Chapter 8
Sitting comfortably on the sofa, Lily put down a pen for a moment happy with the end of her new chapter. Letting out a relaxed sigh, she closed her eyes for a moment. The round one and its smashing finish provided her with an amazing set of scenes. A smile spread on her lips. She, or more precicely Lis had managed to score high points with all three judges – being one of the few girls who actually did so. She had no idea who were the other ones, but Judge Philips had told her, that she was one of the lucky five, who scored full points. It was only three days after the round an almost entire Beauvillage was still in various levels of ecstasy. Well except Mayor Haveitall, who once more was in a tough spot courteousy of Mayor La Jolie. Immediately after the live broadcast of round one ended, Trashbin´s father called and announced, that the viewing was enormous. Straight after that, Mayor Haveitall got a series of calls from his fellow-mayors, who were absolutely astounded at the show. The mayor was positively hopping up and down until La Jolie called. The man simply refused to give up and said that for him to admit defeat, the ENTIRE show must be amazing, not just round one. That also meant one very serious issue, that still has the mayor shaking out of fear – there can be NO hint of scandal. It took Detective Wiseman AND Miles to get him to calm down. Though since then Wiseman grew a bit suspitious at Miles´ eagerness to help and has resolved to keep an eye on his fellow-judge. He has also been trying to investigate the small sabotage of the music machine, but even with his brotherhood he came up empty-handed. To ensure, that another sabotage won´t happen he had promised that Nick, Tex and Archie will be on hand during the contest when he´ll be at the judge´s table. Other than them, no one on the crew really minded the brocken music-machine, since the solution turned out even better and heavily popular. So popular in fact, that Miles, Pop, Ralph, Trashbin and Weedpatch went into the Megacity´s studio to record the song, which would now become the opening track for the TV broadcast of Miss Beauvillage – the recording went down on the very next day in fact. Also the media from almost all around the country went wild. Beauvillage was suddenly under assault of various reporters, televisions and other media groups. The various articles were issued in almost every newspaper and magazines all around the country. Just yesterday in fact Beauvillage High was under assault of the country-wide famous weekly magazine called Week One, interviewing just about everyone – with the exception of Professor Melissa Morter, who had locked herself in her and Professor Philip´s shared office and refused to come out for the entire day, even to teach – something which greatly pleased the student body. Lola and Angie were also under heavy attack, giving interviews, expressing their views and also asked to reveal some personal questions – something Lola refused to do. The news-hounds were also on a heavy hunt for Chichi, whose reputation grew even larger as soon as it was revealed, that the crew was under the command of Beauvillage´s boy genius. That was the reason, why he spent most of his days in the Hidehole, which turned out to be the safest of havens. The Tofu house was also assaulted a bit, but luckily Buba had suceeded to draw the reporters away with the help of Cracker, Curly and Suzie – much to the great dissapointment of Mom, Pop, Beth and Titus who wanted to use the oppturnity to publify their own issues and business. She even went as far as to ask Mayor Haveitall for help and he was able to negotiate with the media to leave them alone, with great help from Angie and Rodney. The judges were also slightly displeased about the sudden tidal-wave of popularity, since both Rodney and Wiseman found it to be a horrible distraction which was preventing them from fully concentrating on their professions. The only one, who didn´t seem to mind at all was of course Miles, who wasted no time to show off and secure contacts, which he claimed would be Greed-mines. Lola was completly exaspirated with him, but Miles was positively the darling of both Beauvillage and the media. The only one who shared her view was Wiseman, who was convinced, that Miles was up to no good. However besides giving interviews and showing-off, Miles did nothing of his ussual business. In fact, since coming back from the song recording, he didn´t do anything at all – arousing suspition from both Wiseman and Lola.
One thing that bothered Lily about this was, that all the popularity stuff significantly cut down on his time and he didn´t spent any time with her since the first round ended. This caused her a certain level of unease and she found herself missing him and his antics which ussually left her gasping for breath in laughter. Chichi and Phil kept her company a bit, but as it always is with those two, they instantly busied themselfs by working on the Hidehole. Lola also spent the three days with Angie or Billy – something which Lily took with understanding. However, presently Lily felt that she had nothing to complain about. With so much going on about the Miss Beauvillage her popularity about the Great Mystery went on the side-track – something she found pleasing, refreshing and most welcome. It gave her a sence of regained freedom that she felt when she was writing the first book and it instantly showed on her work. Two chapters in two days and the plot was getting better and better. As for the contest and her alter-ego Lis, she now had to admit that her idea of being a mystery-contestant was pure genius. Not only did it give her great fun, pleasure and inspiration, but also a monster-popularity from which she was protected by her mask. Though the news-hounds were on a hunt for the mysterious Lis, their every effort was in vain. Other than the name even the judges knew nothing – nothing to tell the media. The only thing they could do was wait for the next round for Lis to show herself again, which only added to Lis´ popularity. The smile on Lily´s face grew even larger as she once more felt a surpreme sence of power in the secret identity. She felt resolved never to give an interview, or do anything to reveal her secret identity to the press, or anyone else for that matter. Well... except ONE person that is... She wondered just how long will it take for Miles to figure out who Lis is...
"Perhaps I should give him a small clue..."she mused smilingly, eyes still closed.
"Jeez what brought such a radiant smile to your face?"asked a voice she hadn´t heared for three days.
