Lola and Miles arrived at the Hollingsworth mansion once again hand in hand. The awkward situation had defrosted a little bit after one of Lola's favorite songs came on the radio and Miles cranked it up instinctively, showing Lola that he did in fact know her pretty well. She could feel her heart warming up to him once again, and a little spurt of optimism had infected her heart. Sure, she still had her doubts, especially since her insecurities had materialized as a tall, thin, and sassy raven haired ex of Miles's, but… it didn't matter. Miles stood up to Tristan and made his feelings about Lola known. That was more than Lola could say for any other guy she'd ever liked.
Frankie met the two at the front door, nosy as ever, ready to hear all of the dish. Lola guessed that Miles had disclosed that he was going to meet Lola, and Frankie connected the dots and was ready to hear whatever happened. Her eyes immediately looked to their hands. They were holding hands. Which caused Frankie to shriek as loud as humanly possible. "I can't believe it, I can't believe it. You guys are together?" She questioned, her voice way too loud for how close the three were standing.
"We're… giving it a chance." Lola said, letting a tiny smirk pull at the corners of her mouths.
"Giving love a chance." Frankie sighed. "So romantic." She then smacked Miles's shoulder. "Good job bro. If you hurt her I swear to God you'll end up six feet under."
The dynamic between the three felt weird, but good. When Lola first slept with Miles, she was convinced that Frankie would totally unfriend her if she ever found out that they were involved. And at first, Frankie was a bit wary and weird. But after months of hearing Lola gush about how much she felt connected to Miles, she seemed to warm up to the idea. And now, Frankie had suddenly turned into the biggest Miles and Lola supporter. Liles? No… That sounded horrible. Mola? That was more on the right track.
"You two do whatever you're gonna do, I gotta go out for a bit. I'll be back." He said, holding up a black credit card and smirking at Lola.
Frankie looked at Lola as Miles walked out of the house, and as soon as he was out of earshot, she shrieked again. It was blood-curdling, really.
"What is he going to do? Wait, start at the beginning. Tell me everything. Was it romantic? What did he say? What did you say? Did he kiss you?" Frankie shot off questions at a rapid speed, but Lola couldn't comprehend them. She was too busy in a daze over Miles.
"Huh?" Lola replied when she finally realized she had let the room stay silent for a few seconds too long. "Oh, um… You're gonna have to ask those questions one at a time. But first… Come help me do my hair and makeup." Frankie nodded, and the two girls headed to Frankie's bedroom to begin the glamification process.
"Tristan showed up?" Frankie practically yelled, almost burning Lola's cheek with the curling iron in the process.
"Woah, okay. I'm gonna have to take away the hot tools if you're gonna keep freaking out like this. I am not going on my first official date with Miles with a giant curling iron shaped burn on my face. That is so not chic."
Frankie giggled before handing the curling iron to Lola, allowing her to do her own hair as she recounted the story.
"Yes, Tristan showed up. Five seconds after Miles gave this amazing speech. I was sitting on his lap in the middle of the restaurant, in front of everyone, and then we walked out and we were face to face with the ex. It was horrible." Lola released the curling iron from her silvery hair, allowing a perfect ringlet to fall next to her face.
"What did Miles do?" Frankie asked, popping a piece of popcorn into her mouth as she sat there, doing nothing else. It would've been great to have an extra hand for this whole glam process, but Lola knew that Frankie was going to be way too engrossed in the drama of it all to really focus on making her look good.
Lola grinned as she recounted the earlier happenings with optimism instead of anxiety. "Told him off. It was…" She refrained from describing Frankie's brother as sexy right in front of her. Too weird. "It was heroic. He's really awesome. And I really think this is gonna work."
"I'm happy for you." Frankie said, picking up a candy red lipstick and offering it to Lola. "What did Tristan say, anyway?"
Lola refused the red lipstick. So not her style. She preferred to look sexy without looking like she was trying so hard. Plus, she'd have to wait to match her dress with whatever Miles was picking up for her to wear. "At first, he was all confused, and then after Miles told him we were together… He got super pissed. Like… Really angry." Lola thought back to the angry words Tristan had said. "He said something like, 'if he cheats with you, he'll cheat on you'. Something like that."
She turned to gauge Frankie's reaction, and it wasn't good. The way Frankie's grin had turned into a frown… Maybe Lola was right to be worried. She'd tried to brush off the statement like it was something stupid a jealous boy was spewing, but the logic… it wasn't wrong.
"I wouldn't worry about it too much, Lo." Frankie said, though her tone seemed less genuine and more reassuring. Like the tone Lola used to use when she was reassuring Frankie that Jonah wasn't into Grace, which… clearly Lola's secret impression of that situation was right. She didn't want Frankie to make the same mistake - to protect Lola's feelings like Lola had protected Frankie's. "Miles has grown a lot. I mean, he's an adult now. Adults do relationships differently than high school kids do."
Lola bit her bottom lip and nodded. "I guess you're right." She said, not allowing her mind to wander too much. She was going to trust Miles. That was the right thing to do. That was the only way that this whole thing was going to work.