"Tell me a story," the teenager sitting across from me requested. She was young, full of life, actually she reminded me so much of myself when I was her age. Clueless, in a search for whatever was missing, not knowing what she was even looking for. I nodded, rubbing my hand over my cheek, feeling the creases of wrinkles there.
"Okay," I smiled at her as her eyes waited. "There was a boy, and a girl. They were young..."
They were both on a journey to fame, both seeking it, needing it. They were destined for only greatness and neither would settle for less. This teenage girl sought the fame first, grabbing it and rejoicing all of it. She was thankful for it, humble, strong faith, and the biggest act in America. Then, she met a boy named Nick and his two brothers, they became best friends in an instant. They were both stars of Disney, singers, famous, and blessed. Their friendship persevered everything that the two of them went through.
Each rumor, they stood by each other's sides, supporting each other, leaning on one another. They told the other secrets that were the darkest, stayed up together to the hours of morning, and were texting every second of everyday.
Well, as most best friends that close do of the opposite sex they developed feelings for each other. It wasn't long until they started dating, only thirteen years old and in love. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that this was a young love, they already knew how it felt to be in love. That's why they were afraid, they were going through the feeling so young.
She helped him climb higher in his career, putting the boy's band on her hit TV show, performing a duet with him, sitting with him at awards shows, talking him up, anything she could to make him live his dream. Which is why she kept them from the paparazzi on their managers request, even though her own told her that she should tell the public about him and hers relationship.
Then, when the news that she had an upcoming tour came to her attention, she talked to the tour manager and had his band come with. That's what really built up their fame, that tour that she demanded they come on for opening act. Tickets sold out in mere seconds, she set so many records. But as soon as all the good had come, it faded away.
Midway through the tour the fights began. They were daily. She would yell she hated him, he would cuss her out, then that night before the performance began everything would be back to normal between them, a good luck kiss before the show normally opened. One day, it stopped. She walked over to apologize and he only yelled some more. A single tear fell when a half hour later, they were no longer together. December 28th, 2007 was the date of their break up. Thousands of people memorized the date, and cherished it with their hearts.
As quickly as their relationship had begun, he moved on. She would call him everyday for a month straight along with his brothers, trying to keep the friendship they had, but they not once answered. And finally, she stopped trying. For their sake, she decided to let them go. She became best friends with her backup dancer, Mandy. She was there through everything, and she slowly put Miley's life back together. Then, in spring her next downfall occurred. She was hacked.
Her private pictures that she had taken months ago for Nick became public pictures that the world despised. She was no longer a fifteen year old girl, but a woman who should have known better, who should have set a good example. She lost so many fans, cried herself to sleep so many nights because even though it was Nick who demanded her to take them, who got the blame? Her.
She decided to put out a song called '7 Things' earlier than the rest of her new CD later that week. The song was about hating a boyfriend. You're vain, your games, you're insecure, you love me you like her. You made me laugh, you made me cry, I don't know which side to buy. Your friends they're jerks when you act like them just know it hurts, I want to be with the one I know. And the seventh thing I hate the most that you do... you make me love you. Those are the very words in the song. It was about that boy, Nick.
As the months dragged on it became clear that the whole band who used to be her best friends had left. She was young and naive, it was never love and she began to doubt if the situation really happened. Maybe it was nothing but a dream. They had new girls that replaced her. It was blatant that was their purpose. They brought Demi on their next tour, they were the guest stars in her movie. Nick started to date Selena and they talked up the two of them. They were always spotted with them, even moved to Texas, the state that they both came from. Kevin – the oldest brother, twenty – wore a shirt in bold gold letters saying Team Demi and Selena. That was the hardest hit she had gotten, because even though they had all ignored her, they hadn't actually attacked her before. It became clear that everything was over between them.
The summer seemed to never end, and finally the day that their album came out was the day that she decided she had to pick herself up and move on. They weren't going to come back, it was obvious. She had to stop depending on the past and come to reality. It was the most painful thing that she had ever suffered, but eventually her Dad introduced her to Justin. Another guy who was older than her, much older actually – five years – but she was so desperate for love that she didn't care. She became friends with him and they started dating soon after. He followed after her everywhere, and while some thought that he was much too clingy she found him perfect. He was always there to the point that he couldn't leave, and though she was not in love him it was what she needed. To be able to trust someone with her heart. He was however, no Nick, Joe, or Kevin.
In the next few months, he did make her happy too. She wore that smile that everyone loved, but it was real instead of glued on. She laughed more, lived more, dreamed more. He brought back the old Miley that everyone missed, but somehow they both knew that they were not in love. Because as much as Justin would try, they knew that he could never replace that young, arrogant, teenage heartbreaker. Yet, they stayed together.
In fall, one of her close friends started to date Nick's brother. She was okay with it, she was still happy for her. Then, his brother, Joseph broke her heart in a twenty seven second phone call. No longer, no shorter. She called Miley crying, and Miley comforted her all night, accompanied her at award shows teaching her friend where to sit, how to avoid them. Although Taylor may have been older, Miley was much wiser.
Then, finally, on her sixteenth birthday she broke down. She couldn't take it. A year from then they were both on tour together, happy, like a family. They were planning out that day, thinking of how cool it would be and how to celebrate Miley's Sweet Sixteen when now they couldn't bare to make eye contact. Even worse, they were in the same room, only a few rows separating them at an award show but they couldn't even mumble a 'happy birthday'. She got many, but she was really only waiting for theirs and though she saw none coming, it still hit her hard when nothing was heard. She cried herself to sleep.
