Chapter 6! Woot woot! So I'm so jealous of everyone who got to see the Jonas Brothers in SoCal this weekend. My sister went to their concert on Saturday (I couldn't get a ticket/find anyone to go with me) and she brought me back a shirt, so that was pretty sweet. But while she was there, I worked on this. And, thanks so much for all the reviews/favorites/story alerts. I know I say that at the beginning of every chapter, but I mean it sincerely every single time.

Here's chapter 6! I hope you guys like it!


Disclaimer: Don't own.

JLJLJLJLJLJL

Chapter 6

It was the last few days of rehearsals and things on set were getting hectic with everyone in the cast and crew scrambling to get everything ready for filming. That meant that Lilly was getting increasingly lonely, because except for the times she rehearsed with everyone, the only person who had time to hang out with her was Oliver. Not that she minded hanging out with him, but over the past few weeks she had just gotten so accustomed to hanging out with the Jonas boys and Olivia, too.

In fact, if Olivia, Kevin, Miley and Nick hadn't started rehearsing their Mikayla scenes with her, too, Lilly probably would never have been able to talk to any of them. Lilly sighed, thinking about how when filming started, it would probably get worse.

That might have been for the best, actually, since that left Lilly little time around Joe, and the less she was around him, the less she had to think about what she felt for him. Or what I don't feel for him, she reminded herself as she tried to shake herself back to the present moment.

Right now, she was spending some time hanging out with Nick. He had some free time, so he was sitting against the wall of a classroom with her, watching Joe and Mikayla rehearse with Kenny.

It didn't look like it was going so well, though. It was one of the big scenes between Roz and Marcus, where they finally became friends after an argument. Lilly was familiar with the scene, since she and Joe had rehearsed it a lot. And now, he was a near perfect blend of sarcasm and sensitivity while Mikayla was…well, Mikayla. And that was the problem, since she wasn't doing a whole lot of acting. It wasn't terrible, but her lines held a bit of woodenness, there was a hint of stiffness in her movements and sullenness lurked in her eyes. Her performance definitely looked weak next to Joe.

Kenny noticed, too, and it looked like he wasn't happy about it. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, praying for patience. "Mikayla, it doesn't look like you've done much work on this scene. When I watch at Joe, I see Marcus. When I watch you I see Mikayla, not Rosalind."

"I have been working on it!" Mikayla protested fervently, crossing her arms.

Raising an eyebrow skeptically, Kenny stared her down. "Outside of scheduled rehearsals?"

"I—well, no." A faint blush tinged Mikayla's cheeks. "I'm busy!"

"Answer me truthfully, Mikayla," Kenny demanded sternly. "Do you care about this movie?"

"Of course I do!"

"Then act like it!" the director admonished. "Mikayla, this movie is your job. You're a good actress, but you need to work. You can't just rely on natural talent. I mean, look at Joe. His improvement from day one to now has been amazing."

Mikayla remained sulky and silent.

Kenny sighed and massaged his temples. "What happened to you? When I met you a few years ago, you were one of the hardest working people I'd ever met. You were professional and you did what you needed to. Maybe you were spoiled and demanding, but no one could ever say you didn't work."

"People change," Mikayla answered icily, looking down and shuffling her feet.

"They do," Kenny agreed. "And I'm giving you one hour to change your attitude and get your act together. When I get back, I expect to see some improvement, alright?"

"Yes, sir," Mikayla mumbled. As soon as Kenny left the room she turned to Joe. "I'm out of here."

Joe looked disgruntled as Mikayla started walking out the door. "You heard Kenny, we need to practice."

She stopped and turned her head to look over her shoulder at him. "Don't worry about it. You're Kenny's golden boy. You can do no wrong."

"It's not me I'm worried about," Joe snapped.

Mikayla whirled to face him. "Don't even pretend you're worried about me. I'm talented, dammit. I'll be alright, whatever Kenny says." She sneered at him. "Of course, you're all probably loving this. Especially that no-talent, two-faced Miley and that stupid fame-clutching little girlfriend of yours."

Joe stiffened and strode angrily towards Mikayla, getting in her face. "Don't talk about Lilly that way. Or Miley. They aren't responsible for your attitude or for you acting stupid."

"Aren't they?" Mikayla asked with a smirk. When Joe didn't respond, Mikayla walked out of the room. At the door, noticed Nick and Lilly sitting next to each other and she stopped to turn back to Joe. "By the way, how does it feel watching your girl cozy up to your own brother? Tsk tsk, Nicky. Shame on you."

