If it had been anyone else besides Amanda calling to wake Hayley up after two, maybe three hours of sleep and dared to be cheery while Hayley wanted nothing more than to be allowed to be aggressively pissed off at everyone and everything in the world Hayley likely would have snapped and not just because she was tired. She was also hung over, broke and unemployed. She really hated all three, but the hangover was simply the worst. To make matters worse she'd also wasted the alcoholic buzz that led to her hangover on her older sister Marie and Marie's annoyingly straight, mind-numbingly ditzy and unbelievably and enticingly cute (and totally off limits) friends.

Fuck, the light, but constant throbbing pain in her head; the odd, general achiness of her body and the weird feeling that she was vaguely and extremely unclean might have all been worth it if she'd at least gotten laid or managed to at least acquire a phone number or two, but no. Hell, she hadn't even managed to get a nice, friendly ego boosting flirt or three in with her prudish, over protective but admittedly well meaning sister (Marie wasn't a homophobe, after all. She simply and understandably didn't want her sister sleeping with her friends because, as she put it, "That'd just be way too fucking weird") hanging around, so, yeah, it was easy to understand why Hayley was simply not in the mood to be awakened that particular morning.

The mere sound of her cell phone rattling loudly against the hard wooden surface of her night stand was almost enough to send her into a murderous rage. She came very close to doing the unthinkable by nearly attempting to smash her precious cell phone against the night stand just to shut it the hell up. Luckily her rational mind managed to kick in just as she about to give in to her destructive urge to remind her that she really didn't have the money to buy a new phone, so she instead simply pushed talk and brought it to her ear without even bothering to open her eyes long enough to check the number as she grimaced and gruffly asked "Who is this?"

"Well good morning to you too," Hayley heard Amanda's voice say in her usual playful tone and Hayley's mood instantly brightened even though she really didn't want it to. Well, she really did if only because she felt like death warmed over at that particular moment in time. There was however a small part of her that had kind of hoped the caller was someone she hated so she could rip into them with a torrent of empty threats and meaningless curses. That part of her of was now understandably disappointed, but the rest of her was more than willing to ignore those dark feelings in favor of being stupidly happy at hearing Amanda's sweet voice even though she chose to pretend otherwise as she playfully responded with an obviously halfhearted and insincere "What the fuck do you want?"

"I love you too," Amanda came back lightly and followed it quickly with a laugh in response to Hayley's frustrated groan. "Ahh, it's so cute how you're always so grumpy in the morning. It almost makes it hard for me to spoil your mood with some good news."

"What are you fucking talking about? Did you finally break up with what's his face?" Hayley came back honestly as she dug at an old wound knowing full well that it was highly unlikely. In fact, Amanda's seemingly unbreakable allegiance to her idiot of a boyfriend was the main speed bump on the road to Hayley's happiness. Hayley, however, really wasn't trying to be bitter or pick a fight. She was simply trying to keep up her grumpy façade because it both felt good and because she knew Amanda would likely think she was ill if she didn't give her a few pokes just for the hell of it.

"Yeah, no, not yet," Amanda said in a light, unserious manner as she took an audible drag from what Hayley assumed was a joint just from the fact that Amanda didn't continue for a good second or two before finally adding in a rough, smoky voice "Maybe later though. He is asking for it, the fucker."

"Well, then what is the good news and why the hell are you smoking without me?" Hayley shot back this time with naked and authentic jealousy.

"Hey, you want to get high just come over, but if you must know Kasey is over and that's kinda like the whole point of my call," Amanda said her voice now clear, but decidedly calmer before adding "And no, the good news is not a threesome, so don't even say it you fucking pervert."

"What? I wasn't even thinking that," Hayley lied because that was indeed exactly what she would have said if Amanda hadn't stolen her thunder. Not seriously because Kasey was Amanda's cousin and Amanda was sadly not quite that open minded, but whatever. Hayley quickly found a way around her friend's block as she teased "But it's good to know that I've managed to get you thinking about it. I mean, you already admitted she was cute..."

