(One-hour prior)

"Man, I hate school!" Lilly Truscott pouted dramatically as she flopped boyishly into a white plastic chair at a picnic table next to her two best friends, Miley and Oliver.

"Me too!" Miley eagerly piped up in her country accent. "It's been so hectic lately. Like every teacher thinks we only have one single class. I have two hours of homework for everythang!" She glanced down at the current textbook in front of her with a sickened expression plastered to her features, " I wish this darn Algebra book would die. Die, Algebra book! Die!!!"

"I know! Algebra's hard and long and…hard…" Lilly complained. Then, with a sly smile, she added, "I vote we all three shove these books off the table."

"Too risky…" Miley moaned with a sigh. "Who knows who could be watching? Someone might call the School Book Abuse hotline!"

"But you yourself said you wanted the book to die! I'm giving you opportunity here! And besides, look at it this way; this stupid Algebra is soooo difficult and impossible--It deserves punishment. It's practically begging to be knocked off the table. It's sick of us giving it clueless stares. C'mon, Miley, my dire headache might cease if I hurt it!" Lilly continued to sulk.

Examining the crowd of people around, Oliver offered them a slight nod, "Coast is clear…I'm with Lilly. It'll relieve our stress. On the count of three. One…two…three…"

Without any objection from Miley, (who in fact merely shrugged) the trio fervently shoved their Algebra books off the table, where they smacked down brutally on the sandy ground below. Lilly grinned in approval of the task, and the three teens burst out into laughter.

Their laughter cut short when Miley's cell phone rang.

"Oh…hang on just a sec, guys…" she giggled, rummaging through her purse in an attempt to locate her cell.

"Found it!" she cried, flipping the phone open. "Hello?" her voice was still laced in happiness, an effect of the book incident.

But not for long. Her smile abruptly faded into a frown, and her eyes that once glittered with charisma and excitement now glittered with a thin layer of unshed tears. Oliver and Lilly exchanged confused, concerned glares.

"What--? Daddy, slow down…Daddy…Daddy, what happened? Yeah, sure. I'm on my way…"

Flipping her cell phone closed, Miley shot up from her seat before Oliver or Lilly could get a word in. Lilly, thinking hastily, sprang up from her seat to follow her.

"Miley—Miley, what's wrong?" she trotted after her best friend, while Oliver in spite of everything sat puzzled at the table.

"S—something's happened." Miley's voice trembled, bordering on a breakdown.

It was fragile, like porcelain. A porcelain doll in the arms of a clumsy child. Lilly feared that the child was only moments—seconds—away from dropping and cracking the doll. What would happen to a broken and shattered Miley doll?

"What?" Lilly pressed, her heart pumping faster than Lilly even thought possible.

"Something's happened." Miley frantically repeated.

"Miley, what? Miley!" Lilly called after her, trying to keep up.

"I DON'T KNOW!!! Dad wouldn't say! I have to get home…I have to get home…have to see…have to find out…have to know…"

"Miley, you're babbling…do you need me to come with you?"

"No…no, just…just let me see what happened…"

"Okay!" Lilly called out, pausing in her track right then. "I'll just…not come with you. And stay on the beach. Not knowing. Being worried…" her voice trailed off as she realized that Miley wasn't turning around and coming back for her.

Miley needed her space. She understood that.

Gradually, Lilly returned to her original spot—next to Oliver at the table, with a gorgeous view of the beach and the sunset. A spectacular view that suddenly didn't seem so spectacular anymore. Not with the lump that had developed in Lilly's throat, and the heavy, ailing feeling beginning to overtake her body.

A long, awkward silence passed between the two remaining teens. Neither knew what to say. What could they say?

Finally, following what felt like an hour of total, complete silence, Oliver spoke up in a shaky, raspy voice, an unusual sound from the normally funny and optimistic boy.

"We…we should pick up our Algebra books…"

"Yeah." Lilly whispered in a far away tone.

Lilly bent down and recovered her now dusty book, several pages bent due to the fact that it had landed face down, opened to pages 40 and 41. Page 41 had been wrinkled like an old t-shirt that had been stuffed in a drawer and left neglected for months on end, and page 40 had escaped with only a crease diagonally down the left side as its battle scar.

Oliver picked up his and Miley's books, both in similar conditions to Lilly's.

"I guess…I guess we'll just return it to her later." Oliver stated softly.

"Yeah…yeah, I guess." Lilly blinked several times to hold back her tears.

"Well, I guess I'll get back home. You know…no use just sitting here. Maybe someone at home can help me with my Algebra…"

"Yeah…"

Oliver stood up with his own sand-covered book under his arm, pushed in his chair, and just as he was had turned around to leave, Lilly asked, "Do you think everything's okay? I mean, with Miley and her Dad and Jackson?"

Oliver slowly turned back around, slumping back into a seat. He had anticipated that the subject would be brought up eventually. Shakily he ran a hand through his chin-length brunette hair, biting his lip. "I don't know." He answered with a sad sigh. "I don't know, Lil…I mean…we don't know what even happened."

"What do you think happened?" Lilly inquired hesitantly.

Oliver shook his head hopelessly, "I don't know…that's what's bothering me the most. Knowing that something happened, but not knowing what."

"Do you…do think it's bad? Why do I keep getting this feeling in the pit of my stomach, telling me it's bad?"

Oliver shook his head. He felt like a broken record with his numerous 'I don't knows.'

A solitary tear slid down Lilly's right cheek as the thick silence returned. In all the years that she had known Oliver, she'd never heard him so distressed. Though the two had no idea how serious the situation was—had no idea who it was or what happened, or anything at all, both knew, somehow, that it wasn't good. Not good at all. Maybe it was just a gut feeling, but Lilly had heard that it was always a smart choice to rely on gut feelings…and her gut told her that up ahead, she would be dealing with something very, very life altering.

By now tears were streaking down Lilly's face like a severe thunderstorm, her eyes the clouds and her tears the rain. Oliver, not knowing what else to do for his friend, scooted close to her, wrapped his arm around her, and allowed her to cry on his shoulder.

"It's going to be okay, Lilly," He soothed, "The worst is not knowing. Shhh…Miley will call later, and she'll fill us in, and we'll all be okay. We will be. I promise."