"Hey Ryan. What did you need?" I asked, glancing to the attractive brunette, blue eyed boy standing beside my locker as I went through it.
"I was just wondering if you would-"
"Miley! There you are! I was looking all over for you" A voice cut off Ryan before he could ask whatever question he planned on asking, and Ryan rolled his eyes as Michael stood on the other side of me.
He glared daggers across me at Ryan, and Ryan mirrored his actions. I could sense that there was some sort of silent conversation going on between the two of them, and whatever it was, I think Michael won because Ryan rolled his eyes.
"Nevermind. I'll see you around Miley" he had the decency to spare me a smile before glaring once more at Michael and leaving.
"What was that about?" I closed my locker and turned my body to fully look at Michael. But he wasn't looking at me, he was staring down the hall, his eyes not straying from Ryan's retreating figure. When his focus was finally back on me, it was interrupted once again.
"Michael! I've been looking everywhere for you!" someone gushed, and soon, Lydia Marks was sided up next to my bestfriend, too close to him for my comfort.
"Hey Lyd. How are you?" Michael was completely disinterested in whatever she had to say, but judging by the look on Lydia's face, it was obvious that the use of a nickname that Michael had called her had just made her day about 10 times better. She twirled a strand of her hair between her fingers.
"I needed to talk to you about something" she told him, not once glancing at me. I knew that she had pretended to ignore me, but I honestly couldn't care less. The less interaction that I had with this b*tch, the better.
"Sure, sure. What is it?" he gave her a bored look, and Lydia came to stand in between Michael and I, making sure that she had his full attention and that he couldn't clearly look at me.
B*tch.
We were competing for the same thing.
Michael.
She knew that I had a crush on him. A major crush on him. And I knew that she liked him too. I guess that's where all the hatred between the two of us really started. She wanted him, and so did I. Most likely, it was for two completely different reasons. Someone like her looked like she could benefit from something if she were dating him, no doubt his extensive family empire, but I, on the other hand, genuinely liked Michael. We've been best friends since I dumped paint on him in kindergarten, and I knew that he knew that I was friends with him for him, and not for his money.
The same couldn't be said about Lydia though.
"Oh. What did you want?"
"I was going to ask you if you wanted to accompany me to the dance on Friday?" she toyed with the silver band on her left pinky, trying to act somewhat sly.
It was valentines day, and the school had organized a dance for the 6th 7th and 8th graders.
Michael looked alarmed by her a question, "Oh. Uh.. I was just about to ask Miley that question" he sent me a nervous glance over Lydia's shoulder, and I felt her tense. He moved around her to stand beside me, and I didn't miss the cold hard glare that was being targeted at me.
"So? What do you say Firecracker? Will you go with me?"
Michael and I typically went to every single dance together. It was like this unbroken tradition of ours. It saved the both of us from being dateless, bored, and awkward with other people if we were ever asked out.
But I was now caught in the middle.
Lydia hated me. It was obvious. And she was the only one with knowledge of what had really happened to my dad. Not even Michael knew, and that was saying alot, since he was the only one that I ever trusted.
She found out about a week or two ago. I still don't know how, but she knows. And I knew that it wasn't beneath her to out me to everyone.
She had the perfect blackmail over my head, and ever since I knew that she knew, I had been treading over thin ice around her, and so far, I've had to ditch Michael at lunch 3 times and avoid him for 2 days for the past week and a half.
And I knew he was catching on to my wierd behavior.
One look at Lydia from glancing over Michael's shoulder, and I knew that I had to turn him down. My best friend. My crush. Our tradition that we had kept for every single dance every year for as long as I could remember.
It all had to end now.
"Uh, I actually, was meaning to tell you that.. I can't go to the dance this time" I lied through my teeth. I rarely ever lied to Michael, and when I did, they were stupid little white lies that were easy to see through because they were jokes or pranks.
So I didn't blame Michael when he couldn't see through my lie and ask me what was really going on. I watched as his facial features morphed into ones of confusion, than sadness, and then he masked his feelings of hurt with a small smile.
"Really? Aw, that sucks. We always go together, it would be weird without you" he said, and I nodded my head, feeling guilt sink in more and more with each passing second.
