Hannah Montana was in the recording studio, belting out her latest hit. Her best friend, Lola Luftnagle, was sitting in the sound booth, bopping along to the beat. Hannah’s manager sat next to Lola, smiling in approval as he listened to Hannah sing. It was just another day in the life of an international pop star . . .
Except that in reality, Hannah was regular fifteen-year-old high school student Miley Stewart. She had been transformed into her pop star persona by a fashionable outfit, makeup, and a long blond wig that covered her brown hair. Hannah’s best friend, Lola, was really Miley’s best friend, Lilly Truscott. As usual, Lilly was wearing a short, colorful wig to help hide her true identity. Today’s pick was purple. And Hannah’s manager—the guy with the mustache and cowboy hat sitting at the control panel—was really Miley’s dad, Robby Ray Stewart.
They were all disguised because Hannah Montana’s real identity was a closely guarded secret. Only Miley’s brother, Jackson, and her other best friend, Oliver Oken, knew the truth.
Sometimes it was tough for Miley to play the part of both pop sensation and down-to-earth teenager. She had gotten into plenty of scrapes as she tried to juggle her celebrity life and her normal life. But at moments like this, when she was able to enjoy her true love—singing—she felt it was all worthwhile.
“Man, Miley is so lucky,” Lilly commented. “Her voice is so pure and natural and . . .”
As she spoke, Lilly leaned forward, accidentally causing some of the levers on the sound board to slide. Miley’s upbeat singing voice suddenly turned into a horrible growl.
Miley frowned as she took her headphones off. “There is no way that’s me.”
She could see her dad through the window in the booth of the recording studio, nodding in agreement. “Uh, Lola . . .” he said, turning to Miley’s friend.
“Oh! Sorry!” Lilly exclaimed, blushing as she realized what she had done. “My bad.”
Quickly, she tried to readjust the levers, but this only created horrible feedback. The sound shrieked through the room, startling Miley so much that she fell off her chair.
After taking a few seconds to catch her breath, Miley got up, put her headphones back on, and finished singing the last line of the song, giving one final “Whoa-oh, yeah!” at the end. “How’d that sound, Dad?” she said into her microphone.
“Perfect,” Mr. Stewart answered, smiling.
Lilly bounded into the recording studio from the control room. “That is such a great song!” she gushed. “Have I told you it’s my mom’s favorite?”
Miley gave her friend a curious look. Lilly was not the gushing type. Something was definitely going on. And Miley had a feeling that Lilly was working herself up to ask for a favor.
Sure enough, Lilly continued. “Hey, here’s a wacky idea! Her birthday’s coming up. Maybe you could make a special, kind of personal recording and I could give it to her as a present?” Lilly suggested, trying to sound nonchalant.
Of course, Miley thought. I should have seen this coming! They had gone to the mall the other day so that Lilly could look for a present for her mom. They had shopped for hours, but Miley now realized that Lilly hadn’t actually bought a present.
“You spent all her gift money on those shoes, didn’t you?” Miley said, remembering the heels Lilly had bought.
Lilly looked down guiltily. “They didn’t have them in her size,” she protested weakly.
But she didn’t have to explain herself to her best friend. “I hear you,” Miley said. She tossed her head so Lilly could get a good look at the cute jewelry dangling from her ears. “Last Christmas, I bought Daddy these earrings.”
Lilly laughed, relieved that they were so much alike. “See? This is why we’re friends.”
“Exactly,” Miley agreed, smiling.
“So, you’ll do it?” Lilly asked eagerly.
“You’ll record the song?”
“Nope,” Miley said. “You will.”
Lilly laughed again. That Miley! Always joking around! But she stopped laughing when she saw the look on Miley’s face. “You’re not kidding.”
“No, kidding’s when I tell my dad that he looks good in that dorky mustache,” Miley said, nodding toward Mr. Stewart. He always wore a fake mustache as part of his disguise. It did look a little odd, but he was very proud of it.
“Your mic’s still on, darlin’,” Mr. Stewart said into his microphone.
“Love you!” Miley shouted cheerfully. She turned back to her friend. “Lilly, to make this special, you’re going to have to record the song.”
“But I don’t have a voice like yours,” Lilly said worriedly.
“You’ll be surprised what you can sound like in a professional studio,” Miley told her. “Trust me, you’re going to sound great.”
Lilly hesitated. She was really good at some things, like skateboarding, surfing, and soccer. She was okay at other things, like playing video games and cooking. And then she was . . . well, still working on some skills, like taking geometry tests and singing.
But she shrugged. After all, Miley wasn’t just Miley. She was Hannah Montana! If she didn’t know about recording a song, who would?
“Okay,” Lilly said slowly. She stepped up to the mic and took a deep breath. Then she began to sing the lyrics Miley had just recorded.
Miley tried to keep a smile on her face, but only because she was trying so hard not to show how stunned she was. Lilly’s singing was pretty bad!
Miley glanced over at her dad. His mouth was hanging open in shock.
Lilly finished the song, beaming. Clearly, she had no idea how she really sounded.
“So, you think my mom will like it?” she asked Miley excitedly.
“Like it?” Miley asked. “She’s going to be speechless. Right, Dad?”
But Mr. Stewart was already speechless after listening to Lilly sing. “Uh . . . uh . . .” he stuttered.
Miley nodded at Lilly. “You see?”
Lilly continued smiling. But Miley was concerned. Oh, no, she thought. This is so not good.