2023

Chapter 7 - Emily's POV

The next morning, all of the weird vibes had gone and everyone was acting normal again. But, it was just acting. Mikaela and I were always giving each other side glances when Mili wasn't looking. Of course we couldn't go off and leave Mili to talk about it, that's just plain rude, but we also didn't want to include her in the conversation. I was so confused. 

And Mili, well she was just trying to make everything seem normal as well. She had many smiles and just tried to keep conversations light. And we haven't had many conversations in the past twelve hours. 

Last night, I woke up (because I can never sleep well when I have guests) and went to get some water. Mikaela had fallen asleep on the couch in the living room, so Mili and I covered her up with a blanket. I watched her dream for a little bit as I drank some water. That's when I noticed a light coming from the guest bedroom. I walked over and peered in through the crack in the door. 

Mili was on her phone, with a tear stained face and she was just scrolling. It looked as if she was scrolling up, reading through messages of some sort. Maybe with an ex boyfriend, who knows? 

"Emi? I know you're out there." She said, kindly. Now usually I'm pretty good at sneaking around, I've done it since I can remember. From parent's quiet conversations and fights to brother's friends and girlfriends. 

I shoved the door aside and sat down on the foot of the bed, next to her feet. It was quiet, but not too quiet, because the music from her laptop next to her bed was playing softly. 

"Mili, just tell me where you were today. I won't be mad, I just wanna know." I asked, pulling my feet up. She sighed and turned off her phone. 

"I can't, Em. I just can't. I made a promise to someone I have to keep." Mili explained, looking down. 

"But who was it? I'll go get it out of them!" I said angrily, but still managed to stay quiet. 

"No, Em. Just stay out of it. Let me do my thing, and soon enough it'll be over." She said, playing with a ring she forgot to take off. 

I studied her. She was a pretty good actor, but she didn't have me all the way convinced. I brushed it off, said goodnight and left. I fell asleep pretty quickly after that, just trying to get everything out of my head. That's just the way I am, I need my sleep. 

But this morning, no one could tell that she was having a moment last night. But for some reason, it wasn't like a cloud of awkwardness this morning. We were all still talking and making good conversation. 

I decided to follow Mili's lead and just push it out of my mind. But no way was I going to be Miss Perky today. 

"What do you guys want to do?" I asked as I shoved a forkful of blueberry waffles into my mouth. 

"I don't know..." Mikaela said, letting it go to Mili. We both fixed eyes on her. 

"Um," She said, and shifted her arm a little. "Not sure. Can we explore?" She offered. They both looked to me expectantly and I nodded. 

"Sure, but there's not much for me to explore. I'll take you to all my favorite spots." I said, happily. This was actually quite exciting. When I first went to Los Angeles, I didn't have anyone to take me around, so I got to find it out on my own without anyone's opinions. Which I was definitely fine with, by the way. 

"Okay, where should we go first then?" Mikaela asked.

"How about we get dressed first, and then we can think about where we're going." I suggested, and both of the girls agreed, so we headed off to our respective rooms to pick out cute L.A. sight seeing outfits. 

I picked out high-waisted true blue denim shorts with distressed bottoms, a wide cut gray crop top with a picture of the moon on it and navy vans. I threw my hair into a messy side braid, and walked out of my room to wait for the girls. I leaned against the counter and considered where we should go first. 

But I wasn't allowed much time, because Mikaela emerged from their room. "Cute." I commented as she showed off her outfit. She wore ripped, black shorts, a dark gray tank top with braided sleeves, with a red and black flannel tied around her waist, and red converse. Her hair fell straight down to her preferred shoulder length. 

"Oh my gosh you guys are so fucking hot, I could cook bacon on you." Mili said, slyly from the doorway. 

"Mili, you rascal!" I teased her as she sauntered in and let us take in her fabulous ensemble of clothing. She paired a flirty coral sundress with a light leather jacket, and coral trimmed wedges. Her hair was tied up into a messy bun, and her matte black cat-eye sunglasses perched on her nose. 

"I'm ready bitches." She announced, and Mikaela and I collapsed into a fit of laughter. All the weirdness, even the conversation we had early this morning seemed to drift away. But any problem did when we finally all got back together. 

"Okay, so you guys want to take my car? I could call an Uber or we could just get a cab. Whatever you guys want." I went through the choices. 

"Let's just take your car." Mili said, getting right to the point and Mikaela nodded. 

"Yeah good choice. You're a good parker." Mikaela flashed me a small smile as we headed out the door and out to the apartment parking lot. I beamed with pride and we got into my sweltering car. 

"It's. So. Hot!" Mili yelled from the backseat. 

"Yeah I know. It's not that long of a drive to the Museum of Art." I told them and they sat back. We weren't actually going to go and "appreciate" the art, but I didn't have to tell them that....