"I know right. I'm really sorry that I can't go with you. Or at all"
"It's alright. What has you busy anyways?" he asked.
That was a question that I was NOT prepared for.
"I...uh, I'm..." I glanced back over his shoulder at Lydia, who was impatiently waiting for me to continue lying to him and then leave her with him.
"My dad's visiting and we're going out to dinner. By the time I'd get home, it would be around 9:30 I think. And the dance would be like, half over so there would be no point in me going" I lied once again. He nodded his head thoughtfully.
Lydia took this time to announce that she was still present, "So, Michael, will you go with me?" she was smiling triumphantly as she twirled a strand of her blonde hair between her fingers, which made me want to gouge her eyes out.
"Uh, I have to go. I'll see you later Michael" I didn't want to be present to witness Lydia asking out the guy that I liked, so I was attempting to excuse myself.
"I'll see you later Miles" he smiled at me leaning down and wrapping his arms around my waist in a hug. Standing on my toes, I wrapped my arms around his neck just as tightly, seeing the glare that Lydia still had set on me. I watched as she played with her silver ring, trying to not burst out of anger at me.
"Later, Michael" I smiled and let go, turning around and walking down the hall and out of sight.
*
*
*
"Sorry but I couldn't tell him the truth" I defended.
"And why not? Sweetheart, you've known the boy for years"
"But mom, this is too personal"
"You've told him literally everything that's ever happened in your life. Why not this?"
"It's shaming, mom! You of all people should know that" I exasperated.
"I'm ashamed as well, darling. I know that it's hard. But you can trust him-"
We were interrupted in the midst of our conversation by the ringing of the doorbell.
I had gotten home from school that Friday afternoon and had lounged on the couch in the lounge room watching television.
Around 8pm that night is when my mother noticed that I wasn't getting ready for the dance, and she told me that it started in half an hour, and that Michael would come for me soon.
That's when I broke the news to her that I had bailed on Michael, lying to him about my whereabouts because I was being blackmailed. When she asked what was being held over my head, I simply told her that it was the fact that Lydia knew the truth about dad, and I didn't want anyone, including my bestfriend, to find out.
Of course, she didn't see to reason, and she didn't agree with what I had told him.
So here we were, about an hour and a half later, nearing alittle past 9:30pm when a doorbell had interrupted us and we both had stopped.
"I'll get it" I spoke quickly, wanting every excuse to get out of my mothers lecture.
Opening the front door, I was definetly shocked to see Michael Clifford standing on my front porch, dressed in a dark green button up shirt with black skinny jeans, his blonde hair swept to the side of his face, as always, and he rocked slightly on the heels of his black converse. A dying flower was held inbetween his finger tips, causing me to let out a laugh.
"A flower, my dear" he bowed, holding it out for me and I took it.
"Is this real?" I asked, gesturing to the flower.
"It's sentimental" he scoffed.
I glanced at the fake flower in my hand, "This is a daisy"
"And?"
"I'm allergic to daises!"
"It was a metaphor!"
"For me dying?"
"For me going to kill you because you had me go to the dance with Lydia!" he threw his arms in the air in mock frustration and I couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"What are you even doing here?" I couldn't stop the smile that had stretched across my face, and I took a step forward to hug Michael quickly before backing away.
"You said that you would be done dinner around 9:30 ish, and I thought that we shouldn't break tradition, so I came here" he smiled, a nervous blush tinting his pale cheeks. There was no doubt that I had a matching pair of colored cheeks as well.
"Did you come from the dance?" I asked him, grabbing his hand and pulling him inside my house. I closed the door behind him as he kicked off his shoes. I placed the fake flower on a small desk by the front door.
"Yeah, I did actually. I told Lydia that I would go with her, but it wasn't any fun. She hated what I was wearing, she made me stay by her side while she talked to her friends all night, and when I wanted to talk to my other friends, she would always drag me to the dance floor to dance with her"
I burst out laughing at the disgusted look that graced Michael's face.
