"Michael!" He heard a familiar cry and felt tight arms grip him around his shoulders. He turned around, and his face broke into a smile. His mom! He hadn't seen her in two whole years, and hadn't realized how much he had missed her. He put his arms around her, and hugged in her sweet, motherly smell. It always comforted him. Not like the smell of Mia, but she made him feel safe… and well, loved.
"Lil! Woah… LILLY?" Lilly had… punked up. There was no other word for it. Gone were the days of Calvin & Hobbes T-shirts, with faded blue jeans. Gone were the days of hair scraped back into a ponytail, with no makeup smeared on her face. Woah. She had dark kohl-lined eyes, her brown hair was parted to cover half of her face, she was wearing a black army trench coat… and frankly, looked like a ninja assassin. Who WAS she? Lilly had blocked Michael from her Facebook page, and they hardly ever talked. All he knew was that she had become a major star in South Korea. Inwardly, he smirked, knowing that Lilly had gotten what she had always envied Mia of: fame.
Michael knew, from the few conversations he had had with Lilly, that she and Mia were no longer best friends, but that they weren't at each other's necks, either. He felt a little disappointed. It meant that he wouldn't have an excuse to hang around her anymore; forget being able to walk in on her and Lilly, not wearing a shirt, which, he remembered, always made her stare.
"Michael…?"
"Huh? Oh, Lil! Hey! How have you been? You look…different." He smiled at her and put an arm around his sister.
"Uh, Michael, I know we haven't seen each other for two years, but since when do you put your arm around me? Oh… Kenneth!" Kenneth? Kenny? The guy who made Mia date him out of pure guilt! He was called Kenneth now? And he was dating Lilly? Apparently, considering the amount of tongue display there was from their lip-lock.
And who had been away for two whole years, here?