Well, here it is. A new chapter. I'm sorry that it took so long to arrive, but unfortunately I have been busy with other things, and it was only recently that I managed to find the time to write and update this.
Also, this chapter is rather short, compared to others. But, hopefully, you will still enjoy it.
Chapter 3 – One Secret Is Out
Two hours after they had picked Oliver up from the airport, Miley, Lilly, Oliver, and Oliver's parents and siblings were sitting at a table inside Oliver's favorite restaurant, after having gone to drop most of Oliver's luggage at home, except for one sports bag he had insisted on bringing.
For a brief moment, Miley had wondered why Oliver had insisted on bringing that bag with him. And instantly after, she had regretted doing so, as she had caught the exchange of looks between Oliver and Lilly, which had given her a bit of a clue as to what this bag could be related to. Unfortunately, she didn't have a lot to focus on in that restaurant, which was called Slices & Chops. Ever since Miley had known about the place, she had thought it had one of the weirdest names ever, but as this was where Oliver's favorite steaks were served, his parents had decided to come here to dinner to celebrate his return.
And the actual dinner wouldn't take long to come, as they had already ordered their food, and now were simply waiting for their meals to arrive. In the meantime, Oliver were talking about Oliver's tour. Simon and Louise listened eagerly, occasionally piping a question in.
Miley was the only one not taking part in the conversation all, as she simply wasn't listening. Instead, she was playing with the napkin folded by the plate's side as though she found it the most interesting thing in the world, not even thinking about the food, and not caring about assimilating any of the words spoken by Oliver or the others.
She knew it was rude of her to ignore them like that, but it didn't seem much of a problem to her, as it looked like they were all forgetting she as much as existed. Either way, in order to pay the proper amount of attention to the conversation, she would have to look at the group, which would mean to look at Oliver, as he was the one doing most of the talking. And it would be too hard to look at Oliver and keep her turmoil repressed at the same time, mainly considering that Lilly would be in Miley's vision field if she looked at Oliver. If Miley had to constantly see the loving gazes Lilly was constantly sending at Oliver, she wouldn't hold her turmoil back.
That was why she played with her napkin. It was the only thing she could do in order for not to think about Oliver and Lilly, sitting side by side, as though they were the happiest people in the world. She had thought about watching the restaurant's television, but it was currently set to a news channel, and Miley didn't want to watch the news right now, as she didn't want to think about the world's problems when she could barely handle her own. She wasn't selfish or self-centered to the point of thinking her problems were the most serious in the world, but the truth was that her problems were hers, and she had barely been capable of managing them recently. Knowing about other ones was bound to make her have a nervous breakdown, and so, she refused to watch the news channel, at least here and now. Without the television, everything she could use to keep herself busy with was on the table, and the napkin had been her first choice.
Miley knew that she looked like a fool to onlookers, sitting there playing with her napkin with such dedication, but she didn't mind. After all, she had already been a fool, not only by falling in love with Oliver, but by not making herself to fall out of love with him after he had fallen in love with Lilly. And her foolishness was costing her dear.
At least, things were working better than Miley had initially expected. Her inner turmoil was turning out to be manageable, albeit barely. As long as Miley had something unrelated to Oliver to focus on, she would be fine. For now, the napkin would play that role, and later on, it would be her food, which would have to last until the end of the dinner.
A dinner that is only the calm before the storm. Miley couldn't help but to think, as she could already see what would happen after the dinner was over.
Oliver's family would go away, and Lilly and Oliver would invite Miley to go on their walk through the pier. Miley thought about refusing, but she doubted she could do that without looking suspicious, which meant she would have to accept. And once she was at the pier with them, Oliver and Lilly were sure to hound her about 'why she had been so distressed lately', 'what was wrong with her', and other things that Miley didn't even want to think about. Once that happened, Miley's emotional turmoil was bound to go right through the roof, and she doubted any amount of effort on her part would be enough to hold it back. Once she let it all go, Oliver and Lilly would realize everything, and then, it would only take a few seconds before they decided to end any connection they could have with her, for the most varied reasons. She would lose her friendship with Lilly and Oliver and have her life thrown into even more of an emotional mess than it was.
And it was all because Lilly and Oliver wouldn't leave her alone, because they were so adamant in knowing what was wrong with her.
