Once the bell rang for the end of class, Oliver was all over me asking questions.

"Can she still come to the play tomorrow?" He asked me on the way to our Math class; this was the question he'd been asking me since we found out about the play. I nodded my head vigorously and rolled my eyes before I entered the classroom.

"Everything's set," I told him when we had sat down. "I just wanted to tell you the good news. It's nothing to freak about."

Oliver held him hands up in defeat, "all right." He sighed, turning the pages in his math book and answering the equations from the board on a clean sheet of paper. This was something our math teacher liked to call morning warm ups – but the equations were often easy to solve. Now, math was the one subject that Oliver and I had to pay attention to, and we especially couldn't talk because our teacher was extremely strict, so we just glanced at each other – reading the looks on our faces, until class ended.

"Miley," the math teacher nodded towards me before I could walk out of the door. When I walked up to her desk, a vanilla envelope was given to me. "Could you please give Ms. Truscott her class work for me?" I nodded my head, and looked behind my shoulder to find that Oliver was waiting at the door. "Thank you Miley, you can go now."

I waved as I walked with Oliver, and we made our way to our final class together, drama.

"Today," the teacher announced when we walked into the classroom. "We're going to start the final performances for the plays you've all been working on so hard." Everyone started speaking at once, and the teacher held up her hand to stop the commotion. "I believe we have Eliza and Mike up first," she told us, motioning towards the middle of the room. "The stage is yours now."

Eliza and Mike did the song Light my Candle from the Broadway play Rent – which I knew Eliza had gone to see in New York City over April break. The singing was good, they had planned it very well and I never knew Eliza or Mike had such good voices - I was impressed.

"They were good," Oliver whispered to me when they were done, and another couple was setting up for their skit. I didn't pay attention after that, I just sketched in my notebook until the bell rang and it was finally lunch time.

Oliver and I walked together again, though we were still missing Lily. A couple of the kids had noticed she was absent from school for more than one day – like someone would if they were sick. Some people asked us where she was, and some would whisper potential rumours about her whereabouts. The current answer, made up by Amber and Ashley, was that Lily was arrested – but of course, Oliver and I knew that wasn't true. We didn't bother saying anything, everyone would just wonder what Lily was doing in the hospital – and then there would be more rumours that we didn't want.

When we got into the cafeteria, Oliver and I went straight to the lunch line where we both got burgers and a carton of milk, and we walked to our usual table near the garbage can – because there was nowhere else to sit.

"Hey guys," Johnny Collins walked up to our table minutes after we sat down. He smiled at me, and I got weak – he was so cute. "What's up?"

I shrugged, so Oliver answered for me, "Not that much." He told Johnny, "We're just eating lunch."

Johnny nodded and sat down on the seat across from me, "Where's Truscott these days?" He asked eventually, "I've heard rumours, but I don't believe everything Amber and Ashley say." I laughed.

"If you don't tell anyone," I started, moving my tray from in front of me so that I could rest my elbows on the table. "We'll tell you," Johnny nodded his head and listened. "She's in the hospital with an infection," I told him as if it were nothing.

Johnny laughed, and leaned his elbows on the table. "I knew I shouldn't believe Amber or Ashley," he said in hysterics. "Lily wouldn't be arrested, now would she?" I shook my head, "So when does Lily get out?"

"Sunday," Oliver said, and then turned back to his lunch.

Johnny smiled at me, and then laid his hands flat on the table, "well tell Truscott I say hi." He told me, "Maybe the three of us could hang out at the beach sometime." I nodded my head, and Johnny got up from the table giving us a slight nod before he walked out of the cafeteria and into the hallway.

I squealed happily, doing a small dance before I went back to my lunch pretending as if nothing had happened. But inside I was still screaming, talking to Johnny had been the highlight of my day, and it was definitely something I was going to tell Lily over the phone later on.