Her eyes snapped open and instantly she saw her best friend standing in the Hidehole´s computer room holding two large bags from Burger Palace. Her smile didn´t vane one bit as she regarded her.
"Nice to finally see you, Lola."she said mischievously.
Lola returned the smile.
"Sorry about that... things have been getting a bit hectic you know."she said in an apologetic voice.
Lily shook her head.
"You don´t have to apologize, I understand."
Lola breathed out a small sigh of relief. She knew Lily would understand, but hearing it from her put all her worries about the matter to rest.
"What are those?"asked Lily gesturing to the bags.
Lola giggled.
"Me and Billy also had to get away from it all, but we figured that you hard-workers must be getting hungry. So we brought lunch."
Lily grinned.
"Nice of you. So where is your dear boyfriend?"
"He´s outside with April and those two. They told me, that you´re writing here and I wanted to have a private talk with you."answered Lola as she moved closer to the sofa and set the bags on the ground as Lily moved over to give her some room to sit down.
"What about?"she asked in obvious curiosity.
Lola grinned wickedly as she reached into her pocket and pulled out an envilope.
"You see... round two of the contest is planned and all the contestants are getting information about it. The only one who doesn´t know is our mystery contestant, so I thought that you should get this... Lis E Milo."
Lily gasped in pure shock.
"L...Lola...how...?"
Lola grinned before giggling.
"I may not be Beauvillage´s genius, but I can recodnize my best friend no matter what disguise she puts on."
"Who else knows about it?"asked Lily swiftly.
Lola smiled gently.
"No one but me I think. I´ve told Angie, that I know who Lis is but she agrees with me, that her identity should be a secret."
Lily smiled happily before embracing Lola. The enbrace lasted for a while, nothing was nedded to say. Though this was not the person she hoped that would discover her identity, Lily was very glad for it.
"You should look at it."suggested Lola as the embrace broke.
Nodding, Lily opened the envilope and read out the information for the second round.
"Lily... what prompted you to enter the contest?"asked Lola suddenly breaking her out of the reading.
"I thought it would be inspiring and fun to do. Also it is a nice alternative to some of the other contestants."she reasoned and both girls scrowled knowing who was meant.
"No offence, but I´m not convinced that´s all there is to it."said Lola in a mixture of suspition and apology.
Lily bit her lip, wondering whether to tell her or not. Lola let out a sigh.
"Its about Miles, am I right?"
Lily instantly fixed her with a yet another shocked stare. Lola sported a small smile.
"I think I can understand why, Lil... and I think its worth a shot."
Lily´s eyes couldn´t open any wider.
"You... you aproove? I thought... that you and Miles... well..."
Lola giggled.
"He gets on my nerves sometimes sure, but he IS a nice guy. And an honest one too... I´m sure he´d never do something like your past lover-boys... he´d never hurt you. But Lily... I´m not sure your feelings would be returned. You know how Miles is."
Now it was Lily´s turn to giggle even as she was almost bursting with joy at her best friend´s support.
"Yeah I do, Lola. Maybe that´s what makes me like him so much. I think its worth a shot."
Lola nodded smilingly.
"I´d much rather see him with you than with any other girl in Beauvillage. What´s your plan?"she asked in a serious voice.
Lily smiled happily as she considered her explanation.
"Well... I want to give him some clues so that he realizes who Lis really is. Then I will confess everything to him and drop out of the contest. I don´t want to win. My joining the contest was for two reasons – to have some fun, aaaand..."her face took on a devious look.
"...to see those annoying fan-girls sweat as Lis takes the lead."
The two girls shared another giggle, Lola was liking the plan all the more.
"Oookay then... if you need some help just ask me, ´kay? I´ll help you here and there, so much as we won´t actually cheat."
Lily smiled and shook her head.
"Thanks Lola. But to be honest, I´d like to do this on my own. You know me... I like a good challenge. Not to mention, it really helps along with my new book."
Smiling happily, Lola nodded.
"All right, Lis. But know one thing... I´ve got your back."
Lily grabbed her in a bear-hug.
"You´re the greatest friend I could ever ask for."she said in moved emotion as Lola smilingly hugged her back.
...
"ART?! WHO´S IDIOTIC IDEA WAS THAT?!"exclaimed Cherie, positively howling in rage.
Steve cringed a bit as Cherie stomped in her room raging like an angry lionness, the envilope open on her room´s table, the paper it contained now crumbling in her grip.
"Cherie please... calm down."he said imploringly.
"HOW CAN I CALM DOWN?! PRODUCE A WORK OF ART IN 2 HOURS?! ITS COMPLETLY STUPID!"
Gulping once more, Steve took a moment to consider everything. As part of the crew he of course knew the details and was now trying to figure out some way to settle the situation. Round two was supposed to take place in Beauvillage´s Art Workshop, where most of the town´s artists worked and where the decorations for the town´s numerous occasions were made. Many of the town´s artists like Stacy Workalot, Matthew and Natalie Conners also pledged their help for the round. The idea was to show, that Miss Beauvillage wasn´t just about beauty, dance or showing-off. The mayor stressed the importaince of showing all the talents and only the most talented would win first place. Which of course included art, and which was a major problem when Cherie was concerned. Steve knew very well, that Cherie was an anti-talent in art of any kind, not bothering to ever try to make something.
