PART 1 - Two Kisses
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Haley scowled at a stubborn smudge staining one of the jewelry display cases, spraying more glass cleaner on its surface. She attacked the annoying smear with a wad of paper towel, smiling triumphantly when it disappeared. Haley liked the store's glass displays to be pristine when she was working; people wanted to see the jewelry, not dirty fingerprints. As she was putting the cleaning products away beneath a counter, Haley saw a young brunette walking into the store dressed in a pair of scandalously-revealing hot pant shorts and a tube top.
Normally Miley's eyes would be drawn to all the jewelry glittering from every corner of the store, but as soon as she entered from the mall she couldn't take her eyes off the girl behind the counter. Haley was a stunningly beautiful blonde with wavy hair worn in a Farah Fawcett style. She was wearing a black pants suit and heels which hinted at her fabulous figure.
"Wow," Miley said as she approached one of the display counters, "When Charlie said you were cute I didn't realize he meant drop-dead gorgeous."
Haley smiled, though she colored slightly in the cheeks and looked a bit confused, "I'm sorry?"
"Hi," Miley greeted, "I'm Miley, Charlie White's girlfriend? Well, fiancé actually. You're Haley, right?"
"Oh, yeah," Haley nodded, recognizing Miley. "I've actually seen you before, in the mall with Charlie. It's nice to finally meet you. How is he, by the way?"
"He's much better," Miley replied. "In fact, today is his first day back to work. I just dropped him off."
Haley seemed relieved to hear Charlie was doing well, "That's so wonderful, I'll have to go say hi to him later when I get a break."
"I wanted to come by and thank you," Miley said, "for saving his life I mean. If you hadn't have found him that night and called the ambulance, who knows what might have happened."
Haley smiled at Miley, "You're welcome. I didn't really do anything other than dial 911, but I'm so happy he's going to be okay. Charlie seems like a really sweet guy."
"He is," Miley agreed. "Listen, can I ask you something?"
"Sure," Haley lifted her brows curiously.
"Where do you get your hair done?" Miley asked. "Because it's so fabulous."
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Charlie wandered into the small stock room in The House of Spandex, where Chip was unpacking several boxes of magazines and paperback books, "Hey Chip, can I give you a hand?"
"You shouldn't be lifting anything with your bum ribs," Chip warned.
"At least let me help you sort them," Charlie said. "Theo's got the register covered and I need something to do."
"Yeah, okay," Chip agreed. "It sure is great having you back, Charlie. We missed you around here."
"It's good to be back," Charlie replied. "It was driving me crazy sitting at home while my mom treated me like a piece of fragile china."
"Whatever," Chip rolled his eyes and tore open a box, placing it on a counter for Charlie to sort through. "I bet you were surrounded by hot girls, waiting on you hand and foot, the whole time."
Charlie laughed, "I guess Miley was around a lot..."
"And Stacy Sullivan, too. Right? She was even in here buying comics for you." Chip bumped Charlie's arm with a teasing elbow, "I'm sure you had it real rough. You hang out with more hot girls than a rapper."
Charlie grinned, "Okay, maybe it wasn't so bad. She mentioned you by the way."
"Who?" Chip bent over to pick up another box.
"Stacy. She thinks you're cute."
Chip dropped the box, causing paperback books to spill out all over the floor.
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Brian dug in his pocket as he sat in McDonalds for lunch, pulling out a buzzing cell phone. He glanced at the screen, smiled, and then flipped it open, "Hey Sam."
"Guess what?" Sam asked in an excited voice.
"Um," Brian swallowed some diet cola. "Marvel Comics called and they want to pay Charlie and me a million dollars to publish Captain Darkness?"
Sam giggled, "Not quite; still working on that. But my news is almost as good."
"What's up?"
"You know that interview Miley hooked me up with? I got the job!"
"That's awesome," Brian smiled brightly. "But I thought you said you'd have to come to Tallahassee and do a personal interview?"
"I thought I'd have to," Sam explained. "But I did two phone interviews, and then they called me this morning and offered me the position. I start next month, which means I only have two weeks to move to Tallahassee."
"I'm sure Charlie and I can help find you an apartment by then," Brian offered. "And I'll even come get you."
"You'd do that for me?"
"Sure," Brian replied. "I'll bring a U-Haul truck."
Sam laughed on the other end, "That would be so awesome, I can't believe how sweet you are."
"I may be sweet, but you have to promise to go out on a date with me once you're here. That means dinner as well as a movie."
"I'd love to," Sam replied in a beaming voice. "I can't wait to see you, Brian."
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Charlie winced as he sat down at a table in the mall's food court, having twisted wrong and feeling a twinge from his healing ribs. He realized he had pushed himself at work that morning and made a silent promise to take it easier after lunch.
