Miles and Alya: A Love Story

The Beginning of the Truth

*Alya's POV*

He stood there with me. He didn't try to stop my tears, which were pouring down my cheeks by now. 

"Can we go inside? It's freezing out here, " he asked. I didn't know it was snowing, but it was, a lot. We pulled apart and I grabbed his hand, taking him inside. We sat on the couch together, neither of us ready to break the silence. It didn't last very long. Suddenly, my ringtone sounded, playing an embarrassingly sappy love song. I'd changed it last night as just something to do. Despite my tears, I still found it somewhere within me to laugh.

"That about me?" Miles joked. But what he didn't know was that is was. It's not like I wrote it or anything, but it did remind me of him.

"Maybe," For some reason, I couldn't make myself look at him. I honestly don't know why I was embarrassed, I mean, he knew exactly how I felt about him.

"Alya, don't try to change the subject. I know there was a reason you were crying." This was why I knew he was the perfect person to talk to. He didn't try to make me forget about it, he talked about it, and that's exactly what I needed. And he knew that.

"I- today was awful, Miles."

"Alya you have to tell somebody, tell Park, tell Durani even. Someone needs to know." I knew he was right, but there was no way I was going to tell anyone. Bianca would know, she'd know that I found out that she made that profile. Everything would just get worse.

"I can't. I just can't."

"Look, if you don't tell, then I will." A fresh wave of tears fell from my eyes. He thought he was doing the right thing, and really, he was. I just couldn't do it.

"Miles-" He cut me off by wrapping me up in his arms. He held me so close, I worried if my heartbeat was as loud to him as it was to me.

"Let's just drop it for now, we could work on the project for a while if you want." Thank goodness he was going to let this go for now. "I know we kind of committed to a song earlier, but I really do think that one song would be pretty fun to sing." What song? What was he talking about?

"What song?"

"That ringtone of yours, I've always loved that song, and I think it'd be pretty easy to make a duet out of." Oh. That song!

"Any other reason?" I joked.

"I think you know." He suddenly became serious. "Look, I know things have been moving really fast for us, but if you wanna slow down, you say the word and we will."

"You're right. We have been rushing things. But I think we're doing great. Sure we've already said our 'I love you's' and we're 'together', and we haven't even been on our first real date yet, but I actually really like this." I didn't want to slow down, I wanted to keep going. "Uh, Miles?"

"Yeah?"

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Almost four. Why?"

"You have to go. Now. My mom's going to be here any minute!" This wasn't how I pictured Miles meeting my parents. I expected  a grand gesture- not to mention that he shouldn't really have been there in the first place. "You can come back later, I'll text you when." I explained as I rushed him out the door.

"See you soon my princess," he said, gently kissing my forehead. He walked through the door, and I shut it behind him. The snow had started to let up a bit. I watched as Miles walked down the street, until he disappeared around a corner. Five minutes flew by before I heard the garage door open. My mom walked in, setting her purse down in the kitchen.

"I'm home!" She announced.

"Hey," I responded as I came into the kitchen, the snow made the light yellow walls of the kitchen seem brighter, the whole atmosphere of the room had always seemed to change when it snowed.

"So how was school?" She asked.

"It was great. Hey, do you think Miles could come over for a while?"

"Oh that sounds like a great idea!"

"I'll call him now," I offered as I pulled out my phone and went back to the living room.

"Hey," he answered. "Can I come back now? I don't know how much longer I can stay at this music store before people get suspicious,"

"Would you maybe want to come over for dinner with me and my parents?"I asked.

"Sure. When should I come over?"

"You can come now if you want."

"I'll be there in five, bye." I hung up the phone and climbed the stairs. Five minutes. Five minutes to find an outfit, do something with my hair, and make it all look like no big deal. Miraculously I was able to settle for the first dress I pulled from my closet- a long sleeved number with a white lace top and a semi full dark red skirt with a  small bow at the waist. It was classy, without being too formal, perfect. Next came my hair, I put in some clip in extensions to do a fishtail braid. This was one of the many times I'd regretted cutting my hair so short.

I was on my way down the stairs when I heard a knock. My mother was rushing up behind me to the door. She'd apparently had the same idea as me, her scrubs had been replaced with a simple black sheath dress. Not bad  for a woman who's oldest child just turned  twenty-seven.

"I've got it," I assured her. I pulled the door open to see Miles in front of me, holding a bouquet of gardenias. He'd lied about being at the music store apparently, since he'd changed into a white button-down shirt and grey dress pants with a matching jacket. I was just glad that I had thought to dress up.

The snow had started to fall heavily again, filling the air with a white glow. Cold air filled the entryway from the open door.

"Come on in," I offered. My mother leaned up against the door frame on the other side of the wall. She finally decided to make her grand entrance, taking elegant steps toward us.

"I'm Tiffany, you must be Miles. So nice to meet you," she greeted him, extending her hand. I hadn't exactly told her about Miles and I, but I'd assumed she'd already figured it out. It was just something she was able to do, I remembered her doing it so many times with my older sister.

"Nice to meet you."

"Well, I'm going to go and finish dinner. You two go have fun." I watched as she rounded the corner into the kitchen, sending a wink in my direction. Yeah, of course she knew.