"Hey guys," Jake walked into Nick's house. "Sorry I'm late. The photo shoot took longer than expected."
"It's alright," Nick said.
"And I'm really sorry, man. About Hannah…" Jake said comfortingly.
"Me too."
"Come on, let's go," Oliver leaded his two friends to his car, not wanting to get Nick depressed all over again.
The drive to the ice rink was filled with comfortable conversations. Basketball teams, cars, ice cream flavors, topics like that. The sudden friendship with Jake was kind of…well, sudden. And unexpected. But it was nice. Jake's optimistic personality and high ego made Nick forget about Hannah for a while and it made Oliver forget about his Lilly problems too.
They parked and walked to the indoor ice arena. Everyone was still laughing when they put on the skates. Nick was still happy when they skated onto the ice. But that smile immediately left his face.
"Nick?" Oliver noticed Nick's sudden attitude change. "What's wrong?"
Unable to speak, Nick pointed to a group of girls on the other side of the rink. A group of four girls to be exact. Four girls all staring back at them.
"Oh boy," Jake sighed.
Ice skating made you feel like you were flying. As you glide on the smooth ice and feel the air whoosh by you, it made you forget things. Even big things like heartbreak.
Hannah skated next to Miley with Lilly and Lola right behind them. They talked about usual things. The new store at the mall, skin products, ice cream flavors, topics like that. Hannah was actually happy. But the smile suddenly left her face. She braked abruptly and nearly caused Lilly to crash into her.
"Hannah?" Lola noticed Hannah's sudden attitude change. "What's wrong?"
Unable to speak, Hannah pointed to a group of guys walking onto the ice. A group of three guys to be exact. Three guys all staring back at them.
"Oh boy," Miley sighed.
"Maybe we should go now," Lilly suggested. Miley and Lola agreed and they started skating towards the exit.
"No," Hannah stopped them. "We're all friends, right? Have them come over."
Lola stared at her best friend in disbelief. We're all friends? Who was Hannah trying to convince. Most likely herself.
"Okay, I get them," Lola cut through the middle of the rink, avoiding the group of little kids skating by. She stopped in front of Nick, Oliver and Jake.
"It's okay, we know," Oliver said. "We'll leave right away."
"No, actually, Hannah wants you to stay."
Nick looked surprised, "She does?"
"We're all friends," Lola quoted Hannah.
Reluctantly, the guys skated towards the girls. Together they formed an awkward circle of seven, with couples, ex-couples, want-to-be-couples, and third wheels.
The comfortable atmosphere was gone now; it was replaced by a cold silence. No one knew what to do. The tension between Hannah and Nick was thick, and it made Lilly uncomfortable, which affected Oliver. The silence drove Miley insane, so in turn, Jake felt jittery. And since everyone else was about ready to explode, Lola became uneasy too.
Finally, Lilly couldn't take it anymore. "Lola, I'll race you!" She dragged her friend as they escaped the tension. They both sped around the rink.
"Oh my god…I could barely breathe back there!" Lilly pretended to choke.
Lola laughed. She brushed her newly dyed blue hair out of her face and skated even faster. Lilly and Lola skated as fast as they could without taking down the other little kids skating.
When the two passed the group again, Lilly felt Oliver's eyes on her. Rolling her eyes, she tapped Lola's arm. "Hey Lola, guess who's staring at me?"
"Oliver?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, that's hilarious," Lola laughed.
"It is not."
"Hey, why don't you just give the three guys all a chance? You might just like one of them."
"I don't think I am capable of loving my brothers."
"But you never know until you try."
"So what do you think I should do?"
"Talk to them," Lola said. They passed the awkward group again. This time, Lola reached out and grabbed Oliver's arm and dragged him out with them. She pushed Oliver towards Lilly, "Here, start with Oliver."
Lilly glared at her. Lola just smiled and put one arm around Lilly and the other around Oliver. "I'm seeing a really good couple right here!"
