A/N: Hello readers. So this is my new story, 'If I Were A Boy' and it's going to take an interesting direction, I think. I was inspired by 'It's A Boy Girl Thing' and Beyonce's single, which it shares the title with, but it doesn't really follow the same plot as the movie and it's got a fantasy element in it. Also it doesn't follow the lyrics of the song exactly... I just like the song. It's a Liley story so if you don't like then it's probably best if you don't read it. I don't own anything to do with Disney or Hannah Montana (or Beyonce lol) ...although it would be pretty cool if some of us Liley authors did... Anyway, enjoy!

'If I Were A Boy' – Chapter 1

Lilly Truscott was almost running late, yet she constantly maintained that she was one step ahead of schedule as long as her ride to school was two steps behind. With the background noise of her radio blaring out tunes from the local station she had haphazardly managed to shower and then blow-dry her long, blonde locks in record timing. Lilly was currently scampering naked around her bedroom as she gathered clothes off the floor, due to the lack of clean laundry, and attempting to throw an outfit together on time.

"Lilly, you're going to be late." Heather Truscott, Lilly's disparaging mother called up the stairs. It was true that she also hated mornings but that had never prevented her from ensuring her hopeless teenage daughter was ready on time.

"N-No I'm not mum!" Lilly shouted back as she stumbled in her attempt to pull on a pair of socks.

"Don't forget to grab something for breakfast. I've left money for lunch on the counter and there's toast on the go, it'll be ready in t-minus two minutes."

"Alright mum. Have a good day at work." Lilly said through her partially opened door as she fumbled with her bra.

"Thanks honey you too." Her mother answered before shutting the front door behind her.

Lilly grumbled as her hands grappled with the bra clasp behind her back, "Stupid thing… never get it to work…" Yet just as she was contemplating the drastic possibility of going commando on her top half, the underwear fastened miraculously and she could look forward to finding the rest of her clothes.

Lilly was hauling on her shorts and a handily placed t-shirt, which had been haphazardly flung over the back of her desk paused in front of the mirror after pulling the top over her head, with hairbrush in hand, as she heard the next song quietly phase in.

If I were a boy even just for a day

I'd roll out of bed in the morning

And throw on what I wanted

And go drink beer with the guys…

Lilly scoffed at the lyrics, "If only things were as simple for us girls." She sighed as she turned over the hat in her hands, "To wear or not to wear? That is the question." The blonde mumbled as she squinted at her reflection. Lilly frowned slightly as she placed the object of clothing jauntily atop her flyaway hair and struck a pose. Lilly shrugged at her mirror image and adjusted the hat properly before taking a step back to look over her chosen outfit. She was happy in her striped shirt and her pants were a little less baggy than normal, allowing some acute emphasis on her feminine curves. Her beanie was at least colour coordinated with her outfit and Lilly felt resolved in the fact that the complementary tones would at least satisfy her best friend to some extent, since she was not particularly a hat fanatic.

Upon hearing the sound of the toaster popping up two pieces of cooked bread, Lilly's eyes widened in alarm and she heaved her bag over her shoulders as she darted for the stairs. The blonde was energetic, even for such an early hour, and she managed to clear the obstacle in a well-practiced slide down the banister. Lilly grabbed her breakfast and progressed to shovel bite after bite into her mouth before turning into the final spurt and bolting out of the door. However, she stopped dead when her sky-blue eyes found a brunette in a red convertible pulling up at the end of her driveway. Lilly hastened to gulp down the offending matter that had filled her cheek space and had to wipe her mouth free of crumbs before she could approach the girl in the car.

Miley Stuart was wearing large sunglasses and the slight breeze from the early Malibu summer was pushing back her luscious brown locks, making it seem to Lilly as if she were in one of Hannah Montana's music videos. Her mouth curved into a perfectly Hollywood smile, yet Miley withheld from injecting fake sentimentality and when her best friend smiled at Lilly, the blonde skater knew that it was only with one hundred percent's worth of sincerity.

"Come on Lilly, we'll be late." The other girl called out brightly in the twang of a southern accent that made Lilly's heart skip a beat.

"I'm coming Miles." Lilly hollered back and she merely blinked over her inner recognition of the pun which she would have tried on the other girl if she were brave enough to flirt but, as much as Truscott regretted it, she never was.

The blonde closed the front door carefully behind her and checked that it was locked before she descended down her driveway, with feet falling lightly on the paving below as her heart soared at the prospect of spending the day with Miley.

"Mornin'." Miley greeted her friend properly and smiled another toothy grin which had never yet failed to strike Lilly sharply, creating momentary tension in her chest and temporarily removing the primal instinct to breathe.

"Good morning." Lilly managed to reply chirpily before reaching over to turn up the radio.

