CHAPTER FOURTEEN

In a Cave, of All Places

Miley's Point of View

When Jake, who was panting, came back after going somewhere, we still weren't on speaking terms. He looked into my eyes, but I turned away and entered my tent.

"I can't believe it," I told myself. "I've liked Jake for some time , but then I lost interest in him. Then right in this camping trip, I fell for him again, but things just became more complicated. I couldn't believe that girl either." I sighed. "Why do I always mess up?"

"Come on, Miles, you don't always mess up," I heard Jake said from the outside.

I turned and saw his silhouette. I threw a pillow at it. "Get off of my back, Jake."

"You didn't let me explain the situation yet," Jake told me.

"I saw what I saw. And it already explains itself," I shot back.

"No, it doesn't." Jake let himself into my tent.

I tried to push him out. "Yes, it does."

He forced himself in and sat across from me. Which wasn't really far away, since my tent was a little small. "It's kind of like this..."

"Like what?" I asked, waiting for the answer.

But instead of answering, Jake kissed me. I pushed him away, but I wasn't successful in doing so.

"Jake, stop it!" I said while I can.

And he did. Stop, I mean. "See?" he said. "That's exactly what happened. She was forcing me into the kiss. I tried, but believe me, her grip was way too tight. I couldn't even breathe!"

I crossed my arms and blink once, all in the process of raising my eyebrows. I'm really good at multitasking. "I still don't believe you."

"Alright, Miley," Jake said, pulling me out of the tent with mild force. "If you want to talk it over, let's do it in a dead end in that cave over there." He pointed to the big cave some feet away from our campsite. "I'll go ahead and call Bess."

I stopped him before he could even go. "Oh, no, you don't. I'll do it myself."

Before Jake could even speak, I walked over to Bess's campsite. "Jake wants to talk to you inside the cave over there." I pointed to the cave just like Jake had done earlier.

Bess narrowed her eyes. "Are you sure it's not some evil scheme or trick?" she asked.

I rolled my eyes. "You're already full of that," I told her.

"So, Jake wants to talk to me?" Bess said. "In a cave, of all places?" She scoffed.

"I think he thinks it's romantic," I replied sarcastically before pulling her to our campsite, my grip tight on her arm.

"So, you wanted to talk to me?" Bess asked Jake, her tone flirtacious. She batted her lashes. I wanted to tear them out and rip them into pieces.

I got ready for my attack when Jake shot me a look. I sent him a telepathic message: What, you're saving her now?

Jake shook his head, as if he got the message. Or maybe he shook his head to Bess?

We stood there in silence, with me daydreaming about my future dates with Jake...if there will be any. Maybe as soon as we straighten everything out? I didn't even care what Jake and Bess were thinking about. Finally, we found ourselves getting ready to enter the cave, and getting ready even more to grill Bess.

"Flashlights?" I said.

Bess and Jake nodded and held up there flashlights.

I held up my own. "Let's go in."

After minutes of walking, I pulled Jake aside. "Are you sure this cave has at least one dead end?"

"Yes, of course," Jake replied. "I explored this while I was away from the campsite."

"Explains why you were panting when you came back," I told him. He grinned, and I melted inside. But outside, I seemed like a rock, which cannot be hit by anything. Even gorgeous smiles. I was invincible.

"Can we, like, continue walking now?" Bess asked, obviously irritated. Neither of us replied to her, but we kept talking.

"Good to know," I said.

"Good to know what?" Jake asked.

"That this has a dead end!" I answered. I crossed my arms and walked further away fast from the two of them.

Sure enough, there was a dead end. We reached it after walking for a few more minutes. Bess seemed really tired, but I seemed really not caring. She kept whining about how much her feet hurt.

Hello, you're wearing three-inch-high heels inside a cave! How wouldn't they hurt? I thought to myself, looking down at my comfortable running shoes. I grinned wickedly.

"Admit it, Bess, you forced my boyfriend to kiss you!" I yelled at Bess.

Jake smiled. "Boyfriend?" he asked me.

I shrugged. "We'll talk about that later, okay?"

