After Lola and Miles had sex, and then had sex again... and then took a shower together, then had sex again... then eventually kept their hands to themselves long enough to get dressed, about three hours had passed. It was now almost eight o' clock, which meant Lola needed to do her hair and makeup so they could get the hell out of the house before it was too late to go anywhere.
"Productive day." Miles joked, sitting down on his slightly squeaky bed to slip a pair of socks onto his bare feet. Lola found it so interesting that a guy that rich, that perfect, had a bed that squeaked. Looking at Miles, he seems like the kind of guy who doesn't have those 'little things'. Those little things that people like Lola had. Like the pieces of gum Lola had admittedly stuck on the side of her bedside table when she was too lazy to get up and spit her gum out before she went to sleep. Or the fact that the eyeshadow palette that Lola used every day had makeup smeared all over the mirror and two pans that were completely empty due to Lola dropping the palette one too many times. Those little things that mean a person isn't perfect. Those little things that break you from the fantasy in your brain that the person in front of you is some sort of evolved species that could in no way be similar to you. And yet, his bed squeaked.
"I know." Lola said, almost instinctively placing herself on Miles's bed, but deciding that it was a bad idea. The last thing they needed was to start a make out session. There was no make out session in the world that Lola and Miles couldn't finish. Or at least try really, really, really hard for. "Let me just run into Frankie's room and steal some of her makeup and use her blow drier." She said, bending down and wrapping a towel around her still-damp hair. There was nothing worse than damp hair soaking your neck when you're trying to get ready.
She stepped toward the doorway, looking back at Miles one more time and flashing him a smile, then practically dancing through the walk to Frankie's bedroom. She entered Frankie's bedroom and made a beeline for Frankie's vanity, sitting down and flicking on the expensive and extensive lighting sitch. She grinned at her reflection in the mirror, then said quietly to nobody but herself, "Thank you, Frankie, for having completely unnecessary but totally awesome rich people stuff."
Lola dug into the makeup bag that was sitting on the vanity and pulled out the first few steps of her makeup routine. Fancy ass moisturizer that probably cost more than Lola made in a month of working at the cantina first. Second, Lola filled in her eyebrows. Not too thick or dark, just enough to enhance her natural shape, which an eyebrow waxing woman at the mall had once called, "the absolute best" she'd ever seen. Third was usually a liquid foundation, but all Frankie had was a powder. Totally wrong for Lola's skin type, and the color was probably gonna make her look like she'd seen a ghost or something, but it was going to have to do. She opened up the powdered foundation container after finishing her moisturizing and eyebrows, but there wasn't any makeup inside the compact. It was empty, except for a folded up note that had dark, bold letters clearly written with a permanent marker. Lola knew that whatever this note was, whatever those words were that were bleeding through the paper and begging to be read... It was something big. Frankie wouldn't empty out a container of expensive foundation for a note that said "Your breath smells" or something. Whatever was written on this little hidden slip of paper was something Lola couldn't unsee.
So... of course she opened it. Not her proudest moment, but Frankie shouldn't have hidden the note in her makeup bag if she didn't want Lola Pacini to happen upon it. Frankie knew how much Lola loved stealing her lipgloss.
The handwriting on the note was messy and a little hard to read, especially considering the thick marker it was written with. But the message that was scrawled was clear.
"Give me a chance. -B."
Who was B? What was he...or she, asking Frankie for a chance at? Was this a romantic situation? She had a million questions all competing for dominance in her brain. She wanted to know more. She needed to know more. And honestly, she was a little confused as to why Frankie hadn't come to her about this yet. Was this something to be ashamed of? Again... questions were sword fighting in her brain.
She tried to finish her makeup routine, but she couldn't stop thinking about B. When she finished a basic makeup look, she slipped the note into her pocket and left Frankie's room. She didn't know what this meant, but she was going to find out.
"You ready to go now?" Miles said, looking into the fridge as Lola approached the kitchen. He poked his head out and took Lola in, smiling at her and reaching out to her, asking her to come closer to him.
"Yeah." Lola responded. "I have a question." She started, fishing into her pockets and grabbing the note that Frankie had hidden. "This was in Frankie's makeup bag. Like, hidden. On purpose. Do you know what it means?"
