She tilted her head to the right slightly and I swear I saw a smile flicker onto her face. Well, hello, Tennessee. Miley Stewart is officially home. I could really get used to this. . .especially if I get to see her smiling everyday. But-

But wait . . . she's frowning now. Mikayla got up and pulled the curtains shut, so I couldn't see her anymore. Hold up, did I miss something? I didn't do anything did I? No, I was just looking outside. And I just happened to see her, and she was smiling at me. . .even if I smiled at her first, but it's still a smile right? What's her deal? I began to close the blinds of my own window and before they shut completely, I saw Mikayla peek back out her window. Okay then. . .

About two hours later, I was changed and ready to go. I shuffled downstairs to find my father, Mr. Russo, and Justin sitting in the living room. I frowned a little once I saw Mikayla wasn't with them. I really wanted to meet her, face to face. Once I got to the last step, the men in the house looked in my direction. They were probably waiting for me to come down.

"Hi, Mr. Russo." I said. Mr. Russo stood up and so did Justin.

"Miley, I want to introduce yo to my oldest son, Justin." Mr. Russo told me, placing his hand on the boy's shoulder. Justin offered me a polite nod and a small wave.

"Hello, Miley." he greeted. "It's nice to meet you." I walked over to him and he held out his hand to shake.

"It's nice to meet you, too." I replied, shaking his hand. I looked between him and his father. "Gosh, are all you Russos so polite?"

"Not all of us. . ." Justin muttered, retracting his arm.

"Huh?" came out of my mouth. "What do you mean?" Justin dropped his jaw to reply, but his father cut him off.

"Justin." the father of three said in a 'watch it' kind of tone. Justin mumured a "nothing" to me and my father stood.

"Well," he mused. "Now that that's out of the way, how's about we meet the rest of the family?" Justin and Mr. Russo nodded and we exited our home. Dad and his old friend walked in front of me and Justin, talking about the old days or whatever. But I didn't mind. I actually wanted to talk to Justin for a little bit.

"So, how old are you?" he asked.

"Just turned 17." I answered.

"Oh. My sister's 16. Her birthday's in a month or so." he said. He paused for moment. "Oh, I forgot to tell you I have a sister. Her name's-"

"Mikayla." I finished. "I know."

"So, you've met her?" he asked in a cautious tone. "And, um, how did that go?" What is it that's so bad about Mikayla?

"I haven't met her yet. Your dad told me and my dad about you, her, and Max when he came over earlier." I corrected. "But I really wanna meet her, though."

"You sure about that?" he chuckled. I nodded and Justin stopped walking.

"We're here." he announced. "Welcome to Casa de Russo." I stopped in my tracks and looked at the house in front of me. It was pretty. They had a big front yard, enclosed in a white-picket fence. Justin opened the front gate and held it so I could walk in first. I can't remember the last time anyone's held any type of door open for me. I walked in with a grateful grin and heard two tiny mews. I looked down and saw two orange-tabby kittens at my feet, looking up at me with bright, golden eyes.

"Awww!" I exclaimed, bending down to pick one up. I guess both of them wanted my attention, because now I'm holding two cats in my arms.

"That's Cloe and Joey." Justin said. "They're Princess' kittens. Princess is Mikayla's cat; she's alway's sleeping on the foot of her bed." I put the cats down and started walking towards the house. Justin followed beside me, but stopped abruptly and sighed. I stopped as well and looked back at him.

"What's wrong?" I asked. He looked over his shoulder and I suddenly heard a clucking sound. Clucking. . . clucking. . .chickens, maybe?

"Heads up!" a new voice shouted. I heard a frantic crowing and Justin spun back around to face me.

"Oh crap. Duck!" he ordered. I wasted no time and bent down, just avoiding a blow to the head with a feathery, white chicken. It landed on the ground and I got a look at the strange thing. How can a chicken be strange? There was a tiny red bucket duck-taped to its head and its feet were wrapped in aluminum foil. Two empty red soda cans were tied to its left wing and two full purple ones were on its right one.

"Max!" Justin yelled. I looked back to see a younger boy with brown hair aproaching his brother. He was wearing a pair of blue goggles, but he removed them when her got to us.

"Hey, Grumpypants." he said. "What's up?" Justin sprang to his feet and crossed his arms.

