before the pain | luke (JATP)

XIV

The bell rang for the last period of the week. Reggie and Mila left Miss Bone classroom, who did not seem pleased with the idea that her head student and her least favorite student now sat and passed each other notes every class.

"I'm just saying, if you haven't watched Jumanji, you have not lived Mila," Reggie said as they walked down the hallway, Mila shook her head. "If I have to watch that movie, then you have to watch Clueless and you don't want to do that either, so why don't we both just agree not to watch movies together?" Mila asked as she opened her locker number 272.

"Are we having a movie night?" Alex asked as he joined the conversation coming from his locker to hers. Mila giggled, shaking her head, looking at her friend being too excited yet not having any idea of what the two of them were talking about. "No," Mila answered, closing her locker after taking her things.

"Mila and I wanna watch a movie, but Mila wants to watch clueless and I wanna watch Jumanji," Reggie said as they all began walking to the blue car Reggie drove. "I'm in for clueless" Alex smiled brightly, which made Mila smile back. "Ha! Clueless it is"

They walked to the car and placed themselves inside it. "So we're gonna drop you off, but we can't pick you up for tonight," Reggie said as he began driving, changing the subject from movies to plans. "What's happening tonight?" Mila asked, yet this offended the boys to their core.

"Mila! We're playing at the golden leopard, you know this! " Alex sighed leaning back as he took out his drumsticks, drumming a beat to a song Mila had yet to listen to. "Oh right," Mila bit her lip feeling embarrassed she had forgotten all about it. She put her hand on her two necklaces, one of them being her cross and the other being a small golden S.

"I mean, I am supposed to be your biggest fan right?" Mila joked, Reggie chuckled and nodded as he drove onto the highway. "Please just tell me you're coming, Luke wrote the song you helped with finished and he is nervous about playing it tonight" Alex admitted which made Mila giggle gently.

"You guys have been playing amazing without me for years, why do you suddenly need me to be there?" Mila asked as she took her hand off her necklace. "Because you are our friend?" Reggie said, like the question she was asking was the stupidest he had ever heard. "Okay... okay, I'll be there" Mila shook her head, looking out the window she saw the tree's passing by.

Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning--the third day.

She thought in her mind how her whole life, in bed while others got told stories about princess and dragon, her bedtime stories were the bible. When everyone else watched the sweet childhood movies, Mila was stuck with bible study. When there was play in the park on Sundays, Mila was in church learning about God.

Her thoughts stopped as the car did, her view from the window was now her house, she smiled and waved goodbye to the boys before running inside, not wanting to catch a cold, her still wearing summer clothes with a summer jacket in the middle of September.

"Welcome home honey," Her mom said, as she was still in the middle of decorating the house with the ugly decorations. "Hey mom" Mila simply answered before beginning to walk to her room, yet her mom was quick to stop her.

"You never answered, if your friends are coming on Sunday" She faked her usual smile that could make Mila throw up. "Oh... I didn't ask them yet" Mila answered before walking to her room. Ever since her mom moved back in, her dad had been nowhere to be seen around the house, he worked later and had already left for work when Mila woke up in the morning. She tried not to think about it as she placed herself on her bed.