a/n-so ive decided that im a horrible person with my lack of updating. i used to be so good at it. im really sorry. and sadly, this story is coming to an end. the chapter after this will be the last one. sooo i hope u like this one, its longer than a lot of my chapters. thanks 4 all ur reviews! (and btw, im not getting the alerts again. but oh well!) enjoy!

Chapter 17: Wait...What?

Now for phase 2; skateboarding. I admit it, I'm a failure. But eventually I learned to go down the driveway without falling. That is, after I had fallen so many times that my knees bled and I wore holes in my jeans where my knees are. My elbows were scraped, and when I fell a rock jumped up and hit me under the eye, making a small scrape there. Plus, I still had a black eye. I was looking good.

A little bit after I perfected my driveway skills, Miley called. "Hey, did you leave?"

"Yeah, I'm just waiting for Jake's limo to come pick me up." she explained.

"And Cody's gone too?"

"Yeah, he left right after me. But Oliver, I just want you to know that Zack's really not as bad as you think. He's a really cool person and I think that if you gave him a chance you'd get along."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"Oliver, what are you planning to do? Go up to their date and just go 'Lilly, I love you'?"

"One-I don't love Lilly. Two-Are they honestly considering that a date?! Three-I was actually just gonna wing it."

"You're so stubborn!"

"Am not!" I defended.

"Whatever, Oliver. But just one more thing."

"What is it?"

"I'm really sorry but I think they really like each other."

"Why are you sorry? It's not like I'm jealous or anything."

"Then why do you hate him so much?"

"Hate is such a strong word. I prefer to use 'very much dislike'."

"Ok, fine! Why do you 'very much dislike' him?"

I shrugged, then realized that she couldn't see me. "Miley, I'm trying to practice. I'll talk to you later."

"What are you practicing?"

"Skateboarding," I said simply and hung up to avoid further questions. I stomped the end of the skateboard with my foot, expecting it to come right up off the ground so I could catch it. What actually happened was that it came up and hit me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me.

"Nice skateboard," I said to it, picking it up and carrying it under my arm. I unbuckled my uncomfortable helmet, but left it on my head, and started off towards the beach.

I heard Lilly's giggle when I neared the beach. She must be leaving…with Zack. I got on my skateboard and pushed off the concrete slowly. As I got closer to the beach, I heard Zack's voice too. I saw them come close to the beach entrance, and they were…holding hands. Perfect. Maybe I shouldn't interfere. I really want Lilly to be happy. But I still really like her!

"I gotta go." I heard Zack say, stopping at the entrance.

"I had a really great time." Lilly said back. "And I'm really sorry." Sorry? Why would she be sorry? Oh, she's Lilly; she probably spilled something on him.

"Don't worry about it." Zack assured her, and leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek! That made me want to kill him!

"See ya," Lilly smiled, waving to him as he walked down the road.

"I'll call you," he said, and gave another wave.

Of course, without realizing because I was too into their conversation, I was still rolling. I skated right into a mailbox, causing Lilly to turn to look at me, and I rolled into a bunch of bushes.

"Oliver!" she yelled, running towards me. I spit out some dirt and tried to pull a twig out of my hair. My helmet was crooked, and I'm sure my face was more scratched than before. "Oliver, what are you doing?" she asked worriedly.

"Just…chillin' in the bushes." I told her like it was an ordinary thing, and brushed myself off.

"Why?" she asked, standing over me.

"Oh, you know." I nervously laughed.

"Call me blonde but, I have no clue why you'd be 'just chillin' in the bushes.'"

"How's Zack?" I asked bitterly, ignoring her statement.

"Oh, were you spying or something?"

"Why do you even care about what I'm doing?" I snapped, knowing that I shouldn't.

"What?" she asked, clearly confused.

"Why don't you just go suck face with Zack?" I said Zack very mockingly.

She looked offended, hurt, and mad at the same time. "Oliver, first of all you don't know what you're talking about. Second, you have absolutely no right to spy on me!"

