Clean Slate
"Once upon this broken heart of mine…" I sing in a whisper. I looked up and saw Lilly read another tabloid.
"Lilly, why do you read that tabloid trash? They're nothing but lies," I tell her before taking a sip of my smoothie that was at hand.
It was another Saturday afternoon, and of course, Lilly and me were spending it at the beach, sitting at a table near Rico's.
"Hmm… 'Hannah Montana did fabulous at her last concert-,'" Lilly said before I cut her off.
"With the occasional glimmer of truth!" I said. I sat down in my seat and try to turn the magazine away from Lilly.
"Wait, you didn't let me finish," Lilly says, not letting me look at the magazine. "Too bad she's pregnant!' You didn't tell me you were pregnant! Best friends tell each other everything!"
"You have got to be kidding me," I picked up the magazine and read it to see for myself. Once I saw it was in there, I threw the magazine back on the table.
"I mean, sure, we haven't known each other forever, but SIXTH GRADE, Missy, SIXTH GRADE!" Lilly rambled. "So, who'd ya do it with? I didn't even know you had a boyfriend! Or was it a one night stand…" she pondered.
"Lilly-," I said, trying to knock some common sense into, but she gasped and cut me off.
"I bet it was at Hilary Duff's party last weekend, ya know? The one I couldn't go to because of the science fair project that was due that Monday."
"Lilly-," I attempt once again.
"It's okay Miley, we'll get you some help," Lilly says, giving me a hug. I let her a moment before I whacked her head.
"Oww! Hey, I'm trying to be supportive for you while you're pregnant," she says.
"I'm not pregnant!" I shout.
"But the-," Lilly says.
"Trash," I reply before she finishes.
"Ohhh…" she says.
We stayed silent for a minute after that little episode. Lilly continue to read the tabloid trash, against what I said. I didn't care. I sipped some more of my smoothie and waited for the next ridiculous article.
"Uh, oh…" Lilly says.
"What?" I ask, even though I know it's probably another Jake and Mikayla story.
"It says that Jake's movie is done and he's back in town for the premiere," Lilly says, waiting to see how I'll take it.
"Ptttss, like I care. We're friends, remember?" I said nervously.
"Yeah, friends. Friends who try to get their friend's co-star fired so he and that co-star won't be swapping spit across the universe!" Lilly exclaimed.
"Yeah, friends," I said, ignoring the last part.
"Come on, Miley. You still like him don't you?"
I didn't know how to answer that. I wasn't even sure if I liked Jake. Seriously, he's been gone for about half a year, he could have changed. All right Miley, just tell her the supposable true, with some of those acting skills for reassurance so she's drop the subject.
"Lilly, if I liked him, I'd tell you. We're best friends, since sixth grade," I said, smiling.
"True," Lilly said. I took another sip of my smoothie and looked back at Lilly. She was gaping at something in the distance.
I turned around and saw what she was gaping at. Jake was falling out of the sky in a parachute. He landed on the beach and took off his helmet, revealing his blonde hair, which was a bit shorter than last time. I also noticed he was wearing casual clothes. I turned around before he saw me.
"This is just like last time… sorta," I said.
"Yeah, déjà vu," Lilly says.
What do I do? Do I like him? Does he like me? Are we still just friends?
"What if he got down on his knees and begged you to take him back," Lilly says.
Huh? I turned around, and automatically looked to the ground, only to meet expensive leather shoes. I looked up and meet the eyes of my standing friend, Jake Ryan. I punched Lilly's shoulder before turning back to Jake.
"Hey…" I said.
"Hey," Jake replied.
"I… saw the parachute," I said, trying to make conversation.
"Yeah, it was fun last time, so…"
"Yep," I said. I think we have just reached a new level of awkward.
"Ugh! I am never going parachuting AGAIN!" came yell of a spoiled brat named Mikayla. She made her way to Jake's side and put her arm around his waist. So much for those penguins…
Jake removed Mikayla's arm from his waist and turned to her.
"Mikayla, I told you, I don't care what the director said, I'm not pretending to date you just to get the movie publicity."
Mikayla pouted. Lilly and I held back our laughter, and Jake gave me a genuine smile. Okay… maybe I do still like him…
"Well, Jake, I'll see at the premiere," Mikayla said, and strutted away. The three of us stood there silently. I gave Lilly a look.
