Chapter 2 - Malibu


In the footsteps of many other child stars, Hannah Montana has decided to take a break from the spotlight. Her management team claims the break is for Miss Montana's mental health. In recent months, the pop star has been reported spending much of her free time in the company of television and movie star Jake Ryan, who only last year was arrested for marijuana possession. The pair, no longer rumored to be romantically involved, have been long time friends since…

In pop culture news, singer and actor Hannah Montana is taking time off from Hollywood. Insiders say that the seventeen year old star has been struggling the past few months with her mental health…

Hannah Montana, international teen superstar, may be calling it quits. Rumors of drug and alcohol abuse may be to blame, though sources are saying there is more to the story…

Is Hannah Montana pulling a Lindsay Lohan? We've seen the tragic child star turned crazy adult a thousand times, but I did not see this one coming. A close source to Hannah says that rehab could be the next step…

The girl has been out of control. She's late to interviews, she's late to sets, and she's late to her own concerts. She helped wreck that indie rapper's hotel room last May. She's been seen smoking pot. She's been seen drinking at clubs. Hannah Montana is not the girl next door like she used to be. She's been going downhill for a long time now. It's good she's getting the help she needs before we see another blonde pop star shaving all her hair off…

What's next for pop sensation Hannah Montana? Only time will tell…

Two weeks of contract renegotiations and phone calls from her father went by before Miley could make it out of Los Angeles. When she told her father and brother Jackson her plans to move to Malibu and attend high school as a normal teenager, both disapproved. Jackson eventually came around and helped form a compromise. Miley could go to public school in Malibu only if she lived with Jackson, who would act as her guardian for appearances. Their father would continue living and working in Los Angeles.

Together, Miley and Jackson found a nice three bedroom home on the water that wasn't too far from Seaview High School. It took a weekend for them to get moved in and comfortable.

"Are you excited for your first day of high school tomorrow?" Jackson asked, picking around in his Chinese takeout box.

"You make it sound like I'm starting freshman year." Miley replied, watching the sunset on the beach through the kitchen windows.

"Are you excited for your first day of senior year?" He corrected while shoving his mouth full of noodles.

"Yeah, I guess." She shrugged. "I've got a good feeling about this place."

"Me too. I think this is exactly what you need. Everybody deserves some relaxation and normalness every now and then, even if Dad doesn't think so. He just doesn't understand that other people can't handle things as well as he does."

"It's not about handling things. It's about change."

"He's not too fond of that either. Listen, Miles, don't worry about him. Okay? Just focus on school, and get some friends. This year won't last forever, make the most of it while you can. But don't forget your curfew. Ten o'clock on school nights, young lady. I won't accept a minute late." He grinned and tossed a noodle at her.

"Shut up." She laughed.

The next morning, Miley spent an hour nervously deciding what to wear. She wanted to look nice but not too nice. Mostly she was having trouble determining what would be considered too extravagant for public school. She knew that everyone dressed too nicely on television and in movies. Her only other reference was Jackson, who was no help at all.

"You look fine. Just go before you're late." He sleepily grunted while pouring milk into his cereal.

She grabbed her backpack and headed out the door. To keep up appearances, she had decided to leave her flashy car in Los Angeles. Sitting in the driveway waiting for her was a heavily used 1990 Ford Station Wagon that Jackson had found on Craigslist the day before.

By the time she reached Seaview High, most of the parking spots were taken but she managed to find one in the back. She sat in the car, trying to ease her nerves. She hadn't been this nervous since her early interview days. Using the calming exercises she'd been taught so long ago, she forced herself out of the car. The parking lot was filled with teenagers walking around, stopping to chat to friends, not paying any attention to her. She was invisible. It had been so long since she felt like she was part of a crowd rather than surrounded by it.

The bell sounded across the lot and a wave of students started moving toward the building. Not knowing where to go, she followed them into the halls. It took a while, but she managed to find the front office. A long line was waiting for the front desk. The late bell was ringing by the time it was her turn.

"How can I help you?" The woman asked. She looked like she hadn't had a reason to smile in years.

Miley had to clear her throat, the nerves were coursing through her. "Um, I just enrolled a couple days ago. I don't have a schedule yet."

