Chapter 8

Out Of The Frying Pan

"If the first derivative of 4x2+2x-30 is 6x+2 then why doesn't my graphic look yours?" Miley asked.

"Well, it's because you added your exponent to the constant instead of multiplying like you are suppose too Miley. The first derivative is 8x+2." Lilly told her.

"Sweet nibblets! I'm never going to get pre-calculus." Miley moaned.

"Well, it's not like you are going to need to know calculus Miley." Oliver piped in.

"I mean, how much calculus do you need to know to sing?"

"If I don't get a good grade in calculus there won't be anymore Mike Stanley the third donut boy."

"Oh yea. There is that grade thing isn't there."

"You think." Miley and Lilly said at the same time.

After another hour of other subjects, our trio was ready for a break. Lilly and Miley headed to the kitchen for snacks and Oliver headed for the TV. Turning on the TV, Oliver started to surf. After getting the snacks from the kitchen, Miley and Lilly walked over to the couch and joined Oliver in front of the set. Oliver put the remote down so he could start getting his share of the snacks when the commercial that was on the channel he stopped on ended and the show continued.

"And now as promised on TMZ, a new and breaking story about Hannah Montana. John." The anchor said as he announced the story.

"Thanks Ted. As we know, Hannah Montana slipped on the Ryan Seacrest Show yesterday and said that she has a tutor that works at Seaview High School. Well we have an inside source that said she just might actually go to school there."

"Wait a minute John. If a big pop star like Hannah Montana went to a public school, I'm sure we would have heard about it before now. Don't you think?" Ted asked.

"Well what our insider thinks is that she goes there in disguise so that no one can recognizes her. So what we at TZM plan on doing is investigated this story and bring it to you as we get more information."

"Did your source give you a name John?"

"Yes my source did Ted."

"Are you going to tell us who it is?"

"Not right now. When we get more information on this devolving story, we well release the name. But for now, we are going to play it close to the vest. Until then, this is John reporting from in front of Seaview High School."

Before our stunned trio could pull their selves together, Robbie grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. Dropping the remote on the end table, Robbie walked quickly to his Hannah Montana office and closed the door.

As Robbie Ray started to make phone calls in his office, another person started to get phone calls. However, this person was in no mood to talk to the reporters that called. What she wanted to do was to call one person to get to the bottom of the problem. But since she didn't have the phone number of Hannah Montana, she called the only person who she thought would have the phone number or could give it to her.

"Hello. This is the Aaron resident's." Mrs. Aaron answered the phone.

"Hi Jill. This is Carol Carpenter. May I speak with Tim please?"

"Sure thing. Hold on a second." Jill walked into the other room with the phone.

"Tim."

"Yes dear."

"Carol is on the phone."

"Great." Tim reached out for the phone and Jill handed it to him. After giving the phone to Tim, Jill took the remote and muted the TV and then herded the girls out of the room.

"Hi Carol. What can I do for you tonight?"

"Our little problem just blow up into a huge problem."

"How did that happen?" Mr. Aaron asked.

"Apparently someone talked to TZM after school and TZM is planning on really digging to find anything they can."

"Oh that's just great. What do they think they know?"

"Well, someone at the school told them that Hannah Montana goes to school there in disguise. Tim you are going to have to tell me what is really going on at the school so we can kill this as fast as we can. So I need you to tell me the name of the teacher so I can get Hannah Montana's phone number."

"Can you come over to my house Carol? I don't want to have this conversion on the phone. This needs to be done face to face."

"Are you telling me that you are her tutor Tim?"

"Yes you could say that. But please come over here as fast as you can and I should be able to answer all of your questions."

"Okay Tim. I should be there in thirty minutes."

"Thanks Carol. I'll be waiting." With that, they both broke the connection. Where Carol got ready to drive to Tim's house, Tim made another phone call.

"Hi. This is Miley."

"Hi Miley. This is Mr. Aaron. Can I speak to your dad?"

"Is this about that TZM report? Because if it is, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to do it. I don't even know how they think that Hannah goes to school there. I . . ." Miley run on until Mr. Aaron cut her off.

"Miley. It's not your fault. You didn't do anything wrong at all. However, someone else has and we have to work together to solve this problem."

"Okay." Miley sniffled a little.

"Now, I need to talk to your dad."

"Okay." Miley walked over to the office door and knocked.

"Daddy. Mr. Aaron is on the phone."

"Okay Miley. One second."