"Cherie... look... its not so bad. From what I know thirty of you passed the first round and only ten have to be crossed out of the second. Plus you´ve scored top marks in the first round. You and four other girls – no one else. This gives you a major advantage. Even if you fail the round completly, you still pass to the next one."
Cherie´s eyes flared.
"THAT won´t do! I´m NOT taking any chances!"she screamed at the top of her lungs, stomping furiously onto the ground.
Cringing once more Steve repositioned himself on Cherie´s bed, turning to one side in fear, eyes tightly shut. Thistime however Cherie took notice of it. Gasping slightly she felt a level of shame. Steve really seemed to be afraid of her. This prompted a strange set of feelings in her heart. A feeling of shame at the outburst and a strong desire to make it right – she really hated to see Steve be afraid like that. Afraid of HER – which was worse. Swiftly closing the distance between them, she sat on the bed and placed a hand on Steve´s back, stroking it gently to calm him down.
"Sorry, Stevie..."she breathed quietly.
Steve opened one eye and shuddered at the feeling of Cherie´s hand.
"I´m not angry at you..."she said earnestly.
He turned to her, a small smile appearing on his face.
"I know Cherie..."
Sighing Cherie directed her sight downward.
"I´m just nervous about this... I mean... I ´m not good in art... and I really don´t wanna lose..."
His smile growing larger, he took her other hand.
"I know Cherie... I´ll do anything I can to help you with the second round..."he said soothingly.
Her smile brightening increasingly, she fixed him with an appretiative smile and in one instant embraced him, holding him close.
"You´re the greatest, Stevie..."
An astounded smile spread on his lips, he breathed a contented sigh as he brought his arms around Cherie, holding her dearly.
...
"Brother Nick, we´ve been sitting here for hours."whined Archie, his binoculars still in hand.
"And we´re gonna sit here for a few more, until we find what they´re up to."growled Nick, his eyes also pressed on his binoculars, eyes tightly spying the Tofu yard.
He growled to himself again. For three hours they have been sitting there and nothing out of the ordinary was happening. He wondered if Tex was having more luck with his investigation. The media´s interest in their brother Fred was making it very difficult for him to get any work done at all. In fact just yesterday, he ran from the press and barricaded himself in his office until they left. And just NOW – when there was so much work to be done. Not only there was the small matter of securing a way that no cheating was done over the course of the contest, as brother Fred had made a high emphasis to the matter, there were now two major mysteries to be solved. The first one of course was the matter of brother Fred´s secret admirer, who had sent a yet another love letter to him just one day after the end of round one announcing that her fight for his heart is still on in the contest. The second mystery however was one, that Detective Wiseman knew of and took high priority to solve – the real identity of Lis E Milo. He asked the brotherhood to find as much information as they could regarding the five girls who recieved full score. Something which was relatively easy regarding the first four, but Lis was a giant complex mystery and any intel on her was zero to none. They were trying for the last two days to find some sort of a clue, but to no avail. Though Nick suspected, that some clue is bound to present itself when Lis appears for round two. Right now however, he and Archie were fufilling the surpreme order of their brother and leader of the brotherhood – keep an eye out for any sighns of "Miles – activity". The trouble was that, much like their other investigations this one was showing about the same progress as the others. Michael Miles had returned to the Tofu household three hours ago and since then he hasn´t done a thing besides chatting with the Tofus – both young and old, along with their friends who had come in and since then spent time in the yard with the elders and the accursed animals.
"You´re bound to do something, Miles..."grumbled Nick as another growl sounded.
Turning to the source of the growling sound, his eyes fell on Archie who was laughing sheepishly.
"Guess we´ve been here too long, brother. My stomach is already calling for food."
Rolling his eyes, Nick returned his sights back to the Tofu yard.
"Then tell it, that the mission comes first."he said dismissively.
Archie eyed him curiously.
"But brother Nick... aren´t you hungry?"
Nick steeled his sights on the yard, pressing the binoculars to his eyes.
"No."
Suddenly Nick´s stomach made an allmighty growl, one far more louder than Archie´s.
Blushing slightly, Nick did nothing to change his position on the tree or relinquish his hold on the binoculars, stubbornly refusing to admit the obvious. Besides him, Archie gave a deep sigh.
"I still can´t understand why I wasn´t allowed to go along and look for information about this Lis Milo. I mean, you alone would be more than capable of keeping a watch on the enemy camp."
Nick snorted before returning his sight on Archie.
"Yeah... but if you DID go across town, you would´ve definitely brought Emily along. And that would mean only one thing – LOTS of smoochin´ and NO work done."
Archie blushed a deep red, knowing his true intentions were revealed.
"I can´t help it, brother. Since the end of the first round there was so much work, that I´ve only been able to see her in school. I miss being with her you know."
Nick gave a low growl, but a tiny smile was on his face. Dispite the distractions it provided, Nick was genuilly happy for Archie.
"Don´t you miss Mia, brother Nick?"
Archie´s childishly -innocent question made Nick blush in crimson colors.
"Wha... you... of course NOT!"he exclaimed.
As Archie gave him a questioning look, he quickly reoriented his sight on the Tofu yard.
"You wouldn´t catch me dead missing that stuck-up blondie."he replied, trying to be convincing eventhough the lack of Mia´s presence was something he took note of.