"See this hallway over here? I want you to go down there and to the room on your first right. Next?"

Miley followed the instructions and went through the door marked Guidance Office. Another front desk and line of students was set up before her, though this line went much faster than the first had.

"Good morning. What can I do for you?" This woman was much nicer. She even smiled.

"I don't have a schedule. I just enrolled a few days ago."

"Do you know your guidance counselor's name?"

"No, sorry, I don't."

"Not a problem. What's your name, dear?"

"Miley Stewart."

"Oh, what a pretty name." She smiled and typed at her computer. "Okay, your guidance counselor is Mrs. Forrester. Her office is right down this hall. She's sixth on the left, I believe. Her name is on the door. Have a nice first day."

Miley felt like she was going deeper into a labyrinth as she walked down the next long hallway and into Mrs. Forrester's office. She spent a long time talking about her home schooling and new schedule and the layout of the school. Mrs. Forrester was overly helpful and peppy. She gave her a locker number and combination, a lunch number, a map of the school, a student handbook, and a printout of her schedule. By the time she walked out of the front office, the bell was ringing for second period. Mrs. Forrester had taken the time to circle her classes, so she checked for the one marked with the giant number two. It was close to her locker only a couple halls away from the front office.

As she walked, she couldn't help searching the sea of faces for Lilly Truscott. It was crazy, she knew, to move to Malibu and enroll in public school in the hopes of seeing a stranger again. But it was more than that. Lilly had arrived at such a dark time in Miley's life. Like a guardian angel, showing her the way to salvation. Miley wasn't very religious, but she did believe in fate. Meeting Lilly Truscott was no accident.

After finding the locker through the massive crowd of students, she opened it and stuffed most of her supplies and notebooks into it. She took a few calming breaths and walked down the hall to her class. Second and third period went by slowly. No one paid much attention to Miley, and she made no attempts to talk to anyone. She'd been hungry all morning, so she was relieved to see that she had first block lunch.

She entered the large cafeteria hesitantly in the crowd that rushed around her. She picked a random line, not sure what it led to. Copying the actions of those in front of her, she got a tray and put a few different foods on it until she reached the end of the line. She entered the lunch number that Mrs. Forrester had given her into the keypad and the lunch lady told her to have a nice day.

Then came the hard part. She stood awkwardly looking around at the picnic style tables, trying to find a place to sit. She didn't want to accidentally take someone's seat by their friends and she really didn't want to sit next to someone who would annoy her all lunch. Feeling embarrassed for standing there so long, she started aimlessly walking through the aisles with her tray. She finally found an empty seat at the end of a table. No one did more than glance at her while she ate.

She was late finding her fourth period on the second floor. Everyone stared as she entered the room and took the only available seat in the front. Her fifth period was on the first floor but, her sixth period was back on the second floor again. And her seventh and final class of the day was thankfully right by her locker.

When the last bell rang, she went to her locker and took her time organizing it with all the new textbooks she had received throughout the day. The parking lot was almost deserted when she went to her car.

"How was school?" Jackson asked from the couch as she walked in.

"Really boring." She shrugged, tossing her bag to the side. "I'm going down to the beach. Want to come?"

"Already been there today." He yawned. "It's naptime."

Miley went upstairs to her room and changed into her bikini. She grabbed her beach stuff and headed out the backdoor and down to the beach. A lot of people were lying around tanning, even more were up at Rico's Surf Shack, the only food place close by. She laid out her towel and sat watching the waves for a while. She liked having free time. No obligations, no planes to catch, no tour bus schedules, no pre-show preps, no interviews to prepare for, just free time to do whatever she wanted to do.

She thought about her school day. High school students were much more intimidating than she had been expecting. Being completely anonymous was nice though. It was different, having nothing expected of her. She was, however, disappointed she hadn't seen Lilly Truscott. It's understandable considering the population size of the school, and there's always the possibility that Lilly lied and doesn't even live in Malibu, but she decided to remain hopeful in her search.

The next few days went better and faster than the first had, and by the end of the week she had the routine down. She'd even had a few conversations with people here and there. Mostly small talk about where she's from and why she moved, but she was still actually talking to people. She had cut herself off from others for so long. She hadn't realized how starving for communication she had been.

