Hey guys' what is going on? This story was in my head and I'm sure as all of you know you just have to get it out. So this is the first chapter. Hannah does NOT exist, but Miley's world does. So please enjoy the first chapter. :) Also its a Liley (Lilly and Miley) and if you do not like that then you do not have to read. :)
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
--x--
"Miles? Come on bud, time to go…"
"Okay Daddy, I'll be there in a sec." I turn to look at my Father, Robbie Ray Stewart, a good man. Standing a good six feet tall, tan skin from working in the Tennessee sun, soft brown eyes, with small wrinkles around them, a warm smile, and medium length golden brown hair. He is well respected and well liked, when he is not telling jokes.
My Father nods silently and walks out of the room. I turn my gaze back towards the empty house, even though it is not completely empty. There is an old rug on the floor in the living room, on top of that a worn out coffee table, surrounded by torn, loved, fabric couches and chairs. I let out a sigh as I walk down the hall, my feet echoing off the wooden floor. I let my feet lead my way as I look down at the object of my affection, in my hands right now, an old teddy bear. I call him Beary. He's my companion, my best friend, everything I could ask for. I stand outside the white painted door frame and peer into the empty play room. I take a timid step in and bite on my bottom lip, trying to stop the constriction in my throat, and the stinging in my eyes. I walk into the middle of the room and just look around, clutching Beary to my chest. There are old marks on the walls from where posters and pictures used to hang and dust lined up on the floor from where old furniture used to lie. Bare hooks and nails hang from the walls and the sun is shining brightly into the room creating streaks of light and making all the dust flying around the room visible, making it harder to breathe.
"Why'd she have to go Beary?" I pull the old teddy bear away from my chest and make Beary look me in the eyes, his own black ones staring right at me. I get no answer. "I thought so." I pull Beary into a hug and let a few tears fall onto his yellow brown fur. "I miss her Beary. I'm always going to miss her, but I'm always going to remember and love her, right?" I pull Beary away again and look at him. Wanting him to answer all my unanswered questions. He just looks at me. "Thank you Beary," I pull Beary close to me again. "Even though you can't talk back, its nice to be able to talk to someone and hold on to somebody, to have someone there for you…because sometimes teddy bears are all that we have." I stroke Beary's fur and let a few more tears slip out as I wish I was hugging Momma. I try to control my sobs. It's almost been a week and I'm still broken up. I look around the room, knowing its going to be for the last time. And I remember everything.
All my memories are going to be here, but I won't be. Someone else is going to come in and my memories will be forgotten here, while they are just making theirs. In the same room. The room Momma and I would play for hours, singing, dancing, playing board games, sharing stories, telling each other jokes, laughing. My gosh. Mom's laugh, I love her laugh, I love her voice. She had an amazing voice, we would always argue on who had the better voice me or her. She would always tell me "Baby girl, don't start an argument with your Momma because in the end…you know ya gonna lose." Then a big smile would form on her face and her blue eyes would shine bright, her dark brown hair would cascade down her shoulders. She was a goddess, beautiful and amazing. I loved her sense of humor. She was funny in all different kinds of ways. She could get the saddest people to smile and the most hated to love. She was just Momma.
But that's gone now. It will all be gone soon. The memories in this room would just have to travel in my heart now, along with a few pictures and videos here and there. I turn to walk out of the room, pausing at the doorframe. I look closely and see the white paint is slightly chipped and banged up, I let go of Beary, with one hand, and bring it to my lips placing a kiss on my fingertips, then I place it on the doorframe. "I love you Momma…" I choke back a sob as my hand moves up and down on the old wood, feeling all the bumps in grooves. I want to remember forever. This was our room and always will be, no matter who moves in. "…Goodbye Momma." I turn without looking back, tears falling freely now, and exit the room.
I walk down the hallway and refuse to lift my head. Time seems to go in slow motion, as this is the last walk I will be having in this house. This house I grew up and lived in for twelve years. My whole life. I know nothing other. My feet scrape across the floor as I reach the front door. My hand slowly reaches the knob and with a deep breath I turn the doorknob and walk out of the house that I will never walk back into. I walk down the front porch steps and onto the dirt driveway, sand kicking up behind me. I see the moving van, gas is pouring form the exhaust, and quickly it is gone, my gaze moves to the car that was behind it and I see my Father leaning against it, and my older brother, Jackson in the front seat. His head is down, his blonde hair almost covering his eyes; Momma was supposed to give him a haircut. "Everything okay bud?" My Father kicks off the car and walks over to me placing his strong hand on my shoulder and giving it a light squeeze.
"Yeah Dad, I'm fine. Let's go." I can't take the tears and pain anymore, I need to get away. My Father walks me to the car and opens the back door for me. I hop in and strap my seatbelt on, quickly pulling Beary in my arms again. Next to me are brown boxes filled to the top with some of our belongings. My car door closes lightly next to me and I see my Father run around the car to get into the driver side. He gets in and starts the engine. To me what used to be a powerful roar sounded like a weak squeak. My Father puts his seatbelt on and puts the car in drive. He looks at Jackson, but he makes no eye contact, then he looks into his rearview mirror, I'm guessing looking at me, I give him a sad smile, he's just trying to do the right thing for us. I look away as I feel the car jerk slowly, knowing it's now moving. My Dad mumbles something about how this will be good for us, how we need a change, something different, and everything will be okay. As we drive away I do my best to turn around and look at our house, getting smaller in the distance. I whisper quietly to myself. "Goodbye Tennessee."