A few seconds after that, the door opened and Robbie took the phone from Miley and closed the door again. Not know what to do now, Miley walked over to the couch and sat down by Jackson, who had skipped is evening college classes to be at home to help out. He did this by put his arm around Miley and pulled her close. Miley laid her head on his should and blindly stared at the TV.

Mr. Aaron meet Mrs. Carpenter at the door.
"Do you have time for a short trip Carol?"

"I thought I was going to get my answers." Carol commented.

"You are. There just not here. So do you want to ride with me in my car or follow me?"

"I'll follow you Tim."

They both got into their cars and drove to a house not more then fifteen minutes away. When parked in the driveway, they both got out of their cars.

"So this is the house of Hannah Montana I take?" Mrs. Carpenter asked.

"No. This is the house of a student that goes to Seaview."

"And do I get to know the name of the student?" Mrs. Carpenter was getting tried of the cloak and dagger act and let her body language say how she felt as they waited at the door to the house.

"Hi Mr. Aaron." Miley said as she opened the door.

"Hi Miley. This is Mrs. Carpenter. She is the Head of the Board of Education or my boss if you will." Mr. Aaron introduced Mrs. Carpenter as they came in the door.

"Can you go and let your dad know we are here." Mr. Aaron directed Miley.

"Is that the student?"

"That is one Miley Stewart. Miley is a junior and is on the honor roll. Some of the classes she is in are choir and show choir. She even signed up for junior attendant for homecoming this year."

"Sounds like a very good student. However Tim, I'm getting tired of not having my questions answered."

"Hi I'm Robbie Ray. You must be Mrs. Carpenter." Robbie greeted Mrs. Carpenter as he came into the living room.

"If y'all like to have a seat here. Would you like anything to drink?" Robbie asked as he leaded them into the sitting area of the living room.

"Not right now, thank you. But I would like to know why Mr. Aaron brought me here when I asked him who Hannah Montana's tutor is and if she does go to Seaview." Mrs. Carpenter got right to the point.

"Straight to the point. I like that. Miley can you go and get your special make-up kit and come back down here please."

"Okay daddy." A unsure Miley responded.

"Okay, first off, to answer your question. I'm Hannah Montana's manager." Robbie told Mrs. Carpenter.

"Well okay. Now we are getting somewhere. So for my next question, does she go to Seaview High and does she wear a disguise?"

"No Hannah doesn't go to Seaview High and she doesn't wear a disguise."

"Well this whole thing got started by Hannah saying that she has a tutor that teaches at Seaview. So tell me what is really going on here." Mr. Carpenter asked showing that her patients were wearing thin. Miley came back into the living room and sat her make-up box on the coffee table and sat herself down by her dad.

"Your right and she just was caught off guard by that question. But she didn't mean to give that answer."

"Still not answering my question of what is going on here."

"Okay. The answer to your question is my daughter Miley is Hannah Montana Mrs. Carpenter." Robbie felt Miley melt beside him. Mrs. Carpenter just looked at all three of them in shock and disbelieve.

"I find it a little hard to believe that your daughter is Hannah Montana Mr. Stewart, especially since she doesn't look anything like her." Mrs. Carpenter noted Miley sitting there stared at feet since her dad had revealed the family secret.

"That's because we worked very hard at making them look different. Miley if you would please."

Miley slowly reached out to her make-up case and opened it up. Once open, Miley started to put her long hair into a ponytail. Mrs. Carpenter watched closely. With her hair in a ponytail, Miley proceeded to wrap the hair evenly over her head and using hairpins, pinned it into place. Then Miley reached into her case and pulled out a nylon stocking cap that she put over all of her hair. This was followed with Miley making small adjustments to places here and there. Once happy with how everything looked in the mirror, Miley quickly put a basic make-up job on. Mr. Aaron watched in awe. He had never really seen the process before and found it very educational. Looking over at Mrs. Carpenter, Mr. Aaron saw that she was lost in the changing process too. Miley put the make-up away and reached into the make-up case and lifted up the false floor to reveal a blonde wig. Miley lifted the wig out of the case and shook it out. Positioning the wig in her hands, Miley fit the wig into place on her head completion the transformation. Miley looked up at Mrs. Carpenter, but didn't say anything.

"Well I'll be." Mrs. Carpenter said as she stared at Miley or Hannah or Miley.

"So just who are you anyways?"

"She is Miley Stewart. Her stage name is Hannah Montana." Mr. Aaron answered.

"How long have you known this little secret?" Mrs. Carpenter asked Mr. Aaron.

"Since Miley first came to school here in junior high."

"Five years! You've known for five years and haven't said anything to the school board about this?"