Miley wanted to be angry at them for not leaving her alone about the matter, but she couldn't bring herself to it. After all, by being worried about her, they were only being the good friends they had always been. Besides, like a lot of things about this situation, the fact they were hounding her so persistently was her fault. She should have been able to get her mind off her feelings for Oliver without resorting to an increase on Hannah's workload, or to spending less time with them in the hopes that the proverb 'out of sight, out of mind' would turn out to be true. She should have taken the time to do something that didn't involve Hannah-related stuff or studying, so that Lilly wouldn't get too suspicious.
But she hadn't done any of those things. And now, she would have to deal with the consequences.
"Don't you agree, Miley?"
Miley growled, inwardly coursing at the fact that she was so close to falling apart from her inner turmoil that she was starting to hear things as stupid as some inner voice of hers asking if she agreed with something Miley herself had just stated. But then, she realized that it hadn't been any inner voice of hers speaking, it had been Lilly.
Apparently, they had suddenly decided to include her on the conversation. And while normally Miley wouldn't have minded, right now she was a bit at a loss, as she hadn't been paying any attention. And now, not only would she have to follow the line of conversation, but she would have to keep herself collected. It was just like when Lilly had talked to her at the airport, only worse, as now, there were six people giving all their attention to her, instead of only three.
Making a Herculean effort for not to fall apart, Miley looked toward Lilly, Oliver, and the others, who were giving her looks with a mix of worry and concern.
"Yes," Miley said, trying to sound as normal as possible. "Yes, of course I agree."
Everyone just kept giving her weird looks. Clearly, her act hadn't managed to convince any of them this time. And there was nothing she could do now to try to convince them there was nothing wrong with her.
This is it. Miley couldn't help but to think, knowing that her inner hell was going to break loose and devastate her friendship with Lilly and Oliver down to the last bit.
But much to her surprise, Lilly simply smiled at her, and said, "Thanks for backing me up, Miles."
That statement caused Miley to stop being the center of everybody's attention, but still, Oliver's parents and siblings gave Lilly a brief look, clearly wondering what was going on with her.
Miley, however, knew what was going on, and she could see from Oliver's look that he also did. Lilly had said that to spare Miley the shame and embarrassing questions at the table. Again, Lilly was being the great friend she always was, the one who always cared about Miley. And again, Miley cursed herself for what she would have to do after this dinner.
Miley grimaced as soon as her mind wandered that way. Just thinking about that topic made her chest ache and her throat go tight.
Fortunately, right then, a waiter arrived, pushing a cart with their meals on it, and everyone's focus immediately turned to the dishes he put on the table.
Once she got her own dish laid in front of her, Miley started eating, but she did so in a very deliberate, focused manner, with an almost painful slowness, intending to make her meal last until everybody else was having their desserts. Eating like this was very unlike her, at least when she was Miley. It was a different story when she was Hannah, as, after all, Hannah Montana had to eat with a certain amount of decorum, if only for not to give the gossip columns and the paparazzi a field day by revealing to the whole planet the poor table manners of one of the world's most famous pop-stars.
As Miley, however, she had a tendency to pig out when eating at home with her family only. Even when she had guests, ate at school, or went out to eat, she didn't particularly care about proper table manners.
But right now, she was at a state where she took any distraction that came in order for not to think about Lilly and Oliver. And eating with proper manners demanded some focus. Hopefully, it would keep her mind busy enough for her not to pay attention to her inner turmoil, which in turn would keep it repressed for some longer.
Looking down at her steak, Miley raised her fork and her knife to cut a piece out, unable to repress the thought of how pathetic she had become, to the point of not being able to to do as much as eating normally without the risk of having a nervous breakdown.
But it would no longer be like that, as tonight things would take a turn. For better or for worse, everything would be different after this dinner.
The rest of the dinner went on rather uneventfully. Miley kept silent in her spot, eating the food at the slow place she forced herself to maintain, while the others carried on with whatever conversation they had been having before the food arrived. The most noticeable difference was that now their conversation went on more slowly, as they were trying not to talk with their mouths full.
