Lily heard the entire conversation between Massie and her "Pretty CommitteeA/N I just did a Live Preview on this chappie b4 coming here and this happened! this happened b4 2! and it's nawt on my microsoft word...has this happened 2 any of you guys b4? maybs its the new document uploader?? idk

Lily heard the entire conversation between Massie and her "Pretty Committee." She was furious. "No one is doing that to my best friend," she told herself silently. "If they want to mess with Miley, then they have to go through me first!"

She stomped out to wear the PC sat, sipping diet sodas with lemon wedges in them. "I heard everything you just said," she stated, staring at them expectantly. Massie rolled her eyes. "Um, that's great," she said sourly. "Do I care? Shoo, strawberry." Lily adjusted her short red "hair" and glowered at Massie. "You are not going to do that to Miley," Lily said with fake confidence. "I can assure you that." Massie giggled. "Like you can stop me? Have you any idea who I am? No, I don't think you do. I've never seen you around OCD, and trust me; I'd see someone with split-ends like yours. You'd be the butt of all our jokes."

"I don't go to 'OCD,'" Lily spat, "because I live in California. I came here because I'm currently visiting my grandparents, and Miley/Hannah, my best friend in the entire world, just happens to be touring right now. And mark my words; she's going to hear everything you just said about her! I promise you that."

Massie waved the "problem" out of her face. "So what? She's so caught up in being 'popular' that she'd do absolutely anything for us. She wouldn't believe her own parents if they told her that we planned to murder her or something. So there's really nothing to worry about on our part. Little Miss Secret-Keeper is ours."

Lily gawked at them. "How can you be so mean?" she asked, switching moods. The accusatory tone had left her. "Miley's trusted you and laid out everything on the table for you, and you just snatch it up greedily and then use her? Don't you have a heart?"

Massie looked like Lily had struck a raw nerve momentarily, but she immediately changed expressions. "I do. And it knows what's best for me. And it fights for what I need, not what other people want," she fired, staring hard and cold into Lily's brown eyes. "And that's final."

Miley, of course, heard the last part of the conversation (containing Lily) and stormed out from behind the curtain. "You-you-you liars," she said, tears coming down heavily and strong. "I can't believe I let you use and betray me like that! Why was I so incredibly stupid? I know I can never confide in such sleazy 'popular' people like you. Why are you such—" She used a very strong word, one causing Massie to recoil in shock. No one had ever called her that, and it sort of kicked her out of the "zone." She couldn't let her guard down and be as vulnerable as Miley, though, so she plastered on a fake scowl and said, "Come on, girls, let's ditch. Who wants to be at one of her concerts, anyways?"

Four girls stood up. One remained seated. "Kuh-laire," Massie whined, "I said 'let's ditch!' That's your cue to get up and move! Gawsh!" Alicia, Kristen, and Dylan looked sympathetically at Claire, who was receiving the aftermath of a showdown; Massie was always irritable and frustrated after nearly losing (or losing) a battle between one of her "lesser classmates." But Claire stayed in her seat, folding her arms across her chest.

"Claire!" hissed Alicia. "Get up! Massie's totally not in the mood to deal with your attitude right now! Just move and we'll deal with all this later. I promise." But Claire did not budge. Massie moaned and instructed the other girls to try and persuade and coax her to come. While they tried encouraging words, Massie just kept groaning, "My parents will kill me if I leave her at a concert!"

Claire wouldn't move or say anything. Finally Dylan got her to explain why she was so stationary and taut. "Because," Claire began strongly, "how you are treating Miley and her best friend is so horrible and inhumane that I don't want to leave with you. Ever. I don't even want to be part of your stupid little clique anymore. You can do whatever you want to my personal status and popularity. I don't care. Miley's a much better friend than I bet any of you could be," she lied. Massie was an amazing friend, once you got underneath her protective and tough outer layer.

Massie sighed. "Claire," she said calmly, "I can't leave you here. I don't care if you don't want to be my friend anymore, but you have to come home. You can storm off to the guesthouse immediately and never talk to me or the rest of the PC again, but you must come home with us. I don't care what you do afterwards."

Miley felt she should step in and help Claire. "Massie, leave her alone," Miley sneered, placing a hand on Claire's shoulder. "If she wants to stay, my limo driver would be more than happy to drive her home. I just need an address. Plus, I'll take a few pictures with you. Then you can tell everyone at OCD how you are best friends with Hannah Montana. Massie and the Ugly Committee will be a distant memory, and you'll be the most popular girl in school, no matter what they try to do to your reputation. Sounds good, doesn't it?"

Claire contemplated her options. She did live with Massie, practically, so being on good terms would be helpful to enjoy "home life" more, but Miley seemed so much nicer and less confusing. With Massie you could barely understand her mood swings. Did she hate you, or did she like you? It all depended. Miley seemed pretty down-to-earth and much less temperamental. And she decided to give it a try.

"Thanks for the offer, Miley. I'm going to take you up on it," Claire said proudly. "See you, guys." Massie's mouth fell open. The other girls looked slightly upset. "Um," said Kristen meekly, "that actually doesn't sound like such a bad idea. Can I come, too?"

"Me three," Dylan chirped. Alicia looked from Massie to Miley, Dylan, Kristen, Lily, and Claire. The group looked so happy compared to Massie. "Listen, Mass," Alicia began. "I'm still definitely your beta, and as your beta, I feel as though I need to respect your privacy, and I feel like you need some time to cool off. So I'm going to call Dean and have him give me a ride home, okay? You need some time all by yourself, for some confidential self-emotions bonding time. I'll see you at school on Monday. I promise."

Massie was so tired and defeated that she didn't search for gaping holes in Alicia's excuse. She just wanted to retire to the darkness of her Range Rover and cry, alone in more ways than one.