Oliver Oken was going crazy. He was in love with his best friend and didn't know what to do about it. He wanted to tell her, but he was afraid if he did she wouldn't like him back and it would ruin the friendship. Of course if she did like him back and they started dating, what would happen if they broke up? He just figured telling her was the last thing he should do.
So he tried getting over her. He tried for a whole stinkin' year to get over her. All that happened was he fell even harder for her. What was he to do now? Be madly in love with her, never tell her, and see her end up with someone else, leaving him heart broken? Oliver Oken was going crazy. He needed to do something about it.
Oliver spotted his brunette friend ordering a soda from Rico's. Oliver gulped, got up from his seat, and walked over to her.
"Um...h-hey Miles" Oliver said, nervously. "C-can I talk to you?"
"Sure Oliver!" Miley said cheerfully. She saw the look on his face and frowned. "Is something wrong?"
"Yes, no...I dunno!" he said in exasperation, throwing his hands in the air. "I need to talk to you."
He pulled her aside to a secluded table away from the rest of crowd. He took a deep breath as they sat down. They sat there in silence. Oliver stared at the table top with a frown on his face. Miley stared at her friend in confusion.
"Soooooooooooo, you needed to talk to me..." she said.
"M-Miley...I don't know how to say this but…"he stuttered. "I-I like someone."
"Oliver! That's great!" she said cheerfully.
"No it's not." He said, looking up at her. "Miley, I'm in love with my best friend!"
Miley's cheerful expression vanished. She now looked like a deer caught in headlights.
"Oh Oliver, I- I don't...you know Jake and I are..."
Oliver stared at his babbling friend in confusion, then realization dawned on him. He started laughing.
"Not you!!!" He said laughing. "I'm talking about Lilly!"
"Oh thank God!" Miley said in relief. She frowned. "What's so funny about liking me?!"
"N-nothing!" He said, still snickering. "Just the look on your face was priceless."
"Mmhmm." She hummed, raising an eyebrow. Then her face lit up and she yelled out happily. "OH MY GOSH! LILLY! I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT!!!"
"Just let the whole the world know it why don't you!!!!" he sneered at her, as people stared at them.
"Oh sorry!" she said, giggling. She whispered "I so knew you liked her!"
"Is it that obvious?" he asked, with worried look on his face.
"Yes, but don't worry, I don't think she has a clue."
Oliver let out a sigh of relief.
"But what should I do?" he asked in desperation.
"Tell her" Miley said simply.
"I can't!"
"Yes you can." Miley said. "All you have to do is walk up to her and say 'Lilly, I'm madly in love with you. Now kiss me baby before I lose my mind!!!'"
Oliver stared at his friend blankly.
"How much sugar have you had today?"
"Oh, just a few pieces here and there." Miley said, with a guilty look on her face. "But enough about me, let's talk about Lilly. Tell her!!!"
"But..."
"Oliver, look. You really should tell her. She's been kind of down lately, thinking no one likes her." Miley said. "She's always saying that a dozen guys like me, and no one likes her. I think she's starting to think she's not good enough or pretty enough for anyone."
"What? That's not true!" Oliver exclaimed. "Any guy would be lucky to have her! She's amazing! Beautiful!"
"You know that, and I know that, but she doesn't know that." Miley said. "She needs someone, like you, to tell her."
"No." Oliver said, flat out.
"But Oliver! Why not?" Miley whined.
"Because it will ruin the friendship." Oliver said.
"Well if that isn't the most cliched excuse I ever heard!" Miley exclaimed. "You just don't want to tell her cuz you're chicken!"
"That's not-"
"BOCK BOCK BOCK!!!" Miley clucked, folding her arms like chicken wings and flapping them. People stared over at them.
"Would you quit it!!!" Oliver said, pushing her arms down at her sides. "Look, if she doesn't like me it'll just make things awkward between us. If she does like me and we get together, and then break up we'll end up hating each other. I don't want to lose her friendship."
Miley gave an understanding smile.
"Oliver, your friendship is stronger than that." She said sympathetically. "Trust me, if you break up it will be on friendly terms. You won't end up hating each other. You already know everything about each other. There's nothing else for you to find out about each other to hate each other. And if she doesn't like you back, maybe things will be a little awkward but you're too important to each other to just throw away your friendship like that. You guys have been friends for over 10 years. Neither of you will throw away your friendship."
"You think so?" Oliver asked hopefully.
"I know so." Miley said. "Look at me and Jake! We decided to be friends after dating each other, and it worked out...eventually. Yours and Lilly's friendship is much deeper than ours." Miley raised an eyebrow and looked at Oliver. "Besides, now Jake and I are back together and have been so successfully for a year."
Oliver smiled.
"I guess you're right." Oliver said. "I'll tell her...someday."
"How about now?" Miley said, pointing over towards Rico's. Lilly was ordering a hot dog from Jackson.
"I-I was thinking more like in another year." Oliver said nervously.
"No time like the present." Miley said, diving into some bushes.
"Miley get back here!" Oliver sneered at the bushes. "Don't do this to me!"
"Oliver? Uh...why are you talking to those bushes?"
Oliver's head snapped up and saw Lilly standing there. He laughed nervously.
"Just, you know, helping them to grow. You know talking to plants helps them grow, and that's what I was doing...helping them grow." Oliver babbled.
"Ooooookay." Lilly said, sitting down. Lilly started eating while Oliver sat there in silence. A small rock collided with Oliver's head.
"OW!!!" he yelled.
"What?" Lilly asked.
"Nothing...I just...get random headaches." he said. He turned to sneer at the bushes. "Now and then."
Miley's head was peaking out from the bushes. She mouthed to Oliver. "Tell her." Then ducked behind the bushes before Lilly turned to look at whatever Oliver was staring at.
