2023

Chapter 5: Mili's POV

"OH MY GOD ARE YOU OKAY? "  Kaleb hollered as I groaned about how I suck at life. He picked me up from the ground and grabbed me firmly, as if I would fall on my own. "Darling, you don't suck at life, you just suck at skateboarding. Luckily for you, that can be improved." I smiled and looked up at my wonderful friend. 

"You're the best, Kaleb." My honesty made him smile widely, his eyes twinkling like James Dean. 

"I kno-"

"MILI I'M TALKING TO YOU!!!!!" I almost jumped out of my own skin as I was interrupted from my thoughts. I almost forgot that I was in LA, with my two best friends. 

"What, Mikaela?" I said, shaking my head after checking my knee. Mikaela had wrapped it up and it was hard to walk. 

"MIKAELA'S CAKE IS FRIGGEN AMAZING!" Emily replied for Mikaela.

"You had me at cake." I said, walking, mostly wobbling,  into Emily's Living Room/ Dining Area. 

"So, tell me about your boyfriend!" Mikaela said, after giving me a piece of what looked like heaven on a plate. I rolled my eyes, knowing they would have asked that. Their eyes just looked at me, waiting expectantly so I gave up.

"Well, his name is Jesse, he went to school with me in New York. We found out there that he was actually from Peterborough!" Peterborough is a half hour drive from our hometown back in Wisconsin. 

"Seriously? What a coincidence!" Emily interrupted and Mikaela gave her a glare telling her to shut up so I would continue.  

"Yeah, and he's got a music major. He sings like an angel and he's actually teaching me how to play the guitar!" I've always wanted to learn how to play the guitar, and my friends knew because I would complain about it all of the time in middle school.  Mikaela and Emily were beaming at me, and I couldn't help but smile back at them. "I didn't tell you guys about it because we have just recently started dating, and I didn't want my family to somehow find about by someone else, you know?" I answered the question that I was absolutely certain was going to be asked.They nodded knowingly, and I took a bite from the chocolatey cake. "Holy snap crackers this is delicious." 

"What does he look like?" Mikaela continued on the questions, ignoring the compliment. 

"He has blonde hair, well it's naturally brown, and the bluest eyes I've ever seen on a guy. He is pretty tall, and he has this perfect body. He works out and has muscles, but he isn't like huge like a buff football player. You know I tend to stay away from guys like that.." I said, fangirling over my boyfriend.

"Aww, Mili, that's great." Emily grinned as her blue eyes gleamed and Mikaela looked at me with the same happy expression. 

"Yeah, I know. Now can I eat my cake in peace?" I inquired, shoving another piece into my mouth. I was gushing over the cake when my phone rang. It was Jesse, and I snickered. "Wow, on cue and everything!" I said answering the phone, my friends perked up in their seats interested. 

"So you were expecting me? Maybe I should call later, I like being an eye-opener." I could hear his perfect smile over the phone, which made me smile as well. I heard Mikaela chuckle and whisper something to Emily. 

"No babe, I was just talking about you to my friends." I said, looking up at them. They were still staring at me and were probably trying to listen to what he sounds like. 

"Ah, the famous Mikaykuh and Emiliah?" He said, remembering the silly nicknames I had told him about. Emily stifled a laugh, nudging Mikaela with her elbow gently and Mikaela cursed at her because she was trying to pull her short brown hair into a bun somehow while paying attention to my phone call. 

"Yes, them. But don't worry, it was mostly all good things." I teased, causing him to inhale deeply jokingly.

"What do you mean mostly?" 

"Well, you just interrupted me while I was eating cake." 

"Oh my god I am so so sorry. I'll make this quick. I just wanted to say I miss you and that I wanna see you soon because I am so bored without you and you make me the happiest guy alive and I'm so proud to be yours and I love you and so yeah that's all!" He said in one quick breath. I looked up at my friends who were in awe. 

"Jesse, you are something else. I love you, see you soon." I said while hanging up. "Okay let it all out.." Mikaela and Emily were biting their lips and still looking at me. 

"HE IS LIKE THE MALE VERSION OF YOU!"

"YEAH AND HE'S SO SWEET OMG!" 

Suddenly my phone buzzed and Mikaela read who it was.

"Who's Kaleb?" She gave me a puzzled look as I read the text message. I tried to pretend it was no big deal and smiled, even though I actually wanted to cry. I was expecting this text message, but it still made me upset. 

"Just a friend from school. Well, I'm just gonna go get some fresh air. You know what too much AC does to me," Emily nodded her head, remembering how it triggers my terrible allergies.  I put the last forkful of cake into my mouth and slid on my flip flops while walking into the cool hallway of the apartment building. I looked down at my hands and noticed they were shaking. I hated lying to my friends, but I just need to get this over with. I ripped off the bandages that wrapped my knee attempting to look more bad ass and sighed when I realized I just looked like a kid who fell of their bike and scraped up their knee. I walked outside and tried to control my nervous hands. I took a deep determined breath and headed over to the address he sent me. 

*~*~*~*~*~*

"I didn't think you'd actually meet me." A familiar voice spoke from behind me.

"You couldn't meet me in a less sketchy place?" I asked, turning to face my former best friend. We were in a dark alley, the cold darkness gave me goosebumps. 

"Sorry, I couldn't risk being caught." He said, as if what he was doing was normal, as if he was used to it, as if he didn't even care he was trying to ruin my life, as if he was actually enjoying the fact that he was torturing me. 

"Kaleb, you can't do this to me. Don't you even feel bad? You used me, betrayed me, and now even after I did everything you asked, you still won't let me be free." I tried my best to hide the fear in me, and I spoke as clearly as I could, trying my best not to stutter. 

"You see, Mili, I CAN do this and I will. I could let you go, but that would just make things harder for me. Plus, it would be no fun." His evil smile mocked me, and I was using all of my might to not cry. 

"What do you want from me?" I stared into his cold eyes and I couldn't believe that they were the same ones that would look back at me when I had met him.  

"What I want is for you to-" my loud ringtone cut him off and I quickly checked who it was, and sure enough it was Mikaela. I looked at my phone hesitantly in my hand. "Don't answer it, it can wait." 

"You know how hard it is to keep this secret, Kaleb? I'm keeping this from my best friends, my family, and even my boyfriend. I'm lying to their faces and now you want me to keep them worried, too. Just let me answer the phone." I said, finally sick of his stupidity and carelessness. 

"Fine, make it quick. If you even mention my name, I won't hesitate to do what I said I would." He said, and my eyes swelled with tears. I blinked quickly and lifted the phone up to my ear after pressing the green answer button. 

"Hey, what's up?" I answered, hoping for the best. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A/N

HEY GUYS! So I've decided I needed to add some drama to this story. SO BAM! I bet y'all were wondering who Kaleb was anyways lol. I like adding suspense so I'll leave you guys thinking about what the heck is going on and what happened to Mili and Kaleb after all the cute flashbacks and stuff. OH and what Kaleb is doing to Mili and stuff and why Mili is so scared. LOL I LOVE DRAMA! The picture of cake at the top was just for fun so no hate. I'm in study hall rn and Emily's right behind me kinda so yeah HI EMILY WHEN YOU READ THIS! K bye keep reading and stuff and peace out.