DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except the plot :) p.s lyrics belong to Dire Straits.
Miley rolled out of bed. She checked her phone, and realised she was going to be late for school. She had already missed the bus, which meant she was going to have to borrow her dad's car again. When her thoughts turned to her father, she grabbed her phone again and dialled his number. It was still disconnected. She tried Jackson, but he didn't pick up. She left him a message to call her back. Miley padded into the bathroom, turning on the faucets in the shower and let the cool water cascade down her back. The sun was already high in the sky, and she could tell it was going to be hot today. Miley knew she couldn't get away with wearing jeans again, so when she turned off the taps, she wrapped a towel around herself and stared at her closet.
Sighing, she pulled on a white singlet and took a fresh shirt off a hanger and shrugged into it. She didn't bother to do the buttons up, and wriggled into a pair of faded black denim shorts. They stopped mid thigh, and were definitely not going to be the shortest pair that anyone would be wearing today. Slipping her feet into her favourite black Converse, she folded down the high tops so her feet wouldn't get too hot. Dashing back into the bathroom, Miley inspected her face. The bruise was now turning an odd yellow colour, but luckily it was easier to cover up and didn't require as much masking. The marks on her shoulders were pretty much gone, so she thought she'd be safe from any untoward questions about them. Throwing her hair back up in a messy pony tail, Miley clambered down the stairs to grab her bag and jump in the car.
As she drove to school, Miley thought about her father. She hated the fact he just left her, but at the same time, it really did make it easier for her to act like everything was okay. Although she was on her own for now, at least she knew she could rely on herself. Miley decided she didn't need anyone else, because they were just going to leave her anyway. Grappling to maintain that mindset, she strolled into the school ready to face the day.
"You look different."
Miley turned in her seat to see Nick sliding into his beside her. She raised her eyebrows at him.
"Oh, good. That whole make up with was short lived," added Lilly, taking her spot two desks over, Oliver trailing behind her.
"No, it's not that," Nick mumbled, averting his eyes from Miley now that her friends were there.
Miley didn't get a chance to question Nick, because the teacher walked in and immediately began with the morning's lesson. After a lecture about something that Miley was paying no attention to, he instructed the class to begin their assignments with their partners.
Miley sighed deeply, and spun on her seat to face Nick.
"How do you want to do this?" she spat.
Nick glanced around the room before returning his gaze to Miley. He just shrugged.
"Yeah, like I didn't expect that reaction. Do you want me to just do this myself and let you claim the mark we get too?"
Nick cocked his head to the side, studying Miley. It made her feel self conscious, it was as if he was truly fascinated by her suggestion. The trademark smirk she'd come to associate with him returned quickly.
"Everyone seems to be doing the modern twist as the story. How about instead of following them, we do the modern twist as the way we write it, and use a classic story? Or is that too against the mainstream for you? Will you get kicked out of your rich kid club if you don't conform?"
Miley scowled at him, and he just maintained his smirk.
"A lovestruck Romeo, he sings the streets of serenade.
Laying everybody low with a love song that he made.
Find a convenient streetlight, steps out of the shade,
He says something like, "You and me, babe, how about it?"
Miley raised her eyebrows at Nick. Obviously she was meant to be impressed by his monologue, but instead she laughed.
"Yeah, I don't think that's going to work."
"So you are scared about being non-conformist," he jeered.
"Yeah, that's exactly it. That and, I don't think plagiarising will get us the best grade," scoffed Miley.
"What?"
"You think reciting lyrics of a song by the Killers was going to 'wow' me?"
Nick looked at Miley in amazement.
"Actually, it's a cover-" began Nick, trying to regain the upper hand.
"-of a Dire Straits song. I know," Miley finished smugly. "It's an okay idea, but your execution of it isn't going to get us an A."
A smile played at the corners of Nick's lips as he stared at Miley.
"What?" she shot at him.
"Nothing. I just didn't actually think it was possible for you to surprise me," he shrugged, an unreadable expression on his face.
"I thought you had me all figured out, Nick Lucas," sneered Miley, packing up her books ready to be let out of class.
"So did I," he whispered to himself, so quietly that Miley wasn't sure if she heard correctly.
"Miley!" shouted Demi, waving her over to where she was standing with Joe.
