Well hello my lovely readers. I know I haven't written anything for a while, but here's a story that just kind of hit me. I promise promise promise, that I will update Nobody's Perfect tonight or tomorrow. Keep in mind, nobody's perfect.
"Lilly? Lilly are you awake?" I heard my mom's voice echoing up the stairway. "Lilly?" It became louder as her feet made an angry, noisy path up the silent, under-appreciated, stomped on stairs.
I rolled onto my back just as my door opened. "I'm up." I rubbed the sleep from my eyes.
"You're awake, you're not up. Now hurry up, you're almost late."
"What time is it?" I asked lazily, slowly sitting up.
"About seven-thirty."
"Shit." I muttered, throwing off the covers and jumping up nimbly from my bed towards my dresser. Oliver would be here to pick me up in less than ten minutes.
"What did you just say?" My mother asked indignantly.
"Nothing." I breathed out my attitude in a huffy sigh. "Can you just get out of my room so I can change?"
"Don't speak to me like that." She ran a hand through her hair. "And make your bed." She added, as if wanting to make sure she was in control of the situation. She shut the door and her footsteps slowly faded away back down the stairs. I hurried over to my dresser and started yanking open drawers and pulling out clothes. I went through shirt after shirt and pants after pants before finally deciding to settle on a pair of long, baggy cargo shorts and a crumpled white v-neck with a black Chinese style dragon that wrapped up one side of my torso and breathed fire down the other. I slipped into my low cut converse and made my way to the mirror. I looked at my reflection for a moment, and decided the messy, almost unkempt look of my hair was perfect for the way I felt, and even better for school. I shook my head a bit, ran my fingers quickly through my hair, and deemed it worthy for school.
I grabbed my bookbag and slung it over one shoulder, then dashed down the stairs. On the table was a plate with toaster strudels on it. They were stacked on each other, with the icing in between, just how I like it. I shoved them in my mouth as fast as I could. No sooner had I swallowed the last gulp of my orange juice than I heard a honk outside.
"Bye mom!" I hurried to kiss her on the cheek before I left.
"Bye hun, have a good day." She said, putting my dishes in the sink.
I bounded out the door, landing myself in the passenger seat of Oliver's beautiful cherry red Mustang. " Hey, Lils." He had his arm around the back of my seat, and drove with one hand.
"How ya doing Ollie?"
"Pretty good, pretty good." He started driving, speeding as usual. "Wanna hang out after school?"
"Sure. What're we doing?"
"There's a music festival next school district over. They're calling it 'The Next Warped Tour.'"
"I doubt that."
"Same. But let's go check it out anyway."
"Alright, but you're going to pay for me to get in."
"Fine, fine. I can handle a few extra bucks." He took his hand from behind my seat and used it to adjust his hat, so the bill was crooked and facing up again. We hit a red light. He looked into the next lane, where Amber and Ashley had just pulled up in Amber's brand new Escalade, and they pointed and laughed at us. I never understood why they thought Oliver's car was funny. He had been saving for it since he was 16, and his mom caved and split the cost with him for his 18th birthday. It was the '07 model, one of the most impressive cars I'd ever seen. But they believed themselves to be so much better than us. The light turned green and Oliver sped up, proving why his was a true muscle car, leaving them behind.
A few minutes later Oliver was pulling the car into the school parking lot when we were almost taken out by a black stretch limo that was also pulling in. "Asshole!" Oliver yelled out the window, though it did him no good. The limo driver's windows were up.
"Watch yourself Oaken!" The principal shouted back from the other side of the limo, where he stood on the sidewalk. He reached and opened the limo door. "Welcome to our school Mr. Ryan!" He exclaimed.
"Jesus fucking Christ. His first day and the principal is already his slave." I murmured. We'd known Jake Ryan was to be a student at our school, I mean who didn't? I was far from excited.
"Yeah, I know. Fine public school teachers my ass." He pulled into a spot near the end of the parking lot. We locked the doors and got out. "Come on, let's get our asses inside before we end up with another detention." He slung his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close.
"Oh I know. If I end up sitting through another lecture about the perfect student, I'm going to kill someone."
"Me too." He paused. "Who is she?"
"The interest in his voice made me turn. "Who?"
He pointed with his free arm. "Her."
The girl he was pointing at looked hopelessly timid. Her bright blue eyes were wide open, it seemed as if in fright. Her lips were pursed, and her long, wavy hair was blowing gently around her in the breeze. She pulled gently on the end of her hair and drew her bag closer to her. It seemed as if she was steeling herself to go inside. "She's definitely new."
"Yea." The warning bell rang. "Oh jeez. Now we have to hurry." He led the way to homeroom.
Lunch that day found Oliver lying across a bench while I played with his hair. There's just so much of it, I can never help myself. "Damn I need a smoke." He mumbled, looking up at me.
