CHAPTER TEN

Adding Up to Problems

Miley's Point of View

"Hey, Jake." I waved a hand in front of his face. "Are you still there? Hello?"

"Oh, what?" Jake asked, snapping back to attention.

"Doesn't that girl look an awful lot like Lilly to you? You know, the one by the public bathrooms?" I looked back up to check the girl out. But she was already gone.

"Girl? What girl? I don't see anyone there," Jake told me.

I sighed and buried my face in my hands. "Yeah, I guess I was just hallucinating." So much for finding my best friend.

Then my thoughts went over to Jake. What had happened between us in the last three days that we got stuck together? Let's see, we got to know each other better, almost kissed, did kiss, danced under the moonlight to romantic songs and slept beside each other. And, no, just because we slept beside each other, it doesn't mean that we slept with each other. That would be totally different.

Anyway, back to Jake. With what happened between us, you'd think that we're, like, going to fall in love or something. I can only assure you that it's not going to happen. We're not even friends yet, so how would we fall in love? Okay, so maybe we're almost friends. But us falling in love, it can't happen…

Can it?

We weren't talking or looking at each other. Just looking around our surroundings and enjoying the growing awkwardness between us. I was being sarcastic with the last six words that I said, just in case you haven't noticed.

Suddenly, I voice right behind us spoke. "Are you guys lost, too?"

Jake turned around. I didn't even bother. "Yeah, we are," he said. "I hope you don't mind me asking this, but who are you supposed to be?"

"Oh, my gosh," the girl—yes, thank goodness, it was a girl—said slowly. I was beginning to figure out that I'd hate what she's going to say next. I completely forgot that I was with a TV star. "You're Jake Ryan!" She came up to him. "I'm Bess. Definitely a fan of yours."

"Thanks," Jake replied.

I rolled my eyes and still didn't bother turning around.

"How long have you been lost here?" Bess asked, as if she was this reporter interviewing Jake.

"Three days. I'm just lucky that I have Miley with me here," Jake said.

"Oh, I just watched this week's episode of Zombie High. You know, the one titled Forbidden Love?" Bess said. Jake nodded. I just rolled my eyes once more. "I totally fell in love with it. You look great with Hannah Montana." I saw at the corner of my eye that Jake grinned and eyed me. I blushed. Saying that Jake looked good with Hannah seemed like saying Jake looked good with me.

I was a little bit annoyed with the fact that Bess here was completely ignoring me. If Lilly was doing this to me just because of Jake, I'd let our friendship go on the rocks. Still, I turned around. "Oh, really?" I asked, hoping they'd not notice the sarcastic tone I'd put on.

"Totally." Bess's eyes widened and her tone was just as sarcastic as mine. But I guess she still thought that Jake and Hannah were meant to be. Which, I assure you, they were not.

Bess went on and on about other Zombie High episodes and she kept asking Jake questions. My favorite one was, "Did you really have to raise the dead for the show?" Jake answered with a holding back of a laugh and, "No, those zombies are actors." Bess responded with, "Oh, really? They look so real!"

Turns out Bess was also fourteen. But I don't care, really. I just wanted to get out of this nightmare. Why did she have to appear and ruin my life?

"So, Bess," I said. "How do you think can we find our way out here?"

"We can go to the office," she suggested.

"Hey, great idea!" Jake said.

"The office is outside," I pointed out.

"Oh, right," Bess replied.

This was really annoying me. But Bess wasn't doing anything bad, really. It's just that she's adding up to our problem. And she was kind of competing for Jake's attention with me. Which I totally don't understand why.

Bess was talking about her most embarrassing moment when I put my hand on Jake's shoulder and went, "Can you excuse us for a sec?"

"That little girlfriend of yours is getting on my nerves," I told Jake.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Jake said, a little too loudly. Well, loud enough for Bess to here.

"Shh!" I put my pointer to my lips. "Yeah, whatever. Listen, can you tell her to scram?"

"I can't, that would be rude," Jake replied.

"Please, it's for your benefit and mine," I said.

"You're jealous, aren't you?" Jake told me. "Don't worry, babe. She said that we look good together."

I elbowed him. "I am so not jealous," I answered. "And stop calling me babe. You'd better make her leave or else, I…"

"You what?" Jake challenged.

"I'll never talk to you again," I finished.

"That a threat?" Jake said.

"You bet it is."

"Alright, fine, I'll do it."

"Are you guys, like, together, or something?" Bess asked, jumping into our conversation, annoying me again.

"Together? Us? No way," Jake and I said together.

Bess nodded slowly. "Right."

"Hey, Bess, listen," Jake said. He looked at me for a moment, as if telling me, I'm going to make her go away, just like you said. "Our campsite doesn't really have space anymore."

"And…?" Bess asked.

"And it's getting really crowded with you here," Jake replied.

"Oh, you want me to leave," Bess said.

"No, it's not that—" Jake began.

"No, I understand. You need privacy. Well, I'm out of here," Bess replied. "Bye, Jake," she told him. She then nodded toward me. I cocked one eyebrow and nodded back. And then, at last, she was gone.

"Whew," I said.

"Poor girl," Jake said. I shot him a look. "What?" he asked. "It's true, she doesn't have a place to stay."

"We've got more important problems than her, okay?" I said, leaning in close to Jake's face.

Jake nodded, and our noses touched. That's when I realized how close our faces were. Jake leaned closer, and we shared the same electrifying kiss that we had just yesterday. I felt something hit my head, but I ignored that.

"Am I interrupting something?" a familiar voice asked behind us. That one, I can't ignore.

I backed away, confused, dazed, awestruck and weirdly frustrated. "Oh, Bess," I said. "No, you aren't interrupting something." The awful truth was, she was interrupting absolutely everything. It was okay before she came. I totally hate her for it.

Jake bit his lower lip. "Yeah, not at all."

"I'm sorry anyway." Bess bent down and picked up something. She held it up. "My earring, I dropped it."

I could've sworn that earring was the one that hit my head earlier. Maybe Bess watched us somewhere and threw it on purpose to ruin the kiss. But, what the heck. I don't even care that much about the kiss.

Or maybe I do? This thing that I have with Jake, I just can't explain it or even name it. And the thing with Bess now. I'm not really jealous, am I?

(A/N: As a reply to the review of someone, I can't get Miley pregnant because I disagree with teenage pregnancy. No offense, though. Thanks for the reviews again! Oh, and thanks to another review, I got the idea of having the third party, which we all know is Bess. I own her, by the way, so no disclaimer for that. Keep on rocking, guys, and keep those reviews coming! I'm so sorry if I didn't post this yesterday when I could. It was my birthday, so I took a little vacation where there was no internet connection, even on laptops. We don't have wireless connection, either. But I've updated now, so no hard feelings, right? Hugs and kisses, youngwriter2005.)