My computer keeps screwing up so I wrote this chapter over three times in three different computers! AHH! So, sorry about not updating.
Anyways, about the story now, I am not going to jump back and forth between Hannah and Miley inside the chapters, now each chapter will only be about one girl. I will also refer to them as both Hannah and Miley (depending on who's talking) so I hope it won't be too confusing.
On with the story.
Malibu
Four wet and tired teens collapsed into the chairs at the Rico's.
"That was great," Lilly exclaimed.
A comfortable silence followed as the best friends sat in the sun. Hannah played with her surfboard with foot. This was perfect. A few hours into being Miley and Hannah was already happier than she has ever been in a very long time.
"Hey Miley," Nick broke the silence, "where did you learn to surf like that?"
Hannah was about to respond when she realized that Hannah learned to surf while filming that movie in Hawaii last month. Miley probably couldn't really surf at all.
This can't be good.
"Umm," Hannah tried to think of an explanation, "Well…it must be…the…waves! Yeah, they were so amazing that anyone could surf. Even me!" She topped her lie off with a big smile.
"Okay…" Nick seemed unsure but he bought it anyways. Close call.
The friends spent the rest of the afternoon sipping sodas and laughing about how Oliver "saw a shark" and wiped out into the waves screaming like a little girl.
"I swear," Lilly said, "you totally fell of your board swinging your arms all over and crashed head first into the water. It was hilarious," she added, poking his arm.
Oliver was quick to defend himself. "DID NOT! I told you guys, I saw a jellyfish!"
"Wait, didn't you say shark?" Lilly pointed out. When Oliver dropped his head and blushed, she threw her head back and laughed.
Nick turned to Hannah, "And they bug us about acting like a couple…"
"Hey guys!"
Hannah turned around to see a tall dark haired guy running towards them. His face was familiar, Miley had a picture of him of her phone…it was Nick's brother! Now what was his name again?
"JOE!" Lilly cried out.
That's right, Joe Jonas. Hannah watched as he walked over and performed a short, funky little handshake with Lilly.
"Did you guys forget what day it is today?" Joe asked to Nick and Hannah. What day is it? Miley never mentioned anything about today.
"Oh crap!" Nick sprung out of his seat. He grabbed his board with one hand and yanked Hannah up with the other. "It's the last Saturday of the month!"
What? I am so confused. Hannah picked up her board and leaned against Lilly. "Explain?"
"The last Saturday of every month, you and Nick and your brothers have to cook for your parents. Some Stewart-Jonas tradition, I guess."
Before Hannah could ask more, Nick was dragging her towards her house. "Bye Lilly, bye Oliver!"
"Well there you two are!" a guy with sandy brown hair said. He was standing in Miley's kitchen stirring in a big pot; he must be Miley's brother.
"Sorry Jackson," Nick said. "But we totally forgot."
"Well, Joe and I already cooked the chicken and vegetables, you guys can take over with the salad and dessert."
As she washed my hands one thought kept repeating itself over and over in Hannah's head.
I can't cook. I can't cook. I can't cook. I can't cook…
"I'll make the salad," Hannah said since pouring dressing onto lettuce is a lot easier than throwing ingredients together to make a sweet dessert.
She rummaged through the fridge and found a bag of pre-washed mixed salad. Perfect! She found a bottle of white sauce in the side shelf: ranch, and put them on the kitchen counter.
Now comes the hard part, Hannah had no idea where to find a bowl. She could try to find it in every cupboard, but that would be a little suspicious.
Luck was on her side, as Hannah found a big clean bowl sitting next to the stove, Joe or Jackson must have put it there for her. She poured the salad lettuce from the bag into the bowl, and then drizzled on the ranch. When Nick opened a drawer, Hannah spotted some forks and spoons that restaurants use to serve salad. She took those out and mixed the salad like those waiters did in those fancy restaurants.
Hannah smiled. For someone who can't cook, she sure could make salad.
But just when she thought she lucked out, Nick called for her, "Miley, can you help me make the low fat, no sugar, 90 calorie chocolate cake?"
Oh boy.
I can't cook. I can't cook. I can't cook. "Okay."
Nick handed her the bowl with the cake batter, some eggs, and a mixer. "Crack these and then mix it."
She had watched her chef, Flora, bake cakes back home. Flora could crack eggs with one hand in one swift movement. Hannah decided not to risk it and used both hands to crack the egg on the side of the bowl…but she used too much force and the egg, shell and all, landed in the bowl.
After trying to pick out all the pieces of egg shell, she gently cracked the other egg. After all four eggs were in the bowl and most of the shells were out, Hannah's hands were covered in egg yolk.
But that was the easy part. Next comes the electronic mixer.
Hannah stared at it for a second, before daringly pushing the button…but nothing happened. She pushed it again and again and again, still no reaction. What was wrong with this thing?
"Uh, Miley?" Nick reached over her and grabbed the cord. "You might want to plug it in first."
"Right, I knew that."
The rest of the dinner process was fairly painless, Nick just had remind Hannah to wear oven mitts, Joe had to remind Hannah where everyone sat at the table, and Jackson had to remind Hannah that the chimes were the doorbell (which was fortunate since Hannah was about to make a fool of herself by answering the phone.)
"Are you alright?" Nick asked, after witnessing all of Hannah's fumbles.
"Yeah, I'm just out of it I guess, does the sun make you forget your doorbell tone?" Hannah asked.
Nick laughed.
As the parents were sitting down, Robby Ray sniffed the air. "Is something burning?"