That weekend she went around the town with Jackson, just checking the local places out, but she ended up spending all of her Sunday night doing homework. She dreaded getting out of bed on Monday, but somehow she made it to school early that day.

And she was glad she did. When she was getting out of her car, it happened. Miley spotted her across the parking lot.

Lilly Truscott.

She rushed through the crowd until she caught up to where Lilly was. She kept a good distance behind her, following her through the front doors and down the main hallway. Lilly stopped to talk to a tall dark haired boy that fit the perfect description of a hipster. He had that styled hair, poofed up in the front and shorter on the sides. He had on trendy but gritty clothes that he probably found at a thrift store. A single earring dangled from his left ear and intricate tattoos were up and down his arms.

Miley pretended to look at flyers on walls while she waited for them to stop talking. After a few minutes, Lilly started walking down the hall again. Miley followed as close as she dared but almost ran into her when she abruptly stopped to talk to someone. The flow of traffic in the halls carried Miley down the hall, and by the time she was able to turn around and go back to where she had last seen Lilly, she was gone.

Disappointed and slightly creeped out by her own actions, Miley made her way to her own locker. She was so close. But what would she even do? Lilly had talked to Hannah that night outside The Tipton, not Miley. Would Lilly even have any interest in talking to her? Was the boy she had stopped to talk to her boyfriend? Was that girl her girlfriend?

Miley looked everywhere for the rest of the day but never saw Lilly. The next morning she arrived in the parking lot at the exact same time she had the day before, but no Lilly. She made sure to be just as early for the rest of the week, but her efforts were wasted. It was driving her crazy. The school was only so big. How could it be so hard to find one person in it?

That Friday, Miley had a breakdown. She spent the night crying in her room, stressing over everything. What was she doing with her life? Why did she jeopardize her career to chase some stranger? Why was she so certain about Malibu? Public school was doing nothing for her. She had no friends. She had nothing to do when she wasn't at school or doing homework. What was she doing? What was she thinking?

The next morning she felt better, though still she was second guessing herself. To get out of her head, and out of the house, she decided to go somewhere. Anywhere, it didn't matter. She drove around Malibu for hours. She had nowhere to go. Nothing to do. No one to see. The boredom was crushing her.

She went back to the house to find the driveway empty. She got out of her car, dialing Jackson's number.

"Hello?"

"Where are you?"

"LA. I told you I had to run some errands. I've got stuff to do. I think I'll stay out here at a friend's house tonight, while I'm already here."

"A lady friend?" Miley asked knowingly, leaning against her car.

"I'm hoping she's more than a friend at this point. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye."

Miley was pressing the end button on the call when she heard it. It was the most angelic laugh that she had ever heard before, one that she could never forget. She whirled around, searching for the source. Not far down the street were Lilly Truscott and her hipster friend. They were walking toward the beach access by Rico's Surf Shop. She watched them until they were out of sight, then she rushed through the house and took the backyard way down to the beach and over to Rico's.

When Miley spotted them again, they were paying for nachos and drinks. She didn't know what to do after that. She had no plan, no course of action. Nothing. But, thankfully for her, a bill flew out of Lilly's hand and the wind carried it right to where Miley was standing. It was as if fate had finally decided to arrive.

Miley snatched the five dollar bill from the sand and waited for Lilly to weave around the beachgoers and tables to her.

"I think you dropped this." Miley said, thrusting the bill out for her to take. She hoped Lilly would mistake her blush as a reaction from being out in the hot sun.

"Thanks. I don't even know how that happened. It just peaced out like nobody's business." Lilly smiled as she took the bill from Miley's hand. "I'm Lilly, by the way."

"Miley." Her answer came hesitantly. She had been momentarily distracted by the way Lilly's lips formed around her name and how the sunlight made Lilly's blue eyes the color of the sky and the way light freckles dusted her cheeks and nose.

"That's a really cool name. You know, I don't think I've seen you around before."

"I just moved here. From LA."

"Really? Hey, you should totally come hang out with me and my friend Oliver."

"Uh, sure." Miley was both excited to be socializing with Lilly and disappointed to be sharing the time with the hipster boy.