"Ah, cool song." Miley nodded her approval as she pulled out into the street.

Lilly grinned contentedly beside her, revelling in the feeling of the warm breeze as it brushed her cheeks and the sensation of being pushed gently back into her seat as Miley accelerated.

..If I were a boy

I think I could understand

How it feels to love a girl

I swear I'd be a better man…

Lilly's heart fluttered in her chest when she heard Miley's deep voice join in with the artist. Her best friend took great delight in throwing the song out into the wind and the blonde could not help but throw surreptitious glances in her direction, attempting to imprint the image of Miley, head thrown back and body arched in her car seat, into her mind forever.

Miley giggled, "Beyonce is so cool. I've met her, ya know?" She looked over at Lilly briefly to decipher whether her friend was paying any attention, "I mean, she's like really, really cool. I wish I had her moves. You've seen the video for Single Ladies right? Sweet nibblets that woman can grind."

Lilly gulped and she was certain that her palms were sweating. She fought the sudden urge to wipe her moist hands on Miley's smooth, bare thigh; to perform such an action would probably breach the line of friendship territory into pure insanity. Lilly decided that silence was the better answer and carefully wiped her palms on her own pants as she smiled weakly in approval of her best friend's statement.

"Do you think it would be appropriate?" Miley was still demanding Lilly's attention.

"Huh?" Lilly responded, with eyes wider from shock at Miley's question.

"Well, if Hannah Montana started dancing like that, do ya think it would be a good thing?"

"Maybe for all the guys watching out there Miles, but in terms of little kids' worship and stuff… Nah. They'd think you'd gone pretty loco." Lilly stated and circulated a finger next to her head to prove her point.

Miley barked out a short laugh, "Yeah, you're probably right Lils. Oh well, I wouldn't even be able to dance like that anyway. Best stick to what you're good at I say."

"Uh-huh." Lilly replied in a squeaky tone and she swallowed once again before gratefully realising that the song was coming to an end.

…You don't listen to her

You don't care how it hurts

Until you lose the one you wanted

'Cause you're taking her for granted

And everything you had got destroyed

But you're just a boy.

"Good song." Miley announced simply with a winning smile.

Lilly just rolled her eyes and she propped her elbow on the car door to watch the streets roll by. She was sinking into one of her spells of self-loathing and being beside the peppy brunette, who was currently whistling along to one of her alter-egos own songs, was strangely not helping her. Lilly found that when she normally spent time with Miley, she was filled with an optimism that managed to chase her blues away, yet after hearing this particular song, everything seemed even more hopeless.

Miley had eventually pulled into one of her usual spaces in the school's car-park, causing Lilly to jerk quickly into action as she suddenly realised where they were. "Oh golly look, we're here already." Lilly said, stating the obvious and receiving a pause from Miley as she killed the engine.

Miley frowned slightly to herself, but Lilly did not fail to notice the creasing brow or the pout of concern that etched slowly across Miley's features as she turned her attention to her blonde friend. Miley removed her dark glasses to reveal a pair of brilliant, oceanic blue eyes that caught up Lilly's own focus in a split-second. Lilly found herself inhaling sharply as she found herself drowning in the apparently endless gaze that Miley never failed to captivate her in, although the blonde had never admitted it to anyone.

"Are you okay Lilly?" Miley asked softly and the worry-filled question tugged at Lilly's insides to make her want to scream from longing.

"Y-yeah sure, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Lilly stuttered as she tried to avoid staring at the divine-looking girl in the seat beside her.

Miley merely quirked an eyebrow up toward her hairline in response as she came back to Lilly's reply, "Well for one you're stuttering a hell of a lot more than usual and generally not making much sense today. And for two you've been as quiet as Uncle Earl after Thanksgiving when he's eaten the entire turkey, several dishes of yams and washed it all down with a barrel of beer. Now come on Lillypad, you can tell ol' Miley what the heck is bothering you; I'm only here to listen." Miley shrugged gently, but her eyes were sparkling warmly and Lilly was once again reminded that Miley was the best friend she had ever had. Yet it was this knowledge that made her consistent avoidance of the truth all the more painful.

"Seriously Miley, I'm just fine." Lilly answered and forced a cheery grin, "If I wasn't then I would definitely tell you what's wrong." She rolled her eyes to enforce the triviality of Miley's anxiety and, when the brunette's stature remained unmoved by Lilly's persuasion, she breached the distance between them to gently squeeze Miley's shoulder. "I'm fine. It's all good. Now come on before we're written up as tardy." Lilly said as she swung open the passenger door and sprightly hopped out of the vehicle.

Miley was soon following her best friend's lead as the two made it up to the entrance along with their fellow students, "Lilly?" Miley suddenly called out.

