CHAPTER TWO

Wild Scheme #1: On-the-Spot Kiss

Miley's Point of View

"Here," I announced the next day, holding the flyer up to Lilly and Oliver's faces, "is the event that would bring Jake and I together in a kiss."

Lilly grabbed the flyer. "Give me that! On-the-spot acting contest? At the beach?"

"So what do you think?" I asked them, placing a hand on my hip.

Oliver took a look at the flyer. "That's absolutely..."

"Wait, wait, wait," I cut him off. "Before you go say anything about this, I just want to say that one of the judges is Hannah Montana?"

"...cool! I like love Hannah!" Oliver continued. He then paused. "But wait," he said, as quietly as he can. "Aren't you Hannah Montana?"

My eyes widened. He was right. I was so excited about joining the contest and my scheme that I absolutely forgot that I was Hannah Teen Pop Sensation Montana. I flipped out the Hannah phone and dialed the number listed on the flyer. My Dad had told me that I was a judge around five days ago.

"Hello?" a voice on the other line said.

"Yes, hello?" I replied, faking my voice, but not too much. "This is Hannah Montana's secretary, and I'm so sorry to say, Miss Montana won't be able to make it and judge the, uh, the on-the-spot acting contest later at Malibu. She's been so busy the past week and she's got a high fever to match. She's really sorry."

The person, a male, on the other line laughed, respectfully. "Oh, is that it? It's perfectly fine. Please tell her to get well soon. I'd bet that, yes, she has been really busy."

"Thank you, Sir," I said, and I clicked off. "Yeah, Miss Montana has been really busy," I then told my friends. "Busy having the time of her life in the summer!"

Lilly grinned. "That seemed like a really tangled-up situation, Miley," she told me. "But you still managed to pull it off with a phonecall with a duration of less than one minute!"

"What can I say?" I shrugged triumphantly.

"But I still think it's a cool idea, even if Hannah Montana won't be judging the acting contest," Oliver declared.

Some random guy, overhearing what he said, walked up to him. "What?" he boomed, holding Oliver by both shoulders. Oliver shrank away in fear. "Hannah won't be judging today?"

Oliver could only give a shaky nod. "Uh-huh."

The guy let go. "Oh. Okay," he said calmly, walking away.

Oliver shook his head, weirded out. "Okay. That was...interesting."

"So, what are you planning about this contest?" Lilly asked.

"Well, I'll just ask Jake to join with me. I'll tell him that it'll be a kissing scene so that it will be more believable," I explained. "Not only do I get my kiss, but I get the chance of winning and getting famous, too!"

"But you already are famous," Lilly reminded me.

"I'm so sorry, you guys," I told them. "It's just, I'm so excited, I forget about being Hannah Montana."

They just smiled in return. Only then did I notice that they were holding hands.

"What?" Oliver said, taking his hand away. "Can't a friend hold another friend's hand?"

"Not when one friend is a boy and another is a girl," I replied. "Especially teenaged ones. People will think that those friends are more than what they are. And when the friends' other friend starts doubting her friends' friendliness, she may be right."

"Okay, I so did not understand that," Lilly remarked.

I just rolled my eyes and walked off to find Jake.

ooHMoo

I saw him at Rico's Surf Shack.

"Jake! Jake!" I tapped him lightly.

He turned around. "Miley, hi."

I grinned wide. "Hi. Listen, you know the On-the-Spot Acting Contest later around here?"

Jake nodded. "Yeah. I'm supposed to judge it, with Hannah Montana. But she and I backed out, and what's funny, they said it was the exact same time."

I never really believe in fate, destiny or any other nonsense, but I had chills down my spine as I heard this. I laughed nervously. "Really? Well, that's too bad."

"I guess." Jake shrugged. "I mean, it could have been a little reunion for us. So, what about the contest?"

"I was sort of kind of hoping that you could join with me?" I said as fast as I could.

"Um, what?" Jake asked.

"I was hoping that you could join with me," I repeated.

Jake looked up. "Oh. Yeah, sure. What are we going to do?"

"I was thinking a kissing scene," we said at the same time.

I looked away, my cheeks going red. "I guess that's good enough."

When I looked back, Jake nodded. "Yeah."

Then we had what you could call an awkward moment of silence. In anticipation for the kiss, I cleared my throat. "Should we practice?"

"I think that'd be cheating," Jake said. "After all, it's on-the-spot."

I bet you're just nervous, I told him in my thoughts. "Let's sign up now, then," is what I said instead.

Jake grabbed my hand when we walked over to the sign-up sheet, but I hardly felt a thing. Only ten pairs or groups can sign up, and we were last. Then some woman stamped something on the sheet.

"So, uh, what do you want to do?" I asked, noticing that Jake's hand is still holding mine. We sat down on the chairs by Rico's Surf Shack. Jackson was busy cleaning the shack, but I guess he listened in.

"I don't know," Jake said. "How about you?"

"Maybe we could go to the mall, or something," I suggested.

Jake sighed. "I'm just glad that the folks around here have gotten so used to seeing me here that they don't go up and shout, 'Jake, we love you!' to my face anymore. So, yeah, I guess the mall sounds good."

"I understand what you mean," I told him. "About the whole getting used to a star like you thing. But that's actually great for you?"

"In a way, yes," Jake replied. "If we're talking about my life as a normal kid. But as a celebrity, not quite."

"I know how it feels," I said.

"I think you don't," Jake said. "You have no idea what it's like and how hard it is being a celebrity."

"I guess," I told him. But the truth was, I did. I'm Hannah Montana, for Pete's sake. But I couldn't tell him. Not yet. "But you like it here in Malibu, right?"

"Yeah," Jake replied. "I especially like how there aren't much paparazzi here."

I just nodded. Living in this town is actually really peaceful, come to think of it, if you're a teenaged pop star or a television show star.

"I like your hand," Jake said after a few minutes, making me realize he's still gripping my hand.

"Thanks." Wanting to change the subject, I took my hand away. "What time is the contest?"

"About two hours from now," Jake replied, looking at his watch. "Three-thirty."

That sounded fine by me. I couldn't darn wait for the contest - and the kiss, of course - but Jake and I could spend more time at the mall.

I stood up. "Hey, Jake, let's go to the mall now," I said.

Jake nodded. "Sure."

"Hey, can I come?" Jackson asked.

Rico, the owner's son, who just came over, shook his head. "I'll tell my Dad, and he'll take some dough out of your paycheck," he warned.

Jackson groaned and continued cleaning.

Jake and I exchanged looks and continued making our way into the mall.

(A/N: Another rushed chapter. You like? Be nice and review!)