Chapter Two-Oliver Oaken
I groaned as I heard my alarm clock start to beep next to my head. I blindly reached for it, hitting the snooze button.
"Oliver Oscar Oaken! Get up, now!"
I jumped. I hated it when my mom was mad. She always used her man voice when she was mad.
"OK, mom, I'm up" I said, slowly getting out of bed.
I stumbled over to my closet and tried to look for an outfit I was sure the ladies would like. I was keen on finding someone to ride the 'Ollie Trollie' soon. I already had one girl in mind, my best friend Lilly Truscott.
But, I wasn't going to admit that I liked her to her or anyone else. I mean, what if she didn't like me back? And if she did like me back and we did start dating, then what would happen with our friendship if we broke up?
I quickly changed and grabbed my backpack, rushing down the stairs. I carefully avoided my mom and soon was out the door on the way to Miley Stewart's house. Miley was my other best friend. Lilly and I always waited for her at the end of the driveway so we could walk to school together.
Lilly was already waiting at the end of Miley's driveway when I showed up. She tuned and smiled at me, the smile that I always loved. As usual, she had a skateboard under her foot. She hardly went anywhere without it.
"Hey, Lilly" I greeted.
"Hey, Oliver. How are you this morning?" Lilly replied giving me a warm smile.
"Waking up to my mom's 'mn voice' is not the best way to start a morning" I replied with a shudder. Lilly laughed into her palm.
"That has to suck" she said in between laughs.
"Trust me. You don't know the half of it" I replied, shaking my head. This is really the only time that Lilly and I were alone together. It felt really. . .nice.
"Hey, Oliver can I ask you something?" Lilly said hesitantly, staring at her skateboard.
"Anything" I replied with a shrug. "You can tell me anything, Lilly."
"Well, it's like this" Lilly hesitated. She looked up at me through he bangs.
"Spit it out, Lilly" I said with a little laugh. "Come on, I think I can handle whatever you're going to say."
"Well. . .would you uh-"
I turned at the sound of footsteps and saw Miley rushing towards us. I think I heard Lilly let out a sigh of relief but I'm not really sure.
"It's about time. Come on, let's go. High school isn't going to wait for us" Lilly said rolling her eyes, although a smile was on her face.
"Sorry about that, guys. Jackson took forever in the shower this morning" Miley replied, rolling my eyes.
"Jackson" I said in a sympathetic way slowly shaking his head like a concerned parent. Miley laughed and the three of us started towards Seaview High School.
My name is Oliver Oaken. I'm fourteen and a half and I'm a Freshman at Seaview High School. And guess what? I'm in love with my best friend.
The three of us arrived at Seaview High and immediately spotted Amber and Ashley, the most popular girls in our class, laughing about something. The kids around them were laughing and pointing at something. Or someone. I followed Miley and Lilly over to the group of kids. I looked over the shoulders of the group of kids and held back a groan.
"Not again" Miley moaned. Lilly and I let out a big sigh.
Lilly, Miley, and I exchanged nods and we immediately rushed over to the group of kids and saw that they were beating some kid up. I recognized him. He was my newest friend, Blake Anderson. He was kind of shy but was fun to be around.
"Stop it! Get off him!" I cried as Lilly and I grabbed onto the three boys and pulled them off of Blake.
"Geek! We'll get you later" one of the boys spat. "You'll pay for asking out my girl." The boy was Miles Johnson. His girlfriend was Ashley.
"You asked out, Ashley?! Sweet nibblets, she's like one of the most popular girls in High School" Miley cried, grabbing a hold of one of Blake's arms.
Lilly grabbed his other arm and she and Miley helped him to his feet. His blond/white hair was falling into his blue eyes. He had a scratch across his left cheek and his lip was split.
"Don't rub it in" he said bitterly, spitting blood onto the floor. I winced as I looked at the specks of blood and grabbed his books and stuff. When I straightened, I noticed the dent in the row of lockers behind Blake.
"Ouch, that looked like it hurt" I commented with a cringe. 'Why do people enjoy beating up kids that are weaker than them?'
Lilly and Miley looked to where his eyes were fixed and they gasped in shock at the bent locker door; eyes growing wide.
"It feels worse" Blake replied in a dark tone as Oliver handed him his books. "Thanks. I'll be a little late to class. I'm going to the nurse."
"Ok, we'll tell the teacher for you" I replied with a nod. He gave me a warm smile. I could see the gratitude in his eyes.
"Thanks, Miles" he said quietly.