"You're um...really interested in that bush, aren't you?" she asked.
"No, just infuriated with it!" He sneered at the bush.
"Right." she said. "Something tells me I don't want to know."
Oliver continued glaring at the bush. Lilly sighed and put her hot dog down.
"Oliver, what's wrong with me?" she asked.
"Huh?" he said, turning his attention to her.
"Why doesn't anybody like me? Is there something wrong with me?" she asked.
"Of course not!" Oliver said.
"Then why don't any guys like me?" she asked sadly.
Another rock hit Oliver in the head.
"HEY!" Oliver said, turning his attention back to the bush. Miley gave him a "Tell her now or I'm throwing a bigger rock at you" look and ducked out of sight. Lilly looked from Oliver to the bush in confusion. Oliver gave her a sheepish smile.
"Lilly," he said softly. "Somebody does like you."
Lilly gasped.
"Really? Who? Who? Who?" She exclaimed.
"Well, for one he's not an owl." Oliver laughed.
"Shut up and tell me." She said, slapping him on the arm.
"How can I shut up and tell you at the same time?" Oliver said.
Lilly shot him a look.
"Just tell me you donut!"
"Well, he's not sure he wants you to know. You might think it's weird."
"Oh gross! It's not Jackson, is it?" She asked in horror.
Oliver cracked up.
"No." He said.
"Then tell me!!!" she said.
"Well..."
"Is he hot?"
"Is he hot?" Oliver laughed. "He invented the word hot."
Lilly shot him a weird look.
"I mean, that's what all the ladies say" Oliver said, embarrassed.
"Is he funny?"
"Hilarious."
"Smart?"
"Genius!"
"Is he a great guy?"
"Only the greatest!"
"Hmmmm...who do I know who fits that description?" Lilly wondered out loud.
Oliver frowned.
"I'm sure you can think of somebody." he sneered.
"Can't you just tell me already?!" she asked as another rock hit Oliver upside the head.
"Ouch! Okay, we can play hangman with his name." Oliver sneered at the bush.
"Oliver, just tell me." Lilly whined.
"Come on, it'll be fun." Oliver said, pulling out paper and a pen from his backpack. He was really hoping she wouldn't figure it out. He was also hoping it would stall Miley from throwing rocks at him until he figured something else out.
"Fine." Lilly muttered.
"Okay, you get a head, a body, two arms, and two legs." Oliver said.
"Oh come on!" Lilly said. "I should at least get hair too!"
"Fine." Oliver said as another rock hit him in the head.
"And you can't forget a face."
"Face counts as one."
"And shoes"
"Shoes count as one also." Oliver said. "Now let's get started already."
Oliver drew six spaces, the gallows, and a box for the wrong letters on the paper, Lilly stared at the six spaces.
- - - - - -
"A?"
"Nope!" Oliver said cheerfully, writing "a" in the box and drawing a head on the gallows.
"She'll never get this" he thought, cheerfully.
"E?" she asked.
"Yes." he sneered frowning, writing down the letter e.
- - - - e -
"I?"
Oliver grunted and wrote i down.
- - i - e -
"I should've known she'd pick vowels first." Oliver thought. "And over half the letters of my name are vowels."
"O?" Lilly asked.
"Yes." Oliver hissed, writing the O down, sneering.
O - i - e -
"U?" Lilly asked.
"Yes!" Oliver cried in exasperation, thinking she said "You?". He banged his head on the table, his life ruined. "Yes yes yes!"
"Well aren't you going to write the letter U down." she asked, scared and concerned for her friend.
"Huh?" Oliver asked, lifting his head up a little dazed and confused. "Oh! The letter U! I thought you...No, not U."
Oliver cheerfully wrote U in the box and attached a body to the head.
"O...kay." Lilly said, confused. "Hmmmm...R?"
"Yes." Oliver squeaked hopelessy and wrote the letter down.
O - i - e r
Lilly stared at it thoughtfully.
"Who in the world could this be?" Lilly asked, sincerely confused. Oliver and Miley shot each other "Are you kidding me?" looks.
"S?"
"Nope." Oliver said cheerfully, writing S in the box and drawing an arm.
"T?"
Oliver shook his head, smiling. He wrote T in the box and drew another arm.
"L?" Lilly asked. Oliver stared frozen at her, and then wrote down L in grave silence.
O l i - e r
Lilly stared thoughtfully at it and then gasped. She looked up at Oliver in shock. She knew.
"Um...uh..um..."she stammered. "Er...D?"
Oliver shook his head, staring at her.
"Q?" Lilly squeaked.
"Oh for the love of!!!" Miley shouted, jumping out from the bushes. Lilly screamed in fright, falling out of her chair.
"Give me that!" Miley exclaimed, yanking the pen from Oliver. She wrote down the last letter.
O l i v e r
Miley handed Lilly the piece of paper. Lilly stared at Oliver. Oliver stared at the top of the table. Miley stared at both of them.
"I...I have to go." Oliver said quietly. He got up and walked away quickly.
"I knew I shouldn't have told her." Oliver thought angrily. "The look on her face, she was horrified! She doesn't want me to like her."
"Oliver! Oliver wait!"
Oliver turned around to see Lilly running up to him, paper in hand.
"I-I thought maybe we could play another game of hangman." she stammered, blushing. "This time with the name of the girl who likes you."
Lilly held up the piece of paper. There were five dashes.
- - - - -
"I suggest you start with the letter L" she said.
The corner of Oliver's mouth twitched upward.
"Oh forget the game!" Oliver exclaimed, snatched the paper out of her hands and tossed it behind him. He grabbed Lilly and pulled her into a deep kiss. Miley shouted gleefully from behind some bushes. They ignored her.