So it turned out that the police were going to be looking into investigating Martin as the killer. Sure let's see if the dead guy did it. Anyway, I didn't have a lot of time to work on the case. I was planning to go home this weekend. I wasn't sure if Lilly was going to be able to come with me. I decided to ask her as she walked into the room.
"Are you sure that you don't want to come with?" I asked my blonde roommate. She was currently ironing her clothes for some reason. I didn't ask why.
"Yeah I have to study for my Algebra exam on Monday." She replied. "You should see if Taylor wants to go with you."
"I guess that would be worth a try." I admitted. I needed to find her quick because I wanted to leave as soon as possible. I rushed to Taylor's dorm and knocked on her door.
"Why didn't you just call?" Taylor asked as she appeared behind me.
"I have something that I need to ask you." I said, turning to face her. She put on a listening face. "I'm going home to Malibu this weekend and I was wondering if you wanted to come with."
"Would your dad be there?" She asked.
"Since I'm going home, yeah he will." I answered. "Is that a problem?"
"No I just wanted to make sure that I would get to meet him." Taylor told me. "I would love to go. When are we leaving?"
"Do you think you can be ready in an hour?" I asked.
"Well I need to shower and pack some stuff but yeah I think that sounds doable." She declared as she grabbed a towel. "So I will meet you in your dorm's lobby in an hour."
"I could bring my car around the front." I offered.
"That will work too." Taylor added as she hugged me.
I headed back to my dorm and saw Melanie was working the front desk.
"Hey." I greeted her.
"Hi." Melanie reciprocated. "I know I've already said this a few times but thanks again for the help."
"You're welcome once again." I replied. "I needed to tell you that I'm gonna be going home this weekend."
"Okay but I don't quite understand why you need to tell me that." The RA replied in confusion. I guess she didn't get it.
"I'm telling you because people might ask for me while I'm away and I would need you to tell them that I'm not here." I explained.
"Oh yeah." Melanie realized. "I can do that."
I nodded and headed to the shower. I had to be quick since I had less time than Taylor. The good news was that I was already packed. One thing that Daddy might be a little surprised to see is that I had lightened my hair recently. It wasn't Hannah blonde but it was more of a golden brown. I had learned proper dying techniques after that wig fiasco on that boat to Hawaii. I couldn't help but wonder what happened to that cute young couple I had met. I dressed myself in a simple white top and jeans. It was nothing fancy but it didn't need to be. I grabbed some sunglasses because I knew it would be warmer than it is here. I actually was really excited about this trip home. I wanted to see what the city was like since I left. I was also interested in seeing Jackson and wondered if he by chance worked up the courage to propose to Siena yet.
After I was done with my makeup, I headed out to my car and subsequently parked in front of Taylor's dorm. I decided to text her to see if she was ready yet. While I waited, I decided to listen to the radio. I heard this song about this girl who promised to kill her boyfriend if he cheated on her. That was a little extreme I must say. I would settle for injuring him, if I was still dating boys that is. Still it was a good female empowerment anthem. I wish I knew who the singer was.
Taylor came out dragging a suitcase behind her. She looked kind of cute like that. I popped the trunk and she deposited it next to mine. She sat down next to me. It was dark out because it was Thursday night. My Geometry class was cancelled tomorrow so this was my best chance to do this.
"So how far is Malibu from here?" Taylor asked.
"It's about a six hour drive." I replied. Hmm maybe I should have had Daddy send the plane. That would have been easier. "You still have a chance to change your mind if you don't want to go."
"No I want to go with you." She replied. "It's okay if I sleep in the car, isn't it?"
"Of course." I replied. "We're in for a long ride."
The ride was very long indeed. It would probably already midnight when we arrived. I wanted to talk about something with her but I wasn't quite sure where to start.
"So have you ever ridden a horse?" I asked.
"I'm from Delaware." She responded. Yes I know this but I'm not sure what that had to do with anything. "There really isn't much to do there other than ride horses."
