'They Say That Good Things Take Time' – Chapter 1

A brown haired girl slumped forward onto her desk and groaned inwardly in despair. It was Miley Stuart's last day at school this year and time could not be going any slower. She glanced up at the clock, they were only halfway through second period and with each tick of the second hand she felt her excitement grow only to be suppressed by the scratch of the chalk on the board and her old teacher's monotonous voice. She struggled to focus on the main reasons which brought Nazi-Germany to the full height of its tyrannical power, but today it just seemed pointless. This had already been on the exams, why was it deemed so necessary to revisit this on the last and most beautiful day of the school year?

She turned her head to look at the boy next to her. Oliver Oken was shaking his shaggy brown hair-covered head in despair and catching Miley staring at him rolled his eyes in amusement at the look of boredom she was now giving him. Miley propped her face up on her left arm and let the teacher's voice roll over her, it was nearly summer and that meant one thing. Freedom.

Miley was not quite sure how she managed to last the rest of the day, she seemed to pass through it in a daze. The people in the corridors rushed by her in a noisy blur, pushing each other to get out to their next classes, it was just an obnoxious press of sound and smells which she could barely even be bothered to focus on. She hated Fridays normally, neither of her best friends were in any of her afternoon classes and one of them was busy at lunch with her cheerleading practice. Finally it was the end of the last class of the day and the year; Miley's eyes hungrily followed the clock, watching as the final seconds of her penultimate year of high school were played out. They dropped by so slowly, like the last grains of sand in an hour glass, but eventually the bell sounded and she could leave.

Miley pushed quickly through the hallways, eager to get to her locker and fish out the books she needed to take home with her for vacation and then get out of there and leave. Everyone was riding the same sense of elation; wishing each other happy holidays, high-fiving in the corridors… It was all just an irritating buzz around Miley's head as she struggled with getting the last of her books out of her locker. People called out briefly to her as they sauntered down the hallway and out of the double-doors at the end but she just ignored them, she could barely hear or focus on them anyway and her books were beginning to slide out of the neat tower formation she had stacked them into…

"Miley!"

At the sound of the voice Miley turned her head but lost complete concentration in what she was doing exactly. Her books suddenly toppled over and out of her locker onto the floor.

"Sweet nibblets." Miley sighed at her clumsiness and crouched down to gather the fallen books up and stuff them into her bag. She suddenly became aware that the owner of the voice which had distracted her was knelt down beside her. A small smile formed at the edge of Miley's mouth as a wave of sweet perfume curved through the air around her and she breathed in deeply before looking up at the girl who had caused this miniature disaster.

"Lillian Truscott. Don't you know better than to distract a clumsy lady when she's trying to clean out her locker at the end of the year?"

Lilly lowered her eyes to meet those of her sassy friend. Miley was aware that when their eyes met, the blurred mass of people and the dull sense of similarity that school had been driving into her all day was erased. When she looked into Lilly's face, she seemed to see it in such a sharp clarity that she knew it would be very difficult to draw her eyes away. She could not help but smile herself as Lilly's bright, crystal blue eyes began to sparkle at her friend's misfortunes and her lips slowly curved upwards into a smile as she teased Miley back.

"Well maybe the lady wouldn't be so darn clumsy if she didn't insist on stacking her books so high, especially when she knows how hopeless she is at keeping hold of any sense of dignity?"

"You know my locker system works! And you're a fine one to talk Miss 'I'm-just-gonna stuff-all-my-books-in-my-locker-and-hope-that-I-can-find-the-right-one-for-the-next class-in-the-space-of-ten-seconds'!"

"Well that system has always worked well for me. And besides, you never know what yummy snacks you're going to find when you're rummaging around looking for chemistry, like that time when I found a cheese sandwich."

"Lilly, you are so gross. That sandwich was only cheesy because it had been in your locker for over a week."

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yah-ha."

Lilly sighed and rolled her eyes before reaching down, gathering up the rest of Miley's books in one arm and helping her stand with the other. Miley suddenly became distracted for a moment at the feel of the warm squeeze of Lilly's hand on her arm and turned her gaze to Lilly's face. She noticed the way a few strands of the long blond hair were falling over one of her eyes and couldn't help but reach out with her free hand and brush them away from her.