It was an obvious fact that Michael couldn't dance to save his life. When we would go to the dances, we wouldn't slow dance or anthing, since my uncordinated bestfriend was known for trampling on my toes. We would bust out oldies moves that no one knew, or dance routines from music videos that we had seen. We would go to embarass ourselves and just have a good laugh. And people would join in with us.
We were definetly the life of the party.
"Damn. Did you run over her with your big ass feet?" I giggled.
"Every damn time! And she couldn't even take a hint! She just kept trying to lead me along but it was impossible. Honestly Miles, the only person I want to dance with or even learn how to dance with, is you" he chuckled, ruffling his hair. I could my cheeks heating up again.
"Wait. The dance should still be going on. What happened to Lydia?"
"Lydia? I told her I was going to the bathroom and I ditched her sorry ass. I never wanted to go with her anyways" he laughed, and I laughed loudly with him. I quickly told my mom that Michael was here and we were going up to my room, and she dismissed us, focusing on her pile of paper work and telling me to leave the door open.
Once in my bedroom, Michael discarded his shirt and jeans, leaving himself in only his boxers as I went to the bathroom to change into a tank top and shorts.
"Miley?" Michael called from my room, and I stepped out of the bathroom.
"Yea?"
"Mind if I spend the night?" he asked me, and I rolled my eyes.
"Well, you already changed"
He rolled his eyes, "You love it when I look like this"
"Yea, okay" I scoffed.
Michael suddenly barrelled into me, throwing me over his shoulder sloppily.
I kept in my scream of surprise, not wanting my mom to come in and catch us, and I giggled as he tossed me onto the bed, joining me a couple seconds after.
Lying on my bed side by side, we stared at the ceiling as we continued to talk.
"Lydia's gunna be so pissed at you when monday comes around" I chuckled, and so did he.
"Eh. I don't really care. I didn't really want to go with her, but I had nothing else to do. I wasn't really planning on ditching her, but I was just having such an awful time that I couldn't stand being without you for much longer" he confessed. He turned his head to the side to look at me, and after a couple of minutes passed, I looked at him too.
"You know she likes you, right?"
"Yeah. It's pretty damn obvious. It's not like she's being discreet about it, firecracker"
"Would you ever... date, her?" my heart pounded in my chest at what the answer would be. I figured that Michael would say yes, he might date her. Because I knew that he didn't think of me like that.
"No. I would never date her. Everyone in our school is always pressuring everyone to date someone else, but I don't really see the point of it"
"Love has no age. You can love someone whenever you feel like it" I shrugged my shoulders, and Michael turned his head to look at the ceiling, before he looked back at me.
"Would... would you ever go out with me? I mean, figuritvly speaking, of course" the question brought an unwelcomed blush to both of our cheeks, and I looked away from him.
"I don't know. I guess I might have to think it over" I teased, and he scoffed, shoving my shoulder as he rolled his eyes.
"Shut up. You so would" he said cockily.
"It would take a million bucks for me to go out with you" I nudged him back.
Michael propped himself up on one elbow as he faced me.
"You do realize that I have a million bucks, right?" My face must've been undeniably red.
"Whatever Clifford" I mumbled, rolling my eyes.
*
*
*
To say Lydia really hated me was an understatment.
She completly despised me.
"I thought I told you to stay away from him" she scolded me through gritted teeth.
"I didn't tell him to ditch you to hang out with me! I didn't even know he was coming over!" I defended myself.
"Oh please. Michael and I were having a great time, and you just had to go and ruin it"
"Me? I didn't ruin anything. You ruined it all on your own"
"B*tch" she sneered.
"Bite me, mother f*cker" and with those last words, I turned and walked away.
"You'll regret this, Miley Morgan"
"It's the 7th grade! Not a marriage proposal" I called over my shoulder.
*
*
*
Acouple weeks later and there was another dance at our school.
Lydia knew that Michael wouldn't go to the dance with her if I wasn't there, so she devised a plan.
I had to go to the dance to make Michael show up as well, but at our arrival, Lydia would swoop in, taking Michael for herself and leaving me alone.
"Ashton!" I screeched, throwing my arms around my cousin's shoulders. I had completly forgotten that Ashton, my first cousin on my mother's side whom was about a year or so older than me, was coming to visit my mother and I for the weekend.