Miles inspected the note for a moment, then looked up at Lola and smirked. "Baaz." He said. "That weirdo that Hunter hangs out with is finally making a move. Man... I hope it's not weird to say, but Tristan owes me money now. We bet like, three years ago when we met that kid that it wouldn't be long before he started being a total creep toward Frankie. Tristan had a theory that the whole reason Baaz even hung out with Hunter was because he thought Frankie was cute." He paused, then raised his eyebrows as if he was coming to a grand realization. "I realize now that I had way too much time on my hands and way too much interest in other peoples' lives when I was with Tristan. So glad I've improved on that quality."
"We are literally sitting here gossiping about your sister because of a note I found when I snooped in her stuff." Lola responded and watched Miles's face scrunch up, admitting guilt. "Yeah, that's right. We're still just as petty and dumb as we were in high school."
Miles looked at her and pouted in protest, but she just laughed and shoved him away lightly.
"What do you say we take this gossip-a-thon to a bowling alley. I need to see Mr. Miles Hollingsworth roll a gutter ball and get humbled." She teased. There was nothing on earth she would rather do in this moment than hang out with Miles doing anything. Going bowling, laying down on the kitchen floor and just talking about everything... She wasn't picky. But she was kind of craving cheap nachos.
"Deal." Miles said, stepping away from the fridge and going to grab the keys to his car so that they could drive to the bowling alley. Lola looked down at the note that she had found one more time and wondered if Miles's theory was true. Was Baaz trying to seduce her? Or was B someone else altogether? Frankie could be in danger. It always felt weird to Lola when she knew enough to be concerned about a situation but not close enough to feel comfortable actually involving herself.
Lola and Miles drove to the bowling alley, and when they got there, the parking lot was pretty packed. They drove around the lot for a few minutes and ultimately settled for a spot by a dumpster. Definitely not their top choice, but they wanted to get into the bowling alley before they closed. Lola didn't actually know what the hours were for a bowling alley, but she figured they probably weren't too late. Was late night bowling a thing?
As they went through the processes of getting ready to bowl, Lola found that her new favorite thing on earth was to watch Miles react to things he knew nothing about. His face when he realized that you really did have to wear shoes off a shelf that were probably filled with the grossest bacteria imaginable... Priceless. They got settled in pretty quickly considering the loaded parking lot, but Lola wasn't complaining. They were set up with a lane, and now it was time for Lola to teach Miles how to bowl.
She stepped up to the lane and pointed at the machine that held the balls. "This is where you get the balls." She said, and Miles made a face that made her want to giggle, but she refused to give in. "Yes, the balls." She played into it a little bit, but Miles allowed her to continue her lesson. "You grab one of these boys." She said, grunting as she picked up a ball that was far too heavy before dropping it back in it's spot. "Maybe not that one." She said, and Miles laughed.
A bright pink ball stood out to Lola, and she grabbed it and immediately felt ready to kick Miles's ass in bowling. This was her ball. It was the perfect weight, it was a holographic pink with the prettiest glitter she'd ever seen... It was like nothing she'd ever seen. It felt like fate.
"This one. Well, not this one, I'm using this one. You grab one of those." She pointed to the other balls, which now looked gross and plain in comparison.
She held the ball in her hands and encouraged Miles to come up and stand next to her. "Watch. You just stand like this... Pull your arm back... And..." She rolled the ball down the lane and knocked every pin down. Perfect. "Maybe I should join a pro bowling team." Lola said, allowing herself to get cocky.
"Right, right, it's not that hard." Miles said, grabbing an emerald green ball. That wasn't so bad, Lola thought, but it definitely didn't measure up to her perfect ball.
Miles approached the lane with the same seriousness that Lola had displayed. Maybe mocking her, but she couldn't tell. He looked back at Lola as he began to pull his arm back in the same way that Lola had. He mimicked her moves to the best of his ability, but it truly didn't measure up. His arm sort of flailed as he tried to roll the ball and the ball ended up only hitting two pins. Honestly better than Lola anticipated for a boy Miles's age who had never even been bowling.
"I'll be your cheerleader." Lola teased, and Miles responded by raising his eyebrows.