"Thanks Miles," Lilly's voice sliced through her thoughts, "now are you coming with me Stary Mary or are you just going to wait here until term starts again?"

Miley laughed nervously after realising she had been looking at Lilly really closely before spinning her friend around and giving her a gentle shove in the direction of the doors, "Just get in the car."

Lilly's bright laughter filled the car park as she practically danced her way out of the school. Miley hung back a few steps behind her; she could not help but be filled with the same sense of jubilation that Lilly was feeling. It had always been this way; Miley would feel Lilly's emotions as her own. She remembered all of the times that Lilly had been upset and crying and she would be forcing down the choking feelings that kept rising up from her own chest, trying to over come her and possibly getting even more upset than Lilly was herself. She was soon brought back to reality as Lilly started waving her free arm at Miley before tugging on the door handle.

"Hurry up Grandma! We don't have all day you know. I wanna get out of here before they lock the gates!!!"

"Okay, for one Lilly, the school doesn't even have gates. And two, I'm coming, I'm coming. I know what all this is about anyway. You just want to get your grubby little hands on my daddy's home-made ice cream."

"Nuh-uh! I just wanna get home and spend some quality time with you Miles…" Miley smiled to herself as she approached the car, "…and if that time happens to involve a leettle bowl of your dad's famous ice-cream that you've been going on about all week, well, who am I to say no?" Lilly slipped her arm around her friend's shoulders before sticking out her bottom lip and gave her the sweet puppy-dog eyes which Miley could never say no to.

"Alright, alright. And gees, is that your stomach I hear grumbling? We better get you some ice-cream stat."

"Thanks Miley, I knew you couldn't resist me." Lilly gave her a cheeky wink before yanking the door open, flinging Miley's books onto the back seat and hopping in the car. "Oh, if only you knew." Miley muttered to herself before she wearily clambered in the driver's door.

"Come on then, put the pedal to the metal and let's get going! Or however the saying goes… I just want my ice-cream! Man it's hot today."

"Cool it Lil, we'll be there soon." Miley started up the car and drove out of the car park. Another school year over and she was not going to complain. All that lay ahead of her was miles and miles of summer vacation to spend with the adorable blond in her passenger's seat, and who was she to complain? Miley could not help but glance over to check up on Lilly as she drove the short distance home. She knew Lilly loved car journeys, even if they were really short and Miley exhilarated in the fact that she owned a car and could give her this sad little happiness that she loved. She watched as Lilly wound the window down and rested her head against the door frame. The breeze gently nudged back Lilly's hair around the edges and cooled her face. The air began to smell better as the car grew closer to the sea and as usual Miley longed for the short journey home to go on for just that little bit longer.

Miley soon drew the car up in her driveway and gathered up her books from the back seat with Lilly's help. Lilly marched boldly up to the front door before strutting inside like she owned the place, it had always been like this and Miley hoped it was never going to change. Lilly was almost a part of their family, she was there often enough to be. The girls rarely spent a day apart from one another and when they did, they both knew how much they mourned each other's company.

"Hey Mr S! How's it going?" Lilly's voice brightly chirped through the house.

"Dang it Lilly Truscott, do you ever learn how to knock?"

"Nope, don't seem to see any reason to."

"Well, I don't know why I complain. You ceased knocking on this door about two years ago. Anyone who didn't know you would think you owned the place!"

"Ha ha."

"Daddy's got a point there Lil," Miley snidely cut in, "you do seem to own the place."

"Nah, that's just not the right attitude. You know this place is my second home. You guys are my second family, like that time when I broke my arm climbing the tree to Miley's balcony on Halloween in a scary mask and Mr S had to rush me off to hospital cos my parents were away right?"

"How could I forget Lilly?" Mr Stuart cut in dryly, but he was smiling all the same. "Now, I don't suppose you'll be wanting some of that home made ice-cream my daughter's been raving about all week would you?"

Lilly's eyes lit up and she laughed in reply, "Only if you're offering."

Mr Stuart wandered back into the kitchen and began rummaging through the freezer draw before Miley went to help him pulling out two bowls and spoons while Lilly flopped down onto the sofa and helped herself to the remote control.