--x--
I think my brother is either turning gothic, emo, or just completely mute. He has not said a word to my Father or me in the whole car ride. And trust me, it has been a long ride. My heart really reaches out to Jackson; he was pretty close to Momma, but not really. He is a guy so he did spend most of his time with Daddy, but that does not mean he loved him more than her, he loved them both equally. But I do think now he wishes he spent more time with Momma. Lets face it he is older than I am, he probably remembers way more about her than I do. I betcha he even feels guilty too…but it wasn't his fault. It was never his fault, it can't be, he is too young, he didn't know any better.
Sitting in the back seat of the car is not fun, especially when there are plenty filled boxes right next to you and every time the car turns they lean on you. Beary sits lazily on my lap, one of my arms is resting on his stomach, and my other hand is propped up on the window, my cheek resting in my hand. I maneuver slightly in my seat, boy do I need to stand my legs, back, and butt are starting to hurt, but I think we are almost there. I pretty much gazed out the window the whole time; it was quite interesting too, especially when the radio was playing. We went from country music as we were driving by the never ending hills of the south, and then it turned urban when we went through some cities, and now it's more of a pop sound as we enter our destination in California, nothing like a little theme music to set the theme.
I don't know exactly what I'm feeling right now. I mean what should I be feeling? Sad? Upset? Angry? The only thing I really know is that I'm confused at how I should feel. I know I should be sad, my Mom just died and we are moving, but I'm not, should I be upset that we just dropped everything and everyone that we knew and loved to start a new life here, should I be angry at my Daddy for making this decision that obviously effects Jackson and I so much? I don't know. I have an I don't know feeling. I feel hollow empty. I don't really know what to think or feel it's like I'm numb. Yeah I'm sorta sad, but I'll move on, yeah I'm sorta upset, but I just have to stay positive to make the situation better, okay honestly I'm sorta angry at my Father from running away from a situation when you need family close, but hey that is how he deals with things. I start to stroke Beary's fur as I let out a sigh I don't know what to feel anymore.
I see my Father look at me in his rearview mirror, then at Jackson, who has his neck turned strongly out the window, that boy is going to give him the worst stiff neck of his life. "Oh come on guys, cheer up," My Father smiles and gets all bubbly. "We're in California, do you know how many people wanna visit here, and you get to live here?" No actually I don't. I could tell you I never really had a desire to come here. My Father looks between Jackson and I briefly as he has to keep his eyes on the road. I feel bad he just trying to lighten the mood. Sorry Dad. "Everything is going to be okay guy's, you're gonna have no worries, you'll make tons a friends at school and you are going to have a blast visiting the beach everyday."
I look down at Beary then up at my Father, a small smile creeping on my face. "Y'know what Daddy, your right." Dad looks back in his rearview mirror and smiles at me. "We are gonna have a great time here. It's a new place, new environment, new people; we get a chance to start all over, be different, yet the same. We are gonna have a good time here, aren't we Jackson?" I look at Jackson and all he could do is shrug.
"I guess." Jackson turns his neck slowly and looks both at Dad and me smiling widely at him. I'm shocked that is the most the boy had said since we left. Jackson then looks at me and I give him a stern look. C'mon Jackson be happy, at least for Dad. I think he gets the message and then he smiles. "Y'know what? Yeah, yeah we are going to have a good time. The Three Musketeers, everything is going to be great." Jackson smiles bopping his head up and down as he talks, and squeaking at every other word, ha his voice is breaking. My Dad smiles and wiggles in his seat, I guess trying to get all the kinks out of his back.
"Now that's the spirit." My Dad's mood just got a little brighter and in return so did mine. He then says something in about two more hours we will reach our destination. He continues to drive happily humming to whatever song is playing on the radio and Jackson is no more of a Debbie Downer. I lean back in my seat but sit up to turn around and look behind me. I see nothing but the road, cars and their angry drivers. I look past them on the horizon and at everything I lost back home in Tennessee.
--x--
The houses all look the same, each and every one of them, accept they are different colors. We finally got off the exit and now we are driving in my new neighborhood looking for our house, I think my Dad mentioned something about it being on the beach. I guess that's cool. I look around at all the sidewalks and the people walking, skating, running, and biking on them. This is all new to me. I don't think I'll get used to having neighbors who live so close. In Tennessee you had acres of land before you reached another house. It was nice and private. Here does not seem too private. In my opinion everyone seems to be in each others way. I roll down my window and stick my head outside, I could smell the ocean, it smells good, I love the ocean, well the smell and the sound anyway, I'm not to keen on swimming. I place Beary to the side of me away from the window and place both my arms on the door; I then rest my head on my arms and look up towards the sky. I don't think the sky is as blue here as it is in Tennessee, if that is possible, I mean it's the same sky right?