Now, I'm not sure about this, but I think Blake likes Miley. He always seems to shy away from her and talk to her in a really soft voice when she's around. If only she'd notice what a great guy he was.
-
"Lunch time. Why couldn't it be taco day?" I complained as Miley and I sat down at our 'usual table.' Miley stared at the brown mush on her plate that was supposed to be meatloaf.
"I wish it was" she whined, pouting. She stabbed at the hunk of meat and made a face.
"Hey, guys, sorry I'm late" Lilly said breathlessly, rushing up to our table. I smiled warmly at her. 'Now, let's see if she'll flirt with me'
"Yay! My life has meaning" I cried in a desperate tone. Lilly laughed and shook her head.
"Glad to hear it O gift from god!" she replied. 'Yep, that was definitely a flirt' I saw the look on Miley's face and continued with my lunch, trying to stop myself from blushing.
Miley covered her mouth with her hand and tried her hardest not to laugh out loud. It was obvious that she was losing that war.
"Hey, Miley"
Miley turned with a smile on her face, but her smile faded immediately when she saw who it was.
"Jake Ryan" she replied with a nod.
"This'll be interesting" I whispered to Lilly. She nodded and crossed her arms over her chest, her eyebrows raised in an amused look.
"I can't wait for our English class. I heard we're going to be acting out Romeo and Juliet. Guess who Romeo is?" Jake said with a smile. I turned my head and pretended to gag. Lilly laughed quietly.
"Guess who'd rather kiss a frog?" Miley shot back with a smile.
Strike One.
I raised an eyebrow as Jake winced and clutched his heart. He made a face of pain and leaned against the table. He looked at me through one eye.
"I'm not sure if you heard it, but you just broke my heart" Jake said, taking in deep breaths.
Strike Two.
"And I don't care. Buh bi now" I replied, giving a small wave. Jake shook his head and walked off.
Strike Three. . .he's out!
"What?" Miley asked innocently. Well, she tried to be innocent.
"When are you going to tell Jake you like him?" Lilly asked. I took a sip of my lemonade as I watched Miley squirm in her seat.
"When you tell Oliver you like him" She replied, amused.
I sucked on the liquid so hard, it went shooting down my throat. I coughed hard and pulled the straw away from my mouth. 'Does she like me back?'
"I don't like Oliver that way. He's my best bud. It'd be too weird if we started dating" Lilly replied.
'Guess not. If only you knew how I felt.'
"Right" Miley said rolling her eyes. I could tell she didn't believe what Lilly said. Hell, I didn't care either. I had this feeling for a while that she liked me back. "Have any of you seen Blake?"
"Not since this morning" I replied, shaking my head.
"I wonder how he's doing" Lilly added.
The three of us turned at the sound of laughter. I let out a heavy sigh once I realized what was going on. Blake was lying on the floor, his face in his tray of food. Some of the jocks were dumping what was left of their lunch onto his back.
"Oh, Blake" Miley whispered.
"When are they going to give the guy a break?" I asked.
I pounded my fists on the table in anger. Lilly put a comforting hand on my shoulder and I relaxed immediately. She was the only one that could make me do that.
Blake lifted his head from his tray and sent the jocks a death glare. They just laughed harder and left the cafeteria as the bell rang. Blake got up and rushed out of the cafeteria, using the doors on the other side of the room.
"Come on, we don't want to be late to class" Lilly said quietly.
Miley and I nodded and followed her out of the cafeteria. We went our separate ways, Miley in one, Lilly and I in the another. We got our books from our locker and headed towards the History room when Lilly turned towards me.
"Oliver, about this morning" she said quietly.
"What about it?" I asked, confused turning to her. Then, I knew what she meant. "What were you trying to ask me?"
"Well, I was going to ask if. . .uh. Would you-"
"Would I?" I prompted.
I gave Lilly a weird look as she stopped walking, her jaw dropped. I followed her gaze and felt my heart stop beating. I swear it did.
Some kid was standing in the middle of the hallway, a gun in his hand. He was pointing it at someone behind me. I turned around and saw that it was one of the jocks.
"Don't do it, man. Don't do it" the jock said in a shaky voice. I watched as the boy tightened his finger around the trigger.
"Run, Lilly!" I yelled, putting my hand on her shoulder.
Hearing my scream, kids looked up and saw the gun, starting to run in different directions. Lilly and I turned around and started to run, trying to fight the crowd. I jumped at a loud cracking sound. I heard Lilly scream and then she disappeared in the crowd.
'God, please let Lilly be ok'