Hey guys! Here's chapter two of my brand-new story: Love Struck

Lilly glanced at the clock. She was lounging on her bed, drawing "Mrs. Jackson Stewart" all over her diary. At the sight of the time, she jumped up, threw her diary on her dresser, and grabbed a sweater from the back of her chair. Heading towards the door, she checked her appearance in the mirror.

I need to look just right for…Jackson. Just thinking about him made her giggle.

She smiled at her reflection and headed downstairs. Saying goodbye to her mom, she grabbed her bags (which she left by the door), and began the short trip to Miley's house. She sang to herself on the way.

If we were a movie

You'd be the right guy

And I'd be the best friend

That you fall in love with in the end

We'd be laughin

Watchin the sunset fade to black

Show the names

Play the happy song

Wish I could tell you there's a kiss

Like something more than in my mind

I see it

You'd be amazing

It was the first song she could think of. It wasn't her fault it was a love song… Soon she arrived at the Stewarts' home. She rang the doorbell. No answer. She leaned in to see if she could hear footsteps. Nothing. She rang it again. She was about to ring it a third time when the door opened. I'll give you one guess who was standing before her. That's right. Jackson.

"Hey, Lilly!" He said happily. She was at a loss for words. He looked so gorgeous; just standing there casually. Finally, she forced herself to say something.

"H-Hi! Uh, what's up?" She stood nervously in the doorway.

"Eh, nothing much? How about you?"

"Same here." Play it cool, Lil. You can do this.

"You want me to take your bags? Miley and Oliver are downstairs." He reached his hand out.

"Oh, sure! Um, thank you." She happily handed over her bags. He made room and she stepped inside. Smiling at him, she said, "They're downstairs, you said?"

"Yeah," he replied, setting her bags down by the stairs. "Well, I'll see you later, then." He gave her a half wave and she began to descend down the basement steps. She looked back to see him watching her. He blushed and turned away. She did the same, and opened the basement door. Miley and Oliver were sitting on the couch, listening to a Simple Plan CD.

"Hey guys!" she said, going over to sit next to them. "What's up?"

"Hey Lil!" Miley greeted her.

"Hey!" Oliver chimed in. "We're just chillin."

"Yeah, just kinda waitin for you, actually," Miley said, shrugging.

"Okay… Well, what do you guys wanna do?" Lilly asked, putting her arms around her two best friends. Both Miley and Oliver shrugged. "Wow, we lead interesting and exciting lives." This made all three of them laugh.

"Let's play Zombie High: The videogame!" Oliver suggested, going over to the TV set and picking up the game.

"Noooo! We play that every time!" both Miley and Lilly groaned and pelted Oliver with pillows.

"Hey!" Oliver shouted, returning fire.

This evolved into a big 'pillow war' between the three of them. Oliver stood in the open next to the TV, trying to dodge numerous pillows thrown at him. Miley and Lilly hid behind the couch, aiming pillow after pillow at their friend. After a while, Oliver learned that if he just hid the pillows behind the TV set, Miley and Lilly would soon run out of ammo and have to give up. This worked for about a second; Miley and Lilly ran up to Oliver and tackled him. Just then, Jackson opened the door and started laughing hysterically at the sight of Lilly and Miley hitting Oliver over the head with pillows over and over. At the sight of him, Lilly rose to her feet with Miley not far behind. They brushed themselves off.

"I-I just wanted to let you guys know that-that…" He could hardly make out the words, he was laughing so hard.

"Spit it out!" Miley urged.

"Sorry. I just wanted to let you guys know dinner was ready," he said, flashing Lilly a smile and walking back up the stairs.

The three friends bolted up the stairs after Jackson, almost plowing him over. Once upstairs, the four kids settled around the kitchen table and waited for Robbie to finish up. Lilly seated herself next to Jackson, purposefully brushing her leg against his as she sat down.

"Okay, kids, here we go: Pasta a la Robbie!" Robbie exclaimed, bringing over four bowls of spaghetti and meatballs.

"Oh, how come I always get the Elmo bowl?" Oliver whined, glaring at the bright red face smiling brightly back at him from the side of his bowl. Everyone laughed.

"Isn't he your favorite character?" Miley asked him playfully.

"N-no!" Oliver denied. Everyone laughed again.

"Jackson, are you staying here all night?" Lilly asked with a smile.

"Yup! And I'm gonna hang around you guys until you fall asleep!"

"Noooo! Jackson!" Miley complained.

Lilly, on the other hand, pictured Jackson hanging out with them all night. She knew she would have insane dreams about him; that's all she dreamed about anymore.

