The May Chronicles
Part 2 - Cookies & Cream

Chapter 1
May

How do you move on with your life when you never thought you would make it so far? I half expected to be dead by this point, and I suppose Hailee thought she had been dead since the beginning of time. I could hardly bare to look at my graduation photos for what they reminded me of. That smile made me look like every other goon standing there. Being one in the crowd had never been a goal of mine.

You'd never know what that smile was covering up, or the amount of sorrow I had been feeling my entire life up to that point. After everything that has happened to me, I must admit I believe I'm beginning to enjoy it.

Somehow I got nervous whenever Hailee eyed me like that. That chilling facial expression of hers was caught perfectly in the mirror above my desk. I never could tell if she was viewing me fondly or plotting some scheme against me. It wouldn't be so far from her character to carry out. She was lying lazily on my bed, giving me a crocked smile as she caught my glance in the mirror.

I prodded, "What are you looking at?" The pounding drums of a Bitch and Animal song nearly drowned out my voice.

"Nothing," her voice trailed off while she picked at a fingernail, absent-mindedly breaking it. "I was just thinking about how much I'd miss you."

I pretended not to notice the spot she had missed while putting on white face powder. In addition to the tan streak on her pale face, her chocolate brown tresses were left without being brushed, or at the very least pulled back. The only makeup she was wearing was black eyeliner. I wondered who had let her out of the house.

"We'll be in the same city for god's sake," I replied and whirled around in my swivel chair. My shoulder-length blonde hair was pulled back and separated into two ponytails, strands of hair pulled out to frame my face on either side. I looked strikingly innocent like that with my berry-pink lipstick and brown eye shadow. "Just because we won't see each other everyday…." I didn't need to finish my sentence, by the time my mom pounded gently on the door. I flipped down the lid of my laptop and went for the door.

Mom looked exhausted and gazed at me sleepily. "If you don't want to miss your train, we have to leave in maybe ten minutes." I glanced over my shoulder to Hailee who shrugged her shoulders. "I guess we'll be ready," I answered turning back to mom, "I just have a few more things." She closed the door without a word to either of us. I knew it must be hard for her that I was moving out, especially considering I'm an only child.

I leapt into my comfy chair on the other side of the bed. I always kept all my blankets and soft stuff on that red armchair, otherwise it wasn't quite so comfortable at all.

"At least we're taking the same train," Hailee jumped up. She hugged me a little too hard and slid onto my lap while chirping, "All the way there."

I winced, "I can hardly wait." It hardly sounded sincere at all, but it really was.

Those narrow stairs leading downstairs definitely would not be missed, but the rest of the house would be. I like to think of myself as a mixed breed, and the house certainly reflected that. On the outside that place looked like a Mexican condo, to me in any case. The inside was clearly European with the artwork, pictures of grandfather from the German Army, and those ugly little planes dad collected while he was alive.

"I still do not understand why you are doing this," mom told me when the two of us came down into the kitchen. She bit down on her lip to stop herself from saying anything else and went back to washing the dishes. It was always a point of hers not to tell me what to do. There were some occasions I wished she were a less meek person. Finally she began a new subject in her dry voice, "Hailee, honey, do you need to stop by your house?"

At the time Hailee was pulling a ton of bottled water out of the refrigerator and simultaneously sticking grapes in her mouth.

"Dear," mom gave a little laugh, "How many grapes do you feel you can fit in there?"

Hailee grinned awkwardly, looking as if she smiled just a bit larger a grape would pop out. For a fleeting moment she reminded me of a child. The entire time I've known her she never appeared to be to cutesy type. She was changing, and I wasn't sure if it was right or wrong. I guess we're all changing.

~~
While Hailee sat next to me silently reading Rockrgrl Magazine, I was shifting uneasily in my seat. "Why the hell did we have to choose a train instead of a plane?" I asked practically everyone who could hear me. "Err…" There was a heavy feeling in my chest.

The blonde punk boy sitting across from us raised his eyes to me and smiled without baring his teeth. "I have no clue why it would matter either way. What the fuck is your problem anyhow?" he asked in a tone that was mildly amused.