To her relief, focusing on her food had appeased her turmoil somewhat, mostly because the steaks served at Slices & Chops were nothing less than divine indeed. Which was a surprise, considering that the place wasn't even one of those were a single steak that could be eaten in one bite was as expensive as a cow back in Tennessee.
But eventually, came that dreadful moment when Mr. and Mrs. Oken finally paid the bill, and all seven of them got up from the table. Trying to remain as inconspicuous as she could, Miley followed Oliver, his girlfriend, his parents, and his siblings out of the restaurant, all the while trying to keep herself together.
Once they were outside the restaurant, Miley watched Oliver and Lilly exchanging good night wishes with Mr. and Mrs. Oken, as well as with Simon and Louise. A fact that caused the young children to make a lot of questions, as Miley noticed.
"But big brother, why are you wishing us goodnight now?" Louise asked. "We're not even home yet."
"Because I'm not going home now," Oliver said. "And you can't wait until I'm home, because it will be too late. You need your sleep."
"But tomorrow's Saturday!" Louise whined.
"That's right!" Simon added, being on his sister's side for once. "Why can't we wait for you to arrive?"
Miley could guess that Oliver was about to answer, but Mrs. Oken beat him to it.
"You need your sleep wherever it's Saturday tomorrow or not," she said.
From her tone, it seemed to Miley that Mrs. Oken would prefer it if Oliver just came home with them and ended the whole matter there. That suspicion was only strengthened when Miley saw the rather displeased look she gave at the sports bag Oliver currently held in his hand. However, she didn't make any further comments.
"Then why doesn't Oliver come home now?" Simon asked. "It's not fair that he needs less sleep than we do!"
"Your brother is older than you are," Mr. Oken said. "So he needs less sleep."
He didn't seem as displeased as his wife, but he clearly didn't like the thought of Oliver being out on the street at this hour.
"Now, no more arguing," Mrs. Oken said to Simon and Louise, who still had grumpy looks on their faces. "Hug your brother, and let's go home."
Louise and Simon still looked rather displeased, to say the least, but none of them argued with their mother. Miley wasn't surprised. After all, Mrs. Oken was known for being rather stern and intimidating, sometimes without even wanting to. Probably that was a result of her job in law enforcement.
After one last goodnight wish, Oliver hugged his parents and siblings again, and then Mr. and Mrs. Oken walked away, each taking one of their two youngest children by hand. Lilly and Oliver followed them with their eyes for a moment. Miley carefully measured the distance at which the retreating Okens were, and once they were out of earshot, she spoke.
"Well, I guess I'm hightailing it outta here as well," Miley said, trying to sound as cheerful as possible. "Wouldn't want you two lovebirds to be deprived of your first walk together in weeks!"
She said the last bit in a knowing tone, and then turned around, but before she even gave one step, she felt a hand grabbing her Looking at the place she felt being grasped, Miley saw that Lilly had been the one doing it.
"Aren't you forgetting anything, Miles?" Lilly asked, her tone gentle, but her look unusually serious.
Inwardly, Miley frowned. She had hoped that Lilly and Oliver would have forgotten about their plan to talk to her after dinner, or that they would end up deciding to just let go of the idea for now and instead enjoy their precious romantic time. They hadn't.
However, Miley didn't let them know what she had realized. Instead, she just gave the widest smile she could, and said, "You're right, I forgot to give you a goodbye hug as well. Silly me!"
Miley immediately made as though she was going to wrap her arms around Lilly, but even as she was halfway through the gesture, Lilly put her hand on Miley's shoulder and pushed away, firmly, but without excessive force.
"I asked you not to play games with me at the airport, Miley," Lilly said, her look unusually stern.
Miley bit back a curse at that. Lilly looked like she had gotten pretty offended by her attitude. The first thing she could come up with was, "Why would you think that I was playing any game?"
It wasn't her best excuse by far, but she didn't know what else to say. After keeping an act like that for so long, Miley was simply running out of steam. And unfortunately, that hadn't been enough to convince any of them.
Lilly gave her a frustrated look, obviously starting to get through with the matter. Oliver also looked like he couldn't just keep what he felt to himself any more.
"Come on, Miles, why can't you just tell us what's wrong?" Oliver asked in a strange, almost begging tone. "We're your friends."
