"Finally you're back. I've been walking in circles and reading King and hiding from your parents all day," Julian said the moment Lola walked in and shut her room door.
Unlike her, he looked fresh, clean and well rested, the extreme opposite from what he was when he broke into her room two nights ago. Lola's heart sunk when she saw his hopeful expression, she couldn't believe he had been framed and for the millionth time, couldn't figure out why.
"My parents came into my room? What did you do?" She asked as she dumped her bag over her chair.
"Just your mother. She dumped your fresh laundry on your bed while I hid under it," He laughed and then his beautiful dark blue eyes bore into hers. "Did you talk to Damien?"
Lola sat on her bed, facing him and rubbed her palms over her pants. "Yeah, he's coming to get you tonight. Said he has a pool house you can stay in."
He clapped his hands together and smiled. "That's great news. Thanks Lola, you're the best."
She just gave him a half smile in return, wondering if she should share the bad news with him now when he looked so happy.
"Why do you look like King just killed off your favorite character?" He straightened up and shuffled closer to her. "Are you going to miss me, Lola?"
"No," She answered defensively and almost winced when his smile dwindled. "Well I guess I might as well tell you now. We went to Hanna's uncle's store just now and checked out the tapes."
"And?" He straightened up.
"The time frame on both the dates were erased. We couldn't find them and when we asked Hanna's uncle he went all crazy defensive and weird. Needless to say the entire thing is sketchy."
Julian's eyes darkened considerably and then his shoulders slumped. He leaned against her cupboard door and turned his gaze away.
"Well there goes my last chance," He murmured.
"I know it sucks but we believe you, Julian. And so does Damien. We'll figure it out together, okay?" Lola offered hopefully but he only scoffed in response.
"How are four high school students supposed to help when my lawyer couldn't? I was doomed from the beginning and right now I really need a smoke." He got up and walked over to his dirty pair of jeans he had been wearing when he got here. He pulled out a dirty looking box of cigarettes and took out one.
"You can't smoke here," Lola said in a panicked voice.
Julian twirled the stick between his fingers and let out a humorless chuckle. "Of course. Little goody two shoes Lola, never broke a rule in her life."
He tucked the box back into his jeans pocket and she frowned at how condescending his tone of voice had been.
"That's not fair. Hiding a fugitive isn't exactly goody two shoes behavior." She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him crossly. How did he turn into an asshole so quickly?
"Yeah, you should get rid of me then. Wouldn't want to taint your perfect record," He snapped.
"What are you talking about?" She frowned.
"I'm saying we don't mix and I should never have stayed another day. And you are in over your head if you think you and your merry band of nerds can help me. I could have been in the neighboring county by now," He stood up and bunched his hands into fists.
Lola couldn't believe he was being so ungrateful. All she had done these past few days was try to help him and now he was throwing that in her face.
"Yeah and what will you be doing in the next county? Living in the bushes, eating rats and leaves for breakfast, lunch and dinner?" She stood up straight as she shot back and even Julian looked at her in shock. "I'm sorry for delaying your progress on your brilliant plan. You want to jump out the window be my guest, break a leg while you're at it!"
"Lola? Are you talking to yourself?" Lola's mother suddenly called out from outside her room and both of them froze. "Can I come in?"
"Oh my God. Oh my God," Lola ran a hand through her hair in panic. She ran to Julian and pushed him into her walk in closet. She grabbed his dirty clothes and kicked them under the bed before slamming the closet door in his face.
"I was just practicing for drama class tomorrow. I'm taking it as an elective." Lola unlocked the door and ushered her mother inside.
Mrs. Analyn walked in and eyed her daughter's room suspiciously. "I thought I heard a man's voice."
"That's because we're doing double roles. I have to act as a woman and a man," Lola said quickly and then she imitated Julian's voice to the best she could.
Her mother burst out laughing at her daughter's odd impression and then she retreated to the door. "Well, good luck then but you really need to work on the male voice."
Lola just smiled back sheepishly and locked the door the moment her mother had left. She rushed to her closet and opened the doors. Julian stepped out, with a few of her clothes stuck to him and her eyes widened when she saw one of her bras stuck to his pants.
He began to peel off her clothes and she grabbed her small 'B' cup bra before he got a chance to see it. She flung it inside but he was smirking at her anyway.
"Shut up," She warned him and he started laughing.
"Your impression of a guy was really good. You should become an actress."
"Really? I was trying to imitate you but I don't think I was being whiny or ungrateful enough," She replied.
Julian held on to her shoulders and turned her to face him before letting go. "Look I'm sorry I said those things to you earlier, I didn't mean them. I get like that when I'm pushed into a corner. It's just a bad habit."
Lola relaxed slightly and nodded in understanding. "You're in a tough situation, I understand."
"So what should we do while we wait for Damien?" He asked her.
She put her finger to her chin and stared at her old tv player. What was the one thing she did to calm herself when she was stressed?
After a quick shower, Lola brought up some snacks and put in an old Kdrama for them to watch. They sat side by side on her bed and eventually ended up leaning against her bed frame as the series played on.
"This doesn't even make sense and he looks like a girl," Julian pointed out when the lead guy got down from his space ship to save the main girl. They were watching 'My Love From A Star', one of Lola's favourites.
"He is gorgeous and it's a drama. It doesn't have to make sense," She replied.
"So that's your type? A girly looking guy?"
"For the last time he's not girly!" Lola turned to face him and then stopped when she realized how close they were. Julian stared at her shamelessly, not making any effort to move away.
She could practically feel the heat radiating off of him, or maybe that was her. Because her cheeks were burning up.
"Yes, that's my type," Her voice came out hoarse and she shifted away from him. His proximity was giving her goosebumps.
"Well you're not going to find a guy like that at school, that's for sure," Julian pressed.
"It's fine. I can settle for my imagination. Can you just watch?"
"Wow, you're really snappy today. I don't know why but I kind of like it. Never thought you could be feisty," He joked and then he held out a bag of chips for her to take.
"Well we don't really know each other, do we?" Lola finally succumbed to his teasing and turned around to face him. "We lost touch ever since you moved away."
He stared at her thoughtfully, his eyes glinting in the moonlight. "Yeah, I guess we did."
"What happened? What changed?" She couldn't help but ask.
"Nothing. I guess we just grew up," He said dismissively and then he turned back to the tv. Lola stared at him for a few seconds, knowing that what he'd just said was a lie. There was something about the divorce he had kept from her and maybe everyone else.
But his face had turned to stone and there was no point pushing at a stone wall. So she turned around and continued watching Do Min Joon-shi till her eyes eventually closed and she fell asleep.