Hey guys', thank you all for reading and reviewing. Sorry it's taking awhile, I haven't had much time to write, plus the whole new get up on here is really confusing for me (don't ask me why, I'm slow, I'll leave it at that). Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own nothing

--x--

I spin around and start to walk away. "Miley," I turn to look behind me, still walking, and see Lilly approaching me. "Wait up."

I smile. If I can keep her interested in me, then maybe I'll have a chance. "What's up?"

"N-nothing, I uh…" My smile grows, giving me a toothy grin. She spots me. "What?"

"Nothing, just…nothing." She still looks at me but I turn away and we continue to walk, in silence.

We make our way off the beach and on to our road, her house is approaching, and no words have been exchanged between us. But I'm comfortable with the silence. "So?" I turn to give her a quick flash then look away. "Y-you going to homecoming?"

I smirk. "Like I would be caught dead there." I never went to homecoming; it's the perfect dance for the rejects to feel like rejects and the popular kids to have a great time. The captain of the cheerleader team will win homecoming queen and the captain of the football team will win homecoming king. Why go to watch the ego kids get bigger egos?

"So where can someone catch you alive that night?" Hmm…clever.

"Why?" We are now in front of her house and stop. We are at the end of the driveway I turn around to look at her and she stops to look at me.

"I don't know just curious I guess."

I bite on my lower lip and nod. "Curiosity killed the cat," I take a step closer, so are faces are a few inches apart. I can see her stiffen and slight fear rises in her eyes. "Especially when he crossed paths with me."

She swallows her face stone; I smile and walk away. Knowing I left her stunned and thinking about me. I want her focus on me and away from Amber and Ashley. I want her interested in me just as much as I'm interested in her. 'Course an almost death threat probably was not the way to go, but I'll take my chances.

--x--

I can't go home so I continue walking; I don't know where, just wherever my feet take me. I try to clear my mind, all my thoughts, get rid of the bad, save room for the good. But how?

What are thoughts? An event that happens during the day, you can't shake. You have to relate it to something it has to come from somewhere. How do you clear an empty mind? Your mind is like a Ferris wheel, always turning, one thought after another, when one reaches the top you remember, when it goes back down you forget, when it stops you are in a fog. The human body is one amazing thing. Really think about it. Your intestines are so long they could go for miles. You have layers beyond layers of skin and your fingerprints are on every single layer.

God is one artist. Sure anyone can tell you that. The rise and setting sun, the colors that splash across the sky, the way the leaves change in fall, and snow, there is nothing whiter than snow. We live in amazing place, to bad we are doing poorly to preserve it.

--x--

I stop. I don't know where I am. Some park on another side of town. I find a bench and sit. What more thinking could I do today? "Miles."

My head snaps at the name of my sound. "Oliver?"

Oliver is riding his skateboard, but hop offs, taking off his helmet, and sitting down. I tried skating once. Did not go so well. I always thought it was so cool all those tricks you could do, in the air. I wanted to try them. So I did. I don't think I'm one of those people who give up easily but skateboarding is something I dropped quickly. I tried months even. I could not grip it. Oliver said I was a lost cause and I believed him. "What're you doing here?"

I put one leg over my other and look out over the park. "Avoiding home." Oliver places his arm on my shoulder and squeezes it tightly. I give him a small smile.

"Two more years." I know, I know two more years, but they are not coming fast enough. Little things that my Dad does, not only make me think about what he just did, but about others as well. I think of everything. My whole past comes back and I see no good. I could only remember the bad.

I look down, thinking again, I feel tears prick my eyes; I refuse to let them fall. I just want it to stop. All the bad things. Why? Why is it I remember more bad than good? Do good things not happen that often for me? Well yeah, but there was a time I was happy, and like I said I could not remember it. I want to, I'm dieing to, maybe that could define who I am, what I am. I don't even know. I haven't found my true calling yet. I have this empty void, I want it filled…with happiness. "I know."

Oliver removes his arm and decides to spark up another conversation. "Hey you want to go to homecoming? You don't need to dress up; a lot of people go casual."

"Oliver I really don't-" Lilly. Lilly might go, or she should go, and if I show up after what I just said it will totally throw her off. "I really don't know how I could pass that up."

Oliver raises his eyebrow. I did a complete one-eighty. I'm probably scaring him. "Ookay, tonight, eight see you there." He gets up to walk away and I'm staring off into space, smiling, heck I'm scaring myself.

--x--

I go home, carefully. I walk around the whole house, listening for everything, and looking to see if any lights are on. No sound and no light. My Dad is gone. Yes! He'll go out he'll forget and I'll get away.

