Author's Note: The section in the story that's bolded and italicized is a flashback scene.
Chapter 6
Miley missed Lilly's presence in her other classes, but in Spanish Oliver sat next to her and offered to share his text book, which was nice. He wasn't a bad guy, but Miley was still a little shaky.
It seemed like forever before lunch period rolled around. Lilly was at Miley's locker waiting for her when the bell rang. "Hey." Miley said.
Lilly smiled. "Missed you." She said before she realized what was coming out of her mouth. Oh shit. Did I just say that out loud? She laughed nervously. "Ah…uh…"
Miley smirked uncomfortably, feeling that weird warm feeling flushing over her body again. It was nice, but also a little scary. "O…kay…"
Lilly looked like a deer caught in the headlights. She had absolutely no idea how to recover from that. Luckily, Oliver appeared, saving her. "Hey ladies. How are we this fine afternoon?"
"Great, and yourself?" Lilly quickly responded, happy for the change of subject.
"Hungry. So what are we standing around here for? Let's head to lunch before all the good tables are taken!" Oliver turned and marched forward with Lilly and Miley trailing behind him.
"One thing you should probably know about Oliver is that food is the main love of his life. Then it's girls…though he'll try to tell you different."
"That…is completely untrue!" Oliver shouted, overhearing the girls' conversation. He turned to Miley and Lilly, walking backward toward the cafeteria. "My first and only love is the ladies. Everything else is…"
"They're serving grilled cheese today!" Someone shouted excitedly.
At that announcement, Oliver turned. "Ooh! Me first!" He ran toward the cafeteria, pushing his way through people.
Miley gave Lilly a puzzled yet amused look. Lilly just rolled her eyes.
They entered the cafeteria and scanned the room. "Cafeteria placement means a lot in this school." Lilly said as they moved through tables, looking for prime seating. "Now, since our current status is 'less than garbage' there are a few 'off limit' zones. I know, I know, why would I follow such a stupid and bogus rule? Because breaking it is not worth the trouble." Lilly sighed in frustration. "Believe me, I know."
Miley listened intently. "Why can't we just sit where we were yesterday?"
Lilly shook her head. "Uh-uh. You were in the dead zone. I was just too polite to tell you. That's where the invisibles sit."
"What's so bad about that?" Miley asked. I don't mind being invisible.
"Well, did you happen to notice that three other people were sitting at that table yesterday?"
Miley blinked in shock, trying to recall. She thought she was alone. "N-no. Actually…no." She thought back to yesterday…she really thought she was alone at that table until Lilly came along. "Really?"
Lilly nodded. "Oh yeah. We're pretty low on the 'cool' list, but we're not that low. Okay, so, off limit zones." Lilly looked around the room, pointing as she found the areas pertaining to her conversation. "The two tables dead center. Those are reserved for the beautiful people and the varsity jocks. Sitting over there is like jumping into the lion's den. Then you've got your 'gangsters; over there…very hostile…seriously. Oliver found his way over there and let's just say he couldn't find his way out so easily. The crazy loner/pyromaniac table is fun for light shows and knife fights, but I'd steer clear. The rockstar/groupie tables are good for soft porn entertainment, but even that gets old. The academic club tables are good for when you need help with homework, but you don't want to make conversation. They think they're better than everybody. Let's not forget your dead zones either. That's about it."
Lilly had squared off a good 3/4s of the room. "So…where do you usually sit?" Miley asked.
"I move around." Lilly pointed off to the side by the windows, closest to the exit doors. "One day I could be sitting over there by the art/drama kids. Sometimes they're a bit too soap opera-ish for me though." Then, she pointed a few feet down, where some kids were doing skateboard tricks in the lunchroom. "Or with the skater stoners, but they can get kinda boring if they aren't skating."
Lilly began walking, and Miley followed. "Today, though, we are sitting here." Lilly plopped her stuff down on a table right in front of the food line. It was a few tables away from the 'beautiful' people, and in the front of the lunchroom. "Since we associate with Oliver, we can sit here every once in a while."
"What's this table?"