"Hmm so you said that you were going to be writing a story about me. How it's going?" I asked.
"It's going pretty well actually. I'm not done but I can tell that it's going to be great when I am." She answered.
"How long is it going to be?" I asked.
"Probably somewhere between thirty and fifty pages." Taylor responded.
"Wow I don't think I could ever write something that long." I admitted. "The longest thing that I've ever written is a five minute song."
"And it was a really good song." Taylor replied. I so wish I could kiss her right now. "I think I'm gonna go to sleep."
Taylor put her earbuds in her ears and nodded off. I continued to drive with the radio on low. It was a good thing that I had filled up because I knew gas stations could get pretty scary late at night.
Shortly after midnight, I pulled into the driveway. Taylor was still soundly asleep. I figured I should wake her up but then I saw Daddy walking toward the car. I could make him carry our bags. Yes that would definitely work. I smiled and rolled down the window.
"Hey Daddy." I greeted him.
"I thought you said Lilly wasn't coming." He remarked seeing the sleeping blonde.
"This is not Lilly." I said as I shook Taylor awake. This is my girlfriend Taylor."
"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Stewart." Taylor replied, a little sleepily. "Did you shave your mustache off?"
"Actually it was a fake." Daddy replied. "So do you girls need me to get your bags?"
"That would be great, Daddy." I replied as I got out of the car and went around to the passenger side to let Taylor out. She looked pretty cute right now.
"Is Jackson here?" I asked as Taylor and I started to walk into the house.
"He and Siena should be back soon." Daddy explained.
"What, why is she going to be here so late?" I asked.
"Oh I forgot to tell you. She kind of moved in." Daddy said like it was no big deal.
"They didn't get married yet, did they?" I asked.
"No." He replied. I breathed a sigh of relief. I would have been so pissed at him if he hadn't told me or waited for me to be home "The wedding is not until Saturday."
"So Jackson's getting married and you didn't tell me?" I asked.
"I'm telling you now, Bud." He responded. "You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend."
"Touché." I replied.
"Is everything alright?" Taylor asked.
"Yeah just a little family drama." I replied. "Also we need to go shopping to get some dresses for my brother's wedding on Saturday."
"I can understand why that would be a little upsetting not knowing about." She told me. "So I don't think I'm ready to go to bed yet."
"How about we see what's on TV right now while we wait." I suggested.
"Can we have tacos?" She asked.
"I don't know if we have any tacos." I replied. "How about popcorn?"
"That will work too." She told me as I turned on the TV in the living room and put some popcorn in the popcorn maker. Yes we had one. It was probably unnecessary but Daddy used a lot of the income that I had made to buy and furnish the house. I believe the total cost was around 2 million which really wasn't that bad. I had no idea what was on TV at midnight since I usually wasn't watching it then.
"So where's your room?" Taylor questioned.
"It's out in the barn." I explained. "It may not look like much on the outside but it looks amazing on the inside."
"I believe you." She declared. "I mean you were probably the most successful popstar since Michael Jackson or at least Brittney Spears. I imagine you like to live in style."
"I do like to live in style." I agreed. I then heard Jackson's car pulling up. I imagine Siena was with him. "Do you want to meet my brother? It's okay if you don't. I would completely understand if you didn't."
Before she could answer, Jackson, and Siena walked in the door.
"Hello bro." I told him with a little bit of spite. "I heard you were getting married."
"Look I told Dad to invite you and he did." Jackson replied.
"He didn't mention that it was for your wedding." I remarked. Everyone then stared at Daddy, even Taylor.
"I'm thinkin' I'm gonna head up to bed." Daddy said before he ran upstairs in haste.
"So who is this girl?" Siena asked.
"I'm Taylor Roy." The blonde girl replied. "Hey, I've seen you somewhere before. Aren't you a swimsuit model or something?"
"Yeah I'm Siena…well in about 36 hours my last name will be Stewart. I'm going to break the trend." She explained.
