"Miley…Miley, wake up!"
I sat upright and started panting. I looked to my right to see Jackson, my older brother and best friend.
"What happened?" he asked softly. I just looked at him in the eyes and stood up. He understood and stood up as well.
I had relived my living nightmare last night. No one knows what pain I go through when I have that nightmare. No one knows what pain I went through when I was actually living in the nightmare.
But, then again, no one really knows I'm alive.
I live on the streets of London. It turns out that the plane had been heading towards England, so we got off and…we didn't really have anywhere to go.
We sleep under the bridge. No one finds us there. It looked like there used to be a cave under the bridge, but it's covered up with rocks. Jackson and I have been moving rocks whenever we can to see what's there.
Jackson has a job…sort of. He works at a fast food restaurant and gets paid some pounds an hour. It was sort of hard to adjust…pounds compared to dollars. One dollar is worth half a pound or something like that.
And then there's the British accents. I adjusted to that, too, sort of getting one on the way.
We use the pounds that he gets to buy us some food and buy us some clothing.
I'm missing everything about my old home, though. My sophomore homecoming dance would be coming up soon. Lily and Oliver probably already have dates. Lily's been a boy magnet, like, all of freshman year until I ran away. And Oliver had a girlfriend by the time I was gone.
I bet they don't even miss me. And you know who else I bet doesn't miss me? My dad. I bet he doesn't miss me because he has his new, adorable wife Miss Bitch. I hate her.
I also miss my old boyfriend that I had broken up with, Jake Ryan. I miss him a whole lot. He was really, really sweet but sort of self conceited as well. I miss him the most, because I know that he would care what happened to me, even if he was a big movie star.
I bet he cares. He just doesn't know.
"Miley? Come on, get dressed, we've got to get to town."
It was like being a homeless person in the eighteen hundreds. All of my clothes were from a thrift shop, but you could find some cute stuff there. Today's clothes? A pair of faded jeans and a worn out plain pink shirt.
As I dressed myself and walked out from under the bridge, Jackson tossed me a banana. That was all I had for breakfast. It took some getting used to at first, but my stomach adjusted to the small amount of food I ate every day. I now get full after just a banana and I can resist my appetite for up to twenty-four hours.
We walked into town, the people giving us strange looks since we looked really different. Jackson and I ignored them.
I was wearing baggy boy jeans that were like the ones the girl wore in Stick It in the first scene. I also wear a baggy sweatshirt. I have found that baggy clothes are way more comfortable then what I used to wear. And its also easier to run in…especially when you run away from the cops.
You're probably wondering what happened to Hannah Montana, huh? Well, there is no Hannah Montana. In a couple of years, the press will probably track me down and tell the whole world that Miley Stewart was Hannah Montana. And then I'll probably be on one of those has-been shows. But I don't care. I use my talent for other things.
"Hey, Miles," said Jackson. He handed me a guitar. We had saved up for it all summer, and when we had finally gotten it, it paid off.
"Okay," I said. He walked into the fast food restaurant and I sat down outside. I laid the guitar case open and started playing and singing.
"Today was gonna be the day
That they're gonna throw it back to you
By now you should've somehow
Realized what you've gotta do
And I don't believe that anybody
Feels the way I do about you now
"Backbeat the word is on the street
That the fire in your heart is out
I'm sure you've heard it all before
But you never really had a doubt
And I don't believe that anybody
Feels the way I do about you now
"And all the roads we have to walk are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things that I would like to say to you
But I don't know how
Because maybe
You're gonna be the one that saves me
And after all
You're my wonderwall."
It's my favorite song. I love it. And soon, there was a tiny crowd around me. A nice lady threw in one dollar.
"Today was gonna be the day
But they'll never throw it back to you
By now you should've somehow
Realized what you're not to do
And I don't believe that anybody
Feels the way I do about you now
"And all the roads we have to walk are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things that I would like to say to you
But I don't know how
Because maybe
You're gonna be the one that saves me
And after all
You're my wonderwall
"I said maybe
You're gonna be the one that saves me
And after all
You're my wonderwall."
It was a good crowd. I made about five dollars and ten cents off of the song.
The crowd was around me all day, while I was singing. And then, by the time Jackson's shift was over, I ended with Good Riddance by Green Day. The song attracted a mother and a daughter, the daughter being seven years old. I started thanking everyone as the five people broke out into applause. I started closing up the case and I heard the little girl tell the mother, "Mummy! Mummy! That girl sounded just like Hannah Montana!"
"Now, dear," said the mother, "Hannah Montana hasn't come out with a new CD in two years. Chances are, there is no more Hannah Montana."
I stood up and carried my guitar away. Some seven-year-old girl was realizing that I sounded like Hannah Montana. Little did she know that I had been Hannah Montana.
Later that day, Jackson and I went to the farmer's market, where I put on another show and made some more money.
It was only on our way back to our little cave under our bridge that Jackson turned to me.
"Miles, I need to tell you something," he said.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Well…" he looked as if this was going to be some real trouble. "I need to quit my job."
"What?" I asked. "Why?"
"They're about to find out that we don't attend the high school I told them we did," he said. "Once they find that our, they'll call some social agent. And then—"
"And then we'll go to some foster home or an orphanage," I finished for him. He nodded. "What are we going to do?"
"Make up an address," he said. "We…we're going to go back to school."
School. I barely knew what that was anymore. School's here in England would be way different than back in America. And wouldn't they cost money? And my clothes…I wouldn't be able to take any humiliation.
"What about money?" I asked.
"The school I lied about is a public school," said Jackson. "It doesn't cost anything."
"School supplies?" I asked.
"We have money," said Jackson. "Just…get all the stuff on sale. That's what we'll do."
"Sounds like a plan," I said once we had reached the bridge. We climbed under it carefully and made our way over to where we had our sleeping bags set up. Then, we walked over to where the rocks were, where we thought the cave was. We started to move some rocks.
"We'll head to the school tomorrow," said Jackson. "I have a day off."
"Okay," I said.
This would be a bit odd. I'd be starting school with my older brother, my only friend (which was probably the biggest change in everything), without Lily and Oliver, without a brand new back-to-school outfit, and without my dad's love.
This will be the year, won't it?
Notice my sarcasm?