Lilly led her to the table where the boy was eating nachos. "Oliver, this is Miley. Miley, Oliver. She heroically saved my money."

"A hero, huh?" Oliver smiled. "I guess that means you're forever in her debt. Slave for life. Eternal gratitude."

"Oh, well, duh." Lilly rolled her eyes. "So, Miley, you said you moved from LA?"

"Um, yeah. Right before school started." She nervously played with her fingers under the table.

"Where do you go?" Oliver asked eagerly, not so subtly checking her out.

"Seaview."

"No way! Us too." Lilly smiled. She noticed Oliver's gaze and must have nudged him under the table because his eyes abruptly dropped to his nachos. "So why'd you move?"

"It's a long story." Miley shrugged. "I'm living right over there with my brother."

"In that house?" Lilly pointed. "That house has been for sale for like forever."

"Yeah, that's the one." She nodded. She wished Oliver would leave so that she could talk to Lilly alone. His presence made everything that much more awkward.

As if knowing she was thinking about him, Oliver looked up at her again. "We're going to a party later. You should come with us."

"No thanks." She hoped she wasn't being too standoffish. She wanted to drive away Oliver's obvious interest, but she wanted the opposite for Lilly.

"Not into parties?" Lilly asked. She had a curious but polite smile.

Miley thought about her answer carefully. "I lost interest in parties a long time ago."

"Fair enough." Lilly replied, catching Oliver's disappointed look. "I'm not big on them either."

"Come on, this party is different." Oliver pleaded. "It's at Danny's. You know he's cool. And he does creepy accurate tarot card readings."

"Dandruff Danny is throwing the party tonight? You did not tell me that." The look that Lilly gave Oliver made Miley smile. It was adorable, filled with the slightest bit of annoyance and frustration but underlined with a clear playfulness.

"Okay, first off, you know he hasn't had dandruff since like freshman year. And secondly, I did tell you." Oliver said as he ate the last nacho.

Lilly looked at Miley. "In light of this discovery, I formally invite you to join us. Danny is super into the supernatural and tarot cards and Ouija boards, like some real backwoods Louisiana swamp voodoo shit. Stuff gets weird at his parties. I'll definitely be there."

"Uh, yeah. I guess. Sounds different." It wasn't like she had anything better to do.

They exchanged phone numbers and chatted for a while. Miley mostly listened while Lilly and Oliver discussed a television show they both watched. Soon, but not nearly soon enough in Miley's opinion, Oliver had to leave.

"I'll see you ladies at the party." He said, sending a cheesy wink Miley's way.

Lilly dramatically rolled her eyes and laughed as he left. "Oh my god, don't worry about him. He's harmless, I swear. But I'll tell him to tone down the flirting. He's oblivious to everything, he probably has no idea you're not interested."

"And how do you know I'm not interested?" Miley asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hmm." Lilly pretended to think it over. "Let's call it…intuition."

"And what else does your intuition tell you about me?"

Lilly looked her over curiously. Butterflies filled Miley as Lilly's eyes locked with hers. "It tells me that you could use some fun. I'm glad you're coming to the party, by the way. There's something about you…I can't put my finger on it. Actually, it almost feels like we've met before."

"I've got one of those faces." Miley shrugged, swallowing hard. Would Lilly figure out she was Hannah so easily?

Lilly shook her head. "It's something else. I mean, you look familiar, yeah, but there's more. You sound familiar."

"Do you want to come back to my place?" Miley blurted out, desperate to change to subject. "My brother is out of town tonight."

Lilly didn't say anything at first. It was almost as if she was trying to decipher exactly what Miley was asking. "Yeah. Sure. It's gonna be dark soon anyway."

They walked in silence down to the beach and up to the backdoor of the house. Miley let them in and gave Lilly a small tour.

"Wow, this place is really nice." Lilly said politely as she took a seat on the edge of Miley's bed. "And I really like your room. As Dandruff Danny would say, it's got nice feng shui."

"Thanks." Miley said, sitting up by her pillows.

Lilly pointed to a picture on the nightstand. "Are those your parents?"

"Yeah. It's my favorite picture of my mom."

"Why don't you live with them?"

"My mom died a long time ago."