I feel the car slow down as it makes a turn. "Okie dokie," My Dad puts the car in park and kills the engine; I guess we pulled into our driveway. I look at our house from the car; it's nice, pretty big, and white. My Father jumps out of the car with Jackson following behind, just not as eager as Dad. I sigh and unbuckle my seatbelt and getting out of the car, leaving Beary behind. I stretch and look around before joining my Dad and brother on our front porch. Dad places his hands on each of mine and Jackson's shoulders. "Welcome to Malibu." I guess my new life starts now.
--x--
I walk around my room. My new room. It's big, a little too big. I don't have that much stuff. And compared to Jackson's room it's like a little apartment. My bare feet make little pounding noises on the ground, and I feel my skin stick to the wooden floor when I lift it. I look all around my new room. It's empty. All expect for a bed, a few sheets, pillows, and Beary; we'll bring in more furniture tomorrow. Facing my bed, I turn, and notice a balcony. Why did I get this room? Curious I walk over to the doors and open them, taking a step outside. The beach wind blows across my face and the Malibu sun warms my cheeks. I walk over to the railing and rest my arms on them looking out onto the beach. It's pretty packed, probably because it is the weekend. There are some people lounging on the beach, tanning, talking, some our out in the ocean, some surfing, others swimming. The sun is low, almost time for sunset, I love sunsets. I wonder if they are different here then when they are in Tennessee.
"How's everything going bud?" I turn my head to see my Dad, already in my room, and making his way out towards me to the balcony. He joins me and rests his hands on the railing. He looks down at me with questioning worry eyes.
"It's good Daddy. I'm okay." I smile at him and a small one forms on his lips he reaches up with one hand and rubs my back.
"It will be okay Darling." He looks back out at the beach. "Everything is gonna be great here you'll see Miles. I know right about now, you and Jackson probably resent me a little bit-"
"We could never resent you Daddy." I cut him off. His hand then moves over my back to my shoulder giving it a soft squeeze.
"Thank you Darling, but lets face it, moving was probably not in your agenda, and I'm sorry Miley, I didn't want to do it, I just…after your Mother died," I look down and away from my Dad at the mention of my Mother, that wound still too new. "I just needed a change Miles, something different, y'know? I just, kept seeing her everywhere, and in everything that we did, it was too hard to stay." Now it was my Father's turn to look down. I looked up at him. His voice grew weak and I could see tears behind his eyes, I doubt he would let them fall, he never cries, well never that I have seen anyway. He sniffs lightly, and I reach my hand out to place on top of his and give it a light squeeze. He looks at me and smiles, I give him one back. "And a plus is you are starting middle school, and Jackson is starting high school, right at the same time as everybody else, so you guys should fit in just fine." I don't answer. I just nod my head. Just because Jackson and I are starting different schools just like everybody else, does not mean we will be fine. I mean I betcha these kids grew up with each other, there is no way we could ever fit in. "Hey I gotta idea, whadya say me, you, and your brother go check out the beach?" I smile at him and agree.
--x--
Jackson, my Dad, and I all make our way down the beach, our flip flops kicking back sand, causing it to stick to the back of our legs. I look around at everyone else, and it doesn't seem like they have the same problem we are having. Is there a trick to walking in flip flops? We make our way to the main part of the beach and take our flip flops off, walking in the sand as the waves come up and gently brush our feet. The water is cold, at first hit it feels like ice, but you get used to it. Not much is said between the three of us, we are pretty much sight seeing, although there is not much to sight see on a beach. The only thing really sticking out here is the abandoned shack all boarded up. After awhile we decide to head back, the beach is less cluttered then when I saw earlier probably because it is starting to get late, the sun just started to set.
Our backs turned to the water we make our walk back up the beach, to where that old shack is. I look up and sitting there is a girl, probably about my age, laughing at something some boy, I'm guessing my age too, said. Her head is tilted back as she laughs; causing her blonde hair to fall down her back, the boy with a dark brown hair and a bowl like hair cut has a big smile on his face. As we get closer, I cannot help but keep my eyes on the two of them. I hear the boy speak up. "It's true!" His voice squeaking slightly.
The girl stops her laughing fit and turns back to look at her friend. "Sure Oliver, but you should never believe what you hear…without evidence of course." The boy rolls his eyes and sulks in his chair, the girl obviously not buying what he said. She turns away from him and her eyes land on me. We lock eyes and as me and my family walk past them she follows my gaze all the way, until we cannot look anymore, so I turn away. My gosh did she have blue eyes. As Dad, Jackson and I make our way off the beach I turn around, looking at the sunset, but catching the gaze of the blonde girl instead. A small smile forms on her lips and I smile back at her, as the sun sets behind her. Y'know maybe, just maybe, sunsets are better here then they are in Tennessee.
--x--
Well, that was chapter one :), a little bit of an intro for Miley. Hope you guys' like it so far and if you do I'll see you all next chapter. Till then :).