"Oh, do not give me that look. You know I quit months ago." Aside from every once in a while when I was nervous.
"I know, I was just hoping you'd unquit."
"Not a chance."
Just then, Jake Ryan walked in. I rolled my eyes. "Have no fear, Jake is here." He announced.
"Is he for serious?" I mumbled down towards Oliver. No sooner had I finished my question than everyone in the room either, started to clap, came running to Jake, or called him to sit with them. A particularly rowdy group of boys began to chant. It sounded like they were saying, "Say the line! Say the line!" Jake was quick to oblige.
"Dude." Everyone was silent. "I slayed you once." He paused for dramatic effect, and the crowd waited with bated breath. "Don't make me slay you again." They erupted into overzealous cheers. Idiots.
"Hey." Oliver sat up. "There's that girl again." And, sure enough, there was the new girl coming out of the lunch line.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Go get her." He hopped up and jogged over to her, the chain on his jeans jingling the whole way. He got to her and, lining his arm through hers, led her to our table. He sat her down across from us and sat back down next to me.
"So hello." I said, putting my chin on my hand and my elbow on the table. "I'm Lilly, and this is Oliver." My bangs fell in my face, so I moved them back with my other hand.
She mumbled quietly in response. "I didn't quite catch that. What?"
She looked up from the can of soda she'd been staring at, locking eyes with me. I was momentarily paralyzed, as she looked at me and I looked at her. /then she blinked, and I was able to look away. My mind raced, and my heart beat double time. I looked at my hands, at someone's shoes, and, for the moment, everywhere except at her. There was something about her eyes, her electric blue eyes, that was fiery. What I had before taken as wide-eyed fear seemed to have changed, and become something more. I couldn't be sure of what it was, but it was paralyzing.
"I'm Miley. Miley Stewart." I looked back up at her, and the look I her eyes was less powerful, less fierce.
"So what are you doing here?" Oliver asked. I almost jumped. I'd forgotten he was there.
"Oh, my family just moved here from Tennessee." That explained her accent. It was Southern, but not in the ridiculously strong way you often hear on TV. It was softer, and you couldn't help but enjoy listening to it. "My Dad's always liked California."
"So what do you think of this Jake Ryan?" I jerked my thumb in his general direction. "You don't seem very hopped up about him. You do know who he is right?"
"I'm from Tennessee, not Mars." I smiled at her. She was funny. "I never really cared for his show or his attitude."
"His attitude?" Oliver questioned.
She looked at him for the first time. "His attitude." And she waved her hand in his general direction. We all looked at him, where he was now showing off his muscles. "When I first m…watched his show, I could just see how full he was of himself."
"Ah…" Oliver breathed. "I see." Miley smiled, flashing a mouthful of pearly white teeth. Her front teeth were slightly crooked, but for her, it worked.
She took a sip of her soda. I noticed it was the only thing she'd bought for lunch. "What's with the all-carbonation diet?"
She looked at me shyly. "Oh, you mean the soda? I can't eat when I'm nervous."
"Makes sense."
Oliver butted in again. "So Miley. We're going to a concert after school. You want to come. I mean, being the new kid and all…" He let the sentence trail off, rather than add the hanging "So what else are you going to do?" But we all knew what he was saying."
"Actually, I've got stuff to do." She looked away. "Maybe next time?"
"Next time." He sounded crestfallen.
And, right then, Amber and Ashley came over. "Oh my god Ashley, tell me I'm not seeing what I think I'm seeing. Truscott and Oaken are moving in on the new girl."
"I hate to tell you Amber, but that's what I'm seeing too."
"Hello new girl. I'm Amber, and this is Ashley." Ashley waved.
"I'm Miley," she muttered.
"Well, we'd like for you, she pointed at Miley, "to come sit with us so we can get to know you better." Oliver and I, and possibly Miley, could hear what Amber was really saying. She wanted to indoctrinate Miley into the popular crowd, where she could easily make Miley hate Oliver and I.
"Um…ok." She sounded unsure, but got up anyway. "I'll talk to you guys later." She stared at the ground as she walked away, but Amber looked at us, and her face clearly said that Miley would not be speaking to us anytime soon.
A knot formed in my stomach, flaring angrily. The new girl was ours. If she looks back, she can't be that bad. I thought to myself. And, right before Miley sat down by Amber at the far end of the cafeteria, she glanced over her shoulder and locked eyes with me, catching me in the same paralyzing stare as before. The fire in my stomach cooled, replaced by a bizarre urge to fix my hair. Well, I thought again, at least I know she can't be that bad.
Ok guys, so what do you think? I really really really appreciate reviews, so do it up! And if the spirit so takes you, tell me if you want me to update nobody's perfect! = ) Have a nice morning/afternoon/night/day.