Chapter 4: The "Talk"

Jake took Miley's hand and hurried down the hall, avoiding being seen by screaming girls. He darted around, looking inside classrooms, hoping to find a private place to talk. Miley just followed along. Soon, Jake "pulled over" to a closet door: the janitor's closet door.

Miley raised her eyebrows as he opened the door. "A closet?" she asked unhappily.

Jake shrugged. "Well it's this or the bathroom. The BOYS' bathroom."

Miley rushed inside. "This is perfect!" she exclaimed. The two sat down on swivel chairs set up inside the closet. "So…." Miley began. "What do you want to talk about?"

Jake twisted around in his chair. "I just want to catch up on things. You know, fill each other in on stuff."

Oh no, Miley thought. He'll ask me if I have a boyfriend!!! In fact, Miley DID have a boyfriend, one that she had been with for about one and a half years named Matt. She hoped he wouldn't ask her. She didn't want to hurt him. "Well, I-"

"I had a GREAT time!" Jake exclaimed, cutting her off. "The food was awesome! And the movie was a great success. It was worth MILLIONS!" Jake's voice trailed off in Miley's mind. She had no interest in listening to him talk about himself. Same old Jake, she thought. This is why I didn't like him in the first place! Miley pretended to be listening, until he suddenly asked her a question that made her life change:

"So, can we still go on that date we scheduled 2 years ago?" Jake asked hopefully. Miley was confused for a moment, but she suddenly realized what he was talking about. When they were in Junior High, and Jake announced he was leaving to Romania (and kissed her ), they agreed to go on a date when he got back to Malibu. Miley didn't know what to say.

"Well, I kinda…..um…." She stopped.

"Kinda what?" Jake asked.

"I….um….can't," she finally said.

"Why?" Jake wrinkled his forehead. "Do you have a boyfriend or something?" Miley started to feel dizzy.

"Um-" She paused. She didn't know if she should tell Jake about Matt. She didn't want to hurt his feelings, but at the same time, she thought it would be kind of cool to have a guy running after her.

"Well?" Jake pressed.

Miley thought a moment. Then she smiled. "No, of course I don't have a boyfriend! Where do you want to go?"