Disclaimer: I don't own Hannah Montana.
–––
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! Here's another update. I hope you enjoy this one. Don't forget to review it as well and tell me what you think! Thank you :)
–––
The Joys and Pains of Camping with an Oken
–––
Chapter 9:
Oliver looked up and sighed. This was clearly not his day. Someone up there was enjoying tormenting him greatly. There was no way that for the past two hours he had so many opportunities to tell Lilly his secret and each time there has been some sort of interruption.
This time, the interruption was in the shape and form of two teenage boys. They were standing close to Oliver and Lilly's belongings and were shooting the both of them amused looks. One boy was tall and skinny, and had wavy, sandy-blond hair, while the other was at least a foot shorter than him, but had a well-built body and black hair that was collected into a short ponytail. By their sporty apparel and backpacks, it looked like they had been hiking.
"Is that Oken?" the short one asked.
"No way. We haven't seen him in years," the other replied.
"I'm telling you, that's him!"
Lilly, who turned to look the same way, turned back and looked up at Oliver questioningly. They were still lying in the same position, with Oliver on top of her and his hands on either side of her face.
"Friends of yours?" Lilly asked with an arched eyebrow.
Oliver looked down at her. "Not really," he said, and slowly shifted and pulled away from her and got up on two feet. The two stranger boys began shouting his name and called him over. He tried his best not to look at them directly. He offered his hand to Lilly to help pull her up, but she made a face, swatted his hand away and stood up without his help.
The two boys, obviously curious, had begun to babble about a bet whether if Oliver was Oliver or not. They strode over as they chatted loudly, while Oliver and Lilly brushed their wet clothes off the grass that stuck to them.
"It is him! I told you!" Shorty said to his friend.
Oliver's face flushed with awkwardness. He never expected to meet these guys again. He definitely did not expect to see them right before he was about to kiss Lilly (again). He ran a hand on the back of his neck and flashed them a shy smile. "Hey guys."
"Oken!" they called in unison. Before Oliver knew what was happening, they each had pulled him close and gave him a one-side hug and a soft punch to the shoulder.
"How are you, man?" Blondie asked.
"Dude, we haven't seen you in ages! Where have you been?" Shorty added.
Oliver kept his uncomfortable posture, secretly wishing they will notice it and realize they are interrupting something. "Uhh... Yeah, you know, it's up to the folks."
Shorty smiled. "It's great to see you, man. Sorry for interrupting. We were just passing by and then we saw you."
Blondie looked behind Oliver and raised an eyebrow. "Speaking of which, who is your girlfriend? Care to introduce us?"
Oliver paled, his eyes widening. He looked back and noticed Lilly standing there, watching the three of them talk while keeping quiet. She looked even more uncomfortable than he was, probably because she didn't know the two strangers Oliver talked to.
"Oh. Right. This is –"
"Lilly," she suddenly said and put on a wide smile on her face. She approached them in two quick strides and extended her hand to them, taking theirs and shaking each in turn. "Best friend, not girlfriend. Nice to meet you."
Oliver's heart sank at her correction. All he thought of was 'not yet'.
"Hello, Lilly," Blondie said. He held a mischievous grin that Oliver didn't like. "I'm Logan and this is Sam," he gestured to his shorter friend, who wiggled his eyebrows at her. She giggled.
"How long have you two known Oliver?" Lilly asked Logan, putting her hands on her hips. "Funny that he never mentioned you." She gave Oliver a fleeting glare, but Oliver ignored it.
"Oh, we go way back; ever since we were kids, met here almost every summer. But you know what's really funny? That he never told us he had such a beautiful friend as yourself."
Lilly giggled again and her cheeks flushed. Oliver gritted his teeth in annoyance, holding back from saying anything, or from punching Logan's face.
"He did tell us about a Lilly," Sam added. "She sounded more like a tomboy, skateboarding and surfing and such. Apparently you are not her."
Both Logan and Sam looked at Lilly up and down, and finally their eyes settled on her wet bikini top, or at least the part it was covering, and it looked as if they were almost drooling all over the floor. Oliver could easily read their thoughts and he didn't like it one bit. It wasn't so hard to guess what they were thinking, since he's a guy, too. He felt the urge to wrap her body around with a sheet and poke them in the eye so they will regret ever looking at her that way. He was offended on Lilly's behalf and found it insulting that they looked at her as though she was something to eat.
Oliver cleared his throat loudly, cutting off their conversation and gaining everyone's attention to himself.
"Yeah, well, it was nice seeing you, guys," he said in a hard voice and casually put his hand around Lilly's shoulder.