Miley watched Lola try to get Lilly and Oliver together and smiled. It was cute. But with those three gone, it left her, Jake, Nick, and Hannah standing in the circle.
She kind of wanted to bang Hannah and Nick's head together. This was insane. If they want to hate each other, well then go ahead. If they wanted to be friends, they could do that too. If they wanted to get back together, no one is stopping them. But this awkward in-between thing isn't going anywhere.
"Miley?"
All four of them turned to see a little girl waddle over. Miley's face suddenly lit up. "Amy!" Miley dropped to her knees and gave the four-year-old a hug. "What are you doing here?"
"My mommy took me here," little Amy said.
Miley looked up and saw her aunt wave to her from the other side of the rink. She turned her attention back to her little cousin, "I haven't seen you in a year! You still remember me, Amy?"
Amy wrapped her arms around Miley's neck, "Of course I remember you! Miley my favorite cousin!"
"Aw. Love you too Amy!" Miley reached over and tapped Amy's little nose. Amy shrieked in joy and they both laughed.
Hannah, Nick, and Jake stood there dumbfounded at the scene in front of them. It was so sweet!
"She's so cute!" Hannah said.
"Yeah," Jake agreed.
"She's got Miley's eyes," Nick said.
Suddenly, they were talking again. It was almost as if Amy erased the tension between them.
Amy looked past Miley's shoulders and her eyes went wide. "It's…it's…it's Hannah Montana! And Jake Ryan!"
Miley laughed, "Of course you would be the only four-year-old who knows who they are. Aunt Sue was their biggest fan. Did your mom show you their movies?"
Amy nodded.
"Well, do you want to meet them?" Miley asked.
Amy nodded even faster.
Miley stood up and held her little cousin's hand. They skated back to where Hannah and Jake were standing.
"Hello," Hannah said sweetly, "What's your name?"
"Amy," she said.
"Well that's an adorable name," Hannah smiled. She held out her hands and Amy wobbled over and gave her a hug.
In the meantime, Miley skated over to Jake and he casually put his arm around her waist. "You never told me you had a little cousin," he said.
"Jake, if I told you about all my cousins," Miley said, "well, there aren't enough hours in the day for that."
Jake laughed, "She's cute. And she totally adores you."
Miley shrugged, "Amy's just like that. She makes everyone happy. But I am her favorite cousin…"
"I wonder why?" Jake said.
Miley pretended to glare at him. Fortunately, she didn't see Nick roll his eyes at them.
"Jake?" Miley and Jake looked down to see Amy wobble her way over to them.
"Hey there, munchkin," Jake said.
Amy laughed. Then, she quickly looked at Jake's arm that was around her cousin's waist before motioning with her hands to Jake to come close. Jake bent down and Amy put her lips to his ear and whispered, "Do you like Miley?"
Jake smiled, "Yes."
"Are you gonna marry her?" Amy whispered. Then she leaned back so she could see Jake's face.
He was blushing, but he was still smiling, "Yes. But you can't tell anyone, got that kiddo?"
Amy just giggled and nodded, "Miley's gonna marry a movie star!"
Jake put his finger to his lips, "Shhhh."
"Oh yeah, shhhh."
"What are you guys talking about?" Miley asked.
"Nothing," Amy and Jake both said at the same time, smiling identical innocent smiles.
"Miley, can you come skating with me?" Amy said, changing the subject. She reached for her cousin's hand.
"Of course!" Miley was also just glad to get away from Hannah and Nick.
Amy used her other hand to grab Jake's hand, "And can Jake come too?"
"Sure."
"I'll come too!" Hannah started skating over.
"NO!" Miley said.
"Why not?" Amy asked.
"Because Hannah is busy," Miley looked over at Hannah, then her glaze went to Nick. "Hannah needs to talk to Nick and figure things out."
"Okay," Amy was easily convinced. "Come on." She started pulling Miley and Jake away.
"But—" Hannah was too late. All her friends had run away, leaving her with Nick.
