Chapter 11: You Can't See Me if I Can't See You!
Miley couldn't leave her house the next day. She wasn't sure if anyone had been able to see her well enough to figure out who she was or whether she was safe. The only thing she knew was that Angie had found out.
She ate her breakfast and got dressed. Then, in desperation, she grabbed a paper bag from her closet, but holes in it, and slammed it on her head. Before she left the house, she grabbed her purse with her name engraved on it and walked out. If people did know, she didn't want a lot of attention.
Luckily, it was Sunday afternoon, and she went to the beach because she just had to get out of the house. It wasn't long before she ran into Lilly, who was just getting out of the water.
"Miley?" she asked. Miley held up her finger.
"Shh! I don't want anyone to know it's me!" said Miley urgently. Lilly pointed at Miley's purse.
"You're kind of carrying around your own sign there, Miles," said Lilly. Miley growled and pulled the bag off of her head.
"Is there any news?" Miley asked.
"Um, yeah, the picture is all over the tabloids. you should see, Jake has this really weird face on..."
"Lilly! Do they know it's me, yet?"
"Oh! Uh, know, I don't think so."
"Good." Miley stomped over and threw her mask into the trash. "So I'm safe for a while."
Lilly nodded, drying her hair off with a towel. "Let's go back to your house and eat some chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. It'll make you feel better, trust me."
"Whatever you say," said Miley, following Lilly back to the shack.
Not too long later, they arrived back at Miley's house. Lilly's hair was all dried out, and Lilly hauled Miley in by her wrist. She plunked Miley on the couch and ran to get some Ben&Jerry's. Miley sunk into the couch, grabbing the remote nearby. She turned on the TV.
"And everyone's talking about Hannah Montana's big secret," said the reporter on EXTRA. "Late last night after one of the teen celebrity's concerts in L.A., an angry fan pulled on Hannah's hair. It turned out to be a wig. Watch as the blond wig pops off Miss Montana's head. A clip of the event played. Notice the brown hair revealed under the wig as Hannah's beau, Jake Ryan, throws his coat over her head. This must be one big secret, folks! No one has come forward with the true identity of Hannah Montana, but be sure to keep your eyes open! Hannah's agency had come forward and said that she is not performing any concerts until this scandal is cleared up. And now we move to Pete in the NYC office... Miley flicked off the TV.
"I'm everywhere haunting me!" she cried, burying her face in her hands.
Lilly came over with the ice cream in dishes. She had piled on mounds of chocolate syrup and whipped cream. Lilly wrapped her arm around Miley's shoulder. "On the bright side, they don't know who you are!" she said, trying to lighten the mood.
"Oh trust me Lilly; someone's bound to find out. They're relentless that way. Ugh! This is worse than the time I messed up the words to the National Anthem!"
"It's okay."
Miley just stabbed her spoon into her ice cream and ate. She wished Jake would call. Oh no. What if she got run over and killed by the crowd of fans? What if he hadn't survived? Her anxiousness showed when she accidentally shoved too much ice cream in her mouth and some fell onto her shirt. She groaned and pressed her head against the couch.
A few minutes later, the doorbell rang. Lilly got up to get it, and Miley flopped onto the couch, hiding her head underneath a pillow? What if it was Angie? She couldn't hear anything going on outside her, and hoped Lilly would take care of it.
"Miley?" She heard a voice beside her.
"Miilmph, Im nopht Miilmph, whaph or u talgung abou?" she cried through her pillow.
"Sorry, I couldn't understand you, what was that?" said the voice. Miley threw the pillow off her face and sat up. Squeezing her eyes shut, she shouted, "Miley? I'm not Miley, what are you talking about?" Too late she realized her cover was blown. She opened one eye to see Jake staring back at her in alarm.
"Um...hi." She grinned sheepishly, then groaned and slapped her face into her hands.
"Hmmm," said Jake. "Does my girlfriend have a third alter ego? Lindsay Lohan, maybe?"
Miley couldn't help but giggle a little. "Sorry about what happened last night. What a way to come home. 'Welcome Home Jake, your girlfriend's Hannah Montana!'"
Jake grinned. "You're alright though?"
Miley didn't reply at first. Then she said. "Yeah, I'm alright. So far today I've shoved a paper bag on my head, eaten a whole tin of Ben&Jerry's, and smashed my face into pillows so many times I'm surprised it hasn't fallen off!"
"Wow. You've been busy. Where's your dad?"
"He's at the gym. After I nearly drowned myself in the shower this morning, he figured I'd need some time alone."
Jake nodded. "At least no one knows it's you."
"That's what Lilly said. And thanks for what you did last night. It's mostly because of you that people don't know," Miley said.
"Yeah, I did a pretty good job at that, did I?" said Jake, primping. Miley punched him playfully on his shoulder.
"Get that ego away from me!" she joked. They both laughed. Miley knew that it was going to be an OK day, but she wasn't so certain about Monday.