"Wait," Sam said. "What are you guys doing tonight?"
Oliver and Lilly both shrugged in response.
"Oh, yeah," Logan said excitedly, catching up on his friend's words. "I have my parents' lake house all to myself, so we thought we'd throw this awesome party. You two should come. Lilly, I would love to see you there," he said with another bright smile and added a flirty wink. Lilly blushed again and Oliver felt another wave of protectiveness hit him once again.
Oliver made a doubtful face. "I dunno..."
"Come on, Oken," Sam coaxed. "We'll have great music, good food, awesome people and the best thing is we got no parent supervision."
"Sounds great," Lilly said eagerly.
Oliver looked at her, astonished. Since when did Lilly like parties that did not include Hannah Montana or Orlando Bloom? "Yeah, maybe we'll drop by; in case we won't have any plans," he said, not wanting to promise anything he couldn't keep.
Logan's smile grew even wider, if it was even possible. "Great. Oliver, you know the way, don't be a stranger. Drinks are on the house. See you."
Logan and Sam nodded and waved them goodbye before they disappeared between the trees. "Bye," Oliver called with a small bit of resentment in his tone.
He meant to turn Lilly around and lead her back to their sitting spot, but Lilly grabbed his hand and removed it from around her shoulder. She gave him a cold stare and marched back and sat on the spread out blanket. She wrapped herself with a dry towel and bent her head forward to dry her hair in it.
Oliver walked over to join her, suddenly feeling a soft breeze hitting his body and remembering he was still wet, as well.
When he reached her, she had already pulled her shirt back on and got on her feet. "Ready to go?" she asked.
Oliver blinked at her in confusion. "Go? What are you talking about? We just got here."
"Well, I've had enough of alone time with you for today," she said callously. She didn't even look him in the eyes as she said it. "If you want to stay, then that's fine. I can find my own way back." She did not wait for his reply, but turned on her heel and walked over to where they had come from earlier.
Oliver, confused from her sudden change in attitude, quickly stuffed all their things into his backpack, threw it over his shoulder and ran over to Lilly. "Lilly, wait!" he called after her. He tried to catch up to her, but she was walking rather fast and he was already tired from their earlier exertion. He finally managed to go past her, and he turned around to face her, walking backwards down the pathway while she walked forward. "What's wrong?"
She did not reply. He noticed the hard look in her eyes and how her jaw was set. She did not stop striding through the woods and managed to go past Oliver again.
"Lilly, come on, wait up. You'll get lost," he called again.
The suddenly she halted and Oliver stopped as well a few steps behind her. She turned so quickly that her long, wet hair swirled around her like a gold aura. Droplets of water flew everywhere; Oliver could feel them hitting his face like small needles.
"Tell me, Oliver. What am I to you?" she asked acidly.
Hearing her shoot that question at him out of the blue like that, made Oliver's brain freeze up, and he felt as if he lost the ability to talk or even breathe. She knew the truth, he was sure of it. Was it how closely they become earlier and almost kissed – several times, at that – or was is the way he acted around those other guys that made her realize it? But why would she be angry about it?
After what seemed to take eternity, but in reality was only a short moment of silence, he managed to make his brain function again. "I, uh... Listen, Lilly –"
"No, you listen, Oliver," she cut him off mid-sentence, and walked over and minimized the gap between them. She poked him hard in the chest, emphasizing the 'You' as she said it. "I may be your best friend, but I'm not your guy-friend! Get it?"
He blinked once in confusion at her, not understanding what she was saying. "What are you talking about?"
"I know Miley is more popular, more attractive and prettier, and even a better dresser than I am; hell, she's freaking Hannah Montana for God's sake! But that does not make her your girl-pal and leave me be your guy-pal!"
It finally dawned on him. Is that was this is all about? "Lilly –"
"Just because I'm athletic and I like sports, it doesn't make me less of a girl –"
"I never said –"
"I may not have a large bra size. I may not wear dresses or heavy makeup and do my hair 24/7, and I may not talk shallowly all day about the hottest guys in school or what the latest sales at the mall are, but that does not make me a tomboy, Oliver Oken! I'm still a girl, despite all that, and you, out of all people, should have realized it by now! But I guess that's what happens when you are friends with someone for so many years, they start taking you for granted."
She did not wait for his response. She turned back around and continued her angry stride along the curvy, earthy trail.
Oliver came to his senses and followed her, again trying to catch up with her, desperate to make her understand. "Lilly, I swear, I never in my life said you were a tomboy." She let out a sarcastic chuckle in response. "You can't seriously be mad at me for something someone else had said. Those guys are jerks! I've known them for a long time and they are completely brainless. I mean, did you see the way they were looking at you?"