"What the heck was that, Max? You could've hit Miley!" he scolded. What was he doing in the first place? Max mouthed an "oh" and his gaze fell on me.

"Hi, I'm Max." he said. "And you must be Miley." He chuckled nervously. "Sorry about that-" He went to pick the chicken up. "Annie and I haven't tested the C.C. with two full soda cans yet. Her flight's a little off 'cause of the extra weight."

"What's the C.C.?" I asked. Justin sighed and shook his head.

"It's better if ya don't ask questions." he murmured, ushering me away from his brother and into the house. "Just. . . don't ask." Well, that was really. . . weird. As soon as I set foot in the Russo house, my senses were hit with a mouth-watering aroma of southern-style barbecue, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoe pies, apple pies, and pecan pies to start. Wow. It seriously smells amazing in here!

"My mom's cooking in the next room." Justin said, walking off and motioning for me to follow him. He led me to the kitchen, where an older brunette woman was taking plates out of the cabinet and setting them on the table. She must be Mrs. Russo.

"Mom?" said Justin. The woman looked in our direction and smiled brightly.

"Hi!" she greeted cheerily. She set the rest of the plates in a big stack on the table and walked over. "You're Robbie's daughter, Miley aren't you? Oh you've grown so much!" She hugged me, then paused. . . then she let me go. "But you probably don't remember me, do you? You were tiny the last time I saw you." She smiled again. "You look just like your mother now."

"Thank you." I said. I get that a lot. Mrs. Russo started setting the table again.

"Go ahead and make yourself at home." she said. "Jerry and your Dad are outback, but they'll be inside soon. Justin, go get your sister." Justin frowned at this, but nodded anyway. He walked out of the room and I followed him.

"Justin, where's the bathroom?" I asked. He led me up a flight of stairs and walked half-way down the hall.

"Right down there." he said, pointing to a pair of doors very close to each other. "Hey, will you do me a favor? Can you knock on Mikayla's door and tell her to come down? I should go get Max from outside." He turned around before I could reply.

"Sure." I answered. He didn't hear me. I walked down the hallway and opened the first door. A surprised Mikayla was standing on the other side. Oops. This is not the bathroom; it's herroom. Mikayla's expression twisted into an annoyed/confused one.

"Hi." I said. She continued to stared at me and took a baby-step back. She looked me over from head to toe before she spoke.

"And you are?" she frowned.

"I'm Miley, Miley Stewart." I answered.

"Uh-huh."

"I'm your new neighbor."

"Interesting. Why are you in my house?" she said, crossing her arms and leaning against the door-frame. "And more importantly, why did you open my door?" Well, dang. It was an accident.

"My father and I were invited." I answered, frowning slightly. "Your dad and my dad are old friends." I stepped back a bit. "And I was looking for the bathroom when I opened your door. Justin told me it was up here, but he didn't say which door exactly. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, you are." she muttered, stepping back even further and shutting the door. I put my hands on my hips and forced a smile.

"Nice meeting you, too!" I said sarcastically. I heard her say something, but it was muffled. Well, that didn't go very well. I sighed and went to the bathroom. On the way back, I knocked on Mikayla's door. I don't want her to hate me. I'm gonna fix it, maybe during dinner.

"Mikayla?" I said. "Your mom wants you to come down for dinner." Silence. I tried again. "Mikayla?" More silence. I shrugged and made my way to the kitchen. The places were set and all the food was laid out on the rectangular table. Max sat next to Justin, Justin sat next to his father, Mr. Russo sat next to Mrs. Russo, there were two empty seats next to her, and then my father had the last chair. I sat beside my Daddy and heard Mrs. Russo sigh.

"Where's Mikayla?" she said. Just then, Mikayla appeared and waved her hand in the air.

"Present." she said. She looked at us and her lower lip twitched like she was about to say something. She didn't, but she let out a small groan as she walked to the table. I just realized there was only one seat left: the one next to me. I grinned inwardly; now she has to talk to me, right? I can fix this! She's not mean; I saw her smiling and laughing today with her horse. And she smiled at me! At least. . . I think she did. But I want to make her smile for real this time. I offered her a grin when she sat down; she didn't return it. Hmm. . . this might be harder than I thought.

.oOo.