It didn´t bother him that much... not really. But he was aware of something missing. Something, that was leaving him mystified since the Outdoor Sales Day...
"Hey you two... how long are you gonna stay up there?"
Nick instantly removed his eyes from the binoculars at the sound of that voice.
"Speak of the devil."he thought to himself as he looked down from the tree to the source of the voice, Archie mimicking his movement - his face lighting up in an eluminating smile.
Under the tree two girls were standing. Emily was waving her free hand, her smile capable of lighting up the dark side of the moon as her eyes fell on her beloved boyfriend. Right next to her was Mia, though her arms were folded she fixed them a mock-stern look, but her eyes sparkled with affection as they set on Nick.
"EMMY!"exclaimed Archie as he hastily started to make his way down.
Once on the ground he instantly jumped into her ready arms and cuddled with her lovingly – the bag falling from her hand.
"How in the world did you find us?!"exclaimed Nick, since they have tried to keep their location a complete secret.
Mia actually giggled.
"Seems like you still have a LOT to learn about camouflage, monkey-face. I could see you on the tree from the end of the street."
Nick blushed heavily.
"Humph. Whatever."he said grudgingly.
"How´s the investigation going by the way?"asked Mia while sporting a small smile.
"No progress yet."remarked Archie, still in Emily´s arms.
"Why am I not surpirsed."said Mia, while giggling a bit and shooting a cheeky glance on Nick.
"Wanna swap, blondie?!"replied Nick blushingly.
"Not really, thanks."she replied.
Separating herself from Archie, though not without a loving kiss on the lips - which left Archie swaying in a happy daze, she moved to the bag she brought and delved into its insides, producing packed burgers from Burger Palace.
"Dinner guys."she announced happily.
Archie gave a sound of utmost delight as he once more embraced his girlfriend, though thistime from behind.
"You´re my saviour, Emmy."
Emily giggled giddingly as she turned in the embrace and kissed Archie´s nose.
"Hungry?"
Archie nodded vigorously.
"Very."
Emily smiled down on him.
"We thought as much. Detective Wiseman directed us here. We also figured that you two may be hungry and could use this to help in your mission."she said indicating to the food they brought.
Archie locked eyes with her. His eyes full of endless affection and gratitude.
"You are the most amazing person I´ve ever known... I love you."
Emily giggled and returned his loving gaze.
"And I love you, my little detective."she said before catching his lips in a searing kiss.
Mia rolled her eyes a bit before returning her gaze to Nick, who was sitting on the tree still surveying the Tofu yard stubbornly.
"What about you, mega-nose? Coming down for a snack?"
Nick snorted in a defiant and proud way.
"Not on your life. I´m an detective´s aid – the member of the famous Brotherhood of the Wise! I don´t let myself get distracted while on duty!"he recited proudly pumping his chest.
Mia rolled her eyes.
"Suit yourself."she said as she sat down at the base of the tree, next to the place where Emily and Archie sat really close to eachother and grabbed one of the burgers from the bag.
"You really should, brother Nick. Afterall we haven´t eaten anything since lunch."implored Archie even as he reached into the bag for a burger.
"I said NO."growled Nick, but suddenly his stomach gave another growl which could be heared over the entire perimeter around the tree.
Mia sighed to herself as Emily fixed her with a look.
"He´s so stubborn."she remarked quietly and Mia rolled her eyes.
"You can say that again."she growled as she took a bite from her burger.
Emily turned to Archie, who was passing her his burger in an attempt to share – a gesture, that warmed her heart even as she took a bite.
"Thanks, teddy-bear."she said lovingly.
Archie blushed heavily at her pet-name, but Mia suddenly started coughing up the food she almost swallowed when she snorted a laugh. Up on the tree, Nick also started to laugh uncontrolably. So much in fact, that he was finding his position on the tree hard to maintain. Sure enough, he lost his balance and fell down the tree, landing on the grassy ground near Mia. Dispite the small goan he resumed laughing at the pet-name along with Mia who finally stopped coughing. Archie was still blushing when they stopped.
"Oh stop laughing you two. Its a cute pet-name."Emily said, defending him.
"And an accurate one too, considering your size and his."added Mia with a small giggle.
Archie looked at the ground sadly. He was always very touchy about his height, being the shortest boy his age in Beauvillage with only 156 centimeters – even some of the younger kids were growing taller than him. His thoughts were interupted when Emily took him into her loving embrace.
"I don´t mind it one bit."shesaid to Mia in a defiant way.
Shaking her head Mia turned to Nick who was still lying on the ground as his stomach gave another loud growl. She took another burger from the bag and passed it to him.
Nick looked up questioningly, as Mia turned her head the opposite way, trying to hide her blushing cheeks.
"Here, monkey-face. Shut up that beast of yours."she said, trying to sound rough, but failing miserably.
With blushing cheeks and a deep sigh he took the hamburger and sat up.
"Thanks, blondie."he mumbled begrudgingly and took a bite.
...
