CHAPTER 3: The Truth

When my alarm clock went off the next morning, I groggily rose out of bed and walked over to my closet. I decided on a plain black t-shirt with a grey vest on top. I found a pair of jeans and then grabbed my converse high-tops. I walked to my bathroom across the hall and took a shower then got ready for school.

I walked downstairs and grabbed a poptart and placed it in the toaster. While it was cooking, I walked over to my mom who was on the couch watching t.v. "Good morning, Mom" I said, sleep still evident in my voice.

"Good morning, Sweetie. How did you sleep?" she asked, not fully paying attention.

"Alright. I'm not completely used to getting up early again."

"Oh ok" she said, waving off the subject so she could focus on whatever they were talking about on the news. I walked back into the kitchen and got the poptart and a glass of milk. I ate it in about 10 minutes, so I decided to text Selena.

Hey Sel. U almost ready 2 go?

Ya Demz, I'll be out in a sec.

Ok I'll meet u out there.

I grabbed my backpack and slung it over my shoulder. "Bye Mom" I said as she gave me a kiss on the cheek. I walked out the front door and walked across the street to Selena's house, taking a seat on her porch swing.

"Hey Demi, ready for your big day today?" she greeted me with a smirk on her face.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" I asked with a confused expression as I got up from the porch swing and we walked down the steps.

"Duh. Today is the day that you tell everyone about Sterling!" she yelled. Oh did I mention that he also lives down the street from me? Well he does.

"Shh!" I whispered; we were right in front of his house. "Ugh! I forgot about that. Well there goes my good day."

"Relax. I swear you're over reacting. And you know that because Tay was totally fine with it. We were texting last night and she told me she was starting to wonder if you still liked guys" Selena joked, laughing.

"Haha very funny" I said sarcastically. We were almost at school now.

"So when you gonna tell them? Or will me and Taylor have to?"

"I don't know. I don't want them finding out at all."

"Too bad" she said with a too sweet smile on her face. I stuck my tongue out at her in reply. We reached the school and walked to my locker first since it was closest to the front of the school. Miley and Meaghan were already there.

"Hey guys!" Meaghan cheered when she saw us.

"Hey!" we both replied. I got my stuff for my second period class since I wouldn't need anything for choir first period.

"We're going over to my locker now. You guys comin'?" Selena asked.

"Sure" they both said. The four of us walked across the campus to Selena's locker, talking about our first day and which classes we thought we would like and what teachers we thought for sure were raised by the devil.

When we reached Selena's locker, A.J., Skyler, and Taylor were there. Taylor saw us come up and smirked at me. Today was gonna be a long day.

"Miley and Meaghan started talking to A.J. while Skyler went over to Nick, Grady, and Ferguson by their lockers. That left Taylor to talk to me about Sterling with Selena.

"So Demi, who will end up telling them?" she asked.

"Did I mention that I really don't like you two right now."

"Oh come on Demz, just tell them. How about at brunch?" Selena suggested.

"How about no?" I said back,

"Either way, they find out today" Taylor said.

The bell wrung and we went to our classes. They were all pretty uneventful. We sang in choir, read in English, and took practice pictures in yearbook while Nick and Selena flirted. Then it was brunch.

"So Demz, you think about telling them at brunch?" Selena asked.

"Sel, if I did that, that would give them more time to hate me today and less time for me to be with my friends. Duh" I stated in an obvious tone.

"Whatever. But time is ticking away."

We all met up by the cafeteria after going to our lockers and dropping off our books and getting our stuff for our next classes. I just needed to get my Algebra stuff. Me and Miley walked to the cafeteria together.

"So Demi, you have that Taylor guy in your next class right?" she asked.

I laughed. "Oh ya, I do. Why?"

"No reason…" she trailed off.

"Miley I know you like Lautner" I told her.

"I know but…he hangs with that jerk, Sterling" she said as I inwardly cringed at that.

"I don't care about that. Trust me. If I really liked someone in that group like you like Taylor, would you be mad at me?" I asked. If only she knew that that person existed and wasn't just in Sterling's group, but it was Sterling. Then again, by the end of the day, she will know.

"Of course not, Demi!"

"See? So why is it any different for you and him?" I asked her.

"That's a good point…you're right! I like him and I want to talk to him. I think I'm gonna go now. Bye!" she told me.

"Good luck!" I told her as she walked away. I walked up to our friends then.

"Where's Miley going?" Aly asked.

"She's going to talk to that Taylor Lautner guy. She likes him" I told them.

"Oh cool" they replied. I noticed that Skyler and Ferguson were over with Sterling now, and I looked to see how Miley was doing. She seemed really happy, and to be honest, so did he.

"Awww, they look so cute together!" Emily cried out. Apparently I wasn't the only one watching the two.

"He totally likes her!" Peggy shouted.

"Definitely! I mean look at that smile on his face!" Allison stated.

"You can so tell they have chemistry!" Aaryn interjected.

You could hear all of the guys groaning which made some of the girls, including myself, laugh a little.

After that, the bell wrung for fourth period. Miley and Taylor L. walked toward me. Miley was all smiles and Taylor was clearly happy. Miley said by to us and me and Taylor walked to class.

"Hey Demi, your friend Miley, she's really great" he told me on our way to the classroom.

"Ya she's a really great person. So you like her?" I asked with a knowing smile on face.

"Actually, ya. I do." He smiled at me. "Is she single?"

"Yeah. You should ask her out" I answered. I was so happy for Miley.

"Do you think she likes me?" he asked me. Boy, was this guy blind or something?

"I know the answer to that, and its really obvious answer that you somehow seemed to have missed. So for that, you can just ask her and see if she says yes or no" I said emphasizing the words. Apparently that didn't register with his brain though.