"Oh my god, stop being gross or I'm not going to hang out with you today and I'm not going to tell you the good news," Amanda replied with a bit of an edge to her voice that Hayley found vaguely satisfying. In fact, she was satisfied enough to let go of her attempts at teasing and instead apologized halfheartedly and urged Amanda to spill on the good news and soon found herself perking up as Amanda said "You remember when I said that Kasey's job might be hiring soon and that if they were that she'd total put in a good word for you? Well, they are and she totally did and her boss is like totally interested in giving you an interview like sight unseen. I mean, they want you to fill out on an app and shit, but Kasey says it's like almost guaranteed if you just stop in tomorrow, so yeah ... isn't that fucking awesome?"

"You're not fucking with me are you?" Hayley came back cautiously even though she was now sitting up in her bed thanks to the boost in positive energy she'd received just hearing that she might finally have a lead on a real job. Well, a real crappy job working at a crappy little liquor store for probably not much more than minimum wage, but a job offer was a job offer. After being out of work for over three months (not counting a few temp jobs that never lasted more than a few days and a couple aborted efforts at some absolute dumps that simply were not worth it) and living off the tiny amount of money she'd saved for her aborted move to South Carolina while driving herself mad with boredom Hayley was willing to take just about anything short of prostitution.

"Yeah, I wouldn't tease you about that. I'm not that mean and Kasey's total serious too. I mean don't go around telling everyone but she's totally sleeping with him, so ... Oh, shut up, Kasey. Hayley isn't going to tell anyone. She doesn't even care. Do you?"

"Fuck no. I just need a job. She could be fucking the dude's entire family for all I care," Hayley came back even as she realized thanks to the sudden increase in the volume of background noise that Amanda had switched her to speaker so Kasey could hear her.

"See? She couldn't care less," Amanda said and then Hayley heard Kasey reply in the background "Good, but just don't tell anyone. He's kind of involved and he'd be super pissed if he knew I told anyone."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry. You're secret is safe with us, you whore," Amanda said again directing her words towards her cousin and Hayley quickly found herself listening in as Amanda and Kasey exchanged a few playful blows and insults before Amanda finally apologized and said "But anyway ... yeah, so like come over and shit. Kasey has to split for work soon, but she totally brought over an app so you can just fill it out and you can go out tomorrow and drop it off around ... when would be good? ... Oh, okay, like sometime between noon and three."

"Fuck, she works way out by the state park doesn't she?" Hayley said suddenly feeling a bit down.

"Yeah, why? Oh, fuck, that's right. Sorry, I forgot about your fucking car. Shit, I'll take you," Amanda said with barely a thought.

"But I thought you were going out with what's his face tonight?" Hayley responded still a tad down trodden as she recalled her last conversation with Amanda the afternoon before when she'd hoped to blow off her sister only to instead get blown off herself by Amanda thanks to pre-existing plans to hang out with her shitty boyfriend.

"So? That doesn't mean I can't give you ride. Besides, I don't even know if I want to. He's kinda pissing me off. God, after last night ... ugh, but whatever, I'll tell you all that shit later ... Anyway, fuck him. We can hang out and have like a good, old fashioned girly sleepover and shit."

"Now that I could definitely go for," Hayley said in a tone that was more than a little sleazy and received a very impertinent laugh in reply. It was not, however, Amanda's laugh as evidenced by Amanda's bored admonishment to "Shut up, you prude" that was clearly not directed at a now mildly embarrassed Hayley forcing Hayley to ask the obvious as she said in a much less flirtatious manner "I'm still on speaker aren't I?"

"Yep," Amanda replied clearly amused as she quickly followed it with a light chuckle. "But it's okay. Kasey's just jealous."

"Whatever," came Kasey's laughing response. "I could give a shit about you guys being all gay for each other. I was laughing at how pervy she sounded."

"Pfft, whatever," Amanda said dismissively. "Don't listen to her. I love how pervy you are and she's total jealous. Just last week she was telling me that..."