Miley hid a wince. Having Lilly so upset with her was already excruciatingly painful. But hearing Oliver begging like that, and knowing that he was doing so because of something she had done to him, no matter how indirectly, was far worse.
For a moment, Miley remembered the time when she had forgotten the words to her songs just because Oliver was mad at her. That had been when she was young, and hadn't yet truly realized what she felt for Oliver. Now that she was older, was aware of what she felt, and had been bottling so much up for so long, she didn't even want to think of what could happen to her.
She had to end this now, not only for Lilly and Oliver, but for her. Otherwise, everything that would be left of them after tonight would be a big emotional wreck and two upset ex-friends.
"Very well, I'll tell you what's wrong," Miley managed to say, trying to force her hesitation down. "But first let's go to the pier as you said we would, OK? I think it will be easier to tell you there."
That was a lie, as that pier didn't have any special meaning to her. But while she walked there, she would hopefully be able to summon some more determination, and right now, she needed every shred of it she could.
Lilly and Oliver stared at her for a long moment, obviously trying to figure
"Alright, Miley. We'll go there. But once we're there, please tell us, alright?" Lilly said, now in the same begging tone Oliver had assumed before.
Because of the lump that had formed in her throat after Lilly had also begged, Miley could only nod.
Miley had tried not to walk too fast to the pier, in an attempt to buy enough time to gather enough determination. However, Lilly and Oliver were the ones setting the pace, and although they looked like they didn't want to force Miley into telling what was going on, they also didn't want her to drag this matter. So, they walked at a normal pace, and Miley, not wanting them to be even more upset or worried with her by this point, just followed their rhythm.
And now, less than twenty minutes after they had walked away from the restaurant, they were at the pier, leaning against the railing. Or, in Miley's case, leaning on it.
"We're here, Miley," Oliver said, shifting the sports bag, which he had slung over his shoulder while they came here.
"Are you going to tell us what's wrong now?" Lilly asked, without sounding impatient, demanding, or begging.
Instead of answering, Miley looked away toward the sea, taking in a deep breath of sea air, which usually worked to calm her down.
"Well… do you remember all of your plans for after this year?" Miley finally said. "How you…" she looked at Oliver. "…would go to Juilliard…" she switched her gaze to Lilly "…and you and me would go to CUNY?"
Oliver and Lilly nodded, confused looks on their faces, as they obviously didn't know where Miley was going with this.
Taking another deep breath, Miley added, "I know I haven't exactly told you so… but the truth is that I sort of have been having my own plans, and I would really like to stick to them."
Steeling herself as much as she could, Miley added the last part, doing her best to find the right words, "And unfortunately, you two aren't exactly a part of them."
That was it. The cat was out of the bag. Now, it was only a matter of waiting for it to start puffing and clawing around, like her father had said once.
Unable to repress herself from wincing, Miley tried with all her might not to close her eyes or turn away. She thought, a little bit too late, that perhaps she hadn't chosen the best words. Not for the first time, Miley wished that she had a knack for finding the right words to express herself without having to make them part of a song. While she usually didn't have problems saying what she meant, there were occasions when she did. Like this one.
"I'm sorry," Miley added in a whisper, silently begging for this apology to somehow appease them, if only a little bit.
As thought she had flipped a switch by saying that word, Lilly and Oliver finally showed some sort of reaction to her statement. In spite of her growing fear, Miley forced herself to keep her eyes on them. And she didn't like what she saw.
Lilly looked nothing short of shell-shocked, nor to mention divided between starting a disbelieving rant and lashing out at Miley for whatever reasons she had in mind. As for Oliver, he looked definitely confused, but not in the same way Miley had found adorable about him when he was younger. He looked honestly puzzled, not to mention rather hurt, which made Miley wince inwardly.
However, while Lilly seemed to be taking a long amount of time to assimilate the information she had just heard, Oliver soon regained an almost normal look, and was the first to speak.
"What sort of plans are those, Miles?" Oliver asked in a tone that he was trying to make somewhat even, although he couldn't hide the edge of hurt in his voice. It was obvious that he was doing his best to at least respect Miley's decision, even considering she had hurt him by saying that.
Unable to repress an overwhelming relief at the fact that Oliver was not freaking out because of what she had told him, Miley explained everything, making sure to speak in a low tone, so that no passerby would incidentally hear her secret.
