HANNAH MONTANA: New Year's Kiss

DISCLAIMER: The author does not own any rights whatsoever to this show, its characters and other fictitious things that are part of it. All rights belong to the Disney Channel and Michael Poryes.

CHAPTER ONE

I Made a Vow at Noon

Lilly's Point of View

"Lunchtime!"

Oddly enough, that was the first word I'd heard on the day before the first day of the year two thousand and eight. I figured I'd wake up at seven-thirty in the morning. Turns out I'd be way behind.

I ran down the stairs to have breakfast. Err, lunch. Brunch. Whatever. My two best friends were already bickering at the dining table, over who got the last piece of last night's pizza.

"And she's awake!" my older brother, Hayden, declared.

"Shut up, Hayden," I told him, taking my seat at the table.

"Hmm," Hayden went on, totally ignoring me. "And she seems to be speaking, too."

I kicked him under the table. "I am so not in the mood. It's the last day of the year and I'm not letting any of you spoil it. It's also our first day in New Jersey, so how cool is that?"

I wasn't looking at any of them when I said that—I was too busy staring at the little flecks of snow that were falling one by one right outside the window.

"Got any resolutions yet, Lil?" my female best friend, Miley Stewart, asked me. She made the weirdest New Year's resolutions. One example? To stop writing songs about Jake Ryan.

That was her weirdest yet, because right after writing that down, she locked herself up in her room and produced 159 songs, all about Jake Ryan—the hottie-slash-celeb who took over our little town of Seaview for three whole months to lead a "normal" life before kissing Miley and leaving for Romania to film his latest movie, Teen Gladiators. My favorite one would have to be Thundermint Kisses. It's funny, twisted and romantic all at the same time.

"None so far," I replied, answering the question about New Year's resolutions. "I mean, it's not like I have a lot to change about myself."

"Trust me, you do," Hayden piped up.

"Oh, I've got one," my male best friend, Oliver Oken, said. "How about, 'To stop treating Oliver like dirt?' That'd be a good start."

I glared at both of them. "Hmm, I don't know, Ollie, that sounds pretty hard to do." I paused dramatically. "Ooh, why not, 'To end Hayden and Oliver's lives?'"

"That's a good one," Miley agreed. "Kidding," she added when she saw how deathly Oliver's look was when he stared at her.

Hayden knew this was a joke, so he took it lightly. Oliver wasn't exactly the brightest bulb, so he had trouble understanding jokes.

"Gotta go," Hayden told us. "I have to meet an old camp buddy."

"Wait," I said. "Where are mom and dad?"

"Groceries," Hayden replied. And with that, he was off, leaving the three of us.

"I'll tell you guys what," Miley suddenly told Oliver and me. "Before the year ends, let's make a pact."

I looked at her skeptically. "This isn't something out of American Pie, is it?"

Miley scoffed, looking disgusted. "No, of course not! I am too young to be a non-virgin, anyway."

"Well, I'm not," Oliver, who's a fifteen-year-old like the rest of us Seaview High freshmen, said.

"As if, Captain Clueless," I told him. I turned to Miley. "Go on about this pact."

Miley took a bite out of her bagel—yes, she's having breakfast for lunch, too—before telling us her oh-so-awesome idea. "Okay, here goes," she said. "You know how people kiss people when the clock strikes twelve on New Year?"

"Oh, do I ever." Oliver was obviously trying to sound smooth. Uh, not working.

I nodded. "And…?"

"Well," Miley went on. "We're doing that this year." Before we could express our thoughts, she cuts to the chase and adds, "Of course, it has to be with someone we don't know."

"Hello, reality check," I said. "We're in a city that's a lot of miles away from Malibu. Of course there'll be strangers!"

"That's the whole point," Miley said.

"I like it," was all Oliver said.

"Consider it done," I agreed.

We piled all of our hands together and promised that by the end of the day, we'd have kissed someone smooch-worthy.

ooHMoo

Fast forward to eleven and a half hours later. That's thirty minutes before the big moment, just in case you were wondering.

Just as Miley said earlier, we were all from Malibu, California. We were vacationing in Wyckoff, New Jersey for two weeks. My Dad used to live here. He moved to California to go to UCLA, but at heart he's a true-blue Jersey boy.

"I'll tell you one thing," Oliver told Miley and me, sitting down on a chair across from us. "The New Year's parties here? They don't compare to our slammin' California ones!"

"I have to admit, it is pretty dull around here," Miley complained. "Hello, where's the heavy metal rock and roll? And they totally lack a Guitar Hero console."

"I second that," I agreed. "But have you even seen the boys? I'm in hottie heaven!"

Oliver spotted a potential cheesy pickup line victim and quickly nodded his agreement. "The girls aren't bad, either." He got up to try his luck, but we all knew that he didn't stand a chance.

"I guess that's a good thing," Miley said. "At least we'll be kissing cute strangers. Really cute strangers."

"What makes you think they'll want to kiss us?" I asked her.

Miley glanced at the glass of Hawaiian punch in my hand. She quickly spilled it on me. "Oops," she told particularly no one, a little too loudly. "Does anyone have a napkin on them?" She put a slight emphasis on her accent, like that was going to do her any good.

And yet it did.

"I do," one boy said, holding up a packet of tissues.

"I have a napkin," another said.

A dozen more volunteered to help, and Miley grinned. "That's what," she told me, answering my question.

I took a napkin from one guy grudgingly. "You know," I told Miley, wiping my shirt. "You didn't have to spill my drink on me to prove your point."

I looked at my watch. 11:47. That was when it hit me that I wasn't gonna be able to do this thing.

"Miley!" I took my best friend by the shoulders. "I don't know if I can do this at all!"

