it girl // milo manheim ✰

i-i am not dr-...

I began walking to the kitchen. After talking to so many people, I needed a drink. Luckily, barely anyone was in the kitchen. I walked up to the counter and grabbed a red solo cup and filled it with some Dr. Pepper.
"No alcohol?" I heard someone chuckle behind me.
"Oh no, I'm not a heavy drinker. I'm only 21." I said. "I don't think I got your name? I'm Lanie. A friend of Alan's. I just moved in across the street."
"Brandon. Brandon Armstrong. I'm on the show." He introduced himself. "Have you met everyone else?"
"Not really. Alan introduced me to a couple of people but there are a lot of people here so I can't speak for everyone." I laughed lightly.
"Come on, ill introduce you to more people." He said taking my hand. I decided to follow along, I mean I needed more friends and it was important that I had them. "Alright, guys, this is Lanie." He said as they all waved. "This is Artem, Val, Jenna, Maks, Peta, Keo, Brittany, and Hayley."
"Wow, lots of people. Nice to meet you!" I said waving as Brandon brought me to the next group of people. When the group turned around, Milo was in front of me.
"Hey guys! I just thought I'd show my new friend Lanie around." Brandon said.
"Brandon, us three know her." Alan explained.
"Oh right sorry. I think I might've drank a little too much." He said.
"Alright buddy, lets go." Alan said taking Brandon to the couches with the rest of the people. I stood there awkwardly not knowing what to do or what to say.
"I'm Witney! But you know that. Uh I'm gonna go help Alan with Brandon but let me know if you guys wanna hang with us!" She said as she scurried off leaving the two of us alone.
"Uh do you wanna to talk? Maybe in the kitchen? I was just there. It's uh a bit quieter and there's less people?" I suggested.
"Uh sure." We walked to the kitchen and a million thoughts were racing through my head. Thinking about what was going to be said. When we got to the kitchen, Milo and I each got a drink for ourselves since I somehow misplaced my cup.
"Wow, getting a beer I see. Putting your big boy pants on." I said jokingly.
"Uh excuse me you're literally pouring yourself a cup of whiskey." He pointed out.
"Fine Fine. I'm just trying to let loose a little. I had a tough meeting with my record label today." I said sitting down at the table rubbing my temples.
"Label? You got signed?" Milo said.
"Uh yeah. I did. I meant to tell you but I didn't know if you changed your number or not." I said shaking my head and looking down.
"That's great Lanie. Are you leaving again?" He asked the question I thought he wouldn't ask.
"No actually. I moved down here for good. My family and I thought it would be a good idea to get a place of my own down here so I could be close to my record label. I moved into the house across the street. The one we used to hang out in all the time. That's uh how I met Alan actually." I explained.
"That's great." He said as I began looking around. We both began waving at different people as if we were acting like we weren't next to each other. 'God Lanie just say something stop making things awkward.' I thought to myself. I finished my whiskey and said to milo, "I'm gonna go get myself another drink."
"Yeah go ahead. Uh I'm gonna go find Witney and see how Brandon is doing. I'll see you later." He said beginning to walk out of the kitchen. "Lanie, I didn't change my number. Make sure you text me. We're not so far apart now." I nodded as he left. I poured myself some tequila and brought the bottle to the table I was sitting at and began rubbing my temples.
"Rough day?" I heard as I saw Emma and Sasha behind me.
"Uh yeah. My first day back in California and I don't even know how to act." I said as they both sat down next to me.
"Come on babe talk to us." Emma said as she rubbed my back.
"I just don't know how to make friends and my record label is pushing me to perform a song that I haven't released yet and it's all just kinda stressful." I blurted out.
"Hey, you have us as friends and from what I see the rest of the cast is happy to be friends with you as well. Have you met Milo? He's around your age." Sasha asked.
"Yeah. We're like two days apart. I actually have quite a bit of history with Milo." I said letting the alcohol get to my head. "I'd rather not say here. Is it possible to get your numbers? I could text you later."
"Of course, here I'll make a group chat later." Emma said handing me her phone. I smiled at her and I was finally beginning to feel at home and happy.