"Oh, geez, I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay. I don't talk about her much but…she was my favorite person in the world. No one should ever be sorry for talking about her. She never got half the credit she deserved."

"You really love her." Lilly smiled softly. "What about your dad?"

"He's still in LA. He stayed for his work, but I prefer it that way. We don't get along very well."

"My dad is always focused on his job, too. He travels a lot for it. That's pretty much why my mom divorced him. I live with her. My house isn't far from here. Just a couple streets over."

"Do you like living here?"

"Yeah, I really love it. Do you like it so far?"

"It's alright." Miley shrugged.

"I guess Malibu doesn't impress little miss LA." Lilly teased.

Miley shook her head. "I hate LA."

"Have you always lived there before now?"

"No, I'm from Tennessee." Only after she said the words did she realize it was be a bad idea.

Lilly stared at Miley, her eyes narrowing skeptically. "Tennessee? Where at?"

"Crowley Corners." Miley answered, glad she hadn't told that detail to Lilly back in Boston as Hannah.

Lilly licked her lips, the sight sending tingles through Miley. "Why move to California?"

"It was my father's idea. Have you always lived in Malibu?" Changing the subject was starting to become a talent of hers.

"Since I was born." Lilly nodded. "Oliver, too. He's been my best friend for as long as I can remember. I bet you've got a lot of friends in LA and Tennessee."

"No." Miley shrugged. "I've never had many friends."

"Oh, come on, surely you've had a best friend, at least."

Miley shook her head. She immediately started thinking of ways to change the topic again. Lilly's pity was unbearable.

Lilly was first to speak. "Sorry, it's just hard for me to think that someone as pretty as you has never been crazy popular."

Miley tried not to smile. "I've never been concerned with being popular. I don't see the point of pretending to like people who pretend to like you, all for a social status. I'd rather be invisible and know one really good person than have every horrible person know me, you know?"

"I've never thought of it that way. You're really different. I like it. This place is full of vain, stupid people. I think you've restored my faith in humanity a little bit."

"Just be glad you get the honor of being my first friend in Malibu." Miley smirked.

Lilly fake scoffed. "What makes you think I want to be your friend?" Miley raised an eyebrow and Lilly laughed. "Okay, okay. You caught me. I'm hopelessly falling into this friendship."

"Good." Miley smiled.

They talked for a long time. They talked about Jackson, Lilly's parents, pets they've had, school, Oliver, the party that night. When Lilly spotted the guitar in the corner of the room, she tried to get her to play something, but Miley knew that she couldn't do that. The moment she sang, Lilly would know who she was.

An hour after the party was supposed to have started, Lilly left Miley's to go home and get ready. Two hours later she returned eating a bag of Cheetos and looking exactly the same as how she had left. When Miley opened the door, Lilly's jaw fell open. A stray Cheeto fell from her lips to the ground.

"Oh my god, you look so hot." Lilly gasped.

She blushed and shut the door behind her. They got into Lilly's car, much nicer than the piece of crap Miley had been driving the past two weeks, and headed to the other side of town to the party. They ended up parking a few houses down. Cars lined both sides of the street and the long driveway up to the house.

The moment they walked into the smoky haze, Miley was hit with the smell of weed and burning incense. Music blared from all directions, the bass rumbled through the floors. People walked around with bottles of beer and red cups. No one paid any attention to her or Lilly as they walked through the rooms in search of Oliver.

"Let's check upstairs!" Lilly yelled over the music. She grabbed Miley's hand and pulled her up the thin stairs. They had to flatten themselves against the wall to pass the people standing around on different steps. They went into the first bedroom and found a tarot card reading in progress.

"That's Danny." Lilly mouthed, pointing to the boy reading the cards. He could only be described as resembling a hippie.

They moved to stand by the wall and watched a boy finish getting his cards read. The boy, stoned out of his mind, simply nodded and crawled out of the room when they were done. Danny looked up at the pair of them on the wall. "Would you like a reading?"

"She would, yes." Lilly grinned, nudging Miley forward. She decided no harm could come from the act, so she sat in front of the low coffee table across from Danny. He straightened the cloth on it and shuffled the cards a bit.