I was getting ready to head out and meet Michael for the dance, and my aunt and Ashton had arrived. My mother must've forgotten to mention to me that it was this weekend that he would be visiting, because I was basically on my way to the dance venue.
"Hey Miles. Why are you all dolled up?" he asked me as he hugged me back, giving my waist a squeeze before retracting his arms. He looked down at my knee length mint green dress and white ankle converse.
"I mixed up the dates. I thought you were coming next weekend, and mom forgot to mention your arrival to me. I'm on my way to my school dance" I explained with a sigh.
Ashton's face deflated slightly, "Oh. Okay, it's alright. We can just hang out when you get back then" he shrugged his shoulders.
"The dance ends at 10:30, and I usually sleep over at Michael's house afterwards"
"Oh. Okay then how about tomorrow? I leave at 5pm" he suggested.
"Uh.. about that. Michael's family and I go out for breakfeast and I usually get back here around 2pm and then I do my homework for school the next day which lasts until about 2:30, and then I have to get all my things ready for school the next day. If you're fine with spending like... 2 and a half hours with me, then yea sure. We can hang out tomorrow" I said hopefully, with a shrug and an innocent smile.
I could see the disappointment and sadness etched onto his face and I felt another wave of guilt wash over me.
"Actually, do you want to come with me? I mean, what you're wearing is just fine and we could hang out" I suggested quickly.
He hesitated, "Are you sure? What about Michael? You guys are like, attatched at the hip"
"I actually have a feeling that I'll be mostly solo for the entire night" I huffed under my breath, but I knew he had heard me.
I felt his gaze study me suspiciously for awhile before he shrugged his shoulders, "Alright, sure. I'll go with you" he smiled, and a wide grin slowly spread across my face.
"Really?"
"Don't try and make me rethink it Miles. C'mon, let's go" he rolled his eyes, smiling, and I gave him another hug be for we set off for my school down the street. It warmed my heart that he was okay with going with me, and it made me happy that I wouldn't be spending tonight alone anymore like Lydia was probably planning.
10 minutes later and we were entering the school doors. Ashton let out a low whistle.
"What?" I looked over at him expectantly.
"Nothing. Just now realized that I'm attending a school dance inwhich I don't even go to the school"
"Is this thought just now wieghing on you?" I smirked.
"Of course not! But it does feel like I'm a bit of an intruder. Especially since I'm attending a dance with a girl younger than me, much less my cousin"
I slapped his shoulder and he chuckled.
"You don't even go to this school! If anyone should be embaressed about attending this dance with a cousin, it should be me"
"Well, you don't have anything to worry about Miles. At least you're attending with someone completly out of your leauge"
"As far as your mother's told mine, you still sleep by nightlight. You know, the one shaped like a teddy bear"
"That was a gift!" he defended.
"Yeah. A gift from your mother when you were four" I giggled at his annoyed look and he rolled his eyes at me.
"Whatever. I'm here now and it's too late to back out. So let's get this over with, shall we?" he held his arm out for me, and with an over dramatic sigh, I linked mine with his, opening the double doors that led to the gym.
The whole gym had a blue and green type of theme, so the gym was decorated with blue balloons, green streamers, blue table cloths and green cups and paper plates for food, as well as blue and green spotlights of all the different shades of those two colors.
"Damn. What the f*ck type of theme is this?" Ash said from beside me, and I rolled my eyes.
"Unless you're color blind, then it's obvious that it's a blue and green color theme" I gestured around to the gym infront of us.
Ash gave me a flat look, "Whatever. Now what do we do?"
"Well," I drawled out, looking around the gym, looking for someone.
"Oh! There's Michael" I pointed in the direction of my best friend. He wasn't looking at me, though. He was staring at Ashton with a frown on his face. His fists were balled, and I frowned myself.
Ashton leaned down and pressed his lips against my ear to whisper, "Why does Michael look like he wants to kill me?"
I turned my head to look at him, "I have no idea. I should go talk to him. Maybe it's because I forgot to tell him that you'd be here. He doesn't know you, he's just overprotective" I shrugged my shoulders.