Nighttime had descended on Beauvillage and things were quieting down everywhere. Except the Tofu household. Loud collective laughter rang from Chichi´s room. The gang decided to have a sleepover to catch up. Eventhough they still had school in the morning. But just now all of them – Phil, Chichi, Lily, April, Billy, Lola and Miles were in Chichi´s room, munching on snacks and exchanging funny stories. Miles just finished telling them a memory from his childhood – the time he played in a school play at the Megacity´s South Elementary School. Lily and April swooned at the thought of a tiny Michael Miles dressed up in a strawberry-costume. But when Lola asked if Wiseman had also attended the play, Miles told them the role Wiseman played – a pickle, or rather "sour pickle" as Miles put it to general outburst of laughter.
"And... at the dance scene he danced so clumsily – making such a pirulette, that he lost his balance, banged his head into the side of the wall and rolled down from the stage..."finished Miles and the laughter once more rang across the room.
"Poor... little... Wisey."chortled Lily.
Once the laughter died down, many of them wiped a tear of laughter from their eyes.
"I can´t believe that he was always so clumsy."Lola noted shaking her head.
"From what I hear from Rodney, it was the same with Angie since her childhood. He said that he always patched up after an accident."said Miles with a smile.
Lily, Lola and April gave an affectionate "awwww", while Phil exchanges an eyeroll with Chichi and Billy smiled good-naturely.
"Its nice to see that you´re on good terms with Philips."he said smiling at Miles.
Miles returned the smile and helped himself to a few strawberries – Buba having prepared a special giant bowl of them for him – something he gave her an affectionate hug for.
"He´s an okay guy afterall. I can see why you, Lola and Lily like the dude so much. You guys are lucky to have a homeroom professor like that. Me and Roger had an old hag – which was probably why we skipped school so much."
The gang shared a small laugh.
"Knowing you... I doubt that."said Lola sternly, but her eyes sparkled with humor.
"Anyway guys... I wanted to ask you about the contest. As you know five girls have scored full points and I´d like to know a bit about them. Aside from the obvious one."said Miles getting a thoughtfull look and folding his arms.
Lola grinned.
"You mean Lis?"she asked innocently, while Lily had tried her best not to blush.
Miles gave a jovial shout of approoval.
"You betcha. WOW what a girl! She was dancing beautyfully and she looks...WOW!"
Phil gave a nod smilingly.
"You can say that again."
Now Lily had to pretend to drop her pencil beneath Lola´s table so they wouldn´t see the blush.
"I hope she wins... definitely would love to know who she is. Whoever could she be?"he mused and Lola had to surpress a giggle.
"I´m sure you´ll find out Miles."she said nonchalantly as Lily emerged with her pencil and picked up the notebook she had been scribbling notes to.
Nodding to himself Miles reached for another strawberry.
"You´re right, Lola. Anyways what can you tell me of the other girls who passed like... Hazel Summerville."said Miles reffering to the beautyfull 25 year old girl – the eldest of the five in the lead.
The others looked thoughtfull thinking back to the nicely shaped, red-haired young woman. However Billy, Chichi, Phil, Lily and April didn´t know much about her.
"She´s Angie´s former classmate. Apparently she has had a thing for Philips since their school-days. Former Queen-bee of their class if I remember correctly."said Lola, remembering what Angie told her about it.
"Uh-oh. Bet Angie saw red."remerked Lily, knowing her feelings for their homeroom professor.
"Believe it... anyways from what she said, Hazel is a kind of an air-head. She now works as a cosmetic and an hair-stylist at Beauvillage´s Lovely Beauty salon. From what I heared she´s nice I guess."
Miles mused over what Lola had said.
"Oooookay... next we have Anabell Richerly."
Lily and Lola exchanged dark looks.
"She´s in a year above us."started Lola.
"And a completly stuck-up cow."added Lily.
The boys exchanged tense looks, for the girls looked really angry at her and April apparently shared their views.
"Miss Perfect, straight A´s, overbearing personality and she just wants to be the centre of attention."said Lily, summing it all up for Miles.
"Sounds like a nasty number."noted Miles thoughtfully.
"Bingo. She´s not even interested in dating eighter of you three. In fact, I heared that she would like money as a prize instead."said Lola growling slightly.
"Greedy bitch."remarked April under her breath, but loud enough for everyone hear.
"You got that right, April."nodded Lily fiercely.
"Well... I like greed but not THAT kind of greed."said Miles thoughtfully.
"The two that remain are from our class. Candy and Cherie... I can´t tell which is worst."grumbled Lola as she sat next to Billy.
Billy took her by the shoulder, cuddling her close to him.
"Lola... Cherie is not THAT bad, you know..."he said kindly in defence to his childhood friend.
Lola gave him a look.
"Have you forgotten what she did before we got together?!"
-Flashback-
"HOW COULD YOU, CHERIE?!"yelled Billy, completly beside himself with anger as Cherie was cowed to the wall of their classroom.
"B... Billy... I... I didn´t mean..."
"WHAT?! THE TOFUS ALMOST MOVED AWAY BECAUSE OF YOUR LITTLE TRICK! NOT TO MENTION THE FEUD YOU NEARLY CAUSED! MY DAD WAS READY TO TAKE THIS TO COURT?! HE AND MR TOFU HAD A FIGHT ALL BECAUSE OF YOUR LITTLE SCHEME!"he yelled punching the wall in stress.
He slumped into a chair and grabbed his head.
"WHY?! Now Lola will never speak to me again..."he moaned into his hands, feeling the tears flowing from his eyes.
"Billy... you... you´re better off without her."said Cherie quietly.