Hannah gasped. The cake! She followed Nick towards the oven. As he opened the door, a puff of smoke escaped, making the two cough. Nick took out the overcooked dessert out. It didn't look too bad…he stuck a toothpick into the center…BOOM! The chocolaty sensation burst and the remaining cake looked more like road kill than anything.
Nick went to turn off the oven, but stopped when he saw the oven was turned to 550 Fahrenheit when the recipe only asked for 350.
"Oops," Hannah whispered, she was too busy focusing on not messing up her cooking, she messed up her reading.
Denise Jonas walked into the kitchen. "Cake disaster?"
Hannah and Nick looked at each other. "…yeah."
"Well, that's alright, come, let's have dinner."
The two families sat down and started getting the salad. Jackson took the first bite, only to spit it out. "Who made this?"
Hannah ran her hand through her wig with frustration, "What did I do now?"
Jackson walked to the counter and picked up the "ranch" bottle. "Miley, you used mayonnaise."
The whole table started laughing. Hannah buried her face into Nick's shoulder in embarrassment.
When she and Miley switched back, the first think Hannah will do is ask Flora to teach her how to cook.
The Next Day
"It was horrible," Hannah complained. She was explaining last night's dinner experience to Miley.
Hannah could hear Miley's laughter over the phone. "But it was pretty unfair; I mean I have never cooked in my life!"
"Really?"
"Yeah, I'm…" Hannah looked around the beach to make sure no one could hear, "…Hannah Montana, for crying out loud. I have my own butler and chef."
"Yeah, I know," Miley replied, "I'm living your life. No offense or anything, but you're pretty spoiled."
Hannah sighed. It was true. No matter how hard she tried, she was still a rich, spoiled rotten celerity. "Well, I'm liking your life so far."
"Me too. Although the Hannah life is a little boring right now."
Hannah suddenly remembered something and slapped her hand onto her forehead. "Oh, FRICK!"
"What's wrong?" Miley asked.
"Hey, how are you with acting?"
"What?"
"I just remembered; you are shooting a movie tomorrow."
"WHAT?"
"Sorry, I totally blanked. Um, the script is in my top drawer in my night stand…"
"How am I supposed to memorize a whole movie in one day??" Hannah felt horrible. How could she forget she was filming a movie?
"I'm sorry, Miley. But it's a Romeo and Juliet story. It's like a love story with references back to the original play. I think tomorrow will be just filming parts of the original play by Shakespeare in old fashioned clothing and setting. You know the play, right?"
"Well yeah, but I still-"
"Oh, I've got to go, Nick is coming over. And you'll do fine in the movie."
"Hannah! Wait-"
"Bye!" Hannah quickly shut the phone and smiled as Nick made his way over to her.
"Hi Miley," Hannah nodded back. All of a sudden, she had a deep desire to hear Nick call her Hannah, to hear her real name through his lips, to not have to be someone else to be near him. Not that she was falling for him or anything.
Wait, did I say something out loud? Hannah panicked, because Nick was just sitting there next to her, staring at her in the eyes. She distracted herself as she watched the waves crash in and out. It was still so fascinating to her. But when she looked back, he was still staring at her. "What?"
"Oh, nothing," he looked away for a second, they turned back. "It's just, you look a little different."
Oh crap, he sees through the wig! "Different? How so?"
"There's like, something in your eyes. Looks of adventure, a look of wonder, like you are just seeing the world for the first time; it's just something new on you." Nick said. "Well, not really new. You used to always have that look, but then you got obsessed with becoming a star. You didn't have time to see the world anymore."
Hannah was taken back. Miley must have really wanted to be famous. "Well you can relax now. I don't want to be a star."
"Really?"
"At least for the summer. This summer, I will see the world with you."
He smiled and Hannah nearly fainted.
But, as always, perfect moments like those are always interrupted. Always.
"HEY LOVEBIRDS!"
Hannah turned to see Lilly jogging towards them. "Hi Lilly."
"Wow, I didn't think you guys would stop staring lovingly into each other's eyes long enough to notice me!" Hannah glared at her. Lilly smiled.
"Oh and Rico said he had something to give you, Miley."
The three friends walked to Rico's. "You called for me?"
"You betcha sweet thang!"
Nick and Lilly looked at each other. "What the hell?" Nick mouthed.
"My friends are throwing a party and we're having a contest to see who can bring the hottest date." Rico explained.
"What's that got to do with me, you little midget?"
"Well, since we have a little history…"
Hannah turned towards Lilly, "We have history?"
"The first days of freshman year are to never be repeated, Miley says."
"…I figured I could bring you as my date," Rico said.
Hannah walked right up to Rico. "Listen buddy, I ain't going nowhere with you."
"That's what I thought you would say," Rico climbed over the bar counter of his shop and took out a jewelry case. "So I brought reinforcements."
Hannah gasped. "You bought me a bracelet?"
"Now give me your wrist." And before Hannah could react, there was a loud clicking noise as a pair of handcuffs were snapped on.
"Oh boy, not again," Lilly muttered.
"What is this, Rico?!"
"Now, you are officially attached to me."
"No she's not," Nick said. He raised his hand. "You attached her to me, you idiot!"
Yeah, well, there are better chapters to come.
And the moral of the chapter: never trust low fat, no sugar, 90 calorie foods. First the brownie in Very Complicated now the cake. They're disasters waiting to happen. So expect them in my future stories! :)
For those of you waiting for my oneshot songfic sequel to Very Complicated, I'm writing that right after I update this!