Chapter 1 - Shiny Stuff

Lilly's POV

I was walking along the beach, it was just an ordinary day. I had just had a huge fight with Oliver about corndogs, and now I'm walking along beach.

I watched as the waves rose up and down out at sea, then came crashing in on the sand. It was hypnotic to watch, back and forth…back and forth…

Something shiny caught my eye. I stopped walking. My head instinctively tiled to the side, just like a dog might do. I don't know why I do that, it's just some habit of mine.

I stared at the shiny object. I'd always loved shiny stuff.

I cautiously walked towards it, like if I went to fast it might disappear forever.

I wondered what it could be. Maybe someone dropped soda can, or maybe it was a rare diamond!

I sped up a little, my curiosity pushing me faster.

I stopped right in front of it. Whatever it was, it was gold colored. I liked it already.

I looked around, to see if anyone was watching me. Nobody was looking my way.

I squatted down to get a better look, my suspicions on it being something valuable becoming more and more strong. I could feel my pulse racing, I was so eager to find out what this strange object was.

I reached out, cautious, and pulled it out of the sand with ease.

I stared at it for awhile before coming to the sad conclusion that it was just a stupid, old lamp.

I sighed, my momentary dreams of becoming rich vanishing. Mom always had said that I had a way too active imagination. Maybe she was right after all.

I held onto the lamp, walking back up to Rico's shack. Then from there, I proceeded to walk home. All the way I was thinking about how much I missed Miley.

It's been over 24 hours! Stupid Award Ceremony in Hollywood. Sure, I was happy that she got nominated for The Best Teen Pop Sensation of the Year at the Poptasticals. But I really miss having her around every minute. I'm so bored without her!

Still, I had to be supportive. The Poptastical Awards is about to come on television anyways. That's why I'm practically running home. It's gonna be live!

As I walked through the door I yelled up the stairs, "Mom! I'm home!" Only to remember that the house was empty. I sighed and turned around to lock the door.

I rushed into the Family Room and plopped down on the couch, setting the shiny, golden lamp down in my lap. I turned the TV to the right channel and set the remote off to the side.

"Hey everybody, I'm your Red Carpet Host for the evening, Julie Brown."

I reached over to the remote and turned up the volume as the obnoxiously blond host continued talking. The camera zoomed away from Julie Brown and focused on the passing stars. I barely paid attention as she interviewed star after star. But the sudden mention of names made me focus on what was happening.

"I've already been blown away by how insanely amazing everyone looks, and the party is just starting! Ooh! To my left we have the three hottest guys on the planet, the Jonas Brothers, coming up! Just look at how insanely amazing they are! And I'd like to meet their stylist for sure!"

The camera man zoomed in on the Jonas Brothers who politely smiled and waved, all three wearing expensive sunglasses to protect their eyes from all the camera flashes that never seemed to stop.

Julie Brown gestured for them to come closer and began her small interview.

"How's your night been so far?"

She questioned, pointing her microphone right up in Nick Jonas' face.

"It's been going really great, we're really excited to be here."

They all three nodded in agreement. I reached over and turned the volume up even higher.

"Do you think that you deserve to win the Poptastical title of Best Band of the Year?"

She shoved the mic in Joe and Kevin's direction, not really caring who answered. From the peripheral edge of the camera, I could see her still staring at Nick. He's way out of her league!

"Well, there are a lot of good band's nominated…" Kevin began, "…and we're just thrilled to actually be here, it's been a small dream of ours, and just to be nominated is an honor."

"But do you think you should win?" Julie Brown leaned in closer, as if it would make telling her the truth easier.

"Well, I think what Kevin was trying to say…" Joe proposed, "…is that we're just honored to be here, and there are so many other bands here that if we were to win then it would just mean that much more to us."

I noticed that they were avoiding the question, I would avoid it too, but thankfully something else caught Julie Brown's eye. Something much more beautiful.

"Thank you so much for the interview boys." She turned to the camera as the Jonas Brothers smiled and continued their way along the glorious Red Carpet.

I leaned over and cranked the volume on the remote, careful not to let the lamp roll off my lap.

"That was the Jonas Brothers, and to my left is the wonderful, the popular, the insanely amazing Hannah Montana!"