"Fine. Don't tell me. But I will ask her" he told me as we took our seats in the class.

The rest of the class we were silent, afraid to get on the teacher's bad side again. After class we said bye and I walked to my locker where Miley already was at.

"What did he say? Does he like me? Did he even talk about me? Does he think I'm annoying? Oh my gosh, I bet he doesn't even like me, does he?" She bombarded me with questions.

"Hi to you too, Miley" I laughed.

"Oh sorry, hey Demz. So…what did he say?" We started walking to class.

I decided to tease her just a little longer. "I'm sorry, who are you talking about again?"

"Taylor Lautner!"

"Who?" I asked, playing dumb.

"Demi! Come on! You know who I'm talking about!"

I started laughing. "Alright, alright. He likes you" I said calmly like it was nothing new.

"AHHH!" she screamed with joy.

"Miley! Chill!" We started laughing and met up with Nick and Meaghan. Piano passed by fast and we picked our song for our first in-class recital in two weeks. Then it was lunch.

"Demi! Come here!" Selena and Taylor and called me over to them. Oh boy.

"Hey gu-."

"So you gonna tell them now or what?" Selena interrupted.

I sighed and said, "I don't wanna."

"Fine, you don't have to" Taylor replied.

"Really? Thanks guys!"

"Dem, you don't have to, but we still do" Selena explained.

"Oh." We walked to the rest of the group. Ferguson and Skyler were here, too, along with our other friends. Kevin and Brady walked up together later than everyone else. I wonder where they were. Where were they yesterday, too? Oh well. Not my problem at the moment.

"Everyone! We have something important to say" Taylor said. Here we go.

"You guys don't need to get mad at her either, but listen with an open mind" Selena added on. I can't do this. Not now. Ferguson and skyler have classes with him still. Ferg has his in two periods, and so do I. I don't want him to tell him already. No, this can't happen yet.

"Demi wants you all to know that-" Taylor started before I interrupted her.

"That I want everyone to meet in the front after school today. I have to tell you guys something." If I tell them after, Skyler and Ferguson with be les likely to tell. And I can still have my friends for the rest of today if they overreacted. That was my plan.

Selena and Taylor looked at me questioningly and I just nodded back at them. Everyone said they would meet up at the front of the building today. With that being said, we all ate our lunch. After lunch, we went to our classes.

I had Physics next, so Grady, Emily, and Peggy walked with me to the class. We all sat by each other again.

"Hey Demi, can you tell us what you were gonna tell us later? Please?" Grady asked.

"Sorry Graddy but please isn't gonna work this time" I said smiling at him.

"But Demi, I really want to know now. I can't take the suspense! I'll be thinking about it all day and I won't be able to focus on class!" he told me, trying to guilt me into it.

"Well then it's a good thing it's only the second day of school, huh?" I countered. "It's all review for the first week."

"Ugh. Fine." Emily, Peggy and I all laughed at his silliness. Physics was pretty uneventful after that; all we talked about was magnetism.

When the bell wrung for seventh period, I started freaking out, the good way and the bad way. I was happy I could see Starling, but at the same time, I was afraid he would somehow know already.

We got dressed for P.E. and Selena, Taylor, Ella, Skyler, and I walked to the gym. The other class was there, too, so Skyler walked over to Sterling and Ferguson and started talking to them while Ella walked over to some girl I'd never met and talked to her. That left Selena and Taylor to talk to me.

"So you're telling them after school?" Selena asked me.

"I guess I don't really have a choice, do I?" I asked back without hope.

"Nope" Taylor said, popping the 'p'. I sighed and looked over at Sterling.

Wait a minute. He was just looking at me. When I looked over there, we made I contact and then looked away. Why was he looking over here? Skyler and Ferguson didn't know yet, so he couldn't possibly know. Maybe he was looking for someone else and I just happened to look when he scanned over our group. Probably.

P.E. went slowly. We were starting with basketball, but all we did that day was take notes on it. After class, it was time for Spanish. Ferguson and I walked over to Spanish together.

"So Demi, what are you gonna tell us after school?" Ferguson asked me.

"Well, Furg, I'd tell you but it's not after school." We laughed, even if on the inside I was freaking out about it. Spanish class was boring, too. And then the final bell wrung.

Oh. Crap.

My doom was about to come.

I just hope I was freaking out way more than needed. Otherwise, I'm dead.

We all gathered by the sign in front of the school. Selena stood to one side of me, Taylor on the other.

I was so afraid. I turned around to look at just the two. "Guys, I can't do this."

"Demi! Come on, you need to" Selena said.

"Can you do it for me?" I asked. I already knew there was no way out of it.

They thought about it and were about to say no, but then saw that I was shaking and agreed that they would.

"Hey guys! So like at lunch, Demi has something she wants you guys to know" Selena started.

"Please just think about it and don't freak out on her about it. It's not that big of a deal" Taylor added.

"Demi has a crush on someone" Selena kept going.

"But it's kinda someone we don't like" said Taylor.

"Who?" someone said.

Selena and Taylor looked at me asking if I was sure I wanted them to say it. I just nodded. I couldn't even talk.

"Sterling Knight" they both said.

"WHAT?"

Hey guys. So I'm SO SORRY I haven't posted in over a week. I was really busy Friday and Saturday, and then I was on vacation from Sunday morning to Wednesday. And then I have to do summer reading for school and Friday and Saturday I was at a birthday party. So I'm SO sorry. Thanks to all of you who have story alerted me! And thanks so much to u who reviewed. I need your guys' opinions on this. Believe it or not, but I just kinda write whatever pops up in my head. For example this is different then what I had planned before.

Anyways thanks and I'll try to post more often! Love you! ~MirandaKP