"Hey! No sports!" Miley reprimanded Lilly.

"Please Miles, pretty please?" Lilly adopted the same pouting expression that she had used earlier on her best friend and Miley struggled to contain the burst of laughter that built up in her chest.

"Twice in one day Lilly? Learn to play a new tune, huh?"

Lilly giggled and turned her attention back to the television before Miley joined her with their ice-cream.

"Now, this is the life… hold on tight!" Lilly sang the second bit. "Mr S, you sure whip up some mighty fine desserts!"

"Thank you Lilly. Your opinion means so much to me," Mr Stuart replied with a little bow, "now if you excuse me, I have some boring legal papers to attend to. Oh and Bud, don't forget to talk to Lilly about what we were discussing this morning."

Mr Stuart smiled at the girls settled on the couch before making his way upstairs. Miley turned her attention back to MTV, which had been a suitable channel choice silently agreed on by the girls. She pretended not to notice Lilly's eyes boring into the side of her face, although it was very difficult not to stare back at her friend; Miley knew what was going on and wanted to prolong Lilly's excitement for a little longer.

"Miley, what is your dad talking about?"

"Hmm… what's that Lil?"

"Miley, don't play the dumb fool with me, what is he talking about? What are you meant to talk to me about the summer?"

"Hang on, let me remember… Oh yeah, that old thing."

"What old thing? Come on Miles, stop messing with me, you're killing me here!!"

Miley let out a little chuckle before turning back to Lilly who had now propped herself up on her knees and was leaning very closely towards Miley's face, all attention focused in on her. Miley felt a rush of heat rising through her body and up to her cheeks when she noticed their proximity. She swallowed slowly and willed the redness she knew was now blossoming across her face to settle down before she allowed herself to speak.

"Well, over the summer, there's this period for a couple of weeks where Hannah Montana is doing a little tour…"

"Woah, hold on their girly. A couple of weeks that's gonna cut into Miley and Lilly time? Oh man. This happened the summer before last too. You know what, that was the worst summer of my life." Lilly exhaled dramatically before collapsing backwards onto the couch. Miley knew that a big part of her was joking when she put on this display, but really the truth was, Lilly was not joking at all and that was probably what disturbed her the most.

Miley forced herself to plug on with their conversation whilst trying to avoid gazing at Lilly's slightly exposed stomach. Her belly button was just so cute and her skin colour was this beautiful creamy brown which Miley knew would get even browner the more that she surfed and skate-boarded over the summer. A wave of guilt rushed over her slightly as she knew what she had to ask of Lilly.

"Yeah I know, and to be honest Lil, it wasn't the best summer for me either. I had to do it though it was one of the steps Hannah had to make in her career."

"Yeah I know Miles and I understand that. I guess we'll always have next summer anyway. So, where is this tour of yours going then?"

"…erm, London?"

"London! As in London, in England? That's really cool Miles. I know you've always wanted to go to London. Well, I hope you have a good time. There'll still be time for us to do stuff when you get back, right?" Lilly gave Miley a sad smile which didn't quite reach her eyes. Miley took a breath and continued with what she was going to ask.

"Well, actually Lilly, I was hoping that we could still spend some more time together."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, come to London with me?"

Lilly just stared into Miley's face for the next few seconds and Miley felt a wave of nervousness begin to build slowly up inside of her as she gazed anxiously at her best friend, she was really hoping Lilly would want to come. Suddenly Lilly took off, leapt from the sofa and jumped onto the floor before bouncing up and down with glee written all over her face.

"Yes, yes, yes!! Of course I will come with you Miley!! Do you know how long Lola has been waiting for an invite to a Hannah tour? This is going to be the best. Summer. Ever! We can go and be tourists by day, pop stars by night! I can't wait! I'm going to start researching places to go and see tonight. Oh, especially the millennium eye thingy, that looks really, really cool!"

Miley started laughing along with her friend. She felt such joy at the knowledge that she wouldn't be alone on her tour this time. She could take a break when they had a chance and just wander the streets of London with her best friend in the world without having to worry about Hannah problems and missing Lilly too much.

Lilly was right, this was going to be the best summer ever.