I started to wonder how many times she had said insanely amazing, but all thought left my mind when the camera focused on Miley. She was wearing the prettiest dress I'd ever seen. Her blond hair (cough wig cough) was flowing like a waterfall across her shoulders. She really did look insanely amazing. I smiled without realizing it.

"Miss Montana! May I have a quick interview?"

Wow, Julie was sounding kinda desperate. I let out a small laugh, and continued to smile at how gorgeous Miley looked.

"Sure, anything for…" Miley glanced up at the camera man, the logo for the channel I was watching was probably on the side of the camera, "Music Today!"

"Great!" Julie squealed with excitement. I could feel my cheeks turning red as I continued to think about how beautiful Miley looked. How bright her smile was, how cute and rosy her cheeks were, how nice she was being to the Julie Brown person.

I suddenly snapped back to the real world as Miley answered a question I hadn't heard.

"Yes, It's been an amazing journey so far. And coming here has defiantly been a trip to remember, but it'd be a lot more fun if my good friend Lola was here."

My jaw dropped. Then formed the biggest smile I think I've ever had on my little face.

I can't believe it! Miley just mentioned my name, well actually Lola's, on live TV! Ahhhhh!!

"Well, all I can really say is you look insanely amazing tonight! I wish I could talk some more, but I just got word that all interviews have to stop so everyone can get inside in time."

I smiled the entire time Miley walked out of sight. I could see Mr. Stewart walking behind her.

"Well, that's all from us. Goodnight everybody, I'm your host, Julie Brown, and this is Music Today signing off!"

I watched in silence as the credits rolled. I looked down, my stomach still doing back flips, at the lamp.

It just sat there, staring back at me. I put one hand on it, but my attention was grabbed by the obnoxious announcer voice on the TV.

Before long, a whole hour had passed, nothing had really caught my attention, until now that is.

"And the winner for the Best Band of the Year is…the Jonas Brothers!"

I wasn't surprised. It was obvious from the start that they were gonna win.

The camera showed them walking up on stage and receiving their awards, then giving a small thank you speech.

"Please welcome Jake Ryan!" A loud booming voice introduced, as the tall, blond boy walked out onto the stage, all the girls immediately began screaming again, as if the Jonas Brothers were still on the stage and had never left.

"Through the years many great pop stars have won the Poptastical title of The Best Teen Pop Sensation of the Year. Tonight, this award will be going to the real Pop Sensation, the best of the best, the King or Queen of pop!"

I was already getting tired of looking at Jake Ryan's annoying face.

"But there's never been such a dramatic twist of results as this year. Of the four nominees, only two have come so close that it took five recounts and twelve specialists to figure who exactly won your vote. But through it all, the winner of The Best Teen Pop Sensation of the Year is…"

I was just about shaking as they showed the four nominees. Miley was in the top left corner, on the right was Mikayla, then below them was two unimportant nominees that were unworthy of being up against Miley.

"I really wish Miley wins." I spoke out loud, it's not like anyone was home to hear me anyways.

Then, the lamp in my hands began to shake vigorously. I jumped up because it scared me. The lamp landed on the floor with small thud.

Without thinking I jumped on the couch and watched, horrified, as blue smoke began to rise out of the golden lamp's spout.

I felt like screaming, but I think I was in shock.

From out of nowhere, a large man popped into the Family Room. Okay, this time I really did scream.

The man was surrounded by the blue smoke, but I could still make out his features. He was big, and had huge muscles. He was wearing funny looking clothes and a turban. He had on big brown shoes that curled at the end, just like the elves in all the Christmas movies had.

He had a really big, black beard and a moustache, which made him look even scarier.

"Who dare summons me?" He had a big booming voice, but his eyes, almost a purple color, were gentle and soft.

"Wh-what are you?" I stuttered, ready to run for the phone to call 911.

"Come on, have you never seen a genie before?" His booming voice disappeared, and in place of it was a more gentle but still manly tone. Kinda like what my geeky dad sounds like.

"A genie? You're a genie?" I believed him right away, but I didn't want him to think I was too gullible.

"What, do you think I dress like this for fun?" He asked while pointing towards his funny looking clothes. When I thought about it, he did kinda look like the genie from that Disney movie Aladdin. Only, he wasn't blue and had way bigger facial hair.