I didn't care when I noticed that several heads turned to look at me with curious looks plastered on them.

"I mean," I went on. "How am I supposed to kiss a freakin' stranger by New Year, huh? That's…" I took another look at my watch. 11:48. "…twelve minutes from now!"

They started bringing the fireworks out. They only made me feel worse.

"Somebody please shoot me now!" I yelled in frustration.

That's what made everybody stop and look at me.

"What?" I asked them. "Haven't seen a meltdown before?"

The staring went on for a few more seconds, and then all of the people went back to their own worlds.

The clock was ticking, and I was not getting any better. "Help me out here, Miles, please?"

I was about to yell more when Oliver returned. "She's playing coy," he said in defense. The girl obviously turned him down. "But she wants me."

"Look, there's nothing bad about this," Miley said. "You're really pretty, Lil, and a great catch. What guy wouldn't want to kiss you?"

"I don't want to kiss her," Oliver piped up matter-of-factly.

"That's because you're her best friend," Miley told him. "If you weren't her best friend and if you were a stranger who lives in New Jersey and not Malibu, would you kiss Lilly?"

Oliver paused, staring intently at me, which made me feel one-hundred-percent self-conscious. "I guess I would," he admitted sheepishly. "Not that I like her, of course. Because I don't. We've had a wonderfully platonic friendship for ten years. I don't want to ruin that." He turned to me. "Look, Lillian, you're a really beautiful person, inside and out. It just takes a doughnut like me to prove it." He paused again. "See? I can speak the truth, and look smart while I'm at it!"

"That's 'cause you are smart when you speak the truth," Miley said. "Anyway, Ollie's right, Lilly. Do I have to repeat it to convince you?"

"I guess not," I told them. "Thanks, you guys. You're the best friends in the world."

"It's just a kiss," Miley said. "Just a kiss."

"I'm gonna go around," I told them. "This couch is making me sick. I'll see you guys later?"

"If you don't," Oliver said. "Look for me at the pool. I'll probably be drowning by then."

I shrugged. "Okay. Bye."

People are still pouring in from every direction. It was a pretty chill and laid-back party. I'd have to take back what I had said and disagree with Miley and Oliver when they said that this party sucked. I would love to have this instead of our Girls Gone Wild-esque parties any day.

I was too busy staring into space while walking that I bumped into something.

Or maybe it was someone?

"Hey, watch it!"

Someone. Definitely someone.

I looked down to see who I'd bumped into. It was a boy.

Ooh. Make that a really cute someone.

I helped him up. "Hi. Sorry about that. I wasn't looking where I was going."

"It's okay." He may have been a tiny lump on the floor when I first laid eyes on him. But when he stood up, he turned out to be seven inches taller than I was. "I'm sorry about my reaction. It's just, I'm having one of those days. I mean, eight other people bumped into me before you did. And I stepped on, err, something while walking here. I think I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, or something. My name's Joe, by the way."

We shook hands. Then he ran a hand through his long, dark hair. "How come I've never seen you around here before?"

"We're vacationing," I replied. "From, uh, Malibu."

"Malibu." His voice was not too deep, but it was enough to make me want to melt. I bet he could sing like a rock star. "That's cool. I've never been there. Tell me, is it really summer there all year long?"

"That's quite an exaggeration, don't you think?" I asked. "But, yeah. We got used to more sun."

"Hey… Your shirt is wet," Joe said.

I looked down. "Oh, this? Yeah, don't ask. It's all my best friend's fault."

Joe had dark brown almond eyes that stood out from his gorgeous face. I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that he was gorgeous. He was, based from experience, the hottest boy I've ever met. And when he smiles, it's almost like everything in the world stops for a moment just so that everyone would get the chance to see the Eighth Wonder of the World.

Which, in this case, is him.

I was so caught up in the moment that I didn't even notice that they've already begun the countdown.

"Ten… nine… eight…"

"Listen, it was really nice bumping into you," Joe said. His smile immediately melted into a scowl, but I don't think it was because of me. He mumbled something inaudible. "Um. How long are you gonna stay here?"

"Seven… six… five…"

"Two weeks," I replied. I noticed the countdown then.

"Four… three… two…"

"I guess I'll be looking forward to hanging out with you," Joe said. "I mean, if that's cool with you." Another inaudible mumble. "I could maybe show you around, or something, if you want."

"One… Happy New Year!"

The sound of fireworks flooded my ears. My instinct was to look out the window and check them out. And then I saw it.

People kissing here and there.

I remembered the pact instantly.

"Hey, Joe?" I asked, battling in my head whether he counted as a stranger or not, since I already met him.

Joe was smiling at the fireworks. A lock of hair fell into his eyes. "What is it?" he asked absently.

The sight was enough to make me gush.

Gently, I turned his head to face me. He looked surprised, but he showed no sign of annoyance, just a blank, yet surprised, face. I grabbed him by the collar until our faces were three centimeters away.

"I hope this is okay with you," I murmured before brushing my lips against his.

And that was when I decided that I did not want to return to sunny Malibu and that I wanted to stay right here, in my place, kissing a stranger for the rest of my life.

(A/N: I know I said that it would be Lilly who's going to try to find out who the guy she kissed was, but I changed my mind and made Joe the guesser instead. And I figured I should bring Lilly's brother into this story, since he's always been talked about but never seen. What do you guys think of Hayden? He'd in Jackson's level. For the first time since the last two years that I've been writing for this site, I have written a New Year's special. I'm ecstatic. I hope you guys are, too, so show some love through your REVIEWS. They'd be really appreciated. There won't be any Loliver here, and no love triangles, either, just plain relationship problems. Thanks so much for reading! Don't hesitate to put this on alert or on your favorites or both and definitely review.)