Billy instantly fixed her with an ice-cold glare.
"I love her, Cherie! Doesn´t THAT mean anything to you?! I thought that we were friends and that you would respect my feelings!"he said before once more burying his face into his hands.
Tears were running from her eyes. Her plan failed. She devised a plot with Lily Robins´ boyfriend to get the Tofus out of Beauvillage by making an allmighty row between them and the Hubbubs and also make it appear, that Carl (Lily´s boyfriend) was dating Lola – not only driving Billy away from her but also breaking down her friendship with Lily – something which failed miserably due to the interfierence of those two little brats (Phil and Chichi), who were able to show the entire thing to Lily and the plan went into pieces from there.
"Billy, I... I wanted to..."
Billy once more fixed her with a glare.
"I LOVE her, Cherie! I LOVE HER! AND NOW YOU´VE TAKEN THAT CHANCE FROM ME! FOR OVER A YEAR I WANTED TO ADMIT MY FEELINGS TO HER BUT JUST WASN´T STRONG ENOUGH TO RISK OUR FRIENDSHIP! I MUST´VE BEEN OUT OF MY MIND TO HAVE LISTENED TO YOU AND YOUR GRAND PLAN! And now... I... I´ve lost her forever..."he finished before once more bringing his hands to his face and sobbing unashamedly.
Suddenly he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. Looking up he saw the person standing infront of him.
"L...Lola?!"he breathed almost not daring to believe it.
Lola Tofu was looking at him, small tears in her eyes but smiling gently.
"Come with me."she said, grasping his hand and leading him out of the empty classroom.
As they left the classroom, Billy chaught sight of Chichi and Lily, both of them having radiant smiles on their faces. And as Lola steered him towards the opposite way, he saw them whoop and embrace eachother in a gesture of rejoicing over a victory. Barely getting what was going on, he allowed Lola to steer him into an empty classroom. As Lola closed the door and turned to him, Billy racked his brains in an effort to explain everything that had happened.
"L...Lola... I... "he started to stutter but instantly he felt something incredible.
Lola crashed her lips onto his, kissing him passionately, Billy taking little time to respond. Bringing his arms around her he held on to her as though she was his life-line, kissing her with all the love in his heart.
"I know, Billy... I know everything. "she breathed as they separated.
"Lola... I´m sorry... I... I..."he said but Lola placed her finger to his lips.
"I know. Billy... I´m sorry too, for believing that trash. We´ll thank those two incredible saviours – Chichi and Lily later. Just now, know one thing... I love you, William Hubbub. I love you with all my heart and soul."she said with a level of passion.
Billy´s eyes watered again, but thistime in relief.
"I love you too, Lola. And believe me... I will never again allow anyone or anything come between us."he said before making his point with a searing, passionate kiss full of never-ending love.
- End of flashback-
"Awwwww... that´s the sweetest thing I have EVER heared!"exclaimed Miles throwing Billy and Lola an extremely awed look.
Both of them smiled blushingly.
"Anyways this Cherie seems like an all-out bitch."he said summarizing his opinion.
"You got it, Miles. And the worst thing is, that she is out for YOU."said Lily.
Miles gulped.
"Yeah. And knowing her, she will stop at nothing to get what she wants. In fact, I wouldn´t be surprised if SHE was behind the sabotage duing the first round."said Lola savagely.
Billy tensed.
"Lola... I told you... she changed since then. And..."
"It would´ve been impossible for her."added Chichi drawing all attention to himself.
"The music machine was busted at the time when she was beneath the podium. Whoever broke the machine must´ve been in the backstage."said Chichi in obvious observation.
Lola bit her lower lip.
"I´m still not convinced that SHE has got nothing to do with it, Chichi."she said.
A small moment of silence lingered.
"Anyways. What about this other girl – Candy?"asked Miles innocently.
Now, the majority of the group tensed. Lola, Lily, Billy and Phil tensed and looked at Chichi. April however gave an angry huff and folded her arms. Chichi´s expression remained neutral.
"Did I tough on a sore spot?"asked Miles innocently.
"Major sore spot, Miles."remarked April angerly.
Chichi fixed her with a small look of unease.
"Candy is our classmate, Miles. And Chichi´s first crush."explained Lola while shooting her baby brother a tensed look.
Chichi returned it with a gentle smile.
"I´m okay with it, Lola. Thanks to you."
Lola smiled happily at that as Chichi turned to Miles.
"She was my fist crush. And I´ve had ONE date with her almost three years ago... it was kinda embaressing actually. We went all along the Beauvillage park, sat down in the Rising Sun but strange things were happening. In the end she told me flat out, that I´m too much of a wierd little kid for her and that I would do better to date someone my age."he said unashamedly and without a hint of something bothering him.
Biting her lip once more, Lola remembered what happened after Chichi returned home.
- Flashback -
Lola and Billy stepped into the kitchen hand-in-hand looking at the scene. Pop and Buba were sitting at the table, sombre looks on their faces. Mom was fixing supper, but also looking a bit sad.
"He´s at the pond, sweet wildflower."said Pop sadly.
"I think you should leave him alone right now."noted Buba just as sadly.
Lola turned to Bully, a fierce expression on her face.
"Stay here."she said, before letting go of his hand and walking towards the living room and the door to the yard.
Billy smiled sadly and sat down next to Pop.