Nick let out a low growl and was about to scramble to his feet when Lilly placed a restraining hand on his shoulder. She glared at Mikayla as the other girls smugly smiled and walked away.

Lilly looked over at Joe in concern; he looked really upset, running his hands through his hair and beginning to pace back and forth. She and Nick hopped to their feet and walked up to him.

"You okay, Joe?" Nick asked cautiously.

"Glakej aebjk vea ejrheja rgejw!" Joe snapped in response. Lilly was taken aback and retreated a step at the incoherent sounds escaping Joe's mouth.

"Uh—what?"

Nick grinned wryly at Lilly's confusion. "That's what he does when he's upset and he doesn't want to say something he'll regret later."

Joe glared at his brother, and continued his agitated pacing.

Hesitantly, Lilly tapped him on the shoulder. He spun around to look at her, a glower still contorting his face. "Thanks for sticking up for me and Miley," she whispered, and his expression softened.

"That's what friends are for, right?" he said with a tight smile. "That girl seems to bring out the worst in me."

"Hey, it happens to all of us," Lilly reassured him.

"It's so frustrating, because she is talented and she's not using it," Joe sighed. "I mean, I'd love working with her if it wasn't for her attitude."

A sad expression crossed over Lilly's face. "I know. But what can you do about it?"

Joe exhaled loudly. "Nothing, I guess. Wanna work on this scene with me? I feel like I've gotta do something for the next hour."

Lilly grinned. "Sure. Nick, you got a script?" He tossed her the one that Kenny had left on a desk when he left and she and Joe began. They were already comfortable with the scene, so Nick just offered suggestions for Joe to really perfect his performance. After about half an hour, Joe decided to call it quits and the three of them just sat around and talked.

"Thanks so much for helping me out, Lilly," Joe said gratefully as he took a seat on top of one of the desks. Lilly and Nick followed his lead and the three of them sat in a triangle. "You're really talented."

Lilly blushed and the butterflies in her stomach kicked up again. Think Miley, think Miley, she told herself. She decided that this would be a good time to put in a good word for her friend. "You know, Miley's so much more talented than me," Lilly declared.

"I don't know about that. You're pretty amazing. Besides, she isn't the one helping me out," Joe pointed out.

"Well she would have if she had time to," she countered.

"I guess so."

"And doesn't she just make the perfect Ramona? She's so nice and pretty, and she can act and sing and everything. And she's funny. Don't you think she's funny? And pretty?" Lilly realized that she wasn't being overly subtle, but subtlety was never her forte.

"Yeah, she's pretty," Joe agreed. Lilly felt the butterflies in her stomach twist and tighten. She wasn't jealous, was she? "You both are."

She decided to ignore that last part. "She's just such an amazing person, it's enough to make anyone wish they were playing Julian. Aren't you glad you're playing Julian, Nick? You're so lucky that you get to spend all this time with her."

A strange sort of dreamy look flashed across Nick's face. "Yeah, she's great. It's so much fun hanging out with her and everything. She tells the funniest jokes and she's so pretty."

Lilly tilted her head as she listened to him go on and on about how wonderful Miley was and how much he loved hanging out with her. She hadn't realized…well, this complicated things.

When the hour was almost up, Mikayla came sulking into the room, interrupting the conversation.

"Do you want to run through the scene before Kenny gets back?" Joe asked. Mikayla ignored him and he, Nick and Lilly exchanged exasperated glances. Kenny came in a few minutes later, and that's when Nick and Lilly decided to head out. Lilly waved to Joe, mouthed, "Good luck!" and she and Nick went to find the room where Miley, Kevin and Olivia were rehearsing with the assistant director.

Their rehearsal was going much more smoothly than Mikayla and Joe's, but that didn't really take much. They were going through all of the scenes that were just the three of them together (and there were a few), and they were pretty much just rolling through them. After two or three run-throughs just to fix little kinks, they moved on to the next scene. Nick and Lilly watched for about an hour before Nick suggested they take a walk.

They walked in a circle around the outside of the school, just talking when out of the blue, Lilly suggested, "Let's play truth."

Nick blinked in surprise, but agreed. "Alright. Um, I don't know…do you prefer cats or dogs?"