Lilly stopped and swung around to face her best friend quickly, inwardly cringing at the instinctive reaction to respond to her friend's call so rapidly, "Yeah?"

Miley caught up with Lilly and was soon standing at her side. She raised a hand to curl her fingers gently around the blonde's wrist before leaning in conspiratorially and whispered into her ear, "I know there's something bothering you and I'm not going to forget that, but you obviously don't want to talk about it yet, and that's fine. I just thought I'd let you know that I'm here for you when you need me." Miley tightened her grip just for a moment before letting go gently and then she overtook her best friend in the hastened march to reach their lockers before first period started.

Lilly's mouth gaped open slightly since her whole body had frozen from the awareness of Miley's prior close proximity. Her senses had been fast to react to and absorb the scent of the brunette's hair, the texture and warmth of the grip held in her strong fingers on Lilly's wrist, the cerulean depths of Miley's large, round eyes and the quiet hoarseness of her accented voice. All that Lilly was missing, and craving, was the taste of the other girl, but Lilly was certain she would never find that out. She shook her blonde head and continued the journey down the school hallway, fully decided on her need to take a chance on realism and throw aside her fanciful imaginings.

x-x-x-x-x

Lilly Truscott would never confess it, but she always found lunchtime an anxiety plagued period at school. Anyone who knew her would never understand this coveted insecurity, since the girl could consume vast quantities of processed cafeteria meat with the best of them, yet any length of time spent in the company of Miley Stuart was a mine field of hidden qualms. Some days Lilly felt pressured, as if a hundred pairs of eyes were analysing her every move and, although she really knew that it was only her imagination driving her wild, this melodramatic trepidation secretly had the girl on tenterhooks.

She was sitting with her two best friends; her beloved Miley Stuart, who was the oblivious receiver of Lilly's secret stares of devotion, and a boy called Oliver Oken who had unwarily splashed bolognaise sauce down the front of his shirt. Miley was prodding her salad lazily with her fork whilst her mind belonged elsewhere as she dreamily rested her chin on her hand and gazed into space. Lilly had been watching this lackadaisical expression for several long moments now and, as a result of this, most of her own meal was left untouched. She did not quite know how to describe it, but there was something quite enchanting in Miley's thought-filled, sapphire eyes and Lilly was becoming more lost in every slow blink that Miley made. Lilly's attention was drawn slowly down from the steady sweep of the brunette's long eyelashes to her mouth where Miley had bitten down gently on her lower lip, only to release it again, to sigh and nuzzle her chin deeper into the palm of her hand. Lilly also exhaled gently as she watched the depression of Miley's chest and she then breathed in as she watched Miley's chest rise, mirroring her respiration and feeling her own heart beat faster whilst her blood warmed her veins with hidden love and desires.

Oliver shortly managed to distract her from her quiet observations with the flapping of arms and the brush of his hand on her arm as he leaned over to steal a napkin, "Oh man, I can't believe I got sauce all down my shirt." He grumbled and began to swipe at the brown stain that had already sunk into the material, "This will probably never come out." He huffed.

Miley was also brought back to reality and she merely raised an eyebrow as she regarded the boy in front of her. She looked over to Lilly and smiled with her, each girl despairing in the boy as he rubbed more frantically at his shirt.

"I'll go get you some more napkins." Miley drawled quietly and rose from her seat with great lethargy, stretching her arms up above her head as her body gratefully uncoiled from its previous slump. Lilly's gaze was not slow to flicker over to Miley as she extended her arms above her head and Lilly secretly celebrated the further inches of thigh that Miley unknowingly displayed in the rise of her skirt. Miley's arms soon returned to her sides as she wearily wandered over to the cutlery trolley, peacefully unaware of a pair of sky-blue eyes haunting her every step and the blonde girl behind secretly despairing from every tilt of her hips.

Oliver was still grouchy and muttering something which soon brought Lilly's attention back to him, "Hmm? What did you say Oliver?"

A pair of frustrated brown eyes flew up to meet Lilly's as Oliver repeated his previous statement, "I said, if you could have taken your goo goo eyes away from Miley for one moment then you might have seen that I had spilt sauce all down my top and taken the time to warn me before it spread everywhere."

Lilly's eyes widened at the accusation and she quickly leaned closer to the boy and hissed, "What are you talking about?"

"You know very well what I'm talking about. I've never seen you so choked up on anyone since you got that crush on Zack Morris from Saved by the Bell back in the fourth grade." Oliver replied in hushed tones.

"You're crazy." Lilly stated simply and crossed her arms.

"Nu-uh."

"Yu-huh. Now quit your whining, Miley's coming back and she's got you some fresh napkins." Lilly finished before leaning back in her own seat and returning her concentration to her deserted meal.

