for, liar

Chapter 101

"You know, I've never actually had a New Year's kiss." I tell Miles as we're swaying in my mom's front yard to whatever cliche pop playlist is playing a few houses down.

"Really? How come?" He asks.

I shrug, tapping my fingers on his shoulder to the beat of the song. "I always came here and Ben was either the least affectionate dude or didn't come with me."

He chuckles and spins me around. "The more you tell me about this guy, the more I want to fight him again. I'll risk another broken nose."

"No you will not. Besides, I have to learn to get along with him if he's going to be dating Maddy." I huff.

"You can be cordial without actually getting along. He's given you zero reason for you to be nice."

We continue back and forth silently for the remainder of the song. The music stops abruptly as Henry's dad's voice comes blaring through the speaker. "Everyone get over here! Midnight is approximately sixty seconds from now!"

"Come on!" Miles yells and drags me over to where everyone starts gathering in front of the screen the ball drop is being broadcasted from.

Rayna comes up beside us with Peyton. Henry and Sandy have already made their way up to the front where his dad is standing. As the countdown gets closer, Miles pulls me close to him and hooks his arm around my waist. I smile and watch the number decrease as the ball starts to lower.

Everyone starts chanting when there's only ten seconds left. Miles takes a grip of my hand and yells out the numbers with me. As soon as the ball and confetti drops, he turns to face me, placing both of his hands on my cheeks and kissing me intensely. Our lips are pieces to the most perfect puzzle and I'm thankful to be starting a brand new year feeling the way I do right now.

"Happy new year." He whispers against my lips.

I can't help but smile when our eyes open at the same time and we're staring at each other equally out of breath.

I cup his face in my hands. "I love you so much." I whisper.

"You guys make me want to vomit!" Rayna yells over the noise.

We both break out into laughter and force ourselves back to reality where we're surrounded by fifty people. The fireworks start to go off again, giving us something else to focus on. This night is picture perfect. It doesn't even feel real. I've never felt like the main character in my own life but these vibes could not be ruined by anything.

We stay to help clean up by the time everyone is gone past one. Mom shoves some leftover food and desserts into the fridge, promising she'll heat it up tomorrow for lunch.

"Don't forget I need to patch up that tire in the morning." She reminds me when Miles heads upstairs to get in bed.

He was definitely ready to go to sleep by the time the ball dropped. He was being way too generous offering to help clean up. I told him he could've gone straight up and I'd stay to help but he refused to leave my side.

"Did Miles enjoy the party?" Mom asks me.

I take a seat on one of the stools behind the kitchen counter and lean my chin on the palm of my hand. "It seemed like it. He was very involved. It was nice to see him come out of his shell for once."

She laughs and wipes off the counter where remnants of food preparation was left behind. "That's good. He's a nice young man. You seem very happy."

"I am! God, I really am. It's nothing like I've ever felt before and this guy came out of nowhere. Have you ever had one of those fateful moments?"

I regret the question as soon as I ask it and watch her entire demeanor change. Of course she has.

"Don't take those moments for granted." She says softly, placing a soft kiss on my forehead.

"I'll try not to."

She starts to walk off when I hop off the stool and get the urge to ask what should have waited until later.

"There were these ladies at the party..." I begin.

She stops in the doorway and turns back around.

"They were saying some things about Miles and a friend of his. They used to live here and then they just left. Have you heard anything about that?"

She folds her arms over her chest and gives me a small shrug. "I heard some things. It's not like it means anything, though." She admits.

"Heard things like what? I didn't even know he lived here. He never mentioned that he did."

"He didn't live in our neighborhood but the town is pretty small, Breanna. When something peculiar arises, people are going to talk."

Maybe it's too late in the night to bring all of this up. I've got way too many questions now while Miles is upstairs waiting for me.

"What's peculiar?"

She drags her hands down her face and lets out a deep sigh. A little bit of anger is building up now that I've come to realize she's been keeping rumors about my boyfriend from me.

"It's nothing, sweetheart. Miles and his mother lived in the trailer park outside of Pillar Grove for years. He befriended your schoolmate, Levi, and they got in a good bit of trouble when they were younger."

"I don't know Levi."

"You don't? He's Francesca's son. My book club buddy."

She pulls out her phone and starts scrolling through her Facebook. She taps on one of her friend's profiles and swipes through the woman's photos until she gets a clear enough picture of a man around my age whose face I've definitely seen before but can't exactly remember where.

"I don't remember going to school with him but I've definitely seen him somewhere."

"Well he lives in Charlotte now. You've probably seen him around at some point."

I take a closer look at the photo and notice he's holding a coffee cup in his hand. Somehow, it clicks. He was at Scream Beans the night Miles came in for coffee before he went to pick up his dad from the airport. He was the guy Miles swore he had never seen before in his life.

"That's Levi? Do you have his phone number or something?"

I'm starting to freak out. There's no necessary reason why I should be freaking out yet but things just aren't making sense to me and my anxiety can't handle it.

"Honey, even if I did, you don't need to be contacting someone this late at night. So you do recognize him?"

I want to explain it to her but I don't want to give Miles a bad look if this is all coincidental. Maybe he didn't recognize Levi at Scream Beans. I don't get why he wouldn't if that was his best friend. It's possible they weren't best friends or something happened that made Miles never want to speak to him again.

"Yeah, he came into Scream Beans and approached Miles who said he had no idea who the guy was."

She grits her teeth, scrunching up her nose. I have this awful feeling she's still holding back from me.

"Is there anything else I should know?" I ask her.

"I'm not going to be the one to poison your view of the man you love just because of some silly rumors."

"Now isn't the time to consider my feelings. What else have you heard?"

Revised;