For a second there I was speechless. I didn't exactly expect anyone to answer that. "Its just that," I tried to explain with a sigh, "I have this irrational fear of derailing." Hailee glanced up from reading, not too surprised.

He must not have known I was completely serious because he burst out laughing. "Derailing, huh?" he replied as soon as he stopped laughing. There was still a pleasant look on his face.

I didn't say anything since I was far too embarrassed. Hailee laughed ever so slightly; apparently she wasn't as amused as he had been. I wasn't expecting him to talk to me again the entire trip.

Within a few minutes he gave another glimpse at me. This time when he smiled he was showed those brilliantly white teeth.

"What?" I quietly asked as I stared right back at him.

"I was contemplating what you said earlier," he told me, "Its kinda funny how you're so terribly afraid of this train flying off the tracks, right?"

"Yes, and you can stop making fun of me now," I retorted coldly.

He almost looked hurt. "Whoa sorry, I'm not. I was only thinking that it was strange you mentioned you'd rather take a plain? Sure there's no tracks up there, but…" he let his voice trail off waiting for me to finish.

"That's for me and my psychologist to discuss," I gave the cutest smile I could manage while being so nervous about the train experience. Hopefully I looked cooler and calmer then I felt.

The boy looked to be about twenty years old and clearly from a big town. There was an innocent little boy look about him that I found comforting. He leaned forward about four inches away from my face. "Please tell me," he whispered.

I laughed, "There is no reason, ok, that is why its called an 'irrational fear.' I don't have it when I'm on a plane."

"You do know how strange that is?"

"Yes of course, strange people have strange stories."

"Nicely put. But… you know, trains are safer than planes; when was the last time you heard of terrorists targeting a train?"

"I'm not afraid of those blokes, besides its not plane crashes that I have the phobia of."

"Perhaps you're psychic? My name's Jack Kennedy, by the by. Who are you, pretty girl? I should know considering we may be dying together."

Hailee zoned back into the real world from her magazine and chipped in, "Wouldn't that be a bitch? My name's Hailee Anderson."

He nodded towards her with that gorgeous smile. I ignored her altogether. "Do you call everyone you just meet 'pretty girl'?"

"Yes actually I do, if they are of course. Now tell me your name? Shall I need to ask for a third time or what?"

"Um, May Milian."

~~
Those vivid emerald eyes preoccupied my mind over all else. My breath nearly ceased the moment Jack's adorable face paused inches from mine. "Please tell me," he whispered.

In reality the two of us, Hailee and I, were sitting in the café waiting Bryan to pick us up.

"So close, yet so far," Hailee muttered wistfully. I wasn't sure if she sensed what I was thinking of, or if she were referring to the distance we would be living from each other. She looked really cute in her outfit, the white shirt under a black sweater and baggy gray pants. She continued to slowly nibble at her bagel.

"He is very tan."

Hailee glanced up. "Hmm? What's that?"

"I was telling you how to recognize Bryan," I paused, "If this arrangement with him doesn't work out, you know I may have to stay with you for a few awhile."

"Oh May, you could stay as long as you wanted," she smiled sweetly before going back to her bagel. "Its not that I see anything wrong with this, but I can completely understand why you're mom is nervous," she continued thoughtfully. "She must be sitting around an empty home, thinking you're moving in with a total stranger."

"He's not a stranger," I replied somewhat defensively.

"As if talking to him for a year on the internet makes him your best friend."

"Its more than that. Besides, meeting people online is no different then putting a roommate ad. Yeah and in that time we've got close, almost intimate in fact."

"Jesus Christ May, you're not going to go on permanent booty call for this guy will ya?"

"Of course not Hailee, wait until you see his friends. I'll have my pick." Just as I finished the sentence Bryan drove up. I nudged Hailee, "Right there in the blue dodge eagle.

Bryan stepped out of his car and looked directly at me. "Oh, now I see," Hailee mused while toying with her shirt collar. "Grrr," she added as she playfully hit my shoulder.