"I'm definitely a dog person," Lilly answered without hesitation. "I have a dog named Thor at home and he's so cute! And I actually have a poodle shaped birthmark on my…well, never mind."

"Do I want to know?"

"Probably not. Your turn…Do you like Miley?" Nick stopped walking and his mouth fell open. He closed it, then opened it again a few times but nothing came out. "You like her, don't you?"

Nick let out a choked laugh. "You don't mess around do you?" Lilly crossed her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow at him and he sighed in defeat. "Am I that obvious?"

Lilly grinned. "No, not really. Well, today you were, but other than that I never would have guessed." Nick nodded, and a silence settled between the two. Lilly thought it was cute that Nick had a crush on Miley, but since Miley had a crush on Joe… "I don't know how to tell you this," Lilly said hesitantly, breaking the silence. "But Miley's interested in…someone else."

Nick smiled sadly. "I know. It's pretty obvious she likes Joe. But that's okay. I figure I'll just be her friend, and when things don't work out with Joe, maybe she'll see that I'm the guy for her."

Lilly chuckled. "You seem pretty convinced that they won't work out."

"I know they won't. Joe really likes someone else."

A sharp pang made Lilly's heart constrict. "Oh. Who?"

She was puzzled when Nick smirked at her. "Don't tell me you don't see it."

"Okay, apparently you're not a very good leader cuz I'm not following." She had no idea what the boy was talking about. What was it that she didn't see?

"Joe likes you, Lilly."

It was Lilly's turn to stare blankly. "What are you talking about?"

"My brother has a crush on you. "

"No he doesn't. Not how you like Miley." Lilly suddenly thought of something and tried to change the subject. "So are you the one who's been leaving Miley those gifts?"

"What gifts?" he asked in confusion.

"Someone's been leaving these little gifts for Miley, on the porch of our guesthouse and in front of her trailer. Nothing big, just a rose, a teddy bear, a bracelet…there's no note, no name."

He shook his head. "It isn't me. Probably just a fan. And don't think changing the subject will get me sidetracked." He reached out and touched her shoulder. "Joe likes –"

Lilly sighed in relief when Miley came running up to them, cutting off Nick mid-sentence. "Hey Nick, I need to borrow Lilly for a little bit."

He pretended to think it over. "I guess so. What's up?"

"Oh, um…Kenny said that there's a scene between Ramona and Roz that needs a little work, and Mikayla…um, won't rehearse with me so I need someone to help me," explained Miley. She grabbed Lilly's arm and started dragging her away. Nick shrugged and followed the pair back into the high school. They went into the theater where Lilly and Joe had first practiced. Joe, Olivia and Kevin were inside and Nick went to go sit with them.

Miley handed Lilly a script as they headed up on stage. "It's the scene where Ramona and Rosalind talk about meeting Julian for the first time." The scene was supposed to be filmed at the main house, but they were practicing every scene at the high school today.

"Alright," Lilly nodded, thumbing through the script and standing at center stage. She imagined that she was in Ramona's living room, waiting for her friend to come downstairs. It was a scene they'd done several times before, so she was familiar with the blocking and everything. "Whenever you're ready."

Miley took a deep breath and nodded. Then she fiddled with her necklace, smiled brightly and came skipping up to her friend from stage left. "Hey Rosie."

Lilly raised an eyebrow. "Alright, who's the boy?"

Miley giggled, looping her arm through her friends. "What boy?"

Extricating her arm from Miley's, Lilly rested her hands on her hips and smirked. "The only time you ever call me Rosie is when there's a boy involved. And unless some boy came to your house to sweep you off your feet before 10 am, you have to have met him at the masquerade last night. So spill."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You're a terrible liar."

Miley crossed her arms and hmphed, and then a slow smile wreathed her face. "Fine. But you have to promise not to laugh."

"Cross my heart and hope to die," Lilly swore, holding a hand up in the air like a witness being sworn in in court.

Miley took a deep breath. "Okay. Last night at the masquerade while I was looking for you, I ran into Julian Montgomery."

"Okay, but when did you meet the guy that has you on cloud nine?" Lilly asked impatiently.

Miley blinked at her. "That is the guy."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes. We ran into each other by the punch bowl and we just really hit it off. Next thing you know, we were talking and dancing and then…well, we kind of sort of maybe…kissed."

"No!" Lilly cried, eyes widening in shock.