"Shuffle these." He instructed, handing her the deck. His voice was soft and gentle, breezy like the wind.

"Danny, have you seen Oliver?" Lilly asked while Miley was busy shuffling.

"No, I'm sorry, Lilly. I haven't." He answered.

"Are introductions needed?" Lilly asked, gesturing toward Miley.

"No, no." Danny waved away the suggestion. "I usually find that readings go much better the less I know about the other person. My spirit connects better that way to theirs." Miley started to hand back the cards but he shook his head. "Separate them into three piles, please." She did as he said and waited for more. "Now choose one of the three." She pointed to the middle one. He removed the other two piles and picked up the one she had chosen. He flipped over the first three cards and placed them in a horizontal line on the cloth between them.

"How interesting." He mumbled, looking from the cards to her. "You are a very conflicted person, aren't you?"

Miley shrugged, glancing at Lilly who gave a supportive and entertained smile. "I guess."

"Yes, yes." Danny nodded. "This card here, you see, she says that you are struggling between great opposing forces. This second card has a large towering wall on it. You have something very big that you're hiding. It burdens you greatly." He flipped over two more cards beneath the three. "You see here, this card shows growth. You need to let yourself grow. Whatever you are keeping to yourself, set it free. Let yourself be free of this burden you carry." He pointed to the third card that he had originally flipped over. "This is the lover's card. Is there a significant person in your life?"

Miley shook her head no. She wanted to look at Lilly to see her reaction, but she forced herself to keep her eyes on Danny. He flipped over two cards beneath the lover's card.

"There is great potential, don't worry. Things will look up. There will be a strong connection between the two of you." He flipped over a few cards away from the others already showing. He stared at the last card, slowly he looked back up to Miley. "Do you know what this card is?"

The card had an expressionless woman in an elegant blue gown sitting on a large silver throne. Danny stared hard at Miley. "She is the most powerful card of them all. She is the card of true balance. She possesses the balance between lightness and darkness. Whatever it is that you hide within you, your burden, you must find a balance…or it will destroy you."

Danny quietly collected all of the cards. He left the room without saying another word.

Lilly sat down beside Miley. "Wow, that was the most intense I've ever seen Danny be. But don't worry, the last time he read my cards, he told me that the devil was in my future or something. Hey, are you okay? Listen, I wouldn't take all this too seriously. It's just cards, right?"

"Right." Her throat was dry and her pulse was racing. His warning could not have been clearer to her. For the first time in her life, she didn't know what to believe.

"Let's go find something to do." Lilly stood and held out her hand. Miley took it and let her lead the way out of the room and back downstairs. They had just returned to the party when someone came over and dragged Lilly off to the side. All Lilly could do was giggle and yell, "I'll be right back!"

Instead of standing there by herself, Miley decided to walk around. She found a sliding glass door open so she stepped outside to the back porch. The fresh air felt nice. She noticed an old folding chair and sat on it, looking up at the night sky and enjoying the cool breeze. She leaned her head back against the house and felt the music thumping through it. Every now and then a few people would come outside, but they would all return inside once they realized there was nothing to do.

Miley almost jumped out of her chair when a girl and boy emerged from the shadows in the distance. The girl's boisterous laugh contrasted sharply to the quiet night. The boy went inside without so much as glancing at Miley, but the girl stopped and stared her.

The girl looked around and spotted a forgotten lighter on a windowsill not far away. She pulled out a packet of cigarettes and lit one. She put the lighter and pack into her back pocket and walked over to where Miley was. "Bored already?" She waited for Miley to say something and smirked when she didn't. "So…you're the quiet type, huh? My name's Mikayla. You got a name?"

"Miley."

"Want a smoke?"

"No thanks."

Mikayla narrowed her eyes at Miley and took a long drag. "What kind of person sits outside a party and doesn't smoke?"

"I didn't say I don't smoke."

"What, my shit isn't good enough for you?" Mikayla laughed. "Looks like you think this whole party isn't good enough for you."

"I'm just not into parties."

"What are you into?" Mikayla asked, her eyes seductively looking Miley up and down.

