"We don't have time left to regret
It will take more than common sense
So stop your wondering, take a stand
Cause there's more to life than just to live."

VI

Searching For The Happily Ever After

Lily looked out the ocean. She softly pushed her hair out of her face as the cool breeze blew it about. She was on Miley's deck, with Miley and Oliver. She luckily hadn't seen Jackson, because he had gone to school early to hand in a late assignment. She had been avoiding him since the Chips Incident. She was so sure he had liked her! The way he would open the passenger car door for her when they went out, the way he would 'coincidently' put his hand in the bucket of popcorn at the movies at the exact same time as her, so that their hands would touch. Had she misread the signs? Could she have been so in to him that she had started to see what she wanted to see? Maybe she should just forget about him. After all, why would a junior be interested in a lowly freshman? There were plenty of cute boys her own age. Maybe she should just move on. If only it was that simple, she sadly thought.

"Oh my gosh!" suddenly came Meghan's voice, pulling Lily out of her deep thoughts and making her jump. Lily had been so out of zone that hadn't even taken note of Meghan's arrival on the deck. "Guess what you guys?!"

"What?" Miley asked, unsure of the source of Meghan hyperactive happiness.

"It is officially two weeks till my Sweet 16!" Meghan exclaimed, jumping happily around. "It's going to be amazing! I found this company, thanks to Rico, actually, that will actually rent you actual sand. So me and my dad are going to build a giant tarp-pool thing and fill it with sand from Costa Rica! And they'll be a stage, and everybody will be in formal beach wear! It's going to be like being at an actual beach! And it'll all take place in my backyard, two weeks from today!"

"Wow," Lily said, flabbergasted. "That sounds awesome!"

"I know!" Meghan said. "And you guys, of course, are invited. I just got to pick the invitations tomorrow morning at my dad's!"

"So who is gonna be invited?" Oliver asked.

"Well," Meghan said, sitting down. "There's you guys, and my dad, my cousins from San Diego are coming down, the Jo Bros, and Mandy, Bianca, Julie and Dylan from the backup dancer crew. And maybe Jackson, if he wants."

"What about your mom?" Lily asked.

"Um," Meghan said. "Oh yeah. I guess she'll be there too."

"Well," Miley said. "We'll definitely be there. Right guys?"

"Of course," Lily said, smiling.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Oliver said, nodding in agreement.

"It's going to be the best night of my life," Meghan said, sighing happily. "I've got everything planned out perfectly."

"I have just one question, though," Oliver declared.

"What's that?" Meghan asked.

"What the heck is formal beach wear?" Oliver asked.

The three girls rolled their eyes. "Boys," they said together.

"Sweet nibblets!" Miley exclaimed.

"What?" Lily asked, approaching her best friend. They were at school on a sunny Friday morning. The two girls and Oliver had had breakfast with Meghan (who was avoiding her mother, due to the fact that she hadn't approved of the gang's groove-thang shaking during her party a few nights before) before making their way to another day of learning at Seaview High School. It was now lunchtime, and Miley was one of the many people crowed around the notice board next to the vice principal's office.

"Look!" Miley said, pointing to the large poster freshly pinned up to the bulletin board. "Spring Fling!"

"Umm...," Lily said. "Should I be excited?"

"Umm...," Miley said, imitating Lily. "Yes! Look Oliver!" She grabbed Oliver's arm as he passed by and pulled him towards the board. "Isn't this awesome?" She pointed at the poster.

"Yeah...not really," Oliver said.

"See?" Lily said, crossing her arms. "Oliver doesn't care either."

"He's a boy," Miley said. "He doesn't count."

"Exactly," Oliver said. "...Hey!"

"It's just a stupid dance," Lily said.

"Oh come on," Miley said. "Are you telling me there's not one guy in this school that you want to ask you?"

"No," Lily lied, trying not to think about a certain blond junior.

"And Oliver," Miley said, turning to him. "Wouldn't this be the perfect opportunity to ask out Meghan?"

"W-Why would I want to do that?" Oliver said nervously. "I-It's not like I l-like her or anything. That's just...pff."

"Yeah," Miley said sarcastically. "And my Aunt Pearl can sing like an angel."

"But we can't even go, see?" Oliver said, jabbing the poster. "It's on the night of Meghan's party."

"Don't even try that, you donut," Miley said. "It's the day after Meghan's party!"

"Well," Oliver said, making his way towards the cafeteria. "I don't even want to go."

"I'm sure you don't," Miley said, following her friend.

"So I take it you're going?" Lily inquired, right behind Miley.

"Of course!" Miley exclaimed. "I just need to find a date."

"Why don't you ask your little curly-haired singing friend?" Lily said mockingly.

Miley blushed. "I don't know who you're talking about," she said, crossing her arms and looking away.

"Sure," Oliver said. "You don't remember the guy who you spend all of your evenings drooling over when your hair is blond?"

"I do not drool over Nick!" Miley protested.

"I thought you said you didn't know who we were talking about," Lily said, picking up a tray and getting in line.

"Whatever," Miley said. "I'm going to get a table. You get your lunch at meet us there, okay?"