"I´m just glad that Lola has a nice boy like you, Billy."remarked Pop sadly.
Billy smiled in appretiation, knowing already what must´ve gone down.
"I know, Mr Tofu."he said sadly.
Dispite the sadness, Pop fixed him with a kind smile.
"Pop or Jake to you, Billy."he said while claping his shoulder good-naturedly, a gesture that didn´t go unapretiated by Billy.
Lola made her way trough the yard – even Cracker, Suzie and Curly were slouched near their stable looking miserable. On the small bench by the pond sat Chichi, head layed in his arms and shoulders shaking – a sight that broke her heart. Coming to him, she sat down next to him and could hear his sobs.
"Chichi..."she started.
Suddenly Chichi threw himself on her, holding on to her as he let all his sadness out. Tears sprung out of her eyes as well as she brought her arms around him and tried her best to console him. After what seemed like ages, Chichi´s sobs subsided and he took a few breaths.
"S...sorry, Lola."he said in a quiet voice.
Lola squeezed him tighter.
"You have nothing to be sorry about, Chichi."she said gently, desperate to make her baby brother feel better.
"I... I thought... that she was the one for me..."remarked Chichi, tears once more returning to his eyes.
Lola stroke his hair gently.
"I know Chichi... I know... but... true love doesn´t come everytime."
Chichi gave another sob and Lola immediately held him closer.
"Know this though Chichi... you´re my baby brother... and I love you... I will always love you... and one day... you´ll find the one girl, who will love you as much as you love her. Count on it."she said, as Chichi´s crying started anew.
Lola fought back her own tears as continued cuddling her beloved 12 year old baby brother and trying all she could to rid him of the pain of his first heartbreak.
- End of Flashback -
Biting her lip strongly, Lola resolved never again to see her brother like that again and really hoped, that what she said to him back then would become a reality. Eyeing April, she thought that with her it would be the best chance and was once more proven right in her opinion as April shuffled a bit closer to Chichi. Chichi took note of it and flashed April an appretiative smile one she returned with a shy and blushing one. Phil and Billy eyed him sadly and Lily bit her lower lip. All of them looked at Chichi with levels of pity, except Miles. But Chichi was as cool as ice, sitting cross-legged on his bed and smiling gently.
"No worries guys. That´s years behind me. I learnt my lesson and moved on."he said calmly and it suceeded in calming them all down.
"I can relate to that, Chich."said Miles drawing all attention to himself as everyone in the room eyed him with obvious surprise and curiosity.
Miles smiled a bit before looking at all of them.
"You´re one of my closest friends, guys. My first closest friends besides the old gang from the Jumpers. So I´ll share with you a personal secret of mine. But you gotta promise not to breath a word. Even if you´re captured by the brotherhood and interogated heavily."he said adding the last bit in a dramatic voice.
The gang shared a laugh before nodding and swearing an oath of silence.
Getting himself another handfull of strawberries, he sat down and took a small breath.
"It happened when I was 13 years old. I was very young and as cute and innocent as can be."
The gang exploded in laughter – none of the believing that Miles had EVER been something as innocent. Letting the laughter die down, Miles coughed a bit and continued.
"Anyways then came across my path a girl called Jasmine. She was 17 and stunningly beautyfull. Me and Roger met her when we were hanging out at the Dominique Plaza Square – the place where the... how do the people call us... "alternative youth" hung around since I was a kid, they still do as a matter of fact. Anyways she was... well perfect – wonderfull red long hair, cute face, cool attitude, she even had piercings and even a tattoo... I was completly smitten with her, but was too shy to speak to her."
Lily, April and Lola exchanged looks unable to picture a shy Michael Miles.
"And then something bombastic happened... she came to me..."said Miles with a small smile.
Now the boys eyed him in surprise.
"You mean...?"asked Phil in awe.
"Just like that...?"breathed Billy stunned.
"You got together...?"asked Chichi in an amazed voice.
Miles grinned.
"Yup... she told me, that she had her eye on me for quite some time and well... instant lip-lock."
The girls gave out a shocked sigh, as Billy looked stunned, Chichi mused to himself and Phil muttered under his breath "Some guys have all the luck."
"Yup from then on, she became my girlfriend. I was very attracted to the wild-life as she put it and well... I skipped school just to be with her. We did many things together just running around town and everything... we even spent time in the local south-east squat. Heh... she even de-flowered me there..."said Miles blushing heavily and scratching his hair in a sheepish manner.
"WHAAAAT?!"
Chichi´s room practicly shook at the exclamation of the teens – Suzie and Cracker, who were snoozing near Chichi´s bedroom door scrambled downstairs in alarm. Lola and Billy were gaping at Miles completly, Lily´s face was now a mixture of shock and hurt, Phil´s in contrast one of bewilderment, Chichi´s thoughtfull one didn´t change one bit and April´s was full of envy and desire as she kept stealing looks of longing at Chichi, who was so in thought that he took little notice of it.
"So basicly... you were so much in love, that you couldn´t recodnize right from wrong?"he asked in his analytical voice.
Miles looked kinda ashamed of himself as he nodded red-facedly.
"I mean... I never before experienced so much as a loving hug, kiss or anything else..."he said trying to explain himself.
Lily´s eyes were burning with tears both angry and hurt.
