Here's the chapter you've all been waiting for…
Lilly slammed her car door in a rush and ran to the door of the Ryan's house. She impatiently rang the doorbell a good five times before Jake opened the door.
"Sheesh Lilly, can't you—" but he was cut off when Lilly walked right past him and up the stairs. She continued down the hallway and turned when she reached Lola's room. Marching inside, Lilly finally calmed down.
"Oh hey Lilly!" Lola called out. Hannah was over too.
"Hi Lola, Hannah," Lilly collapsed on the bed where the other two were sitting.
Lola and Hannah shot each other a confused look before turning their attention back to Lilly. "Um, do you want to talk about it?"
Lilly stayed silent for a long time, lying on Lola's bed with her eyes closed. She could have passed for sleeping if it wasn't for her sharp uneven breaths.
"It turns out my boy problems are more serious than I thought," Lilly finally said.
"How so?" Hannah asked.
"I'm left with very few options here. Either I pick one of them and break the other two's hearts or I pick no one and break all their hearts."
"So I'm guessing you're going to choose the first option because it hurts less people?"
Lilly thought over Hannah's words for a minute, they made more sense than the reason Lilly came up with herself. "Yes. It's one heart I can spare."
Lola shook her head, "But what about your heart, Lilly?"
Lilly ignored Lola's comment and said, "I have to choose someone, what should I do?"
"Well," Lola said, "who do you like the best?"
She shrugged, "I don't know."
Hannah sighed, "I can see how this is a problem."
The three friends fell silent. Lilly was going through the dilemma once more, trying so desperately to find a third option that she hadn't seen before. Hannah was analyzing all the bad luck her friends have been getting with love; are Miley and Jake next? Lola sat there with a concentrated look on her face, for she was thinking hard to figure out the cure for this crisis.
"I know!" Lola suddenly exclaimed. "Why don't we make it a contest? We will switch places and whoever notices the change wins. It's a win-win deal. Only two guys will face rejection and you will find out which guy loves you truly for who you are. It's perfect! What could go wrong?"
"A lot of things!" Hannah argued. "Do you think that I will let you two pull another switch? You saw what happened with me and Miley! Nothing good comes out of the whole Princess and the Pauper stuff."
"Quit being such a party pooper!" Lola said. "We will keep the switch short. You know, make a deadline for the contest."
"Miley is giving me a week," Lilly said. She sighed, why did the word 'deadline' come up so much in her love life?
Lola perked up, "Great! Everything is settled then. I, Lola Ryan, with pretend to be Lilly Truscott while the real Lilly hides out here in Hollywood. Of the three contestants, Oliver, Joe, and Jackson, whoever notices the sudden personality switch first will win."
"Can you make this sound less like a game show, please?" Lilly groaned.
"I'm telling you guys, don't do it," Hannah warned.
"But you've got to agree," Lola said, "my idea is awesome."
Lilly sighed, "Yeah, I guess…Hey! You know what would be even more awesome? If you could get the three guys to fall out of love with me. That way no one gets hurt and I'm not forced into any relationship."
"Well, leave it all to me," Lola smiled.
Lilly frowned, "But how are we going to pull it off? We don't look that much alike, do we?"
"Actually," Hannah said, "if Lola eased up on the eyeliner and got a tan, and Lilly dyed her hair blue, you guys could totally pass as twins…but I still don't approve of this."
"The eyeliner I can do," Lola said, still ignoring Hannah's disapproval. "But you know my skin doesn't tan."
"My mom has this spray-on tan stuff," Lilly offered. "It only lasts about a week, but hey, that's all we need, right?"
"Perfect!" Lola laughed.
Hannah groaned: they weren't listening to her, "Please don't do this. Lilly can make the guys fall out of love herself. Let Lola stay here. Swapping places only complicates things. And besides, all the blue wigs out there are made of cheap plastic and they're untamable. You wouldn't fool anyone."
Lola thought about this for a minute, "Maybe we won't use wigs. My normal hair color is similar to Lilly's."
"Really?" Hannah asked. "It's been so long, I don't even remember."
Lola sighed, "I keep dyeing my hair different colors, and even I don't remember clearly anymore. But it's not like I can just wash off this blue. It's been two months, I'm getting sick of this color…I'll dye my hair Lilly's shade. That should be fun, I haven't had a natural hair color in ages!"
"Wait…" Lilly said, "does that mean I have to dye my hair blue?"
Hannah liked Lilly's being uncomfortable, "Now Lilly, you don't have to do anything you don't want to do…"
"Are you kidding me?!" Lilly smiled, "I want to dye my hair blue! That's so cool! But I'm using temporary dye, of course."
"EEEEEEEEP! This is going to be so much fun!" Lola laughed.
"Oh yeah!" Lilly gave Lola a high five.
Hannah laid down in defeat, "You guys are still doing this no matter what I say?"
"Yeah."