"But I didn't mean to kiss him!" Bess replied innocently, even though I knew she was anything but. "It was like you said, Jake was practicing for a kissing scene in Zombie High!"

"Now you're stealing my ideas, huh?" I said snidely. "Oh yeah, and I suppose you don't mean stealing him away from me, either!"

"Jake likes me, he totally does!" Bess said. "You don't like Miley, Jake. Believe me, you don't!"

Jake spoke up. "Come on, you know I like her better than you!" he told her. She gaped. "You're nothing but a backstabber, and to someone who doesn't even know you that well!"

"Miley?" I heard someone say. It was a boy. A boy who sounded like...

"Oliver." I said softly. Then, louder. "Oliver?"

"Wait, is it really you? You're on the other side of this wall?" Oliver (I was sure it was him now) said.

"Yeah. I can't believe it! I missed you guys so much! Where's Lilly?" I asked.

"I'm right here! Where's Jake?" Lilly spoke up.

"Right here, Lil. So, how have you guys been?" Jake said.

"In love," both of them said.

"Wait, you don't mean..." I started.

I knew Lilly smiled when she said this. "Yes, we do."

"Look, before we talk and talk, why don't we break this wall so that we could actually see each other?" Oliver suggested.

I laughed. "Oh, yeah, right."

Jake walked a few steps backwards and ran towards the wall, pushing hard against it. He was unsuccessful. "Ouch!"

"Let's do it together," Lilly called from the other side. "Come help, Sean."

"Yeah, I will," an unfamiliar voice replied.

"Sean? Is that you?" Bess, who, I completely forgot existed, suddenly said.

"Bess?" the male voice said.

"Oh, I missed you, Sweetie!" Bess leaned against the wall.

"'Sweetie'?" I repeated. "What is he, your boyfriend?"

"Not that serious," both of them said at the same time.

I went for angry to furious. I pinned Bess against another wall. "You have a boyfriend all this time and you've been hitting on Jake?"

"What? You've been cheating on me?" Sean asked.

"She didn't even acknowledge you when we first met," Jake said, as if that helped. He'd better run and hide. Sean sounded like he could turn Jake into a black-eyed person.

"Really?" Sean said. I figured that he wasn't the type to beat up someone at all. Especially if he knew that it wasn't that someone's fault. "Listen, Bess, it's over. I think we should break up."

Bess's jaw dropped and she gasped. "Huh? But..."

"Um, I don't mean to interrupt, but back to the situation? Let's get this wall-breaking thing over with so that we'd get to talk it out better," Oliver called.

We all stepped backwards. I knew that it wouldn't be right for Lilly and me to be doing this, since it would hurt. Even for Bess. But, hey, the girl deserves it. We had to do it, though, for better results.

"On three," I yelled. "One..."

"Two..." Jake followed.

"Three!" the six of us shouted. We ran towards the wall and smashed it into pieces instantly.

I landed smack-dab into Lilly. "Lilly!" I said to her.

"Miley! It's so great to see you." Lilly hugged me.

I stood up and helped her up. We hugged some more. "I really missed you," I told her.

"Dude!" Jake said to Oliver. "What's up?"

"Nothing much." Oliver shook off dust from the wall.

"Okay, so maybe I bitched a little! Give me a second chance, Honey, please!" Bess suddenly yelled.

The four of us turned to look at her. Her and Sean, actually. There they were, in the middle of a post-breakup fight.

"This isn't a really comfortable place to talk," I said. "Mind if we take it to our campsite?"

They both sighed and nodded. We made our way back. But going back seemed a lot longer than going in. And by a lot, I mean a lot.

"Didn't we just pass this?" Lilly pointed out.

We shrugged and continued walking. Soon, we found ourselves back there again. And then it hit me.

We were lost.

(A/N: Thanks for the reviews again! And for the reviews in Seven Minutes in Heaven, too! I downloaded the episodes from here: To see how to download People Who Use People, go to the front page and look for the November 3, 2006 update. Look for the second paragraph and click "Here." Thanks again! Oh, and I finally mustered up the courage to send a message to Cody Linley on Myspace. Wish me luck that he replies!)