it girl // milo manheim ✰

gone but not forgotten.

"Lanie, wake up. We're here." I heard as my sister woke me up.
"What are we doing back here? I thought we were staying at a hotel." I said as the memories came flooding back. I looked around, as if nothing had changed. The balcony door was slightly open. As if the memories were coming in again like I never let them out.
"Nope, Mama thought it would be good to come back here."
"Great. Well I need to work on music. I'll be in my room." I said bringing my bags back to the room I was in before. I set my bags down by the dresser and brought my backpack and guitar case to the bed. I took out my laptop and guitar out and began strumming along to a new tune that I was working on. I stopped and stared out the window like before and remembered everything that happened two weeks prior.

milo's pov

I shot up seeing Sammy calling me. I stepped out and picked up. "Milo, come on over she's in her room text me when you're here so I can let you in." She said.
"Got it. See you in 20." I said hanging up.
"Alright boys, gotta go get shit off my chest. I'll see you guys later if not tomorrow."
"Good luck." They said simultaneously. I walked out of the house and grabbed my overnight bag not knowing how this chat would end up. I got into my car and went straight for their house. "Lanie, I'm on my way. And we're gonna talk." I said to myself as I drove off.

lanie's pov

I walked into my bathroom, staring at myself in the bathroom mirror. I flipped my hair, seeing the dull brunette hair, wanting a change. I snuck out of the house and drove to the nearest salon. I needed a change.
"Hi. Do you guys accept walk ins?" I asked the lady at the front desk.
"Yes of course. It depends but today's pretty slow with not a lot of appointments so we can accommodate you." She said smiling at me. She led me to a salon chair and I sat looking at my hair in the mirror as the stylist came to me.
"Hi darling. What are you looking to do today?"
"Alright. So I just really need a change. And I know it's gonna be a lot and I can change it if it's too much. But I want to cut my hair into a long bob, and lighten the brown and do a brown to blonde ombré." I said smiling at him hoping he would be able to do it.
"Great! I'd love to help you! Let me go grab the supplies first!" He said walking to get the supplies. As I sat in the chair, I decided to snap a quick selfie before my change. As he came back, I looked at the mirror and thought to myself, "the old lanie can't come to the phone right now, she's gone but not forgotten."

milo's pov

I walked up the front steps texting sammy that I was up front. All of a sudden I heard footsteps towards the door. "Milo, come in she's in her room." She said leading me up the stairs. "I'll leave you two alone." I knocked on the door and there was no response. I knocked again and still no response. I decided to walk in, "lanie? where are you? I know we haven't talked in a long time but I need to talk to you." I said. As I walked in, I saw her guitar and laptop on the bed. Lanie was nowhere in sight. Her balcony door was open, purse gone, no trace of her. I checked every place in her room. As I ran to Sammy's room, I began to yell for her.
"Sammy! Where is Lanie??" I asked impatiently. "I need to talk to her."
"Milo. She's in her room." She said.
"No she's not! I checked everywhere her purse is gone. The car out front is gone." I explained.
"Oh god. She's doing it again." She said.
"Doing What again?" I asked.
"She's running away from her problems." Sammy said.

lanie's pov

"Alright sweetie you're done! And you look so good! I hope you like it!" The stylist said. As I looked in the mirror I was in love.

"It looks so good! It doesn't even look like me anymore! I love it! Thank you so much!" I said expressing my gratitude with a hug.
"Of course! Come on let's go to the front so we can ring you up and get you some shampoo and conditioner." He said as I followed him. As soon as I finished paying for my transformation, I decided to go get food.
"Alright yelp, take me where I need to go." I said to myself. I began to drive and when I was at the location a car pulled up next to me. The guy looked distressed but familiar. And that's when I realized that was the guy I was avoiding. I quickly put on my sunglasses and walked out and locked my car door. Luckily, i was driving my sister's car. I glanced at my phone while waiting in line and saw the billions of texts from my sister worried if I was okay or not. I texted her saying, "sammy, I'm fine I needed to go out and get some air." I put my phone in my pocket and waited for my food. As I waited I looked to the side and saw milo with his hood on. I wasn't sure if I should talk to him or not but as usual I stayed quiet. I decided to text him, "hi milo. im sorry i haven't texted you since I saw you, I've been going through a lot. can we hang out?" As soon as I sent that I saw milo grab his phone and he lit up. It made me smile to see him like this because of me.
"Yeah of course where are you? I went to your place to surprise you but you weren't there."
"I needed a change I'll be there soon. Meet me there as soon as possible." I sent that and grabbed my food and ran to my car. Not knowing that Milo was right behind me.

milo's pov

I grabbed my food as fast as I can after the girl in front of me did but something felt familiar. I only hung out with Lanie once or twice before but I smelled her perfume. The girl in front of me ran to her car and sped off and i thought it was a coincidence. I drove as fast as I could to Lanie's place and played her song on the way. Her song made me feel a certain way. It made me feel like even if I was drowning in my schoolwork and college applications, I could still breathe and resurface. I was excited to tell her the news about her song possibly getting featured in 'Aquaman'. It was going to change her life. I pulled up into the driveway and let myself in heading straight up to Lanie's room to see someone sitting on her bed.
"Uh who are you and what are you doing in my friend's bedroom?" I asked. When she turned around I didn't know how to react.

lanie's pov

"Uh who are you and what are you doing in my friend's bedroom?" I heard Milo ask. I took a deep breath and turned around to face him.
"Milo. It's me Lanie." I said calmly looking down.
"Yo-You look so different what happened?"
"I needed a change. I wanted to change my appearance. I got my hair dyed and cut and gave myself a new look." I explained. "I want to be a new person. In a couple months, I will be. If I want to be the part I need to act the part."
"What are you talking about?" He asked confused.
"Milo... in two months I'm moving to Boston. I got accepted into the Berklee College of Music. I'm pursuing my dreams of becoming an artist. I start the program this spring. I'm graduating early." I said.
"Is that why you didn't text me?" He asked. "Were you afraid that we wouldn't be able to keep up our friendship?"
"I didn't want you to have a friend that wouldn't be able to physically be with you for long periods of time. I want you to have someone that is good enough for you. Before last month, I never thought I'd ever meet you. But now that I have, I have to leave you. It's not fair to you."
"We're staying friends. I don't care what you say we can FaceTime whenever you want. I'm not letting this friendship go. You're everything I need in a friend. I need you to be in my life." He said. I looked at him confused.
"How did you get that line." I said bluntly.
"Uh wh-what line?" He asked nervously.
"You're everything I need. Do you somehow have my song? Have you been keeping something from me? Is that why you never texted me either?" I asked raising my voice with each question.
"Yeah I have been keeping something from you. I passed your song along to my agent and the producers of 'Aquaman' want to feature it in their soundtrack for the movie. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I wanted to do something for you after all the fun we had."
"Oh my god. Milo! That's amazing! Wait are you serious? Please don't play with me! Are you fucking serious? This is amazing!" I said hugging him tightly.
"Yeah it's for real. You're going to be featured in a movie soundtrack at 17. I'll connect you with my agent and she can pass things along to you."
"Thank you milo. Thank you so much." I said hugging him again.