"Well since no knows that Miley is Hannah, I didn't see a need too."

"But what am I going to do tomorrow? Miley moaned.

"As the rumor is going Miley, Hannah goes to Seaview in disguise. So it seems that no one knows your secret." Mr. Aaron told her.

"Your right Mr. Aaron. They have it backwards don't they." Mrs. Carpenter added.

"Don't you see it bud? They think that you and Hannah are two different people. They're not looking for Miley who performs as Hannah. They're looking for Hannah to be dressed like a normal looking student."

"Well that's great, but someone still started that rumor and gave a name. What if they gave my name daddy? How am I going to live a normal life if they find out?" Miley started to get close to tears.

"We'll work this out Miley. Don't worry." Mrs. Carpenter tried to console Miley.

"Just so I have everything from the start here, Hannah Montana is Miley's stage name and she dresses like this so no one knows she is mega pop star Hannah Montana. And from what you said, you don't want anyone to know this so you can have a normal teenage life."

"Correct so far." Robbie answered.

"Just how many people actually know this?"

"Well, there is Lilly Truscott and Oliver Oken. Their her best friends." Robbie started to list off names.

"And they go to school with her I take it?"

"Yes they do. Let see, there are some various family members back in Tennessee, the band, Mr. Aaron and now you." Robbie finished.

"So no one at school knows you are Hannah…" Mrs. Carpenter thought out loud.

"So if you just go on about your day like nothing has changed, that should throw anyone off that might think you're Hannah. Plus since Hannah is the disguise, then no one can unmask you. So the bottom line is just keeping the press off school property and waiting for them to get bored. Next, we're going to have to see if we can figure out who talked to them. That may not happen unless the person says something in school. Of course, it could be someone that doesn't even go to school here that is trying for their fifteen minutes of fame. But the best plan of action is for you just to play it cool Miley. Can you handle that?" Mrs. Carpenter asked.

"Hey I guess so. But what about my singing in choir and show choir. I mean it is my voice after all." Miley asked was she was putting the nylon stocking cap back in the make-up box.

"What do they say about your voice in choir Miley?" Mrs. Carpenter asked.

"That I sound like Hannah Montana."

"Has anyone ever say you look like Hannah?"

"No."

"Then don't do anything to make yourself look like Hannah and we will take care of the rest. Okay?"

"Okay." Miley said as she finish fixing her hair from the ponytail that it was in.

"And now I think that Mr. Aaron and myself have taken up enough of your time. Plus we have some things to discuss." Mrs. Carpenter said as she got up from the couch. Mr. Aaron got up with her and started for the door.

Once outside and by their cars, Mrs. Carpenter addressed Mr. Aaron.

"Your right. Hannah Montana doesn't go to our school. What is Miley like in school Tim?"

"Well, she is just like any other teenage girl you come across. She has her friends and she has those that don't like her. She works hard on her grades, stays out of trouble, but is kind of shy."

"Shy? How can someone that famous be shy?"

"It's not that she is shy. It's just hard to get her to do normal things. Like I really had to twist her arm just to sign up for junior homecoming attendant."

"Why did you do that?"

"Because she is so afraid of someone discovering her secret, that she doesn't do normal things that other teenage girls her age do."

"I see what you mean." Mrs. Carpenter said after some thought.

"When did you become her guardian angel in these matters?"

"When Mr. Stewart walked through my office door back in junior high to tell me that his daughter is Hannah Montana and to let him know if she does anything wrong in school. From that time on, I've watched her grow and one thing I noticed about her is she never did anything normal. Which as you just found out is why she hides the fact she is Hannah. So I've taken on my self to make sure she doesn't miss out on things."

"That is very altruistic of you Tim. Tell you what, I'll come over to the school tomorrow and work on security measures with you."

"That sounds good Carol. See you tomorrow then."

The next morning, it was clear that a lot of people heard or seen the TZM report. The crowd of newies was bigger. But the line of security was bigger too. But added to this mess were Hannah Montana fans with signs and banners screaming their heads off.

When Miley and Lilly drove into the student parking lot, Miley became troubled with everything she saw. When she got into school, she went to see Mr. Aaron to get some reassurance. What Miley didn't see in the hallway was that Amber and Tony saw her go into the office.

"You know, she sees a lot of Mr. Aaron." Tony said to Amber.

"Yea she does, doesn't she. That gives me an idea Tony. Thanks."

By the time second period started, there was a rumor spreading like wildfire. Miley heard it as one student asked another without seeing Miley standing close by.

"Did you hear that Miley Stewart is having an affair with Mr. Aaron?"

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