"No!" came the yell that sent the conversation back into chaos as the two cousins playfully fought each other while Hayley listened in waiting for them to stop so the conversation could either end or keep going. Of course, Hayley was also secretly wishing she was there because she was indeed a pervert and she definitely wouldn't have mind seeing her ersatz girlfriend wrestling on the bed with her cute cousin. However, since she couldn't be there Hayley was more than pleased when Kasey and Amanda stopped acting like twelve year olds and finally let the conservation end with a final exhortation from Amanda urging Hayley to get dressed and come over which Hayley gladly agreed to do before ending the call and heading straight for the shower to get ready.

It wasn't until after she showered and dressed herself in her white Bikini Kill t-shirt, her favorite pair of awesome, but ratty denim shorts and her purple chucks that Hayley began to truly question her sanity. After all, she wasn't exactly in the best shape to be riding a bike halfway across town. Her head still hurt a little bit (even after downing some water and some Advil before her shower) and she easily could have slept another six hours. Hell, she hadn't even eaten since god only knew when and judging from her scattered memories of the night before and the way her mouth tasted when she woke up she was pretty sure she'd puked at some point. If anything she should have at least called her friend back and told her to wait, but she didn't.

As she slipped on her backpack she did seriously consider saying fuck it and just going back to bed and at least letting Amanda stew for a bit so she get another hour of sleep before heading off into the summer heat, but again she didn't. Hell, she didn't even pause as she grabbed her iPod off of her computer desk and headed up the stairs of her eerily empty family home even as she found herself openly wondering why she wasn't getting right back on her phone to tell Amanda to get her ass over to her house instead where they could smoke (and hopefully, if Amanda was willing, have some more intimate fun) without having to worry about parents because her Mother and step father were off on one of their many vacations and her sister, who lived across town, had already done her laundry for the week, but, again, she didn't. About all she did was pause briefly to grab a much needed bite by eating half a pop tart, popping one of her mother's Tylenol 3's for her still achy head and chugging half of the jug of Sunny Delight before going to the garage, pushing her bike out the side door, hopping on and peddling away while trying hard to not curse her own foolishness too much as she rode off into the hot, sunny summer day.

By the time she finally pedaled up Amanda's driveway she was essentially drowning in her own sweat, but at least her bitterness over her own foolishness had faded if only because she was glad to just be done riding. At least she was for a moment until her relief suddenly faded when she realized that Amanda's car was nowhere to be seen. At that moment Hayley's feelings of foolishness came instantly flooding back. She even entertained a fleeting fantasy of burning down her friend's house thinking that Amanda had split, but instead she simply cursed loud enough to make Amanda's neighbor, who was working in her yard next door, cast a dirty look in her direction. Hayley, of course, just ignored her as she angrily made to get back on her bike before her little outburst of hot, burning rage was instantly cooled when Amanda's voice yelled down to Hayley from her bedroom window saying "Don't leave! I'm here! I forgot to tell you that my Dad took my car!"

"Why the fuck did he do that?" Hayley yelled back as she remained standing there straddling her bicycle in Amanda's driveway while covering her eyes as she looked up at her friend's smiling face and ignored the neighbor's continued scowl.

"Because my mom had to borrow his car so she could go shopping," Amanda responded simply and matter-of-factly.

"Where the hell is her car?" Hayley yelled back still confused.

"Oh my god! It's getting fixed at the fucking dealership because of a fucking recall or something. Just get up here, you dumbass. It's hotter than fuck out there and it's nice and cool in here, so quit asking me stupid questions and come in!" Amanda yelled with playful disdain before shutting her window to the heat. Hayley just smiled to herself as she did exactly as she had been told after placing her bike in the garage and kicking off her shoes before entering Amanda's parent's home.

By the time she made her way up the stairs to Amanda's bedroom Hayley couldn't help but feel happy and at ease as her doubts and fears faded completely from her mind. Sure, she was at that moment fairly tired from her bike ride and she was still sweating despite the fact that she was actually experiencing a bit of a chill now that she had entered Amanda's air conditioned home, but that didn't matter. Her legs also had a distinctly rubbery feel to them even before she'd climbed the stairs, but she really didn't care about that either. No, she was just happy to be there and her happiness only increased as she opened Amanda's door to see Amanda sitting there cross-legged on her bed rolling a joint with her well used rolling machine while mindlessly bobbing her head to some old ass music they shared a common love for while looking just as beautiful as she always did.