Before Miley could say anything, Lilly stepped out on to the back porch. She stopped in her tracks when she saw the two of them. She crossed her arms and nearly glared at Mikayla, who looked from Lilly to Miley then back. She chuckled to herself and took a last drag on the cigarette before tossing it to the ground and crushing it under her heel. Without exchanging any words, Mikayla winked at Miley and walked slowly past Lilly and into the party.

Lilly sighed and walked over to Miley. "Are you okay?"

"Fine." She answered, glancing at the door. "What was all that?"

"What did she say to you?"

"Nothing. Why?"

Lilly struggled to find what she wanted to say. "She's…she's just bad news, okay? She's not someone you should…just stay away from her. Okay? As your friend, I'm looking out for you here. She's not someone to get mixed up with."

"Are you speaking from experience?" Miley asked cautiously. She wasn't entirely sure what they were talking about, but she definitely wanted to know more.

"Just trust me. She's not a good person." Lilly said, avoiding the question. "Have you been out here this whole time? I've been looking everywhere for you. I thought maybe Danny freaked you out with the tarot card stuff. You looked really freaked out."

"I just don't like parties."

"Do you want to get out of here? I don't know where Oliver is, he wouldn't answer his phone."

They went around the house so that they wouldn't have to run into any more human obstacles. When they reached Lilly's car, she stopped and looked at Miley.

"I'm sorry for dragging you here." She said quietly.

"You didn't drag me anywhere. I wanted to come."

"I thought you lost interest in parties a long time ago?" Lilly asked, referring to Miley's own words earlier that afternoon.

"I did." Miley said, opening the car door. "I came for a different interest."

Miley got into the car but it took Lilly a few moments to do the same. When she finally got into the car, she asked her where she wanted to go and Miley told her to make it a surprise. Lilly smirked as she drove off. They ended up outside Lilly's own house.

"Wait here." Lilly instructed before she ran inside. Exactly five minutes later she returned to the car with a backpack, then drove them a few streets over to Miley's house.

"What are we going to do here?" Miley asked as they walked in the front door.

"Sleepover, duh." Lilly smiled brightly. Following Lilly's detailed sleepover instructions, they grabbed blankets and pillows and set them up in front of the TV in the living room. Miley made popcorn while Lilly perfected the blanket arrangement.

"I'm gonna go head and change." She said, pulling her shirt over her head. Miley knew she shouldn't stare.

But how could she not.

Lilly's torso was tan, smooth, and toned. She pulled a shirt that was one size too big for her over her head and stripped off her jeans. She had on a pair of girl's boxers and the sight turned Miley on to the point that she didn't even notice the microwave beeping at her. Lilly glanced over and Miley blushed, redirecting her eyes and remembering the popcorn. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Lilly pull on sweatpants while she poured the popcorn into a bowl. She walked the bowl over to the coffee table in front of the TV and set it down.

"I'll go change, too." Miley announced, heading for the stairs.

"Oh, so I don't get a show but you do?" Lilly teased, sitting down on the blankets and stuffing her clothes into her backpack.

"You should be so lucky." Miley smirked.

When she returned back downstairs after changing into a tank top and shorts, Lilly already had a movie in.

"What are we watching?" Miley asked, scaring Lilly who had been scrolling through something on her phone.

"Jesus Christ, you scared me. Don't you make any noise when you walk?" Lilly laughed.

"Nope, I'm secretly a ninja." Miley grabbed a handful of popcorn.

"Stealthy and mysterious." Lilly wiggled her eyebrows. "How hot."

"You have no idea." Miley mumbled through a mouthful of popcorn, causing both of them to laugh.

Lilly pressed play on the remote and tossed it behind her on to the couch. "We're watching a classic."

"I'm judging your entire taste in movies on this, so it better be good."

"It's one of my all-time favorites."

A few moments after the opening scene started, Miley looked over at Lilly. "Are we watching Jaws?"

"Yes." She smiled. "And if you say you don't like this movie, I'm sorry, but friendship over."

"I've never seen it all the way through." Miley admitted, cringing as the swimming women started being attacked by the shark.

"That's a major crime and personal offense in my book. You'll have to work hard to deserve my forgiveness." Lilly grinned mischievously.

"And what exactly would I have to do to be worthy of your forgiveness?" Miley asked. Her mind wanted to wander to dirty places, but something held her back.

