Hi, sorry it took so long to post this chapter. My computer isn't working right. Anyway here is the story.

The next day, Miley woke up at about seven in the morning. Realizing how early it was, she tried to fall back asleep, but the haunting images and feelings from last night danced a morbid ballet in her head, disabling her ability to fall back asleep. Sighing, she reached over, picked up her phone, and called Lily.

"Hello?" A muffled yawn cut off Lily's greeting.

"Hi, Lil. It's me, Miley. I have a bit of a problem."

"Hold on. Okay, I'm here. I just had to wake up!" Miley laughed and explained,

"Well, last night, I kinda caught Kayla and Oliver together, and well, I kind of overreacted. To make a long story short, I blew it. I cut up a hat that Kayla's mom gave to her hours before her death, and I told her that she should have died too, and, well, I told her that she was from the ghetto." Miley could hear Lily gasp and could picture her mouth dropping.

" Miley, how could you? She is so sweet! And I think that she has every right to be friends with Oliver! After all, you were with Josh, and Oliver didn't kill him, did he?" Becoming defensive, Miley protested,

" Hey, she called me a hillbilly! And she cut up one of my CDs!"

"Tragedy! Now you only have what, seventy others? C'mon Miley! You should have known better! She is so emotional! How would you like it if she destroyed your mom's guitar? You'd be devastated!"

"Okay, I get your point. Will you go shopping with me to get her a new hat? And I noticed that her knee and elbow pads are a bit thin. Why don't you walk me through your skateboard store and help me? Please!" Lily sighed, but Miley could hear her caving.

"Alright. But only if this entire shopping spree is about Kayla!"

"Promise!"

"Alright, I'll meet you at ten by Rico's, okay?"

"Gotcha! See ya then!" With that, they hung up and Miley skipped downstairs for some breakfast.

LATER

Kayla woke up with a start. She glanced around and relaxed. Then she remembered- Miley hated her. Grasping for her hat, she remembered that that was gone, too. A new chorus of tears spilled rebelliously and she choked back a sob. Why in the world would California be different? She shook her head, glanced at the clock, and laid her head back down. 9:47 was too early to get up.

Kayla woke up again at noon, and stumbled down the stairs, wiping the sleep out of her eyes. Glancing at the hallway mirror, she found a gaunt, ghost like human looking back at her. Her face was streaked with red lines from sobbing; the salty tears had dried up her now bright red and cracked lips. Dark circles like bruises clung to the bottom of her eyes, and her hair looked quite crazy. Despite her pain, she laughed as she remembered that she had dressed up as a ghost last year with Andrea, another cousin. This bittersweet memory filled her brown eyes with tears and crumpled her smile. She jerked her face away from the mirror, and wondered what she was going to do the rest of the day. Glancing at the table, she saw Jackson shoving a three-layer lettuce sandwich into his mouth. Stifling a giggle, she walked over and tapped him on the shoulder.

"HMPH!" Came the startled response. Wiping his mouth, Jackson swallowed and looked back at Kay.

"Hey, where is everyone?''

" Well, Miles and Lily went shopping again, Dad went to church with Margo, and I'm here chillin' with Letty over here.'' Kayla giggled.

"Letty?"

" Hey, don't make fun! Even sandwiches have names!"

" We really need to get you a girlfriend, and, more importantly, A LIFE!" Kayla laughed and Jackson smirked.

"So,'' he said, changing the subject, '' did you and Miley get in some sort of fight last night? When I came home, she was in tears, there was fabric and plastic all over, and you were no where to be found." Kayla hesitated, not sure whether or not to tell Jackson. She had, after all, given her trust to Miley and look what she'd done! But then again, Jackson seemed sincere...what was she thinking! This was Jackson!

Somehow, he got the story out of her. By the end of the ''convo'', she was in tears and Jackson had put his arm around her and let her cry. Kayla wiped her face and giggled nervously.

"So, now that I've cried for the FOURTH time today, what do ya wanna do?"

" Well, Oliver is coming over for the Lakers game, but that doesn't start till two. You've still got about an hour. You'd better get some lunch and get dressed.''

" Oh, so now you are the sensitive guy?"

" What? No! I just, uh, well just go get dressed." Jackson turned back to ''Letty'' and Kayla went upstairs to get dressed. She heard the door open, heard Robbie Ray and Margo come and leave again, and silently wondered if they were going to get married. She seemed so nice when Kayla had met her last Friday! She brushed her long hair and heard Oliver come in. Despite herself, she felt a blush take over her face. Blaming it on the heat of the straightner, she set down her brush and went downstairs. If what she had in mind worked out, she was going to have a fun day.

That was chapter nine. I hoped you liked it. :)