And beautiful was definitely the right word for Amanda. Well, as far as Hayley was concerned anyway. Whether or not anyone else happened to agree with her assessment was not something she bothered to care about. In her mind Amanda was everything she could have ever wanted in a girl in all the ways that could have possibly mattered.

At the risk of seeming shallow Amanda was easily the very embodiment of Hayley's physical ideal. From her shoulder length, beautiful black hair that was at that particular moment tied into a loose, short ponytail down to her sexy feet Hayley thought every inch of her was beautiful. She loved her pretty oval of face with those soft lips, that cute little nose and those beautiful, big, dark eyes just as much as she adored Amanda's trim, but wonderfully soft belly. Hayley also loved Amanda's back and could spend hours just watching her lay on her stomach sleeping those nights Hayley was lucky enough to get Amanda all to herself.

She also loved the more obvious things like Amanda's perky, little tits; her tight, wonderfully shaped and incredibly bitable butt and, of course, her exquisite pussy that Hayley swore was hand sculpted by the goddess herself, but she had to admit it that the obvious only enhanced Amanda's more subtle beauty.

Hayley even liked Amanda's ankles and her long, thin fingers. In short there wasn't any bit of flesh on Amanda that Hayley didn't find absolutely edible and worthy of worship and adoration. If Amanda would have allowed it she could have spent whole days just kissing and caressing every square inch of her. Hell, if it was possible Hayley would have gladly sacrificed everything else of value in her life and dedicated herself to pleasing Amanda twenty four/ seven.

But it wasn't just a physical infatuation for Hayley. Sure, Hayley obviously thought that Amanda was definitely beautiful in that regard almost to point of obsession, but a lot of girls were beautiful or at least pretty. Even in the shitty little town where they'd both spent almost their entire lives pretty girls were simply in abundance. This was a college town after all and if Hayley just wanted a pretty girl to hook up with there were plenty to be had and, to be completely honest, she wasn't exactly averse to taking advantage of that particular resource when the mood suited her or when Amanda was overly occupied with whatever boy had momentarily caught her fancy. Luckily she hadn't needed to do so for quite some time, but really that was neither here nor there. As far as Hayley was concerned no one even came close to Amanda because Amanda was far more than simply the sum of her admittedly very attractive parts.

And Hayley wasn't exactly ugly herself. In fact, she had been told by many people that she was quite pretty (or, as Amanda put it, fucking hot). She often rolled her eyes and blew such comments off because she was just that kind of girl, but that didn't stop it from being true. In fact, truth be told, she didn't look that much different from Amanda. Well, in a superficial way, really, but the resemblance was close enough that they were often mistaken for sisters or cousins.

Oh, Hayley was taller and a tad bit thicker (in a decidedly pleasant manner) and her shorter, constantly messier hair was dark brown when it wasn't dyed whatever random color happened to appeal at the time. Her breasts were also marginally larger than her friend's and she did have a bit more of a "booty". Otherwise they were similar enough that the comparisons weren't exactly unwarranted even though they occasionally got a tad tedious since they were often followed by unwanted come-ons from the creepy old men that generally made that assumption.

But, again, for Hayley her attraction to Amanda really wasn't simply based on an obsession with Amanda's beauty. No, it was Amanda's personality that had originally drawn Hayley in and it was that same personality that kept Hayley coming back for more.

The girl was just that perfect mixture of sweet and playfully naughty that made her too damned fun for her own good. Sure, she also had a bit of an evil streak that often came out when she thought someone was using her or what have you, but seeing as Hayley had never done anything to get on Amanda's bad side Hayley even found that side of her more than a little charming. Well, sometimes Hayley found herself forced to be the voice of reason when Amanda's inner demon got a little too out of control, but that was fine. Hell, more than once Amanda had had to do the same for her, so Hayley didn't really judge her for that.