Miley sighed. "Okay, we are not going to go through this conversation again. I kissed Julian Montgomery. Or he kissed me. Or we kissed each other…I mean, I didn't even know it was him until it was time for the unmasking and by that point…I just didn't care. He's so nice and sweet, and he's a really good kisser. And he just seems to get me, you know?"

"Mona, how much of you could he have gotten in less than three hours?" Lilly asked incredulously.

"ROSALIND!"

"Not like that, loser!" Lilly exclaimed, turning red. "I don't—where did—no, no—I don't even want to know. But you do know that this is Julian Montgomery you're talking about, right? The guy whose family's property your dad has been trying to buy out for years so he can build that new shopping mall? Whose family has been sending yours hate mail? Not to mention the fact that your brother hates him. I mean, there are a million reasons why you can't like him, and don't even get me started on the social implications."

Miley rolled her eyes. "Like you even care about the 'social implications.' You think all of it is complete bull."

"But you don't, Ramona. You believe in it, you buy into it," Lilly said softly.

Miley exhaled softly and looked down. "Maybe I don't anymore."

"I'm just trying to make you see that if you pursue this, there might be consequences, both familial and social. I mean, what is it you want, Ramona? Do you want to be with him?"

Miley sat down on the edge of the stage, her feet dangling, and sighed. "I just don't know, Roz. I mean, when I was talking to Julian, it all just felt…right. And I think it could really go somewhere. We could be something…special, you know? You don't hate me for liking him, do you?"

"Please, the only way I could hate you is if you keep calling me Roz. You know I hate that nickname," Lilly answered dismissively sitting down next to her friend. Miley rested her head on Lilly's shoulder.

"So does this mean that you're okay with me going after Julian?" Miley asked tentatively.

Lilly smiled and put an arm around Miley's shoulders. "You're my best friend, Mona. If you want to date the juvenile delinquent, I'm behind you one hundred percent."

Miley straightened, looking affronted on Julian's behalf. But then she saw grin on Lilly's face and she just had to grin back. She nudged Lilly playfully with her shoulder. "Best friends?"

"Always." Lilly held out her hand to Miley to do their handshake. It wasn't in the script and they'd never rehearsed it that way before, but it just felt natural to her. Miley's grin widened and she extended her hand as well.

"BAM!" they yelled in unison when the handshake was over, then burst into giggles.

"And scene!" Joe called gleefully from the audience. "That was amazing, as always."

Miley hugged her friend. "That's all I needed. Thanks so much!"

"Anytime, Miles," Lilly replied with a grin.

"Well, Nick, Olivia, Kevin and I need to get back to Kenny and rehearsal, so we'll see you later!" Miley slid off the stage and she left with the people in question, leaving just Lilly and Joe.

Great, Lilly thought, groaning internally.

Joe approached the stage and offered her a hand. "My lady?"

Lilly accepted with an uneasy smile and Joe helped her down. "Thanks," she murmured. They stared at each other for a moment, her hand still in his. Lilly looked down at their intertwined hands and blushed, pulling away. "Um…let's walk."

"Right." The two left the gym, and they walked along the same way Nick and Lilly had gone before, just chatting and joking. Lilly had to continually fight off the urge to hold his hand. They were by the trailers when Lilly noticed Mikayla hurrying out of the school, crying.

Concerned, Lilly stopped her. "Mikayla, what's wrong?"

"Well you got what you wanted," Mikayla sobbed, brushing Lilly off. "I hope you're happy."

"I—uh, what are you talking about?" Lilly asked, looking at Joe uneasily.

The tears streamed down faster, and Mikayla covered her face with her hands. "I was fired."

JLJLJLJLJLJL

So I'm pretty sure you guys can guess what's happening next and who's replacing her. I'm not entirely pleased with this chapter, but after working on it for a few days, I figured this was as good as it was gonna get. Next chapter will be better, I promise, and you'll see a softer side of Mikayla then.

In other news, I'm starting a new story. I'm not abandoning this one, but I haven't been feeling as inspired on this one lately. And as strange as it sounds, writing "Through Their Eyes" at the same time as "Just a Dream" helped me to write the latter story and vice versa. So if you're interested, "Nowhere to Hide" should be posted sometime soon.

Anyway, back to this story…I'd love it if you guys left reviews to let me know what you thought, if you liked it or if you didn't, and any suggestions you have for me to improve my writing. Constructive criticism rocks my socks!

Thanks for reading!
-v