A single month later, it was New Year's Eve of '09. She was hosting a television show, while they were performing at Times Square. She didn't know it then, but they were watching her on TV in the dressing room they had. They watched her smile, bring joy in her performance, but they also watched her stay strong. Not once during the year had she even discreetly attacked them. When her boyfriend was harmlessly mentioned, it stabbed them all in the heart to be reminded of how much things had changed. Just 367 days ago, she had been dating Nick. All three of he boys had their regrets on letting her go.
A few months later Selena had ended it with him, insisting that it wasn't going to work out between them because of Miley. He could not get over her, and she couldn't keep trying to live up to the standards that she had set. They were simply too high for any girl but Miley to meet. She didn't want to be a shadow.
As for Justin, Miley ended things with him, sick of the game. She thanked him for building her up again to be strong enough to stand on her own, she owed him one, but then she told him that all good things come to an end. That their relationship had to have one, but that she hoped that they could honestly still be really close friends, she didn't want to loose him. She knew exactly what the pain of that would feel like already, she had experienced it once before.
Well, as quickly as destiny had set them apart, all good stories have to have a happy ending, right? Their's happens six months later, in June Disney decided that maybe they should perform their duet again, to clear the rumors that were still spreading, over a year and a half later. They had been getting a lot of bad press lately, their romance somehow seemed bigger than every single adult celebrities, youtube having still getting hits on it, teenagers and tweens lives revolving around getting them back together. It was overwhelmingly popular. It was scheduled for a week, mandatory performance. Their filming was canceled for this.
So the two teams each walked into the venue, heading towards their dressing rooms. Tension was spread throughout the building, not only for the stars either. The show was most anticipated of the year, setting records for fastest selling tickets. There were people who came from across the country just to see this show, just to see the two perform together again, on the same stage. It could be the last time, don't ya know?
Backstage was even worse. The nervousness radiating off of the four people was incredible, growing as the time came for their soundcheck. There was only one glance at them from Miley, but many towards her. She got directed on what to do then they finally finished, choreography worked out, the words memorized. She was ready for the easy part – performing. She made a mental note not to kiss Nick's cheeks like she had use to do out of habit.
Miley headed to the food table while the boys watched her talk to her sister, laughing and joking. Finally, she grabbed a water bottle, sitting on a step to the stage, her sister disappearing. Joe gave a his brothers a nod as if to say 'now's our chance', and all three of them walked over to her. She looked up from her texting at the sight of three pairs of shoes less than inches away from her own.
"Hey, Miley," Joe bit his lip. She continued to stare. "Um, how are you?"
"Fine," the girl shrugged them off, just like that, going back to her texting. Kevin sighed. They had made a mistake. In fact, it could have been the biggest mistake possible for them to make, that they would ever make.
"We deserve that," he admitted.
"Mhm," she knew exactly what they deserved as well, and she wasn't going to give them any more or any less.
"Can you please, hear us out?" Joe was begging, and even she knew after a year and a half that Joseph never begged. Not to his Mom, not to his brothers, never in his life would he had ever begged except for under these circumstances. He would beg to get his best friend back.
She sighed, there seemed to be a lot of that going on,"You have three minutes of my undivided attention."
"To start, we're sorry," Kevin was the one to start their timer. "we didn't want it to end up this way. We didn't ever plan this."
"You were our best friend, and we missed you. We really did, but somehow things got off track."
"We stopped talking to you because we were afraid - "
"That you'd be mad," Joe added, helping.
"You were never for one second forgotten."
"We just want to... start over," Joe let out a breath. Their apology was rough and cheesy which made them even more nervous.
Miley looked at him with curious eyes, she still did not understand. "How can we do that?"
Joe grinned and stuck out his hand. "Hey, I'm Joe."
Kevin was next. "I am Kevin. Nice to meet you."
Giggling at their nonsense the young but older, naive but wiser, sixteen year old shook their hands. "I'm Miley." Somehow, just like that two friendships were mended. After a few minutes they left, leaving Miley with Nick. She didn't expect this, glancing up at him only once before returning to texting.
"You aren't getting my undivided attention," she told him that, but he already knew.
"I know," was all he said. "I'm sorry, Miley. I really, really am. This is my fault, and I'm aware of that. But I never got over you." He paused, fumbling with the package in his pocket. It was obvious that he still cared for her, and he gently set that, and a packet of papers and envelopes down next to her before leaving with his brothers.
Slowly, Miley opened two of the envelopes, reading the content. They were dated all the way back to January, 2008. The first, actually. Three days after they broke up. It was a letter to her, expressing his true feelings. Each of the hundreds of stapled papers were songs, some love, some heartbroken. She knew that he had wrote them, the handwriting said it all. Somehow, in that moment, she realized what they used to be, and somehow, she also knew...
"That they would be okay, they would make it through," I finished, opening my eyes to peer into the blue ones of one so young.
"Is that about you?" the awed teenager asked. I nodded, confident. You wouldn't guess it anymore, the only thing I had left was my children and the same blue eyes that Nick had once loved, although they were worn to a gray now. "What happened to you and Nick?"
"Well, we got married a few years later, and had two kids. My fame died down in my mid-twenties and I went into movies before producing and now, as you know, I'm back to acting as the old lady," I let out a wink.
"Where's Nick now?"
"Oh," I sighed. "He died many years ago, I'm afraid. It was from old age, but his last action was a kiss, and an 'I love you', then I watched his heart rate monitor formed a straight line."
"I'm sorry," Peyton looked down before looking up with a smile. "Did you love him?"
"Very much. He was my savior through it all, I will always love him," I nodded, remembering our childhood in my mind. It was a good one.
"That was an amazing story. I'm glad I heard it."
"I thought so too... I'm glad I lived it."
I actually really liked this one [; review it and tell me what you think ? thanks! [;