But that was hardly it. Amanda was also perfectly goofy and impossibly lighthearted in way, that while occasionally frustrating, Hayley just couldn't help but love and even envy at times. Sure, that same inability to take anything too seriously was also the main reason Amanda was likely never to be more than just a "friend with benefits," but Hayley (mostly) didn't care if only because Amanda's bright beacon of a personality helped even out her own more dour and self doubting tendencies in much the same way that her more reasonable and even keeled thinking helped balance out Amanda's capriciously vicious side.

Hayley wasn't exactly charmless either. Sure, she was hardly the sprite that Amanda was when she was at her best, but she wasn't an introverted, humorless shut in either. Hell, she wouldn't exactly have bragged about it, but she was charming enough that she hadn't exactly gone wanting in the sex department before she met Amanda. Sure, that was hardly the only (or even the best) way to gauge charm, but it was one. Suffice it to say that she was a reasonable funny and friendly kind of girl who had more friends than enemies and was perfectly happy with that fact.

Of course, Hayley really couldn't have cared less about all that. As long as she had Amanda in her life she was happy. Not just because of the sex, either, though she definitely enjoyed that aspect quite a bit. No, even without that her friendship with Amanda was the kind that Hayley simply couldn't imagine being without. It was like they completed each other, like they were two halves of the same whole. They liked smoking weed, listening to the same music, watching the same TV shows, the same movies and, well just about anything you could think of beyond that one thing they didn't. And, yes, that one difference was a biggie, but so far it hadn't proven to be quite big enough to destroy what was easily the most cherished friendship either girl had ever had.

And it wasn't just Hayley that cherished their friendship. Amanda definitely returned Hayley's love in her own way. Sure, she obviously didn't return it quite like Hayley would have liked, but, honestly, it was Amanda's fault that Hayley was even still around town and not just because Hayley was an idiot for her beautiful and maddeningly confusing best friend. It was because Amanda had actually begged her on bended knee to stay and go to the local community college instead of running off to Clemson to go to school like she'd originally planned saying "Please? C'mon I know you wanna go and meet some hot southern chicks and have fun and all that shit, but I'll go fucking crazy without you here. I love you, Hayhay. You're my best friend. Don't be a jerk. Stay here with me. I mean once we both get jobs then we can get an apartment and we can party and get high and have fun and ... you know ... and c'mon, please don't go! I can't lose you! Don't be a bitch! I don't want to live with that asshole. Stay here and just have fun with me. You know you fucking want to."

She had, of course, been right. Despite the fact that she absolutely hated it when Amanda called her "Hayhay" Hayley did indeed want nothing more than to stay. She'd actually been more than a little depressed before Amanda had begged her not to leave because she had thought Amanda hadn't cared.

Not without reason, either, because before her confession Amanda had spent over half a month creating that illusion by acting like it was no big deal and, among other things, talking about how much fun she'd have getting a place with her boyfriend. She'd even briefly stopped hanging out with Hayley for a total of two and a half days. Sure, that might not seem like that big of a deal to some, but for them it was a small eternity. Hell, not counting a few funerals for out of state relatives and some family vacations that was easily the longest the two of them had been separated since they'd become friends and Hayley had been on the verge of panic before Amanda came clean about the true nature of her indifference.

Unsurprisingly, just finding out that Amanda had been sad because Hayley was planning on moving eight hundred miles away was enough to send Hayley straight into the stratosphere. Add in the fact that she'd also made it clear that she'd much rather live with Hayley than her boyfriend and it was easy to understand why Hayley signed up for the fall semester at the local community college the very next day. Hell, she would have done it that very night if it had been possible, but it was nine at night and after Amanda's admission she and Hayley found themselves somewhat preoccupied with trying to make each other come without Hayley's family overhearing.