She felt that Lilly was flirting with her, but was it just in good fun or was she really meaning it? They had only just met, was she wanting things to move faster than they should? Miley didn't want to just hook-up with Lilly, she wanted to get to know her more. She was unlike anyone that Miley had ever met before. She was more than a one night stand.

"Hmm…I think I'll have to get back to you on that." Lilly answered, watching Miley carefully. "Unless you have any suggestions?"

"I don't know, but I do know these lights are too bright for a movie." Miley got up and turned the lights off. She had said that as a change of subject, but as she turned off the lights it hit her that the dark was only more inviting for something to happen.

She sat back down next Lilly, closer than she had meant to. Lilly looked at her expectantly but Miley kept her eyes focused on the television screen.

"Miley?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something personal?"

"Sure."

"What's the real reason you don't like parties?"

Miley looked at Lilly. The question had caught her off guard. She had assumed Lilly's question would be about her intentions or her sexuality. "Um, well…I used to go to a lot of them. Like, a lot. They lose their appeal after a while. Most people go to socialize or do something with someone that they normally wouldn't do if they weren't drunk."

"Why did you go to them before?"

"It was the cool thing to do. But I stopped being concerned with what's cool a long time ago."

Lilly stared at Miley hard, searching her face. "This might sound crazy, but you remind me of someone I met recently."

"Mikayla?" Miley asked quickly.

"Definitely not. You are nothing like that girl. She is evil in heels."

"You just met me, how do you know what I'm like?" Miley asked quietly.

Lilly thought it over. "This is going to sound exactly like something Danny would say, but you have this like…this aura about you. I don't know, I'm just really fascinated by you. You're really different than the people around here."

"I was just thinking something similar about you." Miley admitted. "You're definitely one of kind, Lilly Truscott."

Lilly looked at Miley and smiled. Something had sparked in her, her blue eyes were lit up. She started to say something but stopped herself. A few moments of thought passed and she tried again. "You're not watching the movie."

"I guess I'm doing pretty bad at earning your forgiveness." Miley replied. Despite her efforts not to, she glanced down at Lilly's lips. She wanted so badly in that moment to kiss her.

"I think your main problem is not looking at the TV." Lilly smirked.

"Sorry. Sometimes I just get distracted by pretty things." Miley smirked back, enjoying the faint blush that touched Lilly's cheeks.

"What, sharks aren't pretty enough for you?"

"They just don't compare."

"Compare to what, exactly?"

Miley glanced at Lilly's lips again then turned her attention back to the movie. "You're not watching the movie."

Lilly grinned. "Don't even act like you are."

Despite her best efforts not to, Miley looked at Lilly and her lips again. Just as she was about to say something very flirtatious and inviting of physical contact, Lilly's phone rang.

"Hello? Wait, what? I can't hear you. Oliver, you have to talk louder. You're where? Oh my god, Oliver, what were you even thinking? Yeah, no, I'll come get you. It's fine. I'll be there soon." Lilly ended the call and looked over at Miley. "I need to go get him. He somehow managed to get himself stranded in the canyons. He went up there with some guys on some weird drug deal and they forgot him."

"Oh."

"I'm really sorry. I was having fun here but…"

"I understand. He needs your help."

"You can come with me…if you want?"

"No, I think…I think I'm good here."

Lilly looked at her carefully. "Yeah, okay. Well…I'll text you tomorrow and maybe we can finish the movie?"

"Yeah. Sounds good." Miley nodded.

After Lilly left, Miley picked up the blankets and pillows and put them away. She went into her room and sat for a while. She didn't know what she wanted do, what she was doing, or what was even best for her to do. It was clear, though, that there was a physical attraction between them, but Miley wanted there to be more than that.

There was something special about the way she felt when she was around Lilly. She'd never felt that way about anyone. But what was Lilly hiding about that Mikayla girl? Was Lilly really interested in Miley the way Miley was interested in Lilly? Were they moving too fast, even for a friendship? What did she really want from Lilly? What was the deal with that tarot card reading and Danny's warning to find balance and free herself of her great burden?

Miley fell asleep that night filled with questions.

She dreamed that Lilly would give her the answers.