"I don't think that's neccessary"
"Why?"
"Because he's coming over here"
I turned my head just in time to see Michael approaching us, an angry look masking his features.
"Hey Micha-" I was cut off by my own screaming, both my hands covering my mouth in shock.
On the floor beside me lay my cousin Ashton, his hands to his nose as he groaned in pain as blood seeped through his fingers.
"Ashton! Holy shit!" the music in the room had stopped and everyone's attention was on us. I was kneeling beside him in an instant.
"F*ck, I think my nose is broken" he groaned, his eyes screwed shut in pain.
People gathered in a circle around us and I stood back up, helping Ash get to his feet.
"Are you okay?" I asked in worry and concern.
"What part of 'I think my nose is broken' didn't you understand?" he chuckled, trying to lighten the mood, and I sighed in relief.
But Ash then looked over my shoulder at the person who had punched him.
"What the f*ck is your problem man?" he said through gritted teeth at Michael, who still looked just as angry.
I placed my hand on Ashton's arm, silently telling him to try not to set Michael off again.
Michael's eyes snapped to the movement, his eyes narrowing into slits.
"Michael" I tried to get his attention on me.
"Can we just go back to your place Miles? You can help me clean this up there" Ash suggested, and I slowly nodded.
"Okay, let's go"
But we didn't make it very far. Ashton placed his arm over my shoulder as he held his nose with one hand, but he was pulled back by his shirt and Michael planted a punch to his eye.
"Michael!" I yelled in shock.
"What the f*ck is your problem, asshole?" Ashton yelled at Michael, clenching his jaw.
"Ashton" I scolded.
"You're the asshole, dickhead!"
"Michael" I scolded him as well. But niether of them were paying any attention to me.
"Punch me one more f*cking time. I dare you" Ash taunted.
Michael took the bait, walking forward with a clenched fist. But I stepped infront of him, pressing both my hands to his chest and stopping him.
"What the f*ck is going on with you?"
"Move"
"Absolutly not! You have no right to hurt Ash"
"You brought him as your date to the dance and you didn't even tell me! How did you think I was going to react?" he yelled at me.
"Don't talk to Miley that way" Ashton stepped in, but I held up my hand to stop him.
"Well I was going to tell you that I was bringing him before you punched him. And date? Really? Ashton is not my date"
"Then who the f*ck is he?!"
"He's my f*cking cousin!" I yelled back at him, pushing him backwards and leaving my hands to fall to my sides.
The anger was quick to wash away from Michael's face and I saw guilt appear.
"Your cousin?" he asked, calmer this time.
"Yeah. My cousin. Who the f*ck else?" I crossed my arms over my chest.
His eyes were wide, his mouth opening and closing but there was no response.
"I'm going home" I said simply, fixing him with a glare as I turned around to Ashton. Ash placed his arm around my shoulders again and I helped him through the gathered crowd, pushing people out of the way.
*
*
*
I ignored all of Michael's calls and texts, didn't answer the door when he came to visit, and declinded all of his DM's to me on social media sites.
Ashton ended up having a crooked nose and a black eye, but we ended up spending the rest of Friday night and the whole day of saturday together before he left.
Once he had left around 4, I was bored. He had helped me finish all of my homework so that we could hang out more, but now I had nothing to do.
"Mom!" I called, "I'm going to the park!"
"Be home before 6!" she called after me, and I took my house keys and opened the front door, stepping out of the house.
After the walk to the park, all I really did was sit on the swings, not really doing anything.
I looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps, and my eyes widened when I saw that it was Michael who was coming over to me.
"Miley-" he started.
"I have to go" I cut him off, standing from the swing and beginning to walk away.
"I like you"
I stopped in my tracks, frozen solid.
The silence building between us was starting to become unbearable, and I closed my eyes, exhaling deeply.
"What did you just say?"
I could hear Michael sigh as I finally turned back around and opened my eyes, seeing Michael running his hands through his hair. Something he did when he was nervous.
"I like you, Miley. I-.." he trailed off, not knowing how to explain himself properly.