"Well, I'll leave you two alone… to catch up… cause you're friends," Lilly says, hurrying off. She's horrible under pressure.
"So…" Jake says.
"So," I repeat. I wish I knew what I should tell him, and how to say it. I look down at my smoothie, which was still at hand. "Wanna get a drink at Rico's?" I ask.
"Sure, but think I'll get a soda. I had a bad experience with smoothies," Jake says, looking at me. I blushed.
"Yeah, sorry about that," I said, knowing he was talking about the time I dumped smoothie on him.
"It's alright," Jake says before ordering a soda. He pays the guy and gets his soda.
We walked back to the table that Lilly and I had been sitting at before. Jake and I sat down in silence, taking sips of our drink every now and then. I wasn't sure why no one had noticed that 'the Jake Ryan' was at the beach. Maybe people just didn't notice…?
"I missed you," Jake says, breaking the silence. I looked up from my smoothie and met his eyes.
"I missed you too… cause… ya know, friends- they miss each other and all," I said nervously.
"I thought of you," Jake continues. I saw where he was going with this.
"I thought of you too," I said.
"Miley, I should have never suggested being just friends, I see you as more," Jake says quickly, wanting me to know right now. YES! He likes me back!
"Same here, but I agreed to be friends cause I thought you didn't like me."
"I suggested we be friends because I thought you didn't like me!" Jake says. We laughed at our mistakes.
"So… Miley, would you go out with me again?" Jake asked. My mind dragged me to my past.
Flashback"Well if you didn't want to go out with me anymore, why didn't you just tell me? Instead of going all wooly mammoth at the premiere."
"Because, I was afraid that if I dumped you, you'd get so upset, and you'd… you'd-," I said on the verge of tears.
"What, tell your secret?" he asked softly. Then it was like someone took over him, he turned into a jerk. "Well if that's the kinda guy you think I am, maybe I will tell your secret."
-
"I can not believe what you did!" Jake said angrily walking in as soon as I opened the door.
"I guess I kinda ruined the friendship thing, huh?" I ask, fearing that I was right.
"Oh, well you sure didn't do it a whole a lot of good," Jake says, still mad. "Miley, if you were jealous, why didn't you just say something?"
"I was not jealous," I fought back, trying to retain some dignity.
"Oh Miley," Jake said, seeing right through me. How does he do that?"Okay fine, I was," I said quickly, raising my hands a bit in some sort of defense. I feel so weak.
"Man, you don't wanna be a couple, and- and when I try to be friends, you almost wreck my movie. What am I going to do with you?!"
"I don't know, maybe we should just forget about each other," I said, getting mad.
"Maybe we should," Jake replied right after.
"Fine!" I yell.
"Fine!" he repeats. Jake turned away, quickly walking out the door, just like the night we broke up.
End Flashback
"How…" I wonder aloud, "How do I know we won't have another argument?" Jake stayed silent for a minute, probably thinking of how to answer that.
"I don't… I don't know," he whispered. It broke my heart to see him look as sad as he did.
"What about… we start over?" I suggest.
"Huh?" Jake asks.
"Ya know? Like, start over- get to know each other better. A clean slate… nothing has ever happened between us."
"I'd like that," Jake says softly. I smiled.
"Alright then," I said, and paused. "Hi, I'm Miley Stewart." I held my hand out to greet him.
"Hi," he says, shaking my hand. "I'm Jake Ryan, but you probably already knew that, since I am a superstar and all." He flashed his 'million dollar grin' I laughed, and jokingly pushed his shoulder.
"Nice to me you."
We started walking down the beach as the sun was setting.
"So, do you like Hannah Montana?" I asked.
"Like her? She's a friend of mine. She's been on my old show, Zombie High before. I love her music. My favorites are 'If We Were A Movie,' and 'One In A Million,'" Jake says.
"Really? I heard she wrote them for someone special."
A/N: Hope I didn't disappoint anyone with this one-shot. I got the idea and thought it was short and cute.
BTW: Liz and me put up a JILEY SITE on freewebs. Check it out: freewebs dot com /jileyxforever/