"She USED you... ! She made you into her toy!"
Miles glanced at the ground and nodded sadly.
"Yeah... and our misadventures got so bad, that the Megacity Police Department were onto us, for several robberies and then... she... she sold me out... snitched on me to Shark so that she would be pardoned for her crimes..."
"THAT BITCH!"roared Lola completly mad and coming closer to Miles and patted a hand on his shoulder.
"I can now understand why you never shown interest in dating..."she said in a compassionate voice.
"How did you get out of that one, Miles? Or did you end up in the Megacity´s reformatory?"asked Phil quietly.
Miles smiled happily though sadness was still present.
"I would have if not for true friends. You see... my running around with her had a bad effect on my friendship with Roger. In the end, I even fought him and it looked like our friendship was over for good. But then something incredible happened – a girl, our former enemy in school talked with him and they went after me to save me... they and Count Louie managed Shark to get me off, getting the entire story out of me and Jasmine and saying that I was under the influence of an elder girl. So I was left off, but she got punished heavily – being sent to the reformatory. But not before telling me flat out, that she never loved me in the first place..."he said in a hurt voice, bowing his head and silently cursing at himself – dispite the years that went by, that still hurt, and a LOT.
"MILES!"exclaimed Lily as she got up and closed the distance between them taking his head into her arms, hugging him gently but tightly.
Miles´ eyes snapped open and a deep-red blush appeared on his face. He was suddenly feeling something he haven´t felt in ages... if ever... a feeling deep in his heart – something he´d been longing for eversince he was a child. Almost on instinct he brought his arms around Lily´s back and pressed her closer to him, as Lily rested her head on his and gently rubbed the top of his head in a gesture of comfort. As the silent moment lingered, he felt something he hadn´t felt in years – the urge to cry, something he had forbade himself to do more than fifteen years ago. April however let the tears run freely and gave out a few sniffs. Chichi moved closer to her and placed an arm over her shoulder and pressed her to him in an effort to comfort her.
"Miles, we had no idea..."she breathed quietly, Phil and Billy nodding somberly.
"Well of course you didn´t, guys."said Miles peeking over from Lily´s embrace, but doing nothing to let go of her.
"Its my greatest secret afterall."
"So that´s the mess Mel and Roger got you out of."said Chichi quietly.
Miles fixed him with a slightly shocked look.
"They told you?"
Chichi shook his head with a smile.
"Melanie told me when I asked how she befriended you, that she used to hate you and Roger until the time when she helped Roger pull you out of some major trouble. But she didn´t say what was it about, saying that its your private matter."
Miles smiled an overjoyed smile.
"She´s one in a milion."
Catching sight of the gang´s curious looks, Chichi smiled.
"Melanie is their former classmate from elementary school and she took over Miles´ position in the Jumpers after he left the band."he explained.
"Yup. And with the members of the Jumpers... well we´re all best buds. And Mel... well she´s one of the coolest girls I know."said Miles smiling gently.
Chichi sprung into his infamous tenthousand watt smile.
"You can say that again."he nodded, remembering Melanie Beejays – the only girl member of the Jumpers.
"And well besides them and Count Louie... I´ve never had friends like that, until I came to Beauvillage..."said Miles looking at all of them happily, his head still in Lily´s arms.
The gang all returned their most affectionate smiles.
"Wait a moment... Miles? Who is this Count Louie?"asked April curiously.
Chichi grinned. Though he had never met the man before, Miles, Melanie and Roger told him and Don about the eccentric owner of the orphanage.
"The owner of the orphanage Miles grew up in."explained Chichi.
Miles nodded happily.
"And my very first friend."
The remainder of the gang looked at eachother.
"But why Count...?"asked Phil and both Chichi and Miles laughed.
"Heh... he always says, that he´s of a noble European lineage, something equivalent to a Count – so when I was a kid, I started to call him Count Louie. Heh... he was so mad at first, but then, he got used to it. He´s a bit eccentric, but he´s a great guy... manages the entire orphanage by himself. In fact, as I grew older he taught me and Roger spanish. Hehe... in fact, since I was four, he always called me "chico loco"."
April laughed at that, knowing spanish very well herself.
"Heh... you must´ve been quite a little troublemaker."
Lola and Lily shared a gentle affectionate smile, picturing a tiny little mischievous kid that Michael Miles undoubtably must´ve been. Both pictured him to be positively adorable, dispite the racket he could until this day cause. Lily´s grip on Miles tightened.
"Of course not, April..."said Miles innocently and the gang once more shared a laughter, the tense moment since Miles confessed his first and only love was lightened.
"Anyways, as for the contest... well if the winner chooses me, well its only one date afterall... It would take much more than that for me to give my heart to someone..."
Over Miles´ head Lily tried her best to conceal her frown.
"Maybe you´ll be surprised, Miles. There just might be a girl there, who will show you true love."said Lola while flashing a discreete wink to Lily.
Miles smiled upon her.
"Thanks Lola. Well you never know... but I´m just being carefull. Afterall like Count Louie used to say to me – Never forger, chico loco... man in love - mucho estupido."
As Chichi´s room once more filled with laughter, Lily took a moment to think even as she still held Miles´ head.
"Believe me, Miles... I´ll can give you all the love you needed since you were a tiny troublemaker."she thought as her grip on him once more tightened.
...
