say anything until Miley had finished with her final curler and pin. Once that happened, she stood, disappearing into her bedroom for a few moments. When she emerged, she had a scarf tied over her head, masking her curlers, and she was carrying a ring of keys.
Oliver's eyebrows raised, but he didn't say a word.
"What are those for?" Lilly asked.
"I don't have art class today, and you promised to sneak me out, remember?" Lola paused in front of a mirror, adjusting her scarf, and applying some bright red lipstick. She made a face, shrugged, and turned back to the three teenagers who were watching her, speechless. "I have a car that I keep her, but they don't let me drive it." She rolled her eyes. "Genie always has to get approval to take me for outings to galleries or to go shopping. Bah!" Shaking her head, Lola shuffled to the door in her slippers, picking up what looked like Mary Poppins' carpet bag from the bottom of her hat rack. "Well, come on, let's go!"
Lilly jumped to her feet with a wide grin as Lola grabbed her cane. "Yeah, guys, come on!"
It was Lola who furtively led them around the building, but Miley halted her, running back to her car and exclaiming, "I have an idea!" When she returned, there was a pink bag in her hand that Lilly recognized, as well as Lilly's backpack.
"Is that the, uh, travel wig?" she asked, not wanting to reveal that Miley was Hannah Montana to her aunt who might not remember that it was a secret later. She peaked into her backpack to find that Miley had dumped all of her school supplies from the larger pocket, leaving Lola's journal, photo album, Miley's laptop and power cord, and the camera Oliver had loaned them inside.
"Yeah, I thought Lola could put it on over her curlers, you know, just 'til we get by the guard."
That was Miley, Lilly thought to herself, always coming up with a plan... even if it might not work.
Miley shoved the bag at Oliver so he could hold it open for her. He was also loaded down with Lola's carpet bag, and he was beginning to wonder if he was only here to cart luggage around, but Lilly slung a backpack strap over one shoulder, proving that she could carry her own things.
The "travel" wig was actually an extra Hannah wig that was only used in case of emergencies. It was cheaper, didn't look exactly like real hair, but it would do in a pinch. Although, the pinch usually involved Miley wearing it for people from extremely far away. As Miley placed it gently over Lola's scalp, the top of the wig appeared a little lumpy from the curlers, and it didn't pull down entirely. She hastily tied the scarf back on top of it.
"I think it'll be okay for now," she remarked hesitantly.
Oliver shot Lola a thumbs up, but winced when she turned and led them to the covered parking where the residents with vehicles could keep their cars. Most of the residents couldn't drive around on their own anyway, but a few liked to leave for weekend visits to see family. Lola walked casually up to the car in the space numbered 23 and ran her fingers lovingly down the door handle.
"No way," Oliver whispered hoarsely, unceremoniously shoving the bags back at Miley. "What year is this?"
"Sixty-eight," Lola said proudly. "Still in mint condition too." She smiled at him. "I know the sixty-nine is the more famous year, The Judge and all, but this one suits me just fine."
Lilly surveyed the 1968 GTO in shock. It was olive green with what looked like flecks of glitter in the top coat of paint. There wasn't a single scratch on it, the tires looked great, even the glass of the windows was spotless. It was unthinkable. "I didn't even know you had a car," she said faintly. "Where did this come from?"
"I won it in a poker game a few years back. Didn't want to just get rid of it when I moved in," Lola responded nonchalantly.
"And you let me play with M&Ms," Oliver scoffed in Lilly's direction. If he had known she was this good, he would have just gone for a simple game of Go Fish, or maybe Rummy.
"It's just a car," Miley muttered under her breath, but no one heard her.
"So, Ollie," Lola said casually, "you want to drive?" She didn't wait for him to respond, tossing him the keys across the hood of the car.
He caught them without thinking about it, probably the best display of his reflexes the girls had ever seen. He usually dropped things.
"Seriously?" He asked.
"As long as I get shotgun," she told him.
"Awesome." He carefully walked around the car, unlocked the passenger side door and held it open for her. Lola settled inside and waited. Back on the driver's side, he moved the seat forward, ushering Miley, and then Lilly, inside. The bags settled on the backseat between them.
"There's no air in this thing is there?" Miley asked quietly.
"Air conditioning? Pssh. We don't need any air conditioning." Lola laughed. "You need to live a little Millie."
"Miley," she corrected automatically.
"That's right. I knew it wasn't Millie. I knew a girl named Millicent once. Everyone called her Millie though. She was incredibly annoying and unoriginal. I knew you had a more unique name."
Miley smiled, placated, and put on her seat belt as Lola gave Oliver a quick wink, and he answered by starting the car. Lilly rolled her eyes indulgently from the back seat, catching his gaze in the mirror after she did so, and she smiled. She felt like they were finally getting somewhere.
A/N: I really meant to get them on the road sooner, but things kept happening that took longer to write than I thought they would... like their argument about Lilly driving off into the sunset. Or sunrise, I guess. But hey, I got this chapter up a whole lot quicker, right? Speaking of, originally, this was only going to be about fifteen chapters, but I think it might go a couple longer than that. Don't worry though. I've got everything outlined, so I know where everything is ultimately going and it will be finished eventually. And Lola's car? Inspired by a real car that used to be in my family.