"I-It's okay. I- don't' mind," Lilly said, casting a timid glance over at Jackson.

Miley looked at her oddly. Lilly gave her the "There's nothing going on" look, but Miley quickly created a reason to get Lilly alone so they could talk.

"Oh, Lilly, you have something on your shirt!" Miley lied, getting up, and pulling Lilly towards the bathroom.

'"Umm, no I don't!" Lilly said, looking herself over before attempting to return to her seat.

"'Yes you do! It's on the back! You can't see it. Come on; let me help you get it off!" Miley said through gritted teeth, which Lilly knew meant she needed to talk.

Lilly followed her into the bathroom. Miley sat down on the ledge of the sink, and Lilly stood standing.

"Why didn't you tell me you liked Jackson?" Miley prompted.

"What?!" Lilly looked skeptical. "I do NOT like Jackson! I mean, come on, Miley, he's your brother."

"I know! I think you like him!" Miley teased.

"NO I DON'T!"

"Yes, you do!" Miley said in a sing-song voice.

"NO I DON'T! And please don't pull that singing thing!"

"Are you sure you don't like him?" Miley asked once more.

"YES!! I am 100 SURE!" Lilly shouted.

"Fine, fine! You don't like him!" Miley said. "She loves him," she whispered under breath, low enough so that Lilly couldn't hear.

They walked back into the kitchen and took their places at the table. Lilly's leg leaned against Jackson's again as she slowly slurped down her spaghetti. She kept glancing over at Jackson and caught him looking at her numerous times. When their eyes met, they would both blush and look away. At one point, Jackson reached to get a napkin and ended up resting his hand on top of hers. They both let it linger there for a moment, and then tore their hands away in sheer embarrassment.

After dinner, Jackson was told to clear the dishes. Miley and Oliver sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. Lilly said she would join them, but she decided to join Jackson instead.

"Hey," she said brightly, picking up a plate and bringing it to the sink.

"Hey! Are you going to help me or something?" Jackson asked teasingly, taking the plate and rinsing it off under water.

"No. I'm just over here because I like to look at you." As soon as she said, it, Lilly covered her mouth and avoided Jackson's eyes. He laughed. Phew. "I'm sorry! I-I didn't, well, I mean, I did, but I didn't mean to- I'm sorry."

"Don't sweat it. Just, uh, help me with this plate would you?"

"Sure!" She went over to the sink and grabbed a towel from the rack. She took the plate from Jackson and began to dry. "So… You were just kidding when you said you were gonna hang out with us all night, weren't you?"

"Why? You don't want me to hang out with you?" Jackson asked, facing her.

"No! I- I love hanging out with you. It's just that, Miley isn't so crazy about it…"

"Yeah, I got that impression. Wait. You love hanging out with me?"

"What?"

They went back to washing and drying.

"Before you said you love hanging out with me. Is that true?"

"Well, yeah, I mean, you're a really great guy."

"Really?" Lilly nodded. "Thanks."

"Anytime."

They finished up and Lilly helped him put the dishes away. Then she headed over to the couch and sat down next to Miley. Miley looked at her.

"Why are you hiding it?" she asked.

"Hiding what?" Lilly played dumb.

"Shhh! Guys, be quiet! This is the good part!" Oliver shouted. He was watching Zombie High.

"Oliver, you've seen this a thousand times!" Miley shouted, grabbing the remote and turning the TV off.

"HEY!" Oliver exclaimed. Miley waved her hand as if to blow the matter away.

"There are more serous matters at hand. Lilly likes Jackson!" Miley said.

"NO I DON'T!" Lilly denied again.

"What? Lilly and Jackson? No way!" Oliver said.

"I DON'T LIKE HIM!" Lilly yelled.

"Then why did you clear up with him? And why did you say you want him to hang out with us tonight? And why did you keep your hand under his for much longer than a second? Hmm?" Miley accused.

"I thought he needed help. He's a funny guy. My hand was stuck!" Lily insisted.

"A likely story…" Oliver chimed in.

"Guys, stop it! I don't like him, okay??" Lilly said with finality.

"Okay, okay…" Miley said, putting her hands up.

The rest of the night could have probably gone a bit more smoothly. Lilly took every chance she got to go downstairs and see Jackson. Miley knew she liked him, but she couldn't figure out why the heck Lilly wasn't fessing up. Oliver left around 11, and from that point, Miley go tin every comment she could about Lilly and Jackson. Lilly was getting so tired of it. She kept her cool though. She knew that if she and Miley and she got into a fight, she wouldn't be able to go over there and see Jackson. Morning came, and Lilly "accidentally" rammed into Jackson on her way to the bathroom. He just happened to be wearing nothing but his boxer shorts, which Lilly found to her liking. They both mumbled "Sorry" and kept walking.

