Here's the next chapter:) Thank you to the reviewers, it's great knowing people are liking this!
Quick question: Would you rather Miley end up with Jake, or someone else, most likely Jason?
Enjoy!
-Jen
Miley woke up a few hours later, not recalling falling asleep. The clock told her it was four in the afternoon, and then she looked at her phone. Aria had texted, asking if she was ok, and there was another text.
From: Unknown
Aww, did I scare you away from your sissy and her bffs? Go on, Miley. You'll fit right in with them. Plus, I've got a deal for you...you go to Spencer's and tell them your secret, or I just tell the whole world! While you're at it, you might as well just ask about me, too...xoxo
-A
Her heart dropped. What was she supposed to do? How could she trust them? She trusted Aria, of course, but her friends? She barley knew them. But whoever this 'A' was said to tell them about this text...did that mean Aria and her friends were getting texts too?
She couldn't take the chance. Hannah needed to stay hidden. She got up, sliding her feet into her Uggs, ran her fingers through her hair, and grabbed her purse and keys, hurrying downstairs. Ella was in the living room, reading something on the couch, and she looked up.
"What's Spencer's address?" Miley asked her. "I feel better suddenly, thought I'd go over."
"Great!" Ella said, and then told her, Miley typing it into the GPS on her phone. She bade goodbye, and went out to her car, buckling up and starting it, then backing out. Once she was out of sight of the house she sped up, going faster than the speed limit, following the directions her phone told her. It only took five minutes before she got to the house, breaks squeaking as she stopped suddenly, turning the car off and grabbing her keys as she got out.
As she rushed up to the door, it was opened, Aria stepping out, looking concerned. "Are you ok?" She called as Miley got closer. "I heard your car..."
"No," Miley said, stopping in front of her, "I need to talk to you. To all of you." She said. "It's important."
"Of course, come in," Aria said, turning back into Spencer's house. Miley followed her, and Aria shut the door behind them. The house was big and beautiful, and Miley looked around in awes.
"Come on, we're in the kitchen," Aria said, and Miley followed her. In Spencer's kitchen, all the girls sat around the island, and they all smiled, greeting her as she came in.
"What's up?" Aria asked, sliding back into the bar stool she'd vacated.
Miley took a deep breath, figuring out what to say. "I've been living with lies for my whole life. You know that," she said to her sister, slowly. "It feels like everything has been a lie, and some I chose to live. And right now, it feels like my whole life is just falling apart." She went on, voice breaking. "My mom and dad are dead, I left everything in California, I'm pregnant, Jake's making me look bad and wants nothing to do with me, and my best friend is dead," She cried. "And like I said, everything was lies. So, I need you to tell me the truth, all of you. Please."
"What do you mean? The truth about what?" Aria asked gently.
"Last night," Miley began, sighing, "That text I got when we were unpacking my stuff, it wasn't from Lily." She said, unlocking her phone and opening the conversation with 'A', and handing the phone to Aria, who looked at it. Miley saw as her face turned to stone, then anger, then fear, then back to anger. "Oh." Aria whispered, silently handing it to Spencer, who handed it to Hanna, who gave it to Emily, who gave it back to Miley. Their faces all resembled Aria's.
"Is this some joke?" Miley asked helplessly.
"It's not a joke." Emily said, shaking her head.
"In the days after Alison's body was found, we all started getting texts," Spencer said. "Ever since then, it's been a constant game of back and forth with A."
"A knows everything about us." Hannah said miserably. "Every deep dark secret, every scandal. Things that only Ali knew."
"A means what she says," Aria said quietly. "If you don't do what she wants you to, she will do it."
Miley took this all in, trying to process this, when her phone buzzed in her hand, another text. She looked at the preview on the screen.
From: unknown
Use the video I emailed you to tell them! You might want to see what's on it too...
-A
Numbly, she showed them the text, running her hands through her hair, aggravated.
"Here," Spencer said, getting up, "Use my computer." She said, and sighing, Miley sat on the chair, and pulled the computer towards her, logging into her email.
Sure enough, there was a new message, and she opened it, and clicked the attachment.
They all crowded around her, as the video began to play.
They could hear screaming on the audio, screaming of fans from a stadium, changing Hannah's name. Miley recognized the backstage area of the Staple's Center, and her brow furrowed. Suddenly, she, decked out in the Hannah garb, having just done a concert, walked past, pulling Jake by the arm, and the camera then switched, and they were inside her dressing room. "Oh my God," Miley said, "How the hell would someone have a tape of this?" She asked, looking to Aria.
"Isn't that your boyfriend?" Hanna asked, pointing to Jake. "Why is he with Hannah Montana? Why are we watching Hannah Montana?"
"Just watch," Miley whispered, knowing what was coming.
"You did so good, baby," Jake said, pulling her to him, kissing her, reaching up to pull the wig off. They kissed more, Jake tossing the wig aside, and Miley looked around to find them looking at her. "What are you doing here?" Miley mumbled into the kiss, "I thought you'd be gone all summer!"
"You're Hannah Montana?" Emily asked, as Jake said he wanted to surprise her, "But how?"
"I wanted to sing but I wanted a normal life. Ali and I got the idea, and we created her, and then my dad helped make it happen." Miley said, "I've been living a double life."
