A/N-ok i probably won't be able to update tomorrow so i hope this can last you!

Chapter 8: First Apology

"Hey, Lilly." I replied. I walked down the driveway and to the sidewalk where Lilly was standing. We began to walk in silence to the beach. I kept glancing at her, but then she'd catch me and I'd pretend I was looking down the whole time. We arrived at the beach and sat on the sand, away from everyone else. We were both hugging our knees, looking out at the ocean.

"Are you ready to talk now?" Lilly suddenly asked.

"Yeah…"

"You're not gonna flip out on me, right?"

"Right."

"You promise? 'Cause I don't want you to be any more mad at me than you already are."

"Lilly, I'm not mad at you."

She looked at me with her eye brows raised. "So you just yell at people when you're not mad at them? I'd hate to see you when you are mad." She was a sarcastic one, yes she was. But I loved it.

I rolled my eyes and sigh. "Listen, Lilly. I tried to be mad at you, I wanted to be mad. But I couldn't. I don't know why. But I'm glad I wasn't. And about yesterday, I was just frustrated and tired. I get really cranky when I'm tired. And I'm sorry."

Lilly nodded. "It's Ok. And I'm sorry for telling you to go to hell, and for not helping you when you fell out of my tree. I really did feel bad."

I nodded. "And I'm also sorry for calling you a bitch."

Lilly shrugged. "I'll get over it." Well that was a lot easier than I thought it would be.

"You're a fast forgiver."

She half-smiled. "It happens." We sat in silence for a few moments before Lilly spoke up again. "Hey, Oliver?"

"Yeah?"

"What were you doing at the restaurant? No more lies." She looked directly in my eyes, and I thought I might die right then and there.

"I didn't want you to get hurt, but when I saw Amber and Ashley there I knew you would. So I stayed there and waited for something to happen so I could be there for you when Johnny hurt you."

She smiled. "Thanks, Oliver. That means a lot to me considering how much of a jerk I was to you."

I shrugged. "You would have done the same for me, right?"

"Yeah, I would have. And thanks for trying to tell me what Johnny was up to. I should have known a guy like Johnny Collins would never want to go out with a girl like me."

"What do you mean 'a girl like you'?"

"You know. I'm not popular, I'm not girly, I'm not smart, and I'm not…" she mumbled the last part.

"You're not what?"

"Never mind."

"No, tell me."

"I'm not pretty! Sure, I may be funny and friendly, but that's not what guys want."

I looked at her like she was crazy. "Are you kidding me right now?"

She was confused. "What?"

"Lilly, you got it all wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"Lilly, you and I both know that any guy would be lucky to have you!"

"Yeah, right. Too bad the rest of the world doesn't know that."

"Lilly!" I wanted to tell her how beautiful she was, and how amazing she was to me. But I held it in. "Don't put yourself down like that! Johnny's a jerk, and he doesn't know what he's missing." Good, Oliver. Some encouraging words without hinting the way you feel. Good.

She sighed. "Thanks." She thought I was just trying to make her feel better, I can tell. But I was telling the truth. "Hey, why'd you fall out of the booth?"

Uh-oh. Maybe because I didn't want the girl of my dreams kissing some creep? "I uh…thought…" I looked around for an answer, but couldn't find one. I stuttered over my words. What was I supposed to say? "You guys were about to kiss, and I didn't needed a better view. I didn't want him to be all over my best friend." I guess that was a good enough answer.

She smiled, and I was proud of my answer. "Just so you know, I wasn't gonna kiss Johnny."

My eyes lit up. "You weren't?" I noticed I sounded a little too excited, so I cleared my thought. "I mean, you weren't?"

She shook her head and sighed once more. "Don't tell anyone, but I've never kissed anyone before. I know, pathetic right? But I didn't want him to think I was a bad kisser, so I was relieved when you fell out of the booth."

"Oh…" I replied and couldn't control my constant smiling. "Well then, your welcome!" She smiled too. "Did you even like Johnny?"

"I didn't at first, but I said yes 'cause you guys thought I should go for it." I cringed at this. That was my bad. "But I agreed to go out to dinner 'cause I think I liked the attention for once. I mean, Miley's the one who always has guys all over her. No one has ever liked me. Don't tell Miley this, but I always feel like I come in second to her. And I know it sounds cheesy, but for once I was glad to have some sort of guy attention. I mean, she's Hannah Montana for crying out loud. She's the prettiest girl in the world. No one even notices me over Miley, or even Lola over Hannah."

"Lilly…"

"Yeah?"

Damn! I'm a chicken. "That's not true."

"Oliver, even you used to like Miley."

"For like, a second!" The first day Miley came to our school, I had a tiny crush one her. But I got over it so fast, it's like I never even liked her.

"You still liked her." Lilly looked back out at the ocean and we were quiet.

"You can't always compare yourself to her."

"Why not? She has everything."

"She can't skateboard for her life, she doesn't do well in gym, no one's ever seen her without make-up-"

"But, Oliver," Lilly cut me off. "Guys don't care about skateboarding, and getting A's in gym."

"Says who?"

"If they did, I would have a boyfriend right now."

"No! The guys who like Miley probably just have more guts than the guys that like you 'cause they're too afraid of rejection!" Incase you didn't catch that, I was talking about me.

"Thanks, Oliver, but I understand. Maybe when I'm 21 I'll be beautiful, like Hannah Montana!"

I couldn't take it anymore. I wanted to tell Lilly that's she's the most amazingly beautiful girl I've ever seen, and that I've had a thing for her ever since we met. But of course, I didn't. So I just lay down on the towel that we were sitting on, as frustrated as ever.

"Sorry for kinda spilling all my thoughts on you."

"I don't mind. You know you can tell me anything."

"I know. I always have. Same goes for you too, ya know." I nodded and bit my lip. I can tell her anything. Except my feelings for her! She must have noticed my lip-biting, 'cause I always do it when I'm thinking hard about something or when I'm worried.

"Is something wrong?" she asked me.

"Nah, nah, I'm good."

"Alright, well, I gotta go. I'm sorry again for everything."

"Me too." She took my hand and helped me stand.

"See you later." Lilly waved and walked home. I watched her as she walked away. She was so amazing, she was perfect. Once she was out of site, I lay back down and shut my eyes.

You are such a wimp! Stupid, stupid Oliver.