"Perfect, even when I end up in the bushes you'd still take Zack's side!"

"His side on what, Oliver? What are you talking about?"

"I can skateboard too, Lil! Or at least I can try. But I'm funny, right? I think I tell some good jokes. Why is Zack so much better than me?" It all came out before I could stop myself.

She was still confused. "What?"

"Forget it," I told her.

"Oliver," she said and grabbed my hand to help me up off the ground. "Oliver, no one said Zack was better than you." she told me as she pulled some sticks out of my hair. I didn't stop her.

"I've been trying to teach myself to skateboard since I got home. Look at me!" She looked me up and down, noticing the holes in my pants and seeing my bloody knees. I lifted up my elbows to show her the cuts, and my face pretty much explained itself.

"Why'd you want to learn to skateboard? I could teach you sometime."

"Lil, don't you get it? Everything you said you liked about Zack, I had too. Except for the whole skateboarding thing. So this all was to impress you. Yeah, I said it. And now I'm leaving." I told her. She just stood there, taking it all in. "And you can keep your stupid skateboard. I hope you have a great life with Zack."

"Oliver, wait for a minute." she finally spoke.

"No, I wouldn't wanna interfere with you and your boyfriend. And on second thought, I'm keeping the skateboard. You gave it to me, so it's mine now. Yeah, what now?" I said as more of a statement than a question.

"Oliver, can you let me explain something?" she pleaded.

"What's to explain? You and Zack were holding hands, he kissed you, and now you get to live happily ever after while the best friend gets no one, as usual."

"Oliver, stop, Ok? Yes, I like Zack. A lot." she said.

"I know, I'm fully aware of that, Lil." I replied, holding the skateboard and walking away.

She hurried after me. "But Zack lives in Boston, Oliver. I mean, we can have fun while he's here, but we can't go out no matter how much it hurts."

"Cool, thanks for letting me know." I answered sarcastically, trudging down the sidewalk. "And you know what? I'm really glad that you guys have such an intimate relationship after only knowing him for only two days. I've known you my whole life and did I ever get a kiss? No. Did I even get a hand to hold? No." I told her over my shoulder, still walking forward.

"Why are you trying to make it seem like I'm such a horrible person?"

"I'm not," I replied, quickening my pace.

"You know, I really think you'd like Zack, Oliver."

"So I've heard."

"Well, can I explain something to you?"

"I'm listening," I said, walking a few steps ahead of her.

"Zack and me…we have something, Ok? I admit it, and I know you know that already. And we were sitting at Rico's…and we kissed." she explained.

"Why are you telling me this, Lil?" I turned around. This chick was making me so mad. Why was she rubbing it in my face?

"And it was a good kiss," she said, smiling a little.

"Great for you, Lil. Great for you." I turned around again and began walking.

"Oliver, will you let me finish?" she asked, getting frustrated. I didn't answer because I really didn't want to hear any more. So without warning, she jumped on my back. Since it was a surprise attack, I couldn't defend myself and we landed on the grass, me lying on my back with her on top of my stomach. Me helmet flew off and I had let go of the board.

"Hear me out, Ok? He knew something was wrong right after we kissed, and when he asked I wouldn't tell him. So he guessed…and he was right."

"Oh great! So now he knows you better than me, and now you're confiding in him instead of me? Perfect!"

She ignored me. "He knew there was another guy that I liked."

"Oh, two guys? Even better!" I said sarcastically.

She gave me a look to shut up. "He said that he wouldn't let me not go for the other guy, since Zack was leaving for Boston in a couple days. He didn't want me to ruin my relationship with the other guy just for him."

"Oh how very sweet of him! This day just keeps on getting better! Now could you please get off me, I'd like to get back to my grounding."

"Oliver, you're the other guy!" she said.

"I'll kill him!" I snapped, not even realizing that she said she liked me.

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" she asked, looking a little hurt.

"Yeah, you said Oliver was the other guy. I'm gonna…" I trailed off…realizing that she said I was the other guy. "Wait…what?"