"Are you ever going to tell me the truth?" Miley asked Lilly when she got back from the bathroom.

"I've been telling you the truth all along," Lilly lied, settling herself down in Miley's desk chair.

"Sure…"

"I HAVE!"

"Okay."

"Why don't you believe me?"

"I do!"

"No, you don't!" Lilly was getting hot. She hated lying to Miley. They were best friends.

"Lilly, just calm down," Miley commanded, getting up and giving Lilly a big hug.

I am such a horrible friend… Lilly thought to herself as she hugged Miley back loosely.

"Come on, let's go downstairs," Miley suggested, starting out the door. Lilly followed, forgetting her regret and switching mindsets. Now she thought something more along the lines of, Jackson, Jackson, and Jackson!

To Lilly's dismay, Jackson was nowhere to be seen when they reached the bottom of the steps. She shrugged unnoticeably. Hopefully he's around somewhere. She was still a little flushed from their encounter in the hallway.

"Mornin girls!" Robbie said cheerfully. "So, what'll it be: pancakes or…pancakes?" He was standing at the stove, flipping pancakes.

"Hmmm…Tough choice," Miley said, sitting down at the table.

"Yeah, I can't decide," Lilly played along.

"Pancakes it is!" Robbie said, not even letting the girls "choose".

He set down two plates in front of the girls; both stacked a mile high with pancakes. They dug in; shoveling huge pieces of pancake into their mouths. Lucky for Lilly, Jackson was still nowhere in sight. At about 11, Lilly said she needed to be heading home.

"My mom's making us clean our rooms today," Lilly said disappointedly. "And trim the hedges, and do the dishes, and mow the lawn." Lilly continued.

"Harsh," Miley said, grabbing Lilly's sleeping bag. Lilly took it from Miley's hand.

"You should see her during spring cleaning," she said, giving Miley the "My mom is completely insane" look. Miley laughed and nodded towards her dad, signaling he was the same way.

"See ya later, Lills!" Miley called out the door. Lilly waved behind her and headed down the block. When she got home, she quickly disappeared to her room.

"Ugh! This room is so disgusting!" Lilly whined to herself, setting her bags down on her bed. She figured she might as well get it over with, so she started cleaning. After one long hour, she could see the floor! She plopped down on her bed. She landed right on her overnight bags, and realized she hadn't yet put them away. She paced her sleeping bag in her closet and put her pillow back on her bed. She began to empty out the contents of her bag when she realized something was wrong…no, not wrong…just, different. She reached in her bag and pulled out a small white piece of paper. Unfolding it, she realized it was some sort of note. She began to read:

Lilly,

I can't say too much in case someone finds this, so I'll get right to the point. I need to see you. But no one can be there. This must be kept a complete secret. Please, meet me on the beach tomorrow night at midnight. I'll be waiting.

TJ

At first sight of the name, she was puzzled. But then she came to realize what "TJ" meant. She had given him this name. He was going around calling himself "The Jacksonator" and Lilly suggested shortening it to just plain old "TJ". He liked this, and then told his friends to call him TJ, which of course made Lilly happy. She smiled to herself and read the note over and over again, admiring his simple and delicate handwriting.

"Jackson," she breathed. Just then her mom entered the room, without knocking of course. "Mom!" Lilly shouted, shoving the paper behind her back.

"Oh, sorry honey. I thought you were still at Miley's. Did you have fun?" Her mother asked. She was carrying a large laundry basket full of clothes.

"Yeah. It was awesome, as usual," Lilly stroked the paper behind her back. She loved how it felt. Who would have thought something as simple as a small piece of paper could be so powerful?

"Good. Whoa! What happened here?" Mrs. Truscott had finally noticed the clean room. She smiled. "Good job, honey."

"Thanks, Mom." She really wanted her mom to leave.

"We're going to do the hedges in about a half hour." Her mother informed her, leaving a pile of clean clothes on the dresser. She exited the room without saying anything else.

"Okay!" Lilly called back. Just enough time to read this letter and figure out exactly what it means, Lilly thought, pulling out the letter again and giving it a big kiss.

She was so happy; she started dreaming about the next night. She was coming up with all these wild possibilities. Before she got too carried away, she decided to put the letter away for safekeeping. She placed it in her top dresser drawer, under all of her underwear and bras. No one would look in there. Pushing it closed, she breathed a big sigh.

She was in love.

YAY! That was so much fun to write. I hope you all love it! Review!