"Seriously? Awesome! Do I like, get three wishes?" I couldn't hold back my enthusiasm any more. I mean come on! A real freaking genie in my house!

"Well you did, now you only have two." He pointed to the TV.

I looked over at it and saw Miley accepting the award for The Best Teen Pop Sensation of the Year. Boy, that was getting to be a mouthful.

"Sweet! Miley won! I'm so proud of her!" I blurted out, adrenaline kicking in.

The genie walked over to the couch, which I was still standing on, and sat smoothly down.

I sat down next to him.

"So like, how does this genie thing work?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me again.

"Well, there are a few rules." He replied as he stared at the TV.

"Rules?" I asked, I didn't know genie's had rules. What kinda deal is this?

"Number one, I can't kill anyone. Number two, I can't make anyone fall in love with anyone else. Number three, I can bring someone back from the dead, but trust me, you don't want to. Not very pretty." He stated.

"How many rules are there?" I asked.

"Number four," He continued like I hadn't interrupted him, "I don't shape shift so don't bother. Number five, you don't want to tell anyone that I'm a genie, they either won't believe you or they'll try and steal me. Been there, done that. And number six, I can't change the past or predict the future."

I pondered over the rules. They weren't that bad, and some of them were just tips, not really rules.

"Okay, I can live with those. By the way, what's your name?" I accepted, he smiled to himself and looked down at me, his arms folded across his chest.

"You can stick with Genie, Lilly." He looked back over at the television.

"How did you know my name? Is it like a genie thing?" I asked, I probably sounded like a moron.

"Well, sort of. You see, most genies can read their master's minds. That way, if the person is a psycho, we can get out before they even know we were there. It's a common trait, we picked it up around the 18th century." He explained.

"You can read my mind?" I panicked, did he know that I was in love with Miley? It was my biggest secret. I haven't told anyone yet, not even Oliver!

"Don't worry, all your secrets are safe with me. We are forbidden to release any information on our master to anyone else expect our future masters, and that's only if they ask." He further explained.

"What were your old master people like?" I asked, I hope he doesn't get offended or think I'm a total idiot or something.

"I've never had anyone ask some many questions, usually they want their wishes and then kick me out." He looked down at me again, then he gave a warm smile. "I've never had a master who's mind is as wonderful as yours either."

Wonderful? That defiantly was a first. I smiled anyways.

"Well, the most memorable master I've had was defiantly that boy…er, oh what was his name? Geeky little fellow he was. Oh! Billy, yes, little Billy Gates." Genie smiled at a memory I couldn't see.

"Bill Gates? He's like the richest dude in America!" I exclaimed with excitement.

"Well how do you think he got everyone to try is invention? With my help naturally. Then there was this one little girl, all she wished for was ice cream, a tricycle, and more ice cream." Genie laughed. I laughed along with him.

"If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?" I asked.

"Let's see…" He sighed, apparently he was older then I'd thought, he was taking his time counting. "I think somewhere between the 16th century and the 17th century I was created. You do the math." He replied.

"Wow, that's awesome! I can't wait to tell Miley…oh, yeah. I can't." My ecstatic mood suddenly came crashing down to Earth. The realization that I can't tell her anything about this made me feel slightly depressed.

"Cheer up, Lilly. Why don't you try out your second wish?" He suggested, apparently that was the only thing he knew that could cheer someone up. Them getting what they want.

But what do I want?

I want Miley. I want to tell her how I feel. I want her to not be disgusted with me if I ever do tell her. I want her to love me back.

For years I kept it a secret. Ever since we first met, which just happened to be right after I discovered that I was indeed bisexual.

"I can't make her fall in love with you." Genie reminded me. Wow, I guess he really can read my thoughts. Ooh, how Edward Cullen-ish.

"I know, but I don't want you to. If she loves me, I want it to be real. Anything else would just suck." I replied, while leaning my head against the back of the couch.

"But I can help you along the way." He told me, as he, too, sighed…or maybe yawned…I can't tell.

We both sat there on the couch. Watching the Poptastical Awards. And I wondered how I was going to use Genie to my advantage. How I was going to tell Miley the truth. And just how I was going to hide the fact that I'm gonna be having a really big man following me around.