After about a moment of silence, I spoke.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I frowned. I could feel a small tinge of anger settle within me. I don't know why, other than the fact that I really like him too and I was just now finding this out when all this time, I've been handing him over to Lydia because I thought that he didn't feel the same way towards me.
Michael frowned as well, seeming to get angry himself.
"Why didn't I tell you? Why didn't I tell you? I didn't tell you because I knew you didn't feel that way about me. I wasn't going to tell you, face heartbreak and rejection, and practically ruin our friendship in the process of that. There was too much on the line and I didn't want to risk it"
"Risk it? You wouldn't have been risking anything"
"What do you mean?"
"I like you too Michael. I've liked you for a really long time too. I thought that it was pretty obvious"
"Pretty obvious? That's really f*cking funny Miley. All this time you've been giving me mixed signals. I'm the one who made it pretty obvious. But you were being too oblivious to realize!"
"Oblivious? Me? And I've never given you any mixed signals at all!"
"You talked to me one week and then ignored me the next. You told me that you wouldn't date me when I asked you. You lead me on-"
"I don't f*cking lead you on Michael!"
"Yes you do! One day we're together and we're laughing and having fun and we're flirting! Like, actually flirting with eachother! Flirting that I've never really done before! And we continue and I think that maybe it will lead somewhere. That maybe it would eventually turn into a relationship. But the next thing I know is that you're ignoring me, avoiding me, not making eye contact, making things awkward, and whole bunch of other bullshit that pisses me off because I like you. I like you alot and the fact that you don't see that makes me so f*cking angry. I try to keep you away from other guys. I try really f*cking hard to show you that I would be a great person to be with in a relationship, that I don't want you to be with anyone else but me. Me, Miley. It's always been me. I've always wanted it to be me that gets to end up with you. But you don't see it. You tell me that you can't go to the dance with me and you thrust me upon Lydia, when you know I don't like her. I could never like her. She's not you"
No words were able to escape my lips and nothing was able to process into my mind. Michael was right. In more ways then one, I did lead him on. I might not have done it intentionally, but I did.
He was absolutely right.
But then again,
He was absolutely wrong.
"Michael. That all may be true. But I never meant to lead you on. Why would I? What would I gain from that?"
Michael scoffed and ran a hand through his hair.
"Then what's stopping you, huh? What's stopping us from being with each other officially?"
"The fact that you don't trust me is one of the things that's stopping us" I crossed my arms over my chest.
"Trust you? I do trust you! Who said I didn't?"
"The fact that you would believe that I would have some personal gain from leading you on. The fact that you don't trust that whatever I do has a logical reason. The fact that you punched my cousin and yelled at me because you thought that I brought another guy to the dance and you didn't even let me explain what was going on. That's why, Michael. That's why. The fact that you barely even trust me f*cking hurts my feelings"
"Why are you trying to pin all the blame on me? This is just as much your fault as it is mine!"
"I never said that I wasn't to blame! See? There you go again! Jumping to conclusions and making false accusations!"
"What do you expect me to do then?"
"To trust me" I took a step closer to him, our chest inches away from touching and I stared into his deep green eyes.
"I do trust you" he sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"Then why did you punch Ashton, Michael?" I asked him.
He paused before speaking, "I thought that he was some guy that you liked. Some guy that wasn't me. It hurt my feelings. It made me angry to see you with another guy. I just sort of lost it. I jumped to conclusions before you could explain and for that, I'm really sorry. I don't know how to control the way that I feel whenever I'm around you" he shrugged his shoulders honestly.
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, "Why are we even fighting?"
A lopsided smile etched it's way onto his face, "I don't know anymore" he chuckled, and I started laughing with him.
"Let's just pretend this whole fight didn't happen. I could really do without it" I chuckled.
"Agreed. There is one more thing that needs to be resolved though" a mishcievous glint showed through his green eyes and a I raised my brow, curious.
"What would that be?" I asked.
"Will you be my girlfriend, firecracker?" he laughed, taking both my hands in his and linking our fingers together.
"What happened to that million bucks?" I raised my brow, smiling.
"Whatever you want, I'll give it to you. Anything to make you mine"