"Listen I would love to stay up and chat but I just drove for six hours and am kind of tired." I replied as I grabbed Taylor's hand and took her to my room.
"Yes, this is amazing." Taylor commented.
"So there are two beds…" I stated. "How do you want to do this?"
"Well I still am a little tired but I would like to share a bed with you." Taylor told me. "What time should we wake up to go shopping tomorrow?"
"Well not too early." I answered. "How's 9:00 sound?"
"That could work…if we go out for breakfast." Taylor agreed as she started to get dressed for bed. "What?"
"Nothing. It's just that we've never slept in the same room before." I commented. "So how do you feel about going to the wedding?"
"I have to say, I'm a little nervous." She admitted. "When you told me I would be meeting your family, I didn't think it would be your whole family."
"Also we may need to cool it on the PDA." I remarked.
"Why?" She asked.
"It's not that I'm ashamed to be seen with you or the fact that I don't want people to know that I'm with you but this isn't like school. They are paparazzi here. You might not want your name in the press." I explained. "Plus I don't want to be forced to come out because someone takes a picture of us kissing."
"Got it." She agreed. "I just hope you feel comfortable enough to publicly come out."
"I'll tell you what, next time I do an interview, I will tell everyone that you're my girlfriend." I told her.
"I would appreciate that." She replied as we got into bed. "Goodnight Miley Bear."
"Goodnight Tay Jay." I reciprocated before I fell into sleep.
That morning we went to get breakfast at Rico's because even though Rico is a jerk, he still makes good French Toast Sticks. I then noticed that there was police line over the shack.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Someone robbed the shack last night." Rico said as he appeared.
"So I guess we won't be eating here." Taylor remarked.
"Do you have any idea who might have done it?" I asked the little man.
"The only person I could think is my brother Mateo." Rico explained. "He's a little upset about my settlement not being paid. The police said that they won't be able to look at it until Monday."
"I'll find out who did it." I promised. "After I get some breakfast."
"So how are you going to manage to solve a crime with the wedding?" Taylor asked me at breakfast.
"Luck I suppose." I answered. "I don't quite know but I am going to try."
"Well if anyone can figure this out before the weekend is over, it'll be you." She replied. "You managed to figure out my problem in a day."
"Yeah but that was easier because everyone was in one place." I pointed out. "It may not work that way. I've never solved a case in the real world."
"Well let's consider this your first test." She encouraged. "Let's go talk to this Mateo guy. For all we know he could have done it."
"It's usually never the first person." I remarked. I couldn't help but wonder why that was
The two of us went to Rico's house and were quick to realize that Rico had a pretty large family. That was a Mexican stereotype even though they defied the others because they were rich.
"I'm looking Mateo." I asked one of them.
"That's me." He replied.
"I'm here to talk to you on Rico's behalf." I stated. "I don't know if you heard that the shack was robbed last night. Rico thinks you might have been involved."
"Why does he think that?" Mateo asked.
"Well he said that you were upset because something about a settlement." I explained. "What kind of settlement was he talking about anyway?"
"It was from the lawsuit that we just ended." Mateo told me.
"Why were you suing him?" Taylor asked.
"There was a commercial that he promised that he would let me be in and as you can tell, I wasn't in it." Mateo explained. "But I didn't steal the money. I'm not going to risk going to jail just to get a couple thousand bucks."
"Are there are any other members of your family that don't like Rico?" I asked.
"Our parents are probably the only ones that do like him." Mateo pointed out. "You went to school went with him so you know that he wasn't well liked. Rico has a lot of enemies."
"Yes I know." I remarked. "Thank you for your time."
As we were on the way out, my phone rang. It was Rico. How he got my number, I don't know."
"Yes, Rico?" I answered.
"I just want to tell you that they found an eyelash curler at the scene of the crime." He replied. "That means that the thief was probably a girl. They said it was made of an unusual wooden alloy. It's supposed to be all-natural."
"I know who did it." I told him before I hung up. I then began to drive to the house of the criminal.