"This table is designated for the 'almost there's.'" Lilly stated. The look on Miley's face told Lilly she needed to elaborate. "The kids at this table are stuck in a sort of cool/uncool limbo. They could go either way. It changes from week to week. This week is a downer for Oliver, so we can sit here."
"That sounds--"
"Stupid, I know. But that's High School. Class distinction is sharp, and upward mobility is rare." After this statement, Lilly leaned over and whispered, "I usually don't eat lunch here. I take it outside. You're not supposed to do that until you're a senior, but whose gonna know the difference, right?"
Miley shrugged. She was still trying to grasp the hierarchy of her new high school. It was much more complex than her school in Tennessee. Though Tennessee did have almost every group described to her, they were generally thrown together in three classes. Back there, there were the popular kids, the unpopular kids, and the total losers. People generally tolerated mixtures between two of the three classes… but the total losers got left out of everything. Miley was one of those.
Oliver plopped down as soon as Lilly finished talking. "As I was saying…first and foremost comes the ladies. Food's next." He chomped into his sandwich, almost obscenely savoring the flavor.
Lilly just shook her head while Miley watched wide-eyed with amazement. Then, Lilly got up. "I'm going to get food and a soda. You want one Miley?"
Jesus…she's leaving me? Miley looked at Oliver and then Lilly. She didn't want to seem clingy, but Lilly seemed the sane one between them. She could survive a few seconds with him. After all, he wasn't that bad in Spanish class. "O-okay. Sure."
Lilly smiled. "Be right back." Then, she was gone.
Miley slowly began eating her lunch, peanut butter and jelly, with a banana. They sat in silence.
"Lilly's something else huh?" Oliver finally said, taking a break from his sandwich love-making.
Miley nodded. "Yeah."
"Have you seen her skate yet?"
Miley shook her head.
"You should let her take you down to the park. She's awesome…falls more than leaves off a tree in autumn though, if you know what I mean."
Miley slightly smiled before returning her attentions to her sandwich. They ate in awkward silence for a few more seconds. Just talk to the boy! Miley mentally screamed at herself. "S-so…" she cleared her throat, "u-uh…how did you learn to do that stuff with lockers?"
Oliver stared at Miley for a second, amazed that she had initiated conversation. Then he realized what he was doing. "Oh…" he laughed. "That's nothing. It's a gift. Not a very useful one outside of high school…but a gift nonetheless."
"It's cool." Miley said and Oliver smiled. "You should charge for your service."
Oliver scoffed. "Yeah right, that's…actually a pretty good idea! Thanks!" He smiled at Miley. She's not so bad after all. A little quiet, but Lilly and I will fix that in no time. "You know, you're kinda cool."
Miley smiled. "Thanks." She said lowly. "You're not so bad yourself."
"Thanks." Oliver said, and then resumed his grilled cheese love fest.
Lilly returned shortly after with a plate of grilled cheese and two sodas. Plopping down, she said, "What'd I miss?"
"Nothing, just a little Oliver-Miley bonding time. Ain't that right?" Oliver answered, looking at Miley.
She played along. "Oh yeah. Lots of bonding."
"That's good to know." Lilly said flatly, but with a smile. She hoped Oliver and Miley would get along, and it seemed as though they were.
They continued to enjoy their meals in comfortable silence, Lilly stealing secret glances at Miley when she thought she wasn't looking, until they were interrupted by a loud ruckus at the cafeteria doors.
Miley looked up to see what was going on. It was a crowd of girls around a guy. He was beautiful. Tall, tan, blonde and fit. He strolled as if he weren't surrounded by swooning teenage girls. He finally stopped in the middle of the room, taking notice of the girls. "Ladies, ladies, please. There is enough of me to go around…but right now, I would like to eat. I'll see you all later, okay?"
Acting as two guard dogs, Amber and Ashley broke up the crowd, standing in front of the boy. "Okay everyone, hands off." Ashley warned.
"You've got exactly three seconds to vamoose…or you know what will happen." Amber added.
"Three…" Amber started.
"Two…" Ashley said next, looking at her watch.
As if by magic, the crowd disappeared.