Trudging over, Miley didn't see a football come flying in her direction. She took a step forward just as someone came running backwards to catch the wayward pigskin. The two collided and Miley was sent sprawling on the grass.
She could hear the echoes of the people who surrounded her laughing, and Miley tried clambering to her feet in a hurry. A hand was extended to her, and Miley gratefully took it. Just as she was upright again, Miley looked at the person who had helped her up. Jake Ryan stood before her, grinning.
"Get the hell away from me," hissed Miley.
"It was an accident," sung Jake, waving the ball in front of her face. "I could have left you on the ground."
"Oh, I'm sorry. How kind of you not to do a hit and run," drawled Miley sarcastically.
"What happened to you, Miles? You've changed."
"Don't call me that. You don't get to call me that anymore."
"You took this high school bullshit way too personally," stated Jake, reaching his hand out to take hers. "I'm a guy. I mess up. Mikayla is the one you should be mad at, not me."
"Don't you dare touch me, Jake. You'll never touch me again. I don't care about this high school bullshit, don't you get that? I don't care about Mikayla and I don't care about you!"
Ripping her arm away from Jake, Miley stormed off in Demi and Joe's direction. His face burning with embarrassment from the dressing down he got, Jake yelled after Miley.
"Whatever, Miley. Tell Demi if she decides Joe isn't the guy to burst her bubble, I'll do it for her. You can vouch for me; you know I'm good with the first timers."
"You arrogant, chauvinistic, disgusting bastard!" Miley roared, spinning on her heel and marching up to Jake. "You posted that bullshit about Demi?"
"Nope," sniggered Jake, enjoying Miley's reaction. "I saw it before it got taken down. Apparently so did you, and half the school."
"You actually make me sick."
"And to think I used to make you feel good," Jake insinuated, raising his eyebrows suggestively.
"Go to hell."
"And that's the part where I jump in and tell you that Demi wants you," interjected Joe, placing an arm around Miley's shoulders and smiling at Jake. "See you at practice, Jake?"
"Yeah, man. Sure thing," surrendered Jake, eyeing Joe. "Demi's hot, I can see why you'd wanna hang with her. But Miley is more trouble than she's worth, dude."
"Well, dude. That's for me to decide," Joe replied cheerily just to annoy Jake, pulling Miley closer into his side. "Later."
Joe dragged a speechless Miley back to where Demi was watching on in curiosity. Jake glared after the newcomer, muttering obscenities under his breath.
Miley felt the familiar texture of leather against her arms, and only now noticed that Joe was wearing a letterman jacket. Amused by her, Joe chuckled as Miley rolled her eyes.
"You're on the football team now?"
"What did you think I was going to practice with Jake later? The piano? Perhaps a little tonsil hockey?"
"You realise that even though that was nice, what you said back there I mean… but we can't really be friends now."
"Because I'm on the football team? Do you have some kind of allergy to the national pastime?"
"No. The players are allergic to me, because of Jake. Seriously Joe, I won't be offended. I'm used to it. It will make your life way more complicated than it needs to be if you try to be friends with me."
"I'm not trying anything. I am friends with you, Miley. I don't really care what other people think."
"You say that now…"
"You don't care. Why should I?"
They had finally reached Demi, who was waiting patiently. She looked at each of them with an expectant look on her face.
"Jake's a dick," Joe shrugged, as if that was all the explanation required.
"I know that! But what just happened?"
"He said something about Mikayla. Then you and Hannah Montana. Then generally confirmed his status as my biggest fan, and the fact he's an absolute jerk," Miley frowned.
"Hannah Montana? And me?" Demi looked dumbfounded.
"And Joe…" trailed off Miley, and Joe dropped his arm from Miley's shoulders.
"Demi told me about this Hannah Montana website. Who is she? And why the hell am I already on there?"
"I checked it this morning. There was nothing on there!" argued Demi.
"It got taken down last night after an hour," Miley said casually, as if she had nothing to do with it. "It was just rubbish about you guys. Jake was being an ass about it."
Miley figured there was no need for details; Demi didn't deserve that kind of embarrassment.
"What do you mean it got taken down?" Joe asked, trying to understand this whole situation.
"It got taken down," Miley shrugged. "I guess whoever posted it, or Hannah Montana, didn't want it up there for whatever reason."
"Does that happen a lot?"