Opening his carton of milk, Charlie heard someone call his name from behind. He pivoted, trying not to twist his torso too much, and spotted Haley.
"Hey Charlie," Haley greeted, carrying a tray of Chinese food. "Want some company?"
"I'd love some," Charlie smiled.
Haley set her tray down, then leaned to kiss Charlie's cheek before sitting. "It's so great to see you. How are you feeling?"
"Pretty good," Charlie replied, putting a straw into his milk. "I'm stiff, but I'm glad to be back to work."
"Your girlfriend came by the store this morning," Haley said as she tore open a packet of soy sauce. "She is awesome, by the way."
Charlie grinned, "Yeah, she is."
"We're going shopping after I get off work, tonight."
Charlie looked surprised, "Really? Wow, you guys must have really hit it off. Miley doesn't go shopping with just anyone."
"Yeah, well, she hung around the store for a while this morning and we got to talking." Haley stirred her rice with a plastic fork, "Turns out we have a lot in common."
"Like what?" Charlie asked before taking a bite of his sandwich.
"To start with, we both like shopping, we're both big Lady Gaga fans, and each of us wishes our boobs were bigger."
Charlie laughed shyly, "I'm sure your breasts are just fine."
Haley smirked, "I can see why she adores you. You're such a sweetie."
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Stacy sat on her bed sorting through pictures on her laptop from high school, thinking about putting together a scrapbook of memories. For some reason she had been feeling nostalgic ever since her abortion and thought it would be fun to go back to memories of a more carefree time in her life.
Most of the pictures were dominated by Miley and their other high school girlfriends, but as Stacy moved into the pictures from their senior year Charlie and Brian started showing up more and more. She paused on a picture of Brian, recalling how he reacted to the news of her abortion. He seemed relieved when she told him, like the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders, which only validated her decision to abort her pregnancy. Brian hadn't been ready to be a father any more than she was prepared to be a mother. She missed him.
The next picture she clicked on was one of her, Miley, Charlie, and Brian at the beach. Stacy smiled as she thought back to the day that photo was taken. It had been the summer before they started college and they all looked so happy. Brian was sill chubby and seemed shy, Miley was blowing a kiss towards the camera, and Charlie was holding Stacy in the air with his arms under her shoulders and knees. Stacy laughed as she remembered that moment; Charlie had scooped her up and Stacy had a surprised but laughing expression in the photo.
Charlie was the best of them, Stacy knew. It was because of Charlie that she and Miley had matured past their high school cliques and stopped judging people by the way they looked or how popular they were. And despite the fact that Charlie had started dating one of the most popular girls at their school he never stopped being his sweet and innocent self; he could have easily turned into a pompous self-absorbed jerk with a girl like Miley on his arm.
She missed Charlie, Stacy realized. They hadn't seen each other much since she moved out of Miley's apartment, and he had always been a good friend. Closing the lid of her laptop, Stacy decided she needed the company of her friends.
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"He said 'I'm sure your breasts are just fine' but he was blushing the whole time," Haley recounted as she held up a bra, glancing at the price tag.
Miley giggled, "Charlie doesn't really care how big a girl's breasts are. He's not a boob guy."
"Whatever," Haley said as she and Miley were browsing the lingerie store. "All guys are boob guys."
"Not Charlie," Miley stated. "I mean, don't get me wrong, he'll play with my tits every now and then or suck on my nipples, but he'd much rather play with my butt. He's always squeezing my ass when we make love."
Haley laughed, enjoying Miley's unashamed candor.
"So what about you?" Miley prodded, "We've been shopping for an hour now and you haven't mentioned a boyfriend."
Haley sighed. "Twenty-five years old and single," she lamented. "Pretty pathetic, huh?"
"Seriously?" Miley glanced. "You're totally hot, Haley, guys must be drooling over you all day. You must meet a ton of guys coming into the jewelry store."
"Yeah," Haley nodded. "And they all come in looking to buy something for their wife or girlfriend."
"We need to find you a boyfriend," Miley remarked as she sorted through sets of panties. "Think of how much fun we could have double dating."
"Does Charlie have any friends as sweet as he is?"
"His best friend is Brian, and sometimes he hangs out with these two guys he works with,. They're all sweet, but they're also all wrong for you."
Haley smirked, "Can I ask you something?"
"Yeah, of course," Miley nodded.
"How did you and Charlie hook up? I don't want to sound mean or anything, because I think Charlie is awesome, but he's kind of a..."
"Geek?" Miley finished for her.
Haley winced, hoping Miley wasn't offended. "Yeah. And you're like a total prom queen."
Miley grinned, "That's exactly what we were when we hooked up. But Charlie managed to get my attention and I just fell for him, you know? The way he'd look at me made me melt inside, like I was the most special thing in the world to him. He still looks at me that way."
"That's so romantic," Haley said, holding up a teddy. "I have to try this on."
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