Miles Apart

19|Support System

*Isabella's POV*

I sit on my living room's couch with the biggest bowl of ice-cream in front of me as I watch my favorite show.

Miles and I didn't have any homework today, so today I had more time to myself.

When I came home from school, I threw on a sweatpants, a hoodie and my glasses to feel comfortable.

When I was about to put another spoonful of ice-cream into my mouth the doorbell rang. I hesitated to answer it since mom and dad weren't home and they hadn't notified me that anyone will be coming over.

The doorbell rang again but this time twice. I put down my ice-cream and headed to the door. When I opened the door my eyes widened.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Can I come in?"

It was Miles. He looked agitated. His body was shaking and I could see him wringing his hands. He scared me a bit.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

He stayed quiet as he looked at me for a short period of time then redirected his gaze to the tiled floors on my veranda.

He looked back at me going straight me for a kiss. He started from my next to my lips, kissing me aggressively.

"Miles stop."

...

When I came back to the living room with a bowl and spoon for Miles, I watched as he stayed in deep thought. He hadn't even realized I had returned.

"I brought you some ice-cream." I said and gave him a calming smile hoping that was enough to calm him down a little.

He took the bowl and started eating in silence.

"I'm sorry I missed you like that and I'm sorry I even came here. I just needed to get out of the house for a bit."

He kept his head down.

"It's okay."

I watched as he put another spoonful of ice-cream into his mouth. His hand along with the spoon were shaking vigorously.

His eyes fell on mine then scowl grew on his face.

"My dad came back today."

"You don't look too happy about it." I said.

He ran a hand through his head.

"It's okay." I said before resting my hand on his.

He pulled his hand away then hook off his shirt.

Immediately I turned away.

"Miles what are you doing?"

"Turn around." he said.

"Why?"

"Just do it." he commanded and I obeyed.

He took a deep breath. It looked like he was preparing himself to say something horrendous.

"I saw when you looked at my scar that night. I never really told anyone how I got it. I even tried lying to myself about the real reason how I got it but seeing my dad again, brought back a few memories."

He stopped talking for a moment as he ran a hand down his face.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to Miles." I said.

"I want to."

"Two years ago, my dad took me on one of his business trips, said it was going to be like a 'fun vacation'." he scoffed. "Long story short, that 'business trip' wasn't your regular sit-down-in-an-office meeting. My dad tried to rip them off and I ended up paying the price for it." he ended by stuffing ice-cream into his mouth.

"I'm so sorry Miles. That sounds awful."

"Thanks for listening, I actually feel like a boat load has been lifted off my shoulders." he said then sat next to me and rested his hand on top of mine.

I could tell he was trying to be sweet. The whole hand holding thing definitely wasn't his love language.

We cuddled for a bit but he got up.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"I'm going to see if I can crash with Troy tonight. I have a feeling if I go home tonight, I might rip my old man's head off." he said with a devious smile. "You sure you're going to be okay by yourself?"

I nodded my head.

"Okay."

We stood awkwardly. He was fidgeting again. Within a matter of seconds he kissed me on the cheek and rushed out the door.

...

Mom had called about an hour ago and said she's stuck at the office and dad had been working to the night shift for the week. Tessa's dad had gave her permission is sleepover at my place tonight so we were currently in my room talking about random stuff.

"You have the absolute worst taste in clothing." she said as she held one of my dresses in front of her in the mirror.

"Well I'm sorry I don't like to show skin."

She shook her head and changed the subject.

"We need to find you a man. Johnathanius is cute right?"

"Who said I needed a boyfriend?"

"Issy baby, you're a single senior who can't drive, isn't that embarrassing?" she asked, walking around my room.

I sometimes hated when she does that to me. Finding all the faults and rubbing them into my face.

"What about Miles?" I asked. I was testing out the waters to see if it would be safe to tell her about whatever Miles and I are.

"No hard feelings but Miles would never take a second look at you so I think it's for the best if you forget about it." she said.

I'm starting to see the differences between us. The reasons why some people would look at us confused about why we were friends. I always ignored it. I thought to myself that we had an 'opposites attract friendship' but the truth was we didn't.

I always felt out of place whenever I was with her. I felt like I had to uphold the standard. When we first met it was easy, that's how we quickly became bestfriends but over the months it got harder and harder. We didn't click like we used to.

I know she keeps secrets from me and now, I'm starting to keep secrets from her to. If our friendship keeps going the way it's going there is going to be a horrible repeat of the titanic.

"Isabella!" I heard Tessa shout.

"I'm sorry what?"

She rolled her eyes but nonetheless repeated what she had initially said.

"I said that I think Troy is starting to have trust issues with me."

"What why?"

"I accidentally flirted with Ricky Ford and he caught me."

"You did what?"

"It wasn't even a big deal. We worked it out but I feel like he's walking on eggshells around me."

I shouldn't have been surprised. Tessa cheated on Troy before. That was before we became bestfriends. It was all over the school. Troy and the others bullied the guy so bad that he had to transfer to another school. They broke up but worked things out. I can't be mad at Troy for walking on eggshells around her. Seeing your girlfriend who has cheated on you before flirt with someone must have brought back a lot of memorizes and leaves you questioning if she has done it again.   

I stay quiet for the rest of the night and listen to Tessa rant about her relationship with Troy.