"I want to be Hannah Montana on a full-time basis," she said. "Once I end my senior year, I want to focus solely on my career for a year or two, at the very least. I still intend to go to college someday, but unless you are willing to wait for me, it won't be with either of you."
Oliver nodded. He looked somewhat disappointed, and slightly hurt, which Miley had expected. After all he must have been looking forward to the three of them having a great time together in New York. But Miley would rather have him disappointed and slightly hurt with her now than having him really hurt and angry at her for eventually jeopardizing his relationship with Lilly once the three of them were in New York.
"And you say that's a final decision?" Oliver asked.
Miley nodded.
"And is there anything any of us can tell you to make you change your mind?" Oliver insisted.
Miley shook her head to the sides, closing her eyes as the hurt look on Oliver's face seemed to get slightly more intense for a moment.
When he recovered, he stood straight, and looked her in the eyes from where he was.
"I wish you the best of lucks in that, Miles," Oliver said, managing a half-smile. "And I'm sure your career will be even more successful with you dedicating all your time to it."
"Thanks, Oliver." Miley said, unable to repress herself from smiling at him. Even a half-hearted smile from Oliver seemed capable of making her heart melt.
However, her heart froze over an instantly after, as something seemed to motivate Lilly into speaking.
"How long has it been since you decided that?" she spoke, barely-contained anger evident in her voice.
It took all of Miley's will not to give a step back. For someone who looked so much like an angel, Lilly was certainly looking scary now. And that was more disturbing than anything else. Miley had seen Lilly upset many times before, but never had she seen Lilly truly angry.
"A while." Miley managed to say, her nervousness skyrocketing.
"How long exactly?" Lilly insisted, her eyes flashing dangerously.
"Easy, Lilly-pop, easy," Oliver said, wrapping his arms around Lilly's waist, as though he hoped that would restrain.
Lilly's sudden physical contact with her boyfriend appeared to calm her down a bit, but she still looked angry.
"How long has it been?" she insisted, looking like she was getting angry.
"I'm not sure exactly," Miley managed to say. "But when Jesse broke up with me I had already been thinking about it for about a month, maybe more."
That one was more than a bit of a lie, as Miley had been planning it ever since the beginning of her senior year. But if she said that, Lilly would be even more upset than she was.
Lilly looked like she was going to lash out at Miley at any moment, as she was quivering in barely suppressed rage. Although Oliver, now with his sports bag slung more precariously, hugged her and whispered what undoubtedly were soothing words in her ear, Lilly still looked like a puma ready to strike, even worse than Roxy, the scariest and fiercest bodyguard ever known to mankind, had ever managed to look.
In all honesty, Miley thought this was a bit of an exaggeration on Lilly's part. While Miley knew that hoping Lilly would be nothing but understanding could be too much, and that Lilly had all the right to be upset at the fact Miley had only now told her something so important, she didn't think there was a reason for Lilly to be beyond herself in fury.
Miley tried her best to look impassive, but she knew that at any sudden movement from Lilly, she was likely to just jump over the railing and into the sea.
Eventually, however, Oliver managed to calm her down, and Lilly's anger subsided, only to be replaced by a mix of incredulity and sadness.
"Why, Miley?" Lilly asked, sadness vibrating in her voice. "Why haven't you ever told me you wanted to do this? And why did you decide to do such a thing?"
Miley reached forward and laid a hand on Lilly's shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Lils," she said. "But I didn't want to tell you. I knew you would be upset."
Although Lilly had initially looked like she was calmer, Miley's comment.
"Of course I'm upset!" she lashed out. "I'm your best friend, you're not supposed to hide these things from me, mainly not for this long!"
This time, Miley couldn't help but to wince. Lilly had been right. And Miley cursed herself for not having told Lilly of her decision as soon as she made it. Both her father and Lori had advised her against keeping that secret from Lilly, but Miley had decided not to listen to them. And now, she was paying for that.
"Calm down, Lilly," Oliver said, wrapping his arms around her more tightly. "Calm down."
Lilly turned to him, looking him dead in the eyes with an intensity that Miley could feel in spite of not having visual contact with her.
"How can you ask me to calm down, Ollie-pop?" she asked. "How can you just accept this? She kept this secret from us for who knows how long, and you just sit there and take it?"
