WONDERWALL

Jackson's in love with Cameron, the new girl in town. Robbie Ray thinks it'd be a good idea to invite her family over for dinner. Little does he know, Miley is about to develop an unhealthy crush on Cameron's father.

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No one ever told me it'd be like this. Love was supposed to hurt, but no one told me that the pain would be so bone deep. Every piece of me ached for another touch from him. Every part of me died when I knew that the touch would never come again and that was my own fault.

CHAPTER ONE

Brotherly Love and Sibling Rivalry

I really don't know what Jackson saw in this chick. From what he told me, she seemed completely bird-brained, if you asked me. But Jackson never asked me. I was his sister, so I was lucky if he'd even acknowledge me at school. He swore he was in love, though. It was probably because she was the only halfway attractive girl that ever wanted to go out with Jackson. I wasn't sure what to think of Cameron Canter, the sophomore that had stolen Jackson's heart and peace of mind.

"I don't know how to explain it, Miles," Jackson went on. I was pretending to pay attention to him while doing my homework, which wasn't working very well. Apparently I was pretending a little too much, as I actually found myself listening to him. It was funny: he never spoke to me at school, but once we got home, he didn't shut up. I pondered my relationship with my brother while pretending to listen to him. He looked incredibly happy, more so than he did on those few moments he outsmarted my dad.

"So you really like this girl, huh?" I asked, hoping maybe that would be the extent of our conversation.

"Is that all you got from this? Here I am, spilling my guts to you about how wonderful this girl is, and you assess that I 'really like her?'" Jackson asked, his voice filling with an angry sarcasm. I sighed loudly. Obviously, his bliss was short lived.

"My God, I'm sorry," I apologized, raising my voice to his level, "It's not my fault that you're droning on and on about some girl I've never met. I don't know who she is! Why do I care?"

"Why do I care about your little boyfriends or those celebrities at the big parties you get to go to? Ooh, I'm Hannah Montana! Ooh, I get to wear a fake blonde wig and sing and dance like a little prep!" Jackson shot back, impersonating me as he did so. I got up from the couch and threw myself on him, determined that I was going to actually strangle him this time. It was about the time that Jackson got his fingernail lodged into the skin on my neck that my dad burst into the room, yelling something I couldn't quite hear over mine and Jackson's yelling.

"Sweet niblets, guys!" I finally heard him say, giving up on us. Finally, Jackson let me out of his death grip and I collapsed onto the floor. Dad was sitting on the couch now, his head in his hands, his fingers running through his prized hair.

"Dad, he was making fun of me again," I tattled. I swear, when it came to arguing with Jackson, I always acted like I was five. Dad glanced at Jackson, giving him a questioning look. Jackson, in denial, threw his hands up in the air in surrender.

"I didn't say anything that wasn't true. Besides, she started it. I was simply telling her about my new girlfriend, but she couldn't listen for one second. I always listen to her talk about her Hannah crap," Jackson complained.

"Wait a second. When did you get a new girlfriend?" Dad demanded, smiling happily. Dad obviously didn't want to deal with us, so he found a loophole. I rolled my eyes. This was bound to be a father-son bonding moment.

"Well, we officially started dating today, but we'd been talking about it for a couple weeks," Jackson informed him, smiling broadly, "Her name is Cameron Canter. She's new in town from some town in Maryland. She's a sophomore. She's so pretty--"

"--Well, Jackson, that's great," Dad cut him off. He stood up and gave his son a pat on the back. "What do her parents do?"

"She just lives with her father. I don't know what happened to her mother. Probably divorce or something. I don't know what he does, but I'm pretty sure they moved here because of his job," Jackson explained.

"You should invite them over for supper," Dad suggested. At that, I couldn't take it any longer. I knew Oliver and Lilly were at the beach, probably arguing with Rico about something.

"That'd be great, Dad," Jackson replied, his voice filled with more excitement than I'd seen in years.

"Can I go see Lilly and Oliver?" I asked, interrupting their conversation. I don't know what it was about today that was getting on my last nerve. Maybe it wasn't just today, though. Lately, I'd been having my share of bad moods left and right.

"Sure honey, but be back by supper time. We're having the Canter's over," Dad reminded me, giving me a knowing smile. He knew I didn't particularly care if it were the Canter's or the Trump's coming over for supper. I rolled my eyes again and headed out the door.

On my way to the beach, my mind wandered back to Jake Ryan. Even though we were broken up and I didn't want to get back together with him, I couldn't help but think that maybe my recent mood swings had something to do with the breakup. Sure, Jake was a bit of an egotistical jerk, but I really missed having a boyfriend. Having a boyfriend meant you were somebody. It didn't matter who you were dating. As long as you had someone to kiss you goodnight, you were all set. But I had Jake Ryan, the zombie slayer from Zombie High. And I couldn't even hold onto him. Sure, it was my decision to end things, but I could have at least kept it going a little while longer.

When I spotted Lilly and Oliver on the beach, I stopped for a second to watch. Oliver lifted Lilly into the air and spun her around while she giggled. I didn't know he had that much strength. Mostly, though, I couldn't help admire the bond that Lilly and Oliver shared. They wouldn't admit it to each other, but I knew that sooner or later, we wouldn't just be a group of friends. It would be the Super-Couple and their loyal sidekick, What's-Her-Name. I'm sure I'd still be alone, even if they didn't realize their feelings for each other until college graduation.

Finally, I bit the bullet and made my way over to them. I smiled and waved, pretended that there was nothing going on below the surface. I might have been the only one to realize that there was anyway. When Lilly saw me, she abandoned Oliver and headed in my direction. Oliver looked hurt for a second, but bounced back almost immediately.

"Miley! What took you so long to get here?" Lilly demanded, giving me a quick hug around the neck. Even though I'd much rather have had some personal space, I gave her a quick pat on the back, then gave Oliver a high five.

"Ugh. I got into another fight with Jackson. He was getting on my nerves talking about this new girlfriend he has. Like he could even get a girlfriend. Now her and her dad are coming over for dinner. My life sucks," I told them. Oliver rolled his eyes at me, but Lilly sympathized.

"It seems like everything's been getting on your nerves lately," Oliver noticed. Lilly shot him a look of disgust, then slapped him on the arm.

"That's rude," She scolded, then turned to me, "I'm sorry, Miles. Maybe Robbie Ray would let me come over for dinner to even the playing fields?" My eyes lit up at the idea of having Lilly there when I met Miss Canter and father.

"That's perfect. I'll have someone to make snide comments to and to laugh and give Jackson mean looks with!" I exclaimed. Lilly clapped happily and I pulled her towards my house, leaving Oliver on the beach.