"No," breathed Demi. "It's weird. I'm vice captain of the cheer leading squad, and I hang out with all those guys, but I'm never on there. And I've heard whispers of my name getting mentioned on the site, and literally it's gone by the time I get to check. And you'd think after all the stunts Mikayla pulled; she'd try and use that site for her own gain. Like trashing you, Miley."
"Guess she doesn't think I'm worth it. She probably doesn't want my name along side hers on a blog accessed by the entire school," Miley lied.
In actual fact, Mikayla had tried. On numerous occasions. But like Demi said, those posts never reached publication, or got removed quickly. One of the few perks about having started Hannah Montana – Miley got to police it a little.
"The whole thing is weird," declared Joe, and Miley and Demi mumbled in agreement. "Speaking of weird... what the hell did you say to Nick last night?"
"Oh yeah!" Demi suddenly remembered Joe's comment. "What were you on about?"
"Get this. I'm playing with Elvis-" Joe laughed at their confusion. "- our dog, Elvis. Anyway, he comes in and sits down on the floor. Doesn't say a word, just watches me and Elvis play fighting. Then my little brother Frankie comes in, and sits down next to Nick and starts bouncing or something."
"Bouncing?" repeated Miley, trying not to laugh.
"Yeah, I don't know... bouncing. He's a 10 year old boy, with way too much energy. Bouncing is the best way to describe it."
Miley and Demi burst out into giggles.
"So anyway, Frankie is bouncing. And back in the day, Nick would just grab him and throw him over his shoulder and start mucking around with him. But for a while now, that would usually piss Nick right off and he'd yell at Frankie. This time... he does nothing. He literally just sits there, staring at Elvis. After a bit, even Frankie stops and looks at Nick like he's gone crazy. Finally, Frankie gets a reaction out of Nick because he asked Nick if 'he was going to get mad or what?'. And Nick just gives this kind of odd chuckle in addition to that smirk he always seems to have plastered on his face. And then he says- and I'm not lying- 'Sometimes people don't do what you expect them to' and goes up to his room. Just like that! Minutes after you guys left! Me and Frankie almost fell over in shock. We didn't know what to do!"
Miley shrugged her shoulders, unsure of what she could have possibly done to cause Nick to behave like that.
"Joe!" called Nick, jogging after his brother. "Where are you going? The car is that way."
Joe turned to see his brother pointing in the direction of the parking lot where the SUV was sitting. Grinning sheepishly, Joe waited for his brother to catch up with him.
"Yeah, so… I kind of forgot to tell you. In gym today, we might have played football. And then Coach might have seen my natural ability in full flight. He might have offered me a starting place on the team. And training might be on… now."
"You're kidding?" cried Nick incredulously. "You mean I have to wait for you?"
"Well, I might have told Demi I'd drive her home too. The squad's practice only finishes half an hour after our training."
"Yeah, well… I might have to hurt you."
"Can't you get a lift with a friend?"
Nick scoffed at Joe's suggestion.
"Right, of course not. You probably haven't made any friends yet."
"Why would I need to? We'll go back to the East Coast soon enough."
"No, we're not," Joe said firmly. "I don't get why you're fighting it so hard. She walked out on us, Nick. She walked out on her family. She's not coming back."
"You don't know that!" retorted Nick angrily. "We should have stayed. Dad should have sucked it up and not run away too. Who cares if everything he sees back home 'reminds him of her'. There was no need to just uproot us all and bring us here. We'd built our lives back in Jersey. She would have realised that, and come back home. But now there is no home for her to return to, because we're here!"
"We've been over this, Nick. And now is not the time nor place to do it again," concluded Joe, turning away. "Find your own way home if you don't want to wait."
Just as Joe told him that, Miley crossed the path in front of them. She waved to Joe, and glared at Nick. Joe called her over, and she obliged.
"Can I ask a favour, Miles?"
"You're calling me Miles? Really? Already? And a favour? Wow, you weren't kidding about this whole 'friends' thing," she joked, poking him in the ribs.
"Where's your car?" asked Joe, grinning at Miley.
"Just there," Miley hit the unlock button on her keys and the black convertible chirped open a few feet away. "Why?"