The boy turned, kissing each girl on the lips. "Thanks sweets." He then turned and headed for the front of the cafeteria.
Miley couldn't take her eyes from him. He was an Adonis. He was beautiful. As he was walking, he turned his head toward her, winking, tossing her a 1000 watt smile. She sighed…but then remembered what she looked like and looked down. He just kept on walking.
Lilly watched the entire interaction with disgust. "There he goes…" she muttered bitterly.
"Wh-wh-who is that?" Miley asked, her throat suddenly dry.
"Jake Ryan." Oliver sighed. "A junior. Captain of the Lacrosse team, Student Body President and the most popular guy in school." Oliver sighed. What I wouldn't give to be him!
"Don't forget resident man whore." Lilly added, a hint of sourness in her voice.
"What?" Miley asked. She had never heard that phrase before.
"Oh yeah. He's been with just about every girl in school…and maybe some of the guys if you know what I mean." She said scandalously.
Miley's eyes widened. "No."
Oliver waved a finger in the air. "Uh-uh…so not true. Nobody has ever proven that Jake's been with a guy."
"Oh please." Lilly rolled her eyes. "It's because they're all too scared to say anything."
"Why's that?" Oliver challenged.
"Because Jake's got a rep to uphold. You can't be the Lothario if you've played for both teams."
"Listen, just because you bat lefty and righty doesn't mean everyone else does." Oliver spat.
"I'm not saying that. I'm just saying it takes one to know one…and I KNOW one."
"He's cute." Miley dreamily breathed and both Lilly and Oliver turned to look at her. Lilly scowled. There was no way Jake Ryan was going to steal Miley from her with just one passing glance.
"Sure…if you like that sort of thing." She said loudly as Jake passed by again, but he didn't seem to notice or care…or both.
"You used to 'like that sort of thing' once." Oliver said smugly and Lilly gasped.
"Really?" Miley said, joining Oliver in staring at Lilly.
"Listen, that was last year. I was young and stupid then."
"They went out once." Oliver said to Miley, whose eyes widened for what seemed like the hundredth time that period.
"Yeah?" She said and Oliver nodded.
"Yeah, but he dumped her and she's hated him ever since."
Lilly scoffed defensively. "Oh, he did not dump me! I dumped him, he just made a public spectacle so he wouldn't look like an idiot in front of the whole school."
Lilly walked up to Jake, who was standing at his locker, trying to look good for anyone who cared to notice. "Hey Jake?"
He turned to her, flashing his winning smile. "Hey babe. How's it going? Can't stay away from me eh?"
"Actually…" Lilly pulled him aside. "I kinda wanted to talk to you about that. I…I don't think we should go out anymore."
Lilly had the worst time on her date with Jake last night. Though he did reveal something to her no one else knew, (his real name was Leslie…Jake is his middle name)…he was rude, egotistical, and she figured he only revealed that so she would put out. It sort of worked, but during their make-out session, he got very handsy. It made Lilly extremely uncomfortable and shattered all of her illusions.
Jake looked shocked for a moment, but quickly recovered. He looked around to see if anyone was listening in. It didn't look so.
"I hope we can…"
Jake interrupted her. "Lilly please…stop begging! I'm not going to give you another chance so stop asking. There is NO WAY I'M GOING TO GO OUT WITH YOU EVER AGAIN."
Everyone in the hallway stopped. Lilly could feel her blood boil. People started laughing. She couldn't even formulate words to express the anger and embarrassment she was feeling.
"No hard feelings?" Jake said, winking at her.
Lilly slapped him hard across the face. "Asshole!" She shouted, storming off.
Within seconds, a flock of girls surrounded Jake, kissing his 'boo-boo' away.
"That's what really happened." Lilly said.
"Sure." Oliver said sarcastically.
Lilly just rolled her eyes. "Whatever, I'm tired of talking about him. Let's move on."
The trio talked of other things, like what they watched on television last night, and about new songs and whatnot, but for the rest of the lunch period Miley would glance over in Jake's direction.
And Lilly saw it. God damn it.
Author's Note: Don't worry guys, it's a femslash for sure, but I never said it was going to be easy...now did I:)