I knocked on the door. It was answered by Joannie, Oliver's ex-girlfriend.
"Can I help you?" She asked.
"I need to see Sarah." I replied. Sarah was my school's environment and Joannie's stepsister.
"Miley, what are you doing here?" Sarah asked.
"I think the better question would be why you robbed Rico's last night." I countered.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Sarah stammered.
"Well I found that Rico said that was an all-natural eyelash curler left there. I remember you having one last year." I replied. "I'm not gonna turn you into the police so just tell me why you did it."
"Rico's gone too far with his meat peddling. I was thinking if he didn't have enough money, he would have to close." Sarah explained.
"Wow I can't believe that you fell for that." I replied as I took out my phone. "Oh and I wouldn't expect any all-natural fabrics in jail."
The police came and arrested Sarah and I took Taylor so we could get out dresses. I went with an orange gown and Taylor went with a black one.
Later in the day, everyone started to arrive for the wedding: Mamaw, Aunt Dolly, Uncle Earl, Aunt Pearl, Grandma Ruby and others.
I saw Rico at the wedding rehearsal. He was Jackson's best man.
"Thanks for solving the case." He told me. "How can I repay you?"
"Here's the bill for our dresses." I replied, handing him a receipt. He took out his checkbook and gave me one.
The next day was the wedding, Claire and I sat in the audience with the rest of the family. Jackson's groomsmen consisted of Rico, Daddy, his old Cooper, is old friend Thor, and his third friend Max. I don't know why Jackson only seemed to have one friend at a time. I think Siena's bridesmaids were all fellow swimsuit models. They were definitely a great looking bunch.
"Do you Siena take Jackson to be your lawfully wedded husband in sickness and health, for richer or poorer, for better or worse, till death do you part?" The priest asked her.
"I do." Siena replied.
"Do you Jackson also take Siena to all of that?" The priest asked. I found it a little funny that he didn't want to repeat himself.
"Yes." Jackson replied. He then started to blush, knowing he had said the wrong thing. "I mean I do."
"Okay then by the power vested in me by the state of California, I now pronounce you husband and wife." The priest responded. "You may kiss the bride."
Jackson removed the veil from Siena's face and laid one on her. It was pretty romantic.
Later at the ceremony, Taylor and I were dancing together.
"So what does your brother do?" She inquired.
"He's a beta tester for a video game company." I explained. "He basically plays video games and tells the company what he thinks."
"Sounds like a pretty sweet job." Taylor commented. "So are you happy for him?"
"I am." I answered. "Siena's a great girl. I know because I told her my secret after a misunderstanding and she managed to keep it."
"I did too." Taylor remarked.
"What?" I asked in confusion.
"There's something I never told you." She said. "I went to your show in Crowley Corners a few years ago. I always wanted to see a Hannah Montana concert but you never came to Delaware. Then I heard the show was a benefit concert so I flew out there. I have to admit, I had a crush on you even then before I came out to my parents."
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.
"I figured you might think of me as some kind of stalker." She admitted. "I wanted to get to know a little better. I'm also a little disappointed that you never released that song as a single."
"I was actually about to sing it." I replied. "I think it's a good song to sing at a wedding."
We returned to the university on Sunday Night. Taylor was once again tired from the drive. I was too and I went to see if Lilly was still up. She was.
"Hey." I said to her.
"Did you do anything interesting back home?" She asked.
"Yeah I went to Jackson and Siena's wedding." I answered.
"Why didn't anyone tell me this?" Lilly questioned. "I would have wanted to go."
"Well Daddy didn't exactly tell me till I got there." I explained. "I also figured out that Saint Sarah stole from Rico's. So did you do anything here?"
"Well they found out something about the explosion." She told me. I listened as I waited for her to continue. "It turns out that one of speakers had a bomb in it."
So this chapter featured a lot of Hannah Montana characters. No knew characters in this chapter though. We also get confirmation that it was a bomb that caused the explosion. Please don't forget to review