Oliver frowned at the blonde before gratefully accepting Miley's proffered handout and smiling at the brunette, "Thanks Miles. I'm glad one of you cares about me."

Miley giggled, "You're welcome Ollie." Her eyes flickered over to Lilly who was hastily shoving fork loads of spaghetti into her mouth, "Oh Lilly, why can't you eat like a girl?" Miley asked, and she adopted a mock expression of disgust while she delicately crunched on a piece of carrot.

"S-sorry." Lilly muttered through her mouthful and she swallowed hastily.

Miley smiled as she offered her best friend a napkin and laughed softly whilst the blonde cleared away the orange stain that had gathered around her lips. "That's better." She chided Lilly gently. "Now, what were y'all talking about when I was away? It looked like some pretty intense stuff."

Lilly looked up in alarm and glanced quickly over to Oliver who was regarding her coolly with arms crossed over his chest, "N-nothing." Lilly stuttered and managed a weak smile, "Nothing at all. Just the usual, erm, sport stuff."

Miley did not look persuaded and scrutinised Lilly's expression carefully with piercing eyes which made Lilly certain that the brunette was boring into her mind. Eventually Miley gave up on this game, however, and merely shrugged her shoulders in response, "Whatever. So, you guys up for going to the mall after school today? I need to drop of a DVD I took out last week and find something for dad's birthday."

"Yeah sure I'd be up for that." Oliver replied simply, "I need to pick up my mum's dry-cleaning because the washing machine broke and she didn't want her police uniform shrinking like everything else is."

"Cool. Lilly are ya in?" Miley asked.

Lilly quickly dabbed at the rest of her mouth as she quietly contemplated her reply. Finally she threw down the napkin and cleared her throat before replying nervously, "Nah, sorry Miles, I can't today. Mum wants me to hang out with her and stuff. I think she wants us to do some mother-daughter bonding."

"Okay then, that's fair enough." Miley said breezily and brushed her hands together as she prepared to leave for her next class. "We don't have anything else today do we?" She asked as she began to rise. Lilly shook her head sadly and tried to avoid meeting Miley's eyes, fearing that her best friend would spot the lie within them if she should look into them, "Alright then. Well maybe see you at the end of school, and if not then definitely tomorrow.

"Yeah, see you later Miles." Lilly replied gloomily to the other girl's retreating back.

Oliver cleared his throat and when the blonde returned her attention to him he addressed her with raised eyebrows, "You so do not have plans with your mum after school today."

"Uh yes I do." Lilly argued back.

"Whatever. You just don't want to spend time with Miley." Oliver stated and began to pile up their plates.

Lilly sighed in response, there was no point fighting the truth that Oliver had discovered through trial and error. "You're right." She replied quietly and Oliver paused in his bad mood to look upon her with eyes that were refreshed with concern. He smiled at her gently and this was a motion clear enough for her to continue, "I just can't be around her too much, because I care about her too much, you know?"

Oliver nodded, "I know. I've known for a while now, but it's okay, I understand." Lilly's looked frightened at her friend's admission but Oliver was relaxed in his dealing with Lilly, "No one else knows, it's not a very noticeable thing. It's just because I spend so much time with you. We're best friends Lilly, and I know you think I'm a stupid guy sometimes but I do notice some things that go on between you girls."

"Do you think Miley knows?" Lilly asked with a pained expression scrunching up her features.

"No." Oliver sighed, "I don't think she does, and I don't know whether you should tell her or not. I doubt the thought that you could feel like that toward her has even crossed her mind. I mean, you guys are as close as could be but she's most likely oblivious."

"I hope so." Lilly replied sadly.

Oliver smiled kindly on his friend who was sitting flopped over the table with mild depression taking pride of place across her usually cheerful expression. "Come on you, let's get to class." Oliver said and clapped Lilly on the back in an attempt to stamp some life back into her again.

Lilly stood up slowly and stretched after their long break to make her way inside, following the trail of the corridor to her next, and Miley-free, class. It was a long day, but the days always became longer without Miley's presence to inject light and vivacious life in Lilly's existence. Lilly sighed as she trudged her feet slowly along the corridor, heedless of the late students that jolted her as they hurried to their classes and only stirring into being once when she heard Miley's joyous laugh call out to her from a room that she passed. It almost made Lilly want to dive through the door to land sprawled at her best friend's feet in an act of desperate love however, she was not yet down to her last nerve.

It was, quite truthfully, terribly difficult being secretly in love with Miley Stuart, but Lilly bore her burden alongside her positive disposition so that everyone who was watching could see that she was just fine. Although Lilly did secretly wish that someone would throw her a lifeline somewhere along the road, she would keep on living as she always did; circulating around the life of someone who she was certain could never love her back.