"Does that mean I get to see the-"
Lola cut him off. "Hush. Don't do the stereotypical thing where a dude finds out a girl is a cheerleader and he brings up some cheerleader fetish thing. It's weird."
He nodded, agreeing with what she said, probably knowing that she was right.
He attempted to bowl once again and hit two more pins. Still not impressive, but he wasn't doing too horribly considering Lola was expecting gutter ball city.
When it came to be Lola's turn again, she asked Miles to go get nachos. She could smell the snack bar from where they were and it was driving her absolutely crazy.
He agreed, and Lola bowled an almost-perfect score once again, then waited for him to return so he could make fun of himself for sucking at bowling. As she stood there waiting for her boyfriend to return with the nachos, her mind watered back to Frankie and however 'B' was. All she wanted to do right now was listen to Frankie tell the whole story in depth, warts and all. She knew that there was something happening here. Someone doesn't just keep a random note that they get. This meant something. To Frankie, and now to Lola.
Miles returned, and Lola attempted to shake off the whole note situation. She knew the last thing Miles probably wanted to do was gossip about his little sister. Especially since there was barely any information to go off of. The best they had was a theory about it being Baaz, but there wasn't honestly that but evidence toward those claims. It would be...interesting if Frankie decided to date Baaz. That was all she really had to say about that situation on the outside. However, on the inside she was screaming "YOU CAN DO BETTER! BAAZ IS A WEIRDO!". Sure, Lola was sort of friends with Baaz, but to say the least, Baaz wasn't exactly someone anyone was clamoring to know whether or not her was single.
"You're still thinking about the Frankie thing, huh?" Miles asked, holding a plate of nachos that probably cost $20. Never have she ever felt more lucky to have with an amazing, handsome dude with some great resources. Somehow his looks or his charms had convinced the ladies to give them way more extra cheese and some salsa thing that Lola had never seen in her life. It was like a secret menu or something, apparently.
"A little bit," Lola admitted. "But at least it distracts me from my dad." She said, that news hitting her all over again. It felt like every time she thought about how her dad had lied, she refused healing.
Miles stepped up to the plate once again and bowled slightly better with his emerald green ball. He was doing decently, still not even getting a gutter ball yet, which Lola had really expected.
"My turn!" Lola said, picking up the beautiful pink bowling ball and practically hugging it.
"One second." Miles said, picking up his phone and pointing it at Lola. "Let's get some Facetune pictures with that thing." Lola agreed and pulled the bowling ball close to her face and posed for a photo.
"Perfecto." Miles said, putting his phone down.
As Lola got ready to bowl another great score and show Miles how awesome she was at this totally trivial thing that didn't matter, a little girl approached her and caught her attention. At first, the little girl started talking Lola up, complimenting the gorgeous ball that Lola was so excited for... She knew that she couldn't keep it from this little girl.
"You can use it!" She insisted, though she wished she didn't have to. Damn being nice to kids. It was always so difficult.
She eyed the rest of the balls. The ugly, heavy, not pink and glittery balls. She wasn't happy with her decision, but she had grabbed a deep purple ball. It definitely felt too heavy for her, but she didn't have much else of a choice. The perfect ball for her was also the perfect ball for a tiny girl, and now that Lola was an adult and a high school graduate, she thought she should probably act like it. She practically dragged the ball like a weight and dropped it a few inches down the row, creating the first gutter ball in the game. She definitely didn't expect she'd be the one who had this problem. The second time, she managed to hit a pin, which was an improvement. A really small one, but an improvement nonetheless.
It was Miles's turn once again, so Lola decided to check her phone really quickly while Miles did the best he could do. She saw four texts and a missed fall from Frankie. The texts she read were all about the note. "Did you use my makeup bag?" "Did you use my foundation?" But she ignored the obvious. The note. Everything alluded to it, the notes got more and more specific about the circumstances revolving the note... She was hoping she'd get a chance to process all of this before it turned into drama central, but it was probably a bit too late. Frankie knew that she knew something, which means that there was no hiding this situation. Either Lola was learning the truth, or she was possibly losing Frankie's trust.
Lola she stepped up and reached for the heavy ball. Only this time, she didn't get a chance to drop it a few inches closer to the pins. Instead she dropped it on her foot.