"I wonder what Amber and Ashley have come up with now," Oliver said painfully. We had both hated what they were saying about her.

I laughed slightly, "Do we want to stick around to find out?" I asked Oliver, who shrugged his shoulders and moved more food around his plate. "Besides, they'll find out tomorrow when Lily comes to see the play."

"And hopefully," Oliver added. "That will be the stop to all rumours."

I laughed in disbelief, "With Amber and Ashley still at school, I really doubt that."

And of course, like every other day during the two weeks that Lily has been out of school, everyone was whispering again throughout the rest of the day. I spent the rest of my classes without Oliver, trying to ward off everyone's looks and pay attention to what the teacher was talking about. I couldn't wait to get home.

"Hey bud," my dad sang when I walked through the door of our house. Jackson was already on the couch catching popcorn in his mouth. "How was school?"

I shrugged my shoulders, rolling my eyes at Jackson who kept missing his mouth, and walked towards my dad on his computer. "It was okay," I told him, resting my elbow on his shoulder – which I could reach because he was sitting down, "Just the usual."

"Do you have a lot of homework?" My dad asked, without turning around to face me. I shook my head, grabbing a small stool to sit on next to my dad on the computer. "Lily's going to call around dinner time. Mrs. Truscott says she has a bit of a headache and needs to rest for a while."

I nodded my head, "Is she alright?"

My dad turned to me, "Yeah." He smiled; I could tell he knew something I didn't. "Must be allergies, the summer is coming and all."

I laughed, "Lily doesn't have allergies." But all my dad did was nod and turn back to the computer. So I got up and started to do my homework on the couch next to Jackson, who had moved onto trying to balance the popcorn bowl on his head. "Shouldn't you be doing your homework?" I whispered to him as I brought out my science notebook.

Jackson shook his head, "School was cancelled today." He told me, putting the popcorn back on the table, and resting his head next to it, "There were teacher conferences."

"Totally unfair," I exclaimed, hitting the pillow next to me. "So what did you do all day?"

Jackson shrugged and started to talk, but the phone rang – and since I was the closest to it I had to pick it up. I held up my finger telling Jackson to wait, because I figured it would be for my dad.

"Hello?" I said into the phone, "Stewart residence."

But then I heard a familiar voice, "Hey Miles." And I took the phone into my room.

"Lily?" I asked once I'd shut the door to my room and sat down on my bed. "My dad said you were going to call during dinner." I looked at my watch, "It's only 4 o'clock."

"I know," Lily laughed. "But my mom and dad talked to the doctors, and I wanted to share the good news."

I listened intently, "So?" I asked getting excited, "What's the good news?"

"I get out Thursday," She told me, and you could hear her smiling. "My parents are going to move my clothes to your house tomorrow, and they move in tonight."

I squealed for the second time today, "Oh," I told Lily, getting excited again. "I haven't told you my good news either."

"Alright then," Lily laughed, "Shoot."

"Johnny Collins came up to me at lunch today," I practically yelled – and Lily did the same. "He said that once you got out that maybe the three of us could hang out at the beach."

Lily yelled again, she was really excited for me, "that's so great Miley." She told me, "Johnny so likes you."

"I don't know," I shrugged. "He was hanging out with Amber and Ashley before."

"So what," Lily encouraged. "They're probably stalking him," she told me exaggerating the word stalking.

I laughed and agreed with Lily, and for the rest of the time we talked I decided not to mention the fact that there were rumours going on about her – that was the last thing she needed.

"Well Miley," Lily said after we'd talked for an hour and a half. "I think I have to go, my mom and dad are trying to take the phone away from my ear."

I laughed again, "Alright Lily." I said, wishing that we didn't have to say goodbye. "I'll see you tomorrow for the performance."

We both said goodbye, and just as I hung up the phone my dad called that dinner was ready. I could smell the chicken noodle soup from here, so I rushed down the stairs and to the kitchen where Jackson and my dad were already sitting.