"Fine!" Hannah stood up and folded her arms. "But don't say I didn't tell you so when your little plan doesn't work out!"
The Next Day
"Wow, Lola!" Miley said. "You look just like Lilly!"
"I know, right?!"
The two girls were currently at Lilly's house, Miley was showing Lola where everything is so she doesn't look like a total fool in front of Lilly's mom.
"…and here is the bathroom, here is your room, and your desk and your books…" Miley paused. "Lola, you do realize that now you have to go to school with us."
"Oh, that's no biggie," Lola waved it off, "Jake and I study with our private tutor and I finished all my high school classes last year. Taking my senior year over again will be a breeze. I'm quite excited actually. I haven't been to school in a long time."
"I see," Miley smiled. "I bet Lilly will thank you when you bring her grades up!"
Lola laughed. Then, she walked to Lilly's closet. Opening it, she pulled out Lilly's assortment of t-shirts, shorts, and jeans. "No, no, this will definitely not do."
"What's wrong with Lilly's clothes?" Miley asked confused.
"Nothing's wrong with them, but…why do you think the guys like Lilly?"
Miley was confused at the sudden subject change. "I don't know. Maybe because she's pretty, funny, and happy?"
"Yes, but what else?"
"She's…good at sports?" Miley had no idea where Lola was going with this.
"Exactly! Lilly knows football and basketball and hockey and skateboarding and all that. She's one of the guys. Not exactly a tomboy, but she's sure no girly-girl."
"…and?"
"So if that's what Oliver, Joe, and Jackson like about her, then I just have to change that. Come, let's go to the mall and give Lilly's wardrobe a makeover. We'll get pretty blouses and skirts and heels. Oh, and lots and lots of PINK!" Lola smiled at her brilliant plan. "The guys will be dumping their interest in me in no time."
"You know, that just might work," Miley thought about it. "I like the way you think, Lola."
"Thank you!" The two girls left the house and headed to the mall.
"Wow, Lilly!" Jake said. "You look just like Lola!" He picked up a strand of her hair, "I can't believe you actually dyed your hair blue."
"Hey, I'm desperate," Lilly shrugged.
"I also can't believe that Miley and Hannah are letting you do this whole switching places thing," he said as they sat down on the couch. Jake absentmindedly turned on the TV.
"Hannah is a bit irritated at us right now," Lilly sighed, "but Miley is surprisingly okay with this. She says that even though this switch will definitely complicate things, everything will turn out good in the end."
"Well at least you get the better end of the deal," Jake said. "Lola is in Malibu trying to fix your mess and she has to go to high school and she's got three obsessed teenagers chasing after her, while you're here in Hollywood relaxing."
"Life is good."
Hannah's thumb hesitated on the green button of her cell phone. She was currently sitting on her bed, staring at her phone. Somehow, she had found the courage to punch in the familiar phone number, but she didn't seem strong enough to actually call it.
"You can do this Hannah," she said to herself. "You are a good friend and a good friends will let her friends open for her on the concert tomorrow night even if one of her friends is her ex-boyfriend. It's okay. This isn't about you, Hannah. This is about doing the right thing. For Joe. For Kevin. For Ni…" Her voice cracked on the last name.
She took a deep breath and called the Jonas's home phone, hoping that it wouldn't be Nick who answered. But of course, it was Nick who answered.
"Hello?"
Sigh. "Hi Nick, it's Hannah."
"Oh...hey."
"Listen, the band that was going to open for me tomorrow night at the concert can't make it. The guitarist broke his arm or something. So I was thinking maybe the Jonas Brothers could play instead. You know, it would be good practice for the audition next weekend."
"Oh, yeah that sounds great. Let me ask my brothers."
Hannah heard him set his phone down and call out to his brothers. She could barely make out the sound of their voices as they conversed.
"Okay, we're in. So tomorrow night?"
"Yeah. I'll meet you there at five."
"Sure…"
"Okay I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Wait, Hannah?"
"What?"
"…thanks. This means a lot to me that you would do this for us."
"You're welcome. What are friends for?"
"Right. So I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Bye Nick."
Hannah pressed the red button and rested her head against the wall. She was a good friend. Too good. Seeing Nick again would only hurt more. Why did she invite his band when she wasn't over him yet…but maybe that's why I called him. Maybe that's why I keep finding excuses to see him.
Maybe I don't want to be over him.
Do I actually like hurting? Do I not want myself to heal? Hannah thought about it and laughed a dry laugh. I am so selfish, so stupid, so sick.
What kind of a person enjoys pain?
So there you go. Not so exciting, but they finally switched. The boys won't know what hit them…and there's poor Hannah :(
Make sure you vote on who Lilly and Lola should end up with on my poll! So far, the results are:
1. Joe & Lilly/Oliver & Lola
2. Oliver & Lilly/Joe & Lola (the exact opposite of #1)
3. Joe & Lilly/Jackson & Lola
So if you want some other ending, VOTE!