Miley and Oliver walked towards the gang's usual spot in the cafeteria. Lily inched forward as the line slowly moved on. She reached out to grab a juice box, but bumped the hand of someone doing the same.

"Sorry," Lily said, looking up. Her heart dropped into her stomach. It was Jackson.

"Oh," Jackson said, also realizing the identity of the person he had bumped. "Hey."

"Hi," Lily said awkwardly, grabbing the juice box.

"Um," Jackson said, taking a juicebox aswell. "How are you?"

"Pretty good," Lily replied.

"I haven't seen you much lately."

"I've been busy," Lily said, grabbing a bowl of patato salad. "...With, you know, stuff."

"Right," Jackson said, nodding.

"Did you hear about Meghan's party?" Lily asked, trying to make small talk.

"Yeah," Jackson said, taking a plate of spaghetti off of the counter. "She texted me this morning. I've seen to many smiley faces in one text message in my life."

Lily laughed. "She's really pumped about the whole thing."

So...," Jackson said, pulling some crumpled dollar bills out of his pocket and handing them to the lunch lady behind the cash register. "Did you see the poster about Spring Fling?"

"Yup," Lily replied, also handing the cashier some money.

"You gonna go?" Jackson asked.

"I don't know," Lily said.

"Oh, that's too bad. I'll probably go," Jackson said. "Annie Cassidy asked me to go with her in math class before. I think I'll say yes...Maybe."

"Oh," Lily said. "Well I heard from Vicky Andrews that Dylan Hutcherson wanted to ask me. If he does, I'll totally go. He's the captain of the soccer team, you know. Plus, he's so cute."

"Yeah," Jackson said. "Good for you. Well, I gotta go..."

"Me too," Lily said. "Bye."

She made her way over to the table where Oliver and Miley were sitting. They jumped when Lily slammed her tray viciously down on the tabletop. "What's with you?" Oliver asked.

"Nothing," Lily said through gritted teeth. "Nothing at all."

"Hey guys!" Meghan said, waving, as she entered her backyard. "I'm so sorry I'm late! You wouldn't believe the traffic!"

"It's cool," Miley said, sitting up in the luxurious lawn chair she had propped herself on. "Your groundskeeper let us in."

"That's weird," Meghan said, putting the big white bag she had in her hand down on the patio table. "My mom told Richard to never let anyone in unless they had proper ID. Then again, none of my mom's staff listen to her when she's not around."

"Big surprise there," Lily said.

"You know what's even weirder though?" Oliver said.

"What?" Meghan asked, sitting down next to Lily.

"That you actually have a groundskeeper," Oliver said.

Meghan laughed. "Check this out you guys," she said, grabbing the big white bag from off of the table. She put her hand into it and pulled out a beautiful, flowing white dress with purple flowers.

"Holy cheese!" Lily exclaimed. "It's gorgeous!"

"It's for my Sweet 16!" Meghan said, happily hugging the dress. "And wait till you see this." She carefully placed the dress back in the bag, then pulled out a large red shoebox. She opened them, exposing the magnificent metallic purple strappy sandals that were inside.

"I think I'm in love," Miley said, leaning over to get a better look.

"Can I...touch them?" Lily said, her eyes glazed over.

"Carefully," Meghan said. Miley and Lily both gently petted the stunning footwear, their faces glowing with joy.

"Come on," Oliver said. "It's just shoes."

All three girls turned to him and glared. "Just shoes?" Miley said, offended.

"They're like the meatball avocado 6-cheese and jelly 12-inch sub of shoes," Meghan explained.

"Oh, wow," Oliver said, impressed. "I take that back then."

"I even found a number for a company that'll set up a beach smoothie bar right here!" Meghan said happily. "This is going to be the best night ever. Nothing could ruin this!"

"Oh Meghan, darling!" suddenly came Madeleine's shrill voice, sending shivers down the spines of Meghan's friends. "I have a wonderful surprise for you!" Madeleine entered the backyard, holding a large cardboard box.

"Yes, mother?" Meghan said, quickly putting her shoes away.

"I have the invitations for your Sweet 16!" she declared, shaking the box.

"Really?" Meghan said, surprised. "That's an awfully big box for 18 invitations."

"What on earth are you talking about?" Madeleine said. "There's two hundred and twelve invitations."

"Why did Dad print so many?" Meghan asked.

"Dad?" Madeleine spat. "Your child of a father did not print these! Like I would trust such an important task to a man who ruins my party by putting silly music and frolicking with children half his age! I had these printed down at Patricio's Printing!"

"But...," Meghan said. "I don't get it."

"It's not complicated, dear," Madeleine said. "Look." She pulled out an invitation from the box. It was a very fancy-looking paper, decorated with elegant swirls and printed with a very fancy font. "These are the invitations for your most important party yet. And look at the theme: the roaring twenties!"

Miley, Oliver and Lily's jaw dropped. "Everyone will be dressed in twenties-style ball gowns. And I even put a gorgeous dress on hold for you. It's vintage! It was actually made in the twenties! Oh darling, this is going to be wonderful! You'll finally be able to grow up into a mature lady! This will be the most memorable evening of your life!"

"Yeah," Meghan said, biting down on her lower lip to stop the tears forming in her eyes. "That was the plan."