I walk in and run upstairs. I only have a half hour before Oliver and I have to go to homecoming. Amber's party I looked forward to, this I ain't so crazy about. I spend twenty something minutes fixing up and changing. Ready to go out.

I bound down the stairs and I see Oliver coming up my driveway. I open the door and walk past him. "Hey Ollie." Oliver stops, and looks from my house to where I am walking.

He turns around and walks up beside me. "Jeez Miles, I don't know what this Truscott girl has done with you but I think its turning into a good thing."

"She is doing nothing Oliver." She can't. I don't change. I have been this way for nine years. Maybe that is an exaggeration, but I don't remember being anything other than whom and what I am. "Let's go."

--x--

Oliver and I enter the dance. People are everywhere, dancing, talking, and doing nothing. There is a rumor about a big party later on. No teachers, no adults, and all alcohol. I scan the crowd for a certain blonde. Do I want to do that? Do I want to look eager? I shouldn't. I said I wouldn't be caught dead here so why should I act like I want to be.

I walk over to the tables and let Oliver go his merrily way. Again I'm alone. I look at the waves of people dancing. Teachers or the supervisors are pretty strict here, that is probably why there is a bigger, better party after. We will be free to do what we want. Here we can not dance that close, well you could dance close, but if you start a grinding train, you are done for.

I still search the crowd for Lilly. I have never been to homecoming, so I don't really know how things work. "Vote for homecoming king and queen?" Some kid, with red curly hair, jumps in front of my view, holding a piece of paper. Better to go along with him and not argue. I snatch the paper and think. Do I really want to boost these kids's self-esteem? Do I want to see them happy and be king and queen of the world? Bring there hopes up? Cause after high school they will be the ones at the bottom of the food chain, working for us. I smile. Yes. I'll do it. Let them have their time now, and later they will be the ones to die old. I scribble on the paper and hand it back to the kid. "Thanks."

He walks away with a smile on his face, looking for other people to ask. I turn back in front of me, totally unprepared, Lilly is standing there, she is wearing a simple dress, her arms are folded across her chest and she has a smirk on her face. She walks up to me, hovering over me, sneakiness in her eyes, and talks. "Well I would have never thought, Miley Stewart, to be here at homecoming, should I phone the morgue?"

I raise my eyebrow and give her a smirk. She is good. One reason I know she is not another Amber or Ashley. "Funny Truscott, but I wouldn't test your limits."

She drops her arms and pulls up a chair next to me. "What makes you think your tests are challenging enough for me?" Whoa feisty. I might break my limit before she breaks hers.

I know I need to gain control back but I look like a fool now. My mouth is open and I'm sure I'm wide eyed. "I-I-" I lost the ability to talk, perfect. I clear my throat and try again. "I would love to have a battle of the wits with you Truscott, but you seemed to be unarmed."

Her eyebrows knit together and she fixes her posture in her seat, carefully drawing in a breath and letting it out slowly. "Well I'm sure you can agree as much as I that stupidity should be a painful thing."

"Exactly…wait," Now my eyebrows knit together and I have to think. "What?" She smiles and lets out a light. Causing a smile to rise on my lips. "Did you just insult me or did I just insult myself?"

Her blue eyes shine with the happiness coming from her laugh. "I think both, although I'm pretty sure I insulted myself in the process." I let a small giggle and she does to. Making me stop and stare at her. A smile forms on my lips. The whole world stops. The people around us are just blending into colors and all my focus is on her.

She stops laughing and looks at me, staring at her. She lets a small smile hang on her lips and speaks softly. "What?"

I respond in the same tone. "Nothing." She is different. She makes me feel different. She makes me feel good, important. Maybe she is what I have been looking for; maybe she is the piece to the puzzle, that one person to fill in the void.

"Miley?" I blink and shake my head. Guess I completely zoned out. "Did you hear me?" I nod my head 'no' with my lips in a thin line. Now I feel bad, she was talking and I was daydreaming. "It's okay, I was just wondering if you were going to the party after."

I shrug my shoulders. How many parties are there going to be this month? "Umm…are you?"

I bit on the inside of my cheek. No matter how hard I try, I can't be my normal self around her. I want her to like me. I want to be my best for her. I don't want to be my usual self. "There is a good chance I might show, up, considering Ashley is having it."

Ahh…her "friend". "Well maybe if Oliver is going, I might stop by." I still have to stay clear away from my Dad. By tomorrow we should be on the level we once were: zero. But that is fine with me. He will find some one to knock up and I'll go have fun of my own.

--x--

Okay, well to me that seemed pretty blah, but you can't rush these things. So will Miley show up at the party? Will things ever get better between her and her Dad? And is she having any effect on Lilly or is Lilly having a bigger effect on her? Find out in the next chapter. Till then. :).