The colors of the sky and landscape outside began to blur together after watching what seemed to be the same thing over and over for hours. The bleak countryside only mirrored how she felt inside—blurred. All the pain, the loneliness, the anger, and the memories, ran together to create a cold, dark mist over her mind. She had felt like this since two weeks ago, when her world came crashing down on top of her. Not that she would tell anyone though; she knew better than that. She knew the unwritten code: never show weakness or pain. So she kept quiet, pouring the pain out through the gift no one knew she had.
"We're coming into Malibu, Heather—your new home," her guardian tried to sound cheerful.
As Heather once again looked out of the window of the small car, she saw that the bare landscape had transformed into the urban setting of a southern California city. She had never been outside of her home state of Idaho, so seeing the beach was an entirely new experience for her. As the newness of it all hit her, she wondered if the people who had said a change would be good for her were right.
"Lilly, just calm down," Oliver said for what seemed to be the hundredth time. Once again, Lilly was staring at the front door of her home in nervous anticipation.
Miley, who was sprawled out on the couch with a magazine, said, "Oliver, come on. Give Lilly a break. We don't know anything about this Heather person. For all we know, she could be an axe murderer, or a psychopath, or someone really freaky—someone like Jackson."
Lilly and Oliver turned at glared at Miley. "Not helping!" they half-shouted in unison.
Suddenly, a car's engine was heard, and a small car pulled into the driveway. Lilly subconsciously clutched Oliver's hand in anticipation, but blushed and let go when she realized that she was doing. She could hear voices talking, then the door opened to reveal her mother and a tall blonde who was looking about her curiously. Lilly's mother introduced Heather to everyone, then went outside to get the bags, and an awkward silence fell. Well, awkward for everyone except Oliver. Lilly glanced at him and frowned as she saw his eyes glued adoringly to her new sister. A hint of jealousy began to root itself in her heart.
"So . . ." Miley said, trying to make the best of the situation. "Where are you from, Heather?"
Miley saw something strange stir in Heather's eyes, but it quickly passed, and she replied, "I lived in Idaho."
Lilly felt Miley nudging her, so she asked somewhat reluctantly, "Um, do you want to put your bag in my room? You'll be sleeping with me until we can put a bed in the den."
After Heather agreed, Lilly led Heather up the stairs and entered. "Okay, so, we didn't know if you wanted to sleep on the bunk bed or on the floor . . ." Lilly turned and saw that Heather was standing
as if she was rooted in the doorway, staring at Lilly's room in astonishment. Lilly quickly scanned her room for something extraordinary to pop out at her, but she found nothing. Her blue and green walls were covered with Hannah Montana, Jonas Brothers, and Maroon 5 posters, along with random pictures. Picture frames and knick-knacks, each holding a memory, littered her shelves, and her skateboard and surfboard leaned against the wall.
Slowly, Heather walked in and went to the skateboard, and a smile broke the look of shock that had been on her face. Surprised to see Heather smile for the first time, Lilly asked tentatively, "Do you skateboard?"
Heather quietly laughed, as if at an inside joke, and said, "Naw, I could never stay on for more than five seconds. My friend, Kaylee, tried to teach me a million times, but I'm hopeless." Though she knew that she was being stereotypical, Lilly analyzed Heather's clothing, trying to gain insight into her new sister. Heather's torn jeans and dark blue camisole over a tight, white t-shirt didn't really hint at any particular clique.
"So, what do you do? You know, like art, music . . ."
Heather smiled almost shyly and answered, "Football. Well, really, any sport, but football is my thing."
"Me too! I mean, I love sports too!" Lilly exclaimed, excited that they had something in common. Unbeknownst to both, they thought at the same time, Maybe this won't be so bad after all.
Pictures of the person I based Heather after are on my profile. Btw, I don't own Hannah Montana, because if I did, well, all of us loliver fans would be perfectly happy.