Chapter 5

Problems and Solutions

They didn't have time to really talk about the problem of Jake until lunch. By then Miley remembered that Maggie and her mom were also coming tomorrow and there was no way that Jake was going to mess that up.

"Oliver, did you tell your buddy Jake that we need to talk?" Miley asked.

"Yes I did and I reminded him of his promise to you too."

"Then where is he?"

"Settle down Miley. He'll be here." Lilly tried to calm Miley.

"Well if he doesn't get here soon he'll be out."

"Out of what Miley?" Jake asked.

"Sit down and shut up." Miley pointed to an open seat.

"Alright already."

"Look super star, this may not be important to you but it's VERY important to me. And I don't want your super size ego to do anything I'll have to kill you for later."

"Miley, settle down. I'm sure he won't do anything wrong." Oliver told her.

"What's going on here Miley?" Jake asked.

"We, that is Lilly, Oliver, and I have some very important friends visiting from Boston right now and I don't want to see your TV star act around them."

"Alright, I promise. Settle down Miley."

"One more thing and this is the most important one. We have a friend coming from Iowa City tomorrow to stay at my house."

"Boy! You guys get around."

Miley glared daggers at Jake. She stood up and placed her hands in the middle of the table and leaned in close to Jake. Her accent become extremely heavy as she growled, "Look here pretty boy zombie slayer, Maggie is dying from leukemia and is here to get a bone marrow transplant. There is no way I'm taking this fund raiser any other way than serious and if you show up at my house as anything other then a normal everyday person, you are going to look like one of the zombies you slay. Got it?"

With that, Miley turned and stormed away.

Oliver and Lilly stared open mouth at Miley's retreating back.

"I guess she is serious," said Jake.

-------------------------------------------------

Miley stormed her way to the office, barely in control of her emotions.

"Is Mr. Aaron in?" Miley asked Mrs. Darcy.

"Yes he is. Let me see if he's free." Mrs. Darcy got up and went to Mr. Aaron's office.

"Excuse me Mr. Aaron, Miley Stewart would like to have a word with you."

"Send her in, Mrs. Darcy."

Mrs. Darcy went back to her desk where Miley was waiting.

"You can go on back, Miley."

Miley walked back to Mr. Aaron's office and closed the door after she went in. Mr. Aaron watch as Miley came in and sat down on the chair in front of his desk. Then Miley buried her face in her hands and started crying. He waited. While he was waiting, Mr. Aaron reached back behind himself to the shelf that had the tissues on it. He grabbed the box and set it on the front of his desk. When Miley started to slow down, he offered Miley a tissue.

"I'm so mean," Miley started. She wiped at her eyes and nose.

"What happened, Miles?"

"Well, after the announcements, we divided up into teams for the fundraiser. Of course it was me, Lilly and Oliver. But then Jake Ryan came over and asked to join."

Mr. Aaron nodded his head. He was not too surprised.

"I said yes on one condition, that he drop the ego while we were working together. Then Oliver and Lilly invited him to join us at my house. But we have friends from Boston visiting us and I don't want him to mess things up with his celebrity ego." Miley stopped to gather her thoughts.

"Is that all?"

"Maggie and her mom are coming tomorrow."

"Isn't Maggie your friend that has leukemia?"

"Yes. She's coming out for a bone marrow transplant. I just can't deal with the way Jake struts around."

"Did you say something to him about Maggie?"

"Kind of. But I just lost it and was down right mean to him."

"Well, I think you can give Jake a chance before you cut him off at the knees. Don't you?"

"Yeah, I guess"

Mr. Aaron opened his desk drawer and pulled out a hall pass. He filled it out and walked around his desk to Miley.

"You going to be okay?"

"Yeah, thanks." Miley stood up and hugged him. Then she took the pass and headed to her locker and restroom to get cleaned up.

-------------------------------------------------

Miley was quiet for the rest of the day. Not really talking unless she was called on in class. What she did do was spend the time thinking about what Mr. Aaron had said. She guessed that she could give Jake the benefit of the doubt until he proved otherwise. But she was going to have to let Jake know it in a nicer way. She was going to have to apologize for the way she acted at lunchtime. Miley was walking to Lilly's locker where they were planning on meeting before going to her house when she turned the corner in the hallway and bumped into someone.

"Sorry. Oh, it's you."

"Nice to see you again too," Jake replied.

They started to walk together.

"Look, I'm sorry for the way I acted at lunchtime today. It's just that I haven't seen them since I was……never mind. That's not important. What is important is you behave yourself at my house."

"Okay, I'll behave myself. I promise."

"You'll forgive me if I withhold my judgment until after I see how you behave yourself."

"Fair enough."

Wow. Miley is actually giving me a chance. I can't blow this. I'll never get a chance like this again. Jake thought as he walked with Miley to Lilly's locker. Ever since meeting Miley, he had always liked her. She didn't treat him like a celebrity but as a person. One that she didn't like, but as a person nevertheless. But now he had a chance to change that. It was one that he was not going to mess up.

Lilly and Oliver were waiting for them at Lilly's locker.

"Look guys, I owe you an apologize for what happened at lunch."

Lilly and Oliver looked at each other and nodded.

"We're cool." Lilly said.

Miley put an arm around each of them and hugged. All was right with her world now. But unknown to her, that would change. Whether good or bad was still unknown.