Loved By Levi

Twenty-One

Levi

I'd spent so long scrolling through Craigslist that my piece of shit phone's battery died. It powered down with a disgruntled buzz, leaving me to stare at my own dark reflection on the screen. The odd shape of my head had always been easily hidden by my mop of dark hair, but without it my skull kind of looked like a lumpy egg with points on the part where the edge was supposed to start its soft downward curve. I was at least grateful that my hairdresser hadn't done the typical military move of literally shaving a stripe down the top of my head to get the horseshoe style. 

I jumped a little when the front door slammed shut and immediately felt sheepish for staring at my own reflection. Obviously I was acting like the bitches on Mean Girls. Admittedly, though, I was more than a little afraid of what Mylee would say when she saw my misshapen head. It was pretty damn funny looking. 

I heard not one, but two pairs of boots on the hardwood floor of the hallway and my heart sank. If there was one person I didn't want around right then, it was Camille. And as far as I knew, she was the only person Mylee ever hung out with. 

Mylee had given off a loner vibe ever since the first day I'd met her. In the beginning I figured she was just having a rough day and needed some time away from people, but the more I got to know her, the more I understood why she spent so much time by herself. Actually, any time I spent with Camille helped me understand Mylee's loner tendencies. God, Camille was annoying. 

Even though Mylee tried hard to keep her negative feelings about Camille to herself I'd heard enough of her drunk thoughts to know what her heart said. It was sweet, the way Mylee tried to say nice things about everyone, even the people she didn't like, but kind of sad. I knew for a fact that she got walked on and had for a long time. 

That was one more reason I'd been so surprised to find out that Mylee was part of the rodeo crowd. She was so quiet and sweet, there was no way I could see her fitting in with those snotty, headstrong bitches. With every interaction I watched her have it sunk in a little more that she really didn't. I knew she only did the rodeo stuff for her dad, which was adorable, really, but it was definitely hard for me to keep my mouth shut instead of encouraging her to tell those girls to go fuck themselves. 

I definitely loved that she had a way of keeping me in check without even saying anything, though. Meeting someone who could do that was a first for me, and even though the stubborn part of me resented it, I did appreciate it. Living with Matt had helped me develop quite the vocabulary, and even though I knew that I shouldn't use it in public I'd never found a reason to not until I met Mylee. She was too sweet and innocent to cuss around. It was refreshing. 

"Are you gonna tell me what you've been pouting about, or just keep giving me the silent treatment?" Camille's voice grated on my nerves. 

From my vantage point on the couch I watched Mylee brush past her and head to her bedroom with an armful of clothes. Both girls had curled hair and makeup that sparkled in the light. 

"Mylee, you can't just ignore me forever!" Camille stomped after her. I laughed a little at the uncomfortable way she shuffled down the hall, wondering if maybe she really did have a stick up her ass. 

I noted that she was dressed in full rodeo and gear and wondered where they'd been all day. Mylee hadn't mentioned anything about a rodeo to me and as far as I knew those were usually in the afternoons and evenings. Plus, it was a Sunday. 

Mylee emerged from her room a few seconds later and stopped in the kitchen, her roommate hot on her heels. She still hadn't bothered to say a word. It wasn't until Camille stepped between her and the sink, crossing her arms, that she even looked at her. 

"Seriously, Mylee, what's your damn problem? All we did today was take pictures! Was that so bad?" 

I watched Mylee chew on her lip, face getting redder by the second. If steam had started exploding out of her ears I wouldn't have been all that surprised. She had a purple plastic cup clutched in one hand and a murderous look on her face. Camille continued to block the sink. 

Their standoff would have been funny to me if I wasn't so damn nervous about her seeing my new haircut and freaking out. 

"It's not my fault the first set of pictures we took turned out bad. If you would've just let me do your makeup in the first place we wouldn't have had to go in today?" 

Mylee's resolve to stay calm visibly crumbled and her anger came out in a yell that even a deaf person could have heard clear as day. I had definitely pictured her as the type to go completely silent when angry, which was partially true, at least until Camille goaded her enough. The yelling, though... that was a surprise. 

"You know what, screw you, Camille! I'm so sick of your shit! I'm not your cowgirl barbie that you can just pick up and use whenever you feel like it! And I'm definitely not your punching bag, so you can seriously just go fuck yourself!" 

Camille huffed, barely even phased. I couldn't believe my ears. "You should thank me, Mylee! I'm the only reason you're even on the rodeo team anymore! Yeah, that's right, everyone else was trying to get you kicked off but we all knew coach wouldn't let us because you're his favorite!" 

"How about I do you all a favor and just quit! Good luck finding somebody else who'll be willing to haul your drunk slutty ass around and make up excuses for you!"

I watched Camille's heart-shaped face go from passive to completely pissed. "Don't call me a slut!"

"Don't act like one!" 

"You know what, Mylee, screw you, too! You're just jealous because you never get any!"

"Oh, great, thanks for telling me what I'm thinking, as usual!" 

Camille finally exploded. "Get out of my house!"

Mylee just smiled sweetly back, going from livid to deathly calm. "We both signed the lease and I pay rent, too. You have no leverage here."

Just like a character in a chick flick, Camille stomped her booted foot on the kitchen floor and let out a shriek that could have broken glass. "Fine, I'm leaving, then! Have fun paying for everything by yourself!"

"Fine!"

The house went completely silent after Camille left, slamming the door hard enough to make the walls shake. I was almost afraid to move, hoping Mylee wouldn't be mad at me for listening in on their fight, not that it would have been all that easy to ignore. 

She moved to the sink and filled he purple cup up with tap water, then took a long sip and dumped the rest down the drain. I held my breath and waited for her to notice me.