"Perfect. Can you take Nick home? You can? Thanks! I owe you a million. I'll pick you up for school tomorrow. I'll grab your number off Demi and ring you when I'm a few minutes away. Sounds like a plan! See ya!"
Joe didn't even let Miley get a word in before he ran off towards the football field. Miley stood dumbstruck, staring at a just as bewildered Nick.
"No, sorry Joe. I can't take your jerk of a brother home. Why? Because it's in the complete opposite direction to where I live. And did I mention he's a jerk?"
Nick raised his eyebrows at Miley's rambling, following her silently to the car. She swung the door open and slid in, slamming the door shut behind her with a thud. She flicked the switch for the roof to fold away, and turned the stereo up so loud that it would prevent any attempt at conversation. She peeked out of the corner of her eye at Nick, whose face had darkened with anger. Sighing, she pulled out of the lot.
Nick glanced at Miley's steely gaze. She hadn't said a word the entire car trip, except pointing to her beachside mansion as they sailed past it, muttering about how inconvenient he was.
When they finally pulled up to the gates that separated his community from the rest, she turned to look at Nick expectantly. He mumbled the security code to her which she hastily punched it, barely giving the gates enough time to roll open before she stepped on the accelerator and hammered through.
When Miley drove into Nick's driveway, she grinded the gears into reverse, expecting Nick to just jump out of the car and keep going. When he didn't, she raised her eyebrows at him.
"You don't like people calling you Miles."
Miley pulled on the handbrake and turned off the ignition. She looked blankly at Nick.
"Are you literally just going to sit there and ignore the question?"
"You stated that. That wasn't a question. Just another assumption," Miley countered, but gave in when he glared at her. "I don't like just anyone calling me Miles."
"Joe can call you Miles, and you've only known him for a day," Nick pressed, not sure himself as to why he was so interested.
"Joe's not a jerk."
"You weren't going in the complete opposite direction," he segued. "I only live 10 minutes further, but in the same direction."
"Is there a point to why you're actually speaking to me civilly?"
Her icy tone took Nick by surprise. He was used to being the one dispensing these kind of cold responses, especially since his mother had left. He wasn't sure what to do now he was on the receiving end.
"Why are you friends with Demi, when she hangs out with all those girls that despise you?"
This point had actually made Nick extremely curious. He'd been given the run down of the in's and out's of the school by some ridiculously annoying girl called Amy. Maybe her name was Amanda. Possibly Amber. Whatever her name was, she sat next to Nick in Biology and did not stop talking the entire class. She was exactly the kind of girl that he had accused Miley of being. Something he was beginning to learn was very incorrect.
"Demi's not a jerk," Miley repeated herself, much to Nick's annoyance.
Nick caught Miley's eye and held her gaze. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, but usually he was so good at figuring people out. And this girl wasn't making it easy at all.
"Quit staring," she scolded him.
"Why does Demi hang out with them?" Nick pushed, hoping to get some kind of hint that would end this infuriating curiosity that he had about Miley, one he couldn't explain.
"She likes cheerleading."
"That's it?"
"No. She needs to keep them on side so she can stay on the team, so she can go to- Wait. Why do you care?"
Miley had interrupted herself, looking at Nick with a now distrusting expression.
"I don't," Nick lied.
Miley's face softened with amusement, and she pursed her lips. When she did that, a little crinkle formed in her brow, and before Nick could stop it, a thought popped into his head. That's cute.
His facial expression must have changed to match his thoughts, because Miley now looked at him, puzzled. Quickly returning it to the usual smirk, he hoped he hadn't betrayed too much.
Nick decided that he should get himself out of this situation as soon as possible, before Miley managed to fluster Nick any more. Nick was getting out of the car, when Miley placed a hand on his arm. She quickly removed it, realising she might have crossed a boundary when horror flickered across Nick's face. But it wasn't because he didn't like being touched; it was because the spot where she did felt like it had been electrocuted. His heart raced and his breathing hitched in his throat. No, he thought. She can't. This girl cannot have this kind of effect on me.
Quickly collecting herself, Miley shifted herself away from Nick, turning to face directly ahead.
"This whole asshole act, where you pretend it's you against the world and you don't care? It's bullshit. While you might think you know me… just thought you should know that I have that figured out."
She peeled out the driveway, the tires squealing. Nick was left in the driveway, staring after Miley, positively floored by her.