"What way?" she yelled, tears now leaking from the corners of her eyes. "Like an actual girl? Finally, someone noticed! And what do you do about it? Act like the usual ass that you are and ruin it for me!"
"Fine, Lilly!" Oliver yelled in return, utterly frustrated. "You wanna be mad at me? Be made at me! But at least have a good reason for it. I'm not going to be sorry for something I didn't do! You're being ridiculous!"
She cast him the most heartbroken look he ever saw on her face. "Ridiculous?" she said in a whisper. "Wow, Oliver. I knew you are dense, but I didn't think you are that dense."
Oliver breathed deeply, letting her blow off some steam and taking it all in. "You're just saying that because you're angry."
"No! I'm saying that because I thought you, as my best friend, will say something like 'No, Lilly, you're wrong. You are pretty and popular and you are a girl,' but instead you tell me I'm ridiculous. Nice one, Oliver. Glad to know I was right, that you actually feel this way."
Oliver sighed. He really messed up this one. "Lilly, that's not what I meant. I know you are a girl, a pretty girl –"
"Shut up, Oliver!" she yelled, not letting him finish his sentence. "You don't have to say it if you don't believe in it. Just because I wanted you to say it, doesn't mean that you should. Just... shut up."
She sniffed loudly and wiped her tears and nose clean with her hand. She took a large breath and slowly let it out. Oliver then noticed they had a clean view of the cabin. It took so much faster going down the hills than climbing them up, or maybe it was because they passed the time arguing all the way back, he wasn't sure.
As they neared the cabin, Oliver noticed his parents were still sitting at the porch, talking. He saw Lilly flash her mum a small smile, and he nodded at the three adults in greeting. Once Lilly passed through the door, Oliver saw her run to her room and shut the door behind her. He meant to get inside and go up to his own room, but a hand grabbed his arm and stopped him. It was Lilly's mum.
"Oliver, did you two have fun?" she asked. He noticed the small furrow between her eyebrows and knew she was worried.
He didn't want to say anything out loud. He will blurt out a hiccup for sure if he did. He bit on the inside on his cheek and simply nodded.
"Then why is Lilly's eyes all red? Did she cry?"
"Uh..." Oliver said, thinking it over. He had to give her some answer or else she will know, and obviously Lilly didn't want her to know, or else she wouldn't have smiled and pretended she was fine. He took a large breath and spoke quickly. "She's probably just tired from the hike. I think she went to get some rest. I'm going to rest, too. See you later."
He dashed inside before they could ask him anything else. He went up the stairs, taking two stairs at a time and entered his room. He sat on the bed and stared blankly into space, thinking about the latest events.
He groaned loudly and threw himself back on the floppy mattress. Why did he have to be so stupid? Why couldn't he just say it straight to her face? If they hadn't arrived back yet, he would have grabbed her and yell at her face to shut up and listen to him talking now. He would have made her listen while he rambled about how he found her to be the most beautiful girl in the world, that he doesn't think huge boobs or trashy makeup or a hair-do makes a person beautiful, that he loves her the way she is, plain Lilly. He would have made her realize he loves her sense of humor and how they have so many things in common, like surfing and skateboarding and it's one of the things that made him fall in love with her in the first place, because she's so cool that she can be beautiful, smart, funny and athletic all at once. He would have made her understand that never one in his life he thought of her as a tomboy.
He wished he could have said it. She never gave him the chance and he didn't know if he will ever get another one again.
A faint beep sound interrupted his thoughts. Oliver frowned at the familiar chime. He reached for his backpack that lay neglected on his pillow and started rummaging though it in search for his phone. He found it and looked at the screen: 1 New Voice Message, it read.
He dialed to his voice mail and listened to the message.
"Hey, Oliver!" Miley's recorded voice said merrily. "I just wanted to finish my conversation with Lilly, but she's not picking up her phone, so I tried yours, but you didn't pick up either, so I hope it's because you're both too busy confessing your undying love for each other, or maybe it's simply because you're out of signal, I don't know, but I sure hope it's the first one. Anyway, I still want the details. Tell Lilly to call me. I left her a message, too. Love ya!" Beeeeep.
Oliver let out another frustrated moan. He shut off his phone and threw it inside the drawer in his bedside table. He leaned back into the mattress again and pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes.
I hate my life. I hate my life. I hate my life.
–––
A/N: What will happen next? Want to find out? Leave a review and I will update ASAP.