Moving his hands to Lilly's shoulders, Oliver said, "Lilly, I'm not just taking it. I'm also a bit hurt that Miley didn't tell us sooner. But she has the right to live her life, and we should respect her decision. Going to New York is my dream, and I'm very grateful you're so willing to go there with me, but she doesn't necessarily have to do the same thing."
Part of Miley couldn't help but to be upset that they were talking about her as though she wasn't around, but she forced that down. At least, Oliver was trying to see her side and to calm Lilly down, which was already something positive, although he still sounded slightly hurt. Hopefully, his efforts would not be in vain.
For a moment, Lilly just quivered, still staring intensely at Oliver as though that would calm her down. Finally, looking like her anger had been somewhat appeased, Lilly again turned to Miley, and repeated the other question she'd made, "Why are you doing such a thing, anyway?"
This time, Miley turned her head down, focusing on a rusty spot on the railing that had suddenly become fascinating to her eyes.
"Miley…" Lilly insisted, in a tone that stated very clearly that if Miley didn't speak soon, Lilly would beat the information out of her.
Ever so slowly, Miley raised her eyes again.
"I can't handle it anymore," Miley said.
That statement only served to confuse them even further. Miley couldn't help but to silently give thanks for that fact, as hopefully their seconds of confusion would help her to gather enough courage for what she was about to tell.
"What is it you can't handle?" Oliver finally asked in a careful tone, one that either meant he thought the subject was sensitive for her or that he was afraid of knowing the answer.
Miley gave another deep sigh, feeling as if her heart was splitting in two. It was time to tell the full truth. If before she had thought the cat was out of the bag and scratching around, she now thought that the cat would grow to the size of a tiger, and just one of its swipes would bring her down.
"You two," Miley said. "Your relationship. The way how you are so happy… so in love. And not only you, but everyone else around me wherever I seem to look. Dad and Lori, Jackson and Siena… and the list could go on. I don't think I can keep handling the fact I'm the only one who can't get a happy relationship no matter how hard I try. And if I went to New York… I don't think I would stand being so close to you in such a constant basis."
Oliver again nodded, the disappointment and slight pain evident on his face. But he still looked understanding and at least willing to try to respect Miley's wishes. Lilly, however, looked even more shocked.
"So that's it?" Lilly said. "You're going to focus on her career instead of going to college with us only because you're too bitter for not to accept the fact that the two of us are in love and you are without a boyfriend?"
At first, Lilly had been speaking in a rather low voice, but her voice had gradually increased as she spoke, and after the 'only', she was already past screaming, something that was attracting the attention of several other people in the pier. Miley couldn't help but to notice that most of their recently-acquired spectators seemed to be dating couples in their late teens, and most of those left were couples not in their teens.
"Please keep your voice down," Miley whispered, making a hand gesture as though she was pushing something down.
Lilly's eyes flashed again.
"You don't have the right to tell me what to do, Miley Ray Stewart. Not after you decide to give up our friendship like that."
Miley gulped. Lilly was taking this exactly in the way Miley had hoped she wouldn't.
"I'm not giving up on our friendship," she said, trying not to let her voice break. "I'm just not going to be around you two on a 24/7 basis. Friendships aren't meant to grow weaker with distance, are they? And besides, why are you so upset? Oliver is also my friend, and at least he's trying to respect my decision! Why aren't you doing the same?"
Miley wasn't sure of whether those logical arguments would be effective in calming Lilly down, but she had to try. Unfortunately, it was a failed attempt, because Lilly didn't look remotely calmer.
"You don't have the right to ask me to respect your decisions when you just drop a bomb on me like that," Lilly said. "I had been counting on the three of us to have the best college time in existence together, and you suddenly say you decided to give it up because you want to focus on your stupid career just to drown your bitterness? I can't believe it!"
Although she could see where Lilly's words came from, and that all of this was her own fault, Miley just couldn't help but to get somewhat upset at Lilly for speaking like that.
"Whoever hears you talking is going to think that I'm a drug addict, or an alcoholic, or that I resort to self-harm, or that I do any other thing in that vein," Miley said, unable to repress the slight anger on her voice. "I'm not addicted to anything, and although I know I shouldn't be bitter to the point of being unable to accept the fact that everyone but me is happy with the one they love, at least I'm using something rather healthy to keep my mind off of that!"