The adults led most of the dinner conversation; me, Justin and Max pitched in a few times, but Mikayla generally responded with nods and short 'yes' or 'no' answers. It was clear she didn't want to talk, but maybe that's just how she is.

"So, how're you kids liking school?" my father asked out of the blue. Justin produced a proud grin at Dad's question, but his siblings groaned quietly.

"Lovin' it, Sir." Justin stated. "I am the Student Body President of Mountaintop High School, Founder of the Mountiantop Comic Club, I'm founder of the local Tears of Blood Fanclub, Co-Captain of the Chess team-"

"Oh my god, we have a chess team?" Max whispered.

"Don't question it, just give it to him." Mikayla whispered back. "You know that's the only 'team' Justin will ever be captain of." Mr. and Mrs. Russo shot their daughter a warning look. Mikayla shrugged beside me and Max snickered, looking back at his brother. I think Justin missed Mikayla's comment, because he was still talking to my father.

"Well, that's good, Son." Dad nodded. He looked at the other Russo kids. "What about you two? Do you like school?"

"It's alright, I guess." Max said, using a fork to poke at the mashed potatoes on his plate. Mikayla shrugged and looked down at her hands, which were ontop of the table.

"Hate school." she frowned. She looked up. "It's so boring. I'd rather be home doin' stuff around the house."

"You barely clean your room." Justin laughed. "What are you gonna do 'around the house' if you hate working?"

"I could go outside and clean the stables and chicken coop." she said. "I'm out there all the time anyway, so I might as well."

"I swear, you're obsessed with that stupid horse of yours." Max said. Mikayla shot him a dirty look.

"And this is coming from the boy who practically worshipsour chickens 24 hours a day?" she shot back hotly. "The same boy who tried to teach Annie and her chicks how to cook waffles and do the cupid shuffle?" Max shrunk back a bit and Mr. Russo hissed a stern "Mikayla" and she grew silent.

"It's a great song." Max muttered quietly, defending himself. An awkward silence overtook the room. Mikayla shifted in her chair uncomfortably and Max looked down into his lap. Justin coughed a little and my father and I exchanged a curious glance.

"Sorry, Max." Mikayla sighed. "But you know I get really defensive when it comes to Holly." Max looked back up and grinned coyly at his sister, saying it was okay. I suddenly got an idea.

"Holly? Is she that black horse outside?" I asked Mikayla. For the first time that night, Mikayla turned in her chair and looked me in the eyes. Gosh, those brown orbs are hypnotizing. . .

"Yeah, that's her." she said proudly. "She's all mine. I had her since I was little and I spend everyday with her." She started to turn back around. "I don't know, it's a connection we have. But I doubt you'd understand unless you had a horse, so-"

"His name's Blue Jeans." I cut in. Mikayla faced me again. "He's on my Mamaw's farm right now. Dad told me we're gonna pick him up later this week after we got settled in. . ." I paused for a moment. "Maybe we could ride together sometime." Mikayla laughed a little bit, but I don't get what was so funny.

"Holly and I don't ride, we race." she smirked. Oh, I see how it is now. I smirked back and leaned towards her a little more. I could play her game.

"Is that so?" I questioned smugly.

"Yuh-huh." she replied. "If you wanna hang with the big boys, you gotta keep up, right?"

"Is that a challenge, Russo?" Mikayla smiled dangerously and I noticed a mischievous twinkle in her eye. Dang it, this girl is cute!

"It just might be, Stewart." she replied. I bit my lip and started to smile, but my father cleared his throat and I was forced to tear my gaze away from Mikayla.

"You girls can fight over your horses later." my father said. I had just noticed everyone else had left the table. "But right now, we're eatin' pie!" He got up with a smile and sprinted his way into the next room.

"My predictable pig of a father." I muttered under my breath. Mikayla must have heard me, because she started laughing. Oops. She got up and walked out the backdoor. I stood up and paused for a while. I could stay inside and eat with everyone else, OR I could follow Mikayla and keep her company. I pushed in my chair and padded out the backdoor, off the porch and out into the field. What did you think I was gonna do? Mikayla is sooo much better than pie.

Chapter 2. ^^ So they meet at last! And we met the rest of the Russos! What will happen next? The race? Possibly a. . . kiss? MAYBE! ;) Review, ya'll. (And yeah, I actually talk like that. I say ya'll all the time =D)