Of course, when Hayley finally did get around to enrolling in the community college the next day Hayley's mother hadn't been all too pleased. As far as she was concerned Hayley was throwing away her future just to maintain some stupid high school friendship. Sure, her anger was partially assuaged by the fact that the CC was a good deal cheaper and that Hayley could always transfer her credits to the local (and reasonably prestigious) private college in a couple years if she took her studies seriously and she'd still be able to get the same degree (education), but her mother still made it clear to Hayley she wasn't pleased with the rashness of her decision while pointing out the obvious by saying "And how are you going to get an apartment when you're both unemployed? I'm not paying your rent for you if you're just going to be living across town, Hayley. I'm not paying your sister's rent, so why I should I pay for yours? And don't even think of asking your father 'cause you know he can't. He can barely make his own rent right now."

Her mother had admittedly had a point there and, sadly, a month later, neither of them had really been able to fix that. Sure, Amanda did get a job, but working three days a week at Hot Topic really didn't earn her enough money to pay rent, but it was better than the nothing Hayley was currently earning and Amanda was likely to get a bump in hours because her boss absolutely hated at least two of her co-workers.

Still, things were only getting rougher on the home front for Hayley and even Amanda's mother was hardly happy, but now that it looked like Hayley might finally be able to rejoin the ranks of employed after a short drought Hayley couldn't help but feel like they might actually be able to get an apartment sooner rather than later. Well, if Kasey was telling the truth they might have a chance anyway. Hayley loved Kasey, but that girl's guarantees didn't always pan out. Still, Hayley was definitely psyched about even the mere possibility as she entered Amanda's room after a moment of taking in her friend's enviable beauty. In fact, it was the main topic of conversation as Hayley settled onto Amanda's bed and just chilled out for a moment of cooling down from her long, hot bike while Amanda sparked the joint and Hayley looked at the app.

"So do you think I actually have a shot of getting a job there?" Hayley finally asked after they'd finished of the first joint while Amanda started to roll the second and Hayley made quick work of the app having memorized nearly everything about her previous job history over the last few months of filling out application after application while making use of her phone to remind her of the rest.

"Dude, who knows? I mean, she sounded really positive about it, but you know her. But ... you know, probably. I mean, even if it's not like a guaranteed thing like she says it's still worth a shot, right? What other leads do you have besides begging that pervy weirdo to let you go back to flipping burgers?" Amanda said referencing Hayley's most recent aborted attempt at employment.

"Dude, don't even go there. I can't even go to that fucking place anymore cause I'm afraid he's gonna beat off if in my food or something," Hayley said after a hard shiver thinking of the shift manager who had taken an immediate and very intense liking to her that was completely unaffected by Hayley's declaration that she was a lesbian.

"I really wouldn't stress on it, Hayley," Amanda said as she finished rolling and started fiddled with her iPod trying to find something to listen to. "I mean, I already told you that if nothing comes up I could totally hook you up with a job at the mall."

"Yeah, but when? I mean you've only been working at Hot Topic for like a month and you're still like barely working, so how the fuck am I supposed to make money there even if you can talk your boss into hooking me up?"

"Whatever. I already told you I'll be getting more hours soon and that dyke loves me, so just accept it," Amanda said as she finally settled on some Silver Mt Zion before taking the offered roach from Hayley's outstretched hand and scooted back to sit against her headboard.

"Dyke?" Hayley came back feigning offense at her friend's choice of words.

"Yeah, dyke. Don't even think of getting pissy about that. You know she totally is. Shit, she even calls herself a dyke," Amanda scoffed before snuffing the roach and automatically lighting the freshly rolled joint.

"Yeah, but still, you say it like it's an insult," Hayley came back.

"I do not. Well, okay, I kinda did, but whatever. She totally pissed me off last night, so fuck her. Well, actually don't 'cause she'd probably like that and she was being mean, so she can go to hell."

"Why?" Hayley asked and then regretted it as Amanda immediately started whining about her boss having the nerve to actually ask Amanda to do something besides sitting behind the counter chatting with her co-worker Carrie. Of course, Hayley listened just the same and even encouraged Amanda to continue bitching despite the fact that she inwardly agreed totally with Amanda's boss. Sure, this was in part because she knew that Amanda thought Carrie was cute and Hayley was therefore just a little jealous of their budding friendship, but it was also because Hayley knew her friend and she knew that she was an incredibly lazy person when she wanted to be.