Again, Miley hadn't said the whole truth, but she knew that, as incorrect as lying was, telling the truth was not an option right now. Things would get a thousand times worse if she told Lilly something like "I know I shouldn't be bitter to the point of not accepting that Oliver, the one I truly love, is in love with my best friend, who, in turn, loves him back" it would be far worse.
And it was bad enough already. Not only because Lilly was angry, but because Miley could feel that she was starting to get angry as well. Miley knew she had more than a bit of a temper, and although she usually managed to keep it under control, it suddenly seemed to have become unstable, thanks to her inner turmoil. And what was worse, Lilly looked like she was going to stir it up even more.
"You're just being a selfish bitch who can't accept that she has some problem that scares her boyfriends away!" Lilly shouted. "Because that must be it! You've had more boyfriends than any girl I had ever known, and yet every other girl I have ever known managed to keep at least one relationship longer than most of the relationships you had!"
Miley repressed the comeback that was about to come out of her mouth.
I was only doing that because I wanted to keep my mind off of my feelings for Oliver! she thought. Fortunately, she hadn't shouted that.
"Lilly!" Oliver suddenly shouted, grabbing Lilly's upper arms, and turning her around to face him. "Calm down! Don't be like that! Miley already explained us what's going on with her, we already listened, let her go home before you manage to destroy whatever was left of your friendship with her."
Again, Miley silently thanked the fact that Oliver was at least trying to be understanding and respectful. And a moment afterwards, she silently let out a curse. But it wasn't because of Oliver. Instead, her curse was due to the ever bigger amount of people that were looking at them as though they were their night entertainment.
"I don't have anything of our friendship left to destroy, Oliver!" Lilly shouted, looking up at him. "She already destroyed everything when she said she planned to do it after our senior ended anyway, all because she can't handle seeing happy couples around her!"
Turning back to Miley fiercely, Lilly spat, "And you know what? I think you fully deserve that loneliness of yours! You deserve all the loneliness you can get in your life, because you're just some stuck-up whore who doesn't give any value to her friends or to anyone else who cares about her!"
That was it. More than a year of spending every waking moment holding back her feelings for Oliver combined with Lilly's angry shouts shattered whatever control Miley had left. As a sudden need of unloading everything she had bottled up took over every fiber of her being, Miley pulled her arm back, and swung a slap at Lilly, hitting her squarely on her cheek. The sound echoed all over the pier.
It was as if time had stopped. A gasp was heard through the whole pier, as their already big audience reacted to the hit Miley had just delivered. Oliver let go of Lilly, his arms falling to his sides, as he stared at Miley in shock, his mouth agape. Lilly simply stared at Miley, shellshocked at such an attitude, as Miley stared at her, her fists clenched at her sides, and a fierce snarl on her face, making every onlooker feel as though she was emanating rays of fire.
"Don't you address me ever again as long as you are live," Miley managed to get out, each of her words slow, deliberate, and boiling with anger. "From now on, you can just pretend that I died."
Then, as the full awareness of what she had done and said crashed down onto her, Miley turned around and ran away as quickly as her legs could carry her. In front of her, the crowd parted to make way. And behind her, drops of tears that had squirted out of her eyes splashed down on the pier, glistening under the artificial lights on the place.
Well... this was it. Yet more drama to add onto the story. If fanfics here could be classified under three categories rather than two, "Drama" would definitely be the third.
So, Miley finally told Lilly one of her secrets, and she didn't take it well. Fortunately, it wasn't the big secret, otherwise, things would have been even worse.
I'm sorry if it looked like Lilly and Miley were out of character, but the truth is that Lilly had been looking forward to going to college with both Miley and Oliver for a rather long time, and having something she had been looking forward to for so long suddenly ruined just made her upset. And Miley... well, with her inner turmoil, she really didn't choose her words, and Lilly didn't really make an effort to calm down... and so, things ended as they did.
I hope I'm not establishing a too fast pace with this story.
Even though the chapter was short, I hope you all enjoyed it. Best regards, and until the next update (which hopefully won't take this long to arrive).