Video Miley and Jake were interrupted by a knocking on the door, and Miley pulled away, snatching the wig and putting in on quickly, looking in the mirror, then nodding to Jake, who opened the door. Miley relaxed, "Oh, it's you!" She said, and Ali came into view, the two hugging.
"You did so good, Hannah!" Ali exclaimed, a VIP pass hanging from her neck. "That was amazing!"
"Thanks," Miley smiled. "Jake, this is Ali, Ali, this is Jake...I'll be right back, bathroom calls!" She said, scurrying off into the bathroom in the room.
"So you're Ali," Jake said, once Miley was gone. "Hannah's told me a lot about you, but she never mentioned just how beautiful you are," Jake said, clearly flirting.
Miley's heart sank, watching as he took Ali's hand. He was flirting with her best friend?
Ali gave him a smile that Miley could tell was fake. "Oh she didn't?" Ali said, faking playing along. "Did she ever mention that I'm her best friend, and I know she's Miley? I'm guessing she did but you had your head too far up your ass to listen," She said, pulling her hand away, looking towards the bathroom. "You listen to me, and listen good, Ryan," Ali said darkly, "She's my sister, and if your pig headed self hurts her, you'll have hell to pay." She said quietly, "And that's a promise. I won't mention this because I don't want to break my best friends heart, but I swear, don't let it happen again or else."
Jake looked angry, but then Miley came out, the wig and wig cap gone, her brown curls loose. She smiled, looking happy. "I'm so glad you two finally get to meet, my two favorite people," She said happily.
"Yea, baby," Jake said, "It was great, but my mom called, I have to head back out tonight."
Miley's face fell, "Oh, well ok. When will you be back?"
"Not for a few weeks, probably. I'll call you tomorrow, ok?"
"Yea. I love you," Miley said, hugging him. He hugged her, and gave her a quick kiss, before pulling away.
"I love you too, Miles...it was nice to meet you," he said to Ali, avoiding her eyes, before he was gone.
Miley sighed, sinking onto the couch int he dressing room, and Ali sat beside her, Miley's head resting to fall on Ali's shoulder. "It's like I never see him or talk to him anymore. He's always gone."
"But you survive without him," Ali reminded her, taking her hand. "You've always got me. Through everything, no matter what." Ali said, suddenly serious. "No matter what happens, I'll always be there for you."
Miley smiled, holding her hand tighter, "I know," she sighed, "That's what gets me through."
Ali smiled, hugging her, then stood, and pulled Miley up. "Let's go back home, crawl in bed with Ben and Jerry, and watch some movies."
"Sounds perfect," Miley laughed, and then the video cut out as the girls walked off screen.
Miley rubbed the tears away from her eyes, remembering that day clearly. "This was a few weeks before the end of summer," She said softly to the girls. "It was the last concert I did that summer, she left three weeks later and then I never saw her again."
"It's like she was a completely different person around you." Spencer muttered.
"What do you mean?" Miley asked, looking at the girls.
"The Ali we knew wasn't so...caring." Aria tried to put it lightly.
"The Ali we knew would have been the one flirting with Jake, not the one telling him off." Hanna said bluntly. "We loved her but...she was a bitch."
"Hanna!" Emily hissed, lightly hitting her.
"What!" Hannah exclaimed, "I'm being honest!"
"You're being insensitive!" Emily hissed.
"No," Miley whispered, "It's fine. Honesty is good. I just...I know she'd never do that to me." Miley said simply. "There's no way."
"You guys can't tell anyone about the Hannah Montana thing," Aria was the one to say.
"Yea," Miley said, nodding, "Please don't."
"You can trust us," Emily said to Miley, sincerely. "We're in this together, we have been since Ali's body was found. You're in this with us, now."
"This A person," Miley said, "What's she done?"
"We don't exactly know that she's a she," Emily admitted. "But A had done a lot. We're not sure whether or not A is trying to help us or hurt us. All we know is that she's serious in what she says."
Miley's phone buzzed again, an stomach clenching, she looked at it. She let out a relieved sigh and said, "It's just Jake."
"What does he want?" Aria asked.
Miley pulled the magazine out of her bag and handed it to Aria, "Probably to blame this on someone else." She said, opening the text.
"Oh my God," Spencer said, reading the magazine headline over Aria's shoulder. "What a jerk!"
"Yea, and now he's saying baby please talk to me," Miley said, burning with anger. "But this video." She said suddenly, "How would anyone have this? There's never cameras in my dressing rooms. Someone had to put it there, but why?"
The girls all looked at each other, and Spencer said, "We recently found out that Ali had been getting messages from someone called A, too, before she died. Someone was after her."
"After Ali? But why?" Miley said, "It doesn't make any sense. Ali was so sweet and nice."
"Around here, she wasn't," Emily said apologetically.
"Ali kind of made a lot of people's lives a living hell." Aria said reluctantly.
"That makes no sense." Miley said again, floored. Then, her phone buzzed on the island, just as four other phones buzzed and jingled. They all looked at each other, before pulling their phones out.
From: Unknown
Now I have five little liar bitches to torture, what fun! Seems like none of you can ever tell the truth, but Alison was truthful to some of you. Who knew the real Ali? That's for me to know, and you to find out...maybe.
-A