Just then, Lilly and Oliver skated by. They were engrossed in whatever conversation they were having. Hannah saw Lilly smack Oliver's arm and she smiled. They were back to being friends, for now. At least some people's friendship is back to normal.
Now Lola skated by; she was obviously lagging behind to give Lilly and Oliver some privacy. When Lola saw that it was just Hannah and Nick, alone, she gave Hannah an encouraging smile and a thumbs-up before skating away.
That Lola, always helping others. I swear, Hannah thought, if Lola doesn't get herself a boyfriend soon, I'm going to find one for her.
But now, Hannah had to talk to Nick. "So…"
Nick didn't even look up.
"You know I really meant what I said about being friends," Hannah continued. "I don't want to lose you."
He looked up now, "Sure," he said, even though he didn't mean it.
"Please Nick…" Hannah trailed off. She decided to start a new topic. "Um, the studio company where I record my music, they're looking for a new band to give a label to."
"That's nice," Nick grumbled monotonously.
"And they're having auditions this weekend."
"Cool."
"And I took the liberty to sign the Jonas Brothers up."
"Uh huh…wait, WHAT?"
Hannah cringed, "Please don't get mad. You guys are really good and I know you're all just waiting to get discovered."
"What?" Nick was still shocked.
"And you guys already passed the preliminaries. I copied the CD you gave me for my birthday as your demo CD and submitted it. The producer people loved it, you're in the top five!"
"What?"
"All you have to do it beat the other four bands and you, Joe, and Kevin will get a recording label!"
"What?"
"Oh, you're mad. I knew it. You're mad at me, aren't you? I can cancel the audition. It's no big deal. Just don't be mad at me…"
"I'm not mad at you, Hannah."
Not it was Hannah's turn to say, "What?"
"Thank you, Hannah," Nick smiled. "That was really nice of you."
"You think your brothers will want this too?"
Nick laughed, "Are you kidding? When I tell Joe, he will probably drive to your house and just to give you a hug."
Hannah laughed too. "So you're not mad at me?"
"I will never be mad at you, Hannah," Nick said, "You put up with me all this time. How could I get angry with you?"
"Good point."
All in all, today was a huge success, Lilly thought. Miley had dropped Lilly home and she was just walking into her living room. Hannah and Nick aren't depressed anymore. They're on speaking terms, actually. The Jonas Brothers just might get to record their own album. Little Amy rescued us from our time of trouble. And I think she brought Jake and Miley even closer...if that was possible. Then there was Lola, who somehow got rid of the awkwardness between me and Oliver. We're not together or anything, we're still just BFFs, but Oliver promised he wouldn't pressure me into a relationship. That was cool of him, I guess.
So all in all, everything went for the better.
Then Lilly walked into her room. Her flower petal covered room.
"What the…" She stepped over all the petals. Her room was filled with a rose/lilac/lily/tulip/carnation/pansy/daisy/other non-identifiable flower smell. The mixture and the colorfulness gave Lilly a headache.
She noticed, then, a bouquet of actual red roses (petals still intact) on her bed. She picked it up and saw a small card beneath it. Flipping it over, she read:
Love, Joe
Lilly sighed. Maybe not everything went for the better. Because neither Joe nor Oliver nor Jackson were going to backing down still. If Joe was willing to shower her whole room with flower petals, what next?
Lilly felt her headache get worse as she tried to think. She groaned and collapsed into her bed. Bad idea. The strong smell of the mixed petals worsened the pain.
She ran out of her room to get some aspirin. Maybe next time, Joe will stick to one flower type.
Oh well, it's the thought that counts.
Who would want a guy to shower their room with petals? Raises hand. I got the idea of the petal covered room from Taylor Swift's Our Song music video.
I'm getting off track with this story. I need to focus more on Lilly. Ach! Okay, next chapter, for sure. :)
And make sure you vote on my poll. I need to know who Lilly ends up with so I can go that direction in my story.