except I knew from a friend that he thought I was pretty. He came up to me with a bunch of guy friends and introduced himself. Instantly, I wanted them all to go away and just to be with him. He started to shake my hand and I said, “I don’t do handshakes. I do hugs.” When he hugged me, I noticed his scratchy shirt and blurted out, “I hate your shirt.” So that was just about the first thing I said to him: “I hate your shirt.”
I had an insta-crush, so what did I do? Did I act smooth? Nope! I asked him to karaoke with me and put our names down for “I Want to Be Like You” from The Jungle Book . It would have been a funny, silly song to do together. But when the song came on I couldn’t find him, so I had to karaoke all by myself. Let’s just say people were laughing at me, not with me.
Later that night, he and his friends were going out, and he invited me along. My mom said she didn’t want me to go out late—I guess I had a busy day the next day—so I asked her if I could just go for a little while. She said fine. So Brandi and I ended up going out to dinner with Prince Charming and his friends. I remember it took me forever to get dressed, but when I finally ran downstairs, I was wearing sweats. I didn’t want look like I was trying too hard. (I liked him! I wanted to look cute!) Believe me, they were just the right sweats.
After dinner we talked on the phone. He asked me what my beliefs were. I said, “I’m a hard-core Christian.” He said, “That’s what we call ourselves in my family.” I thought it was a sign.
We were on the phone that night until four in the morning. And, just like that, I was smitten. It felt like the whole world stopped. Nothing else mattered. I know it sounds silly, but my family doesn’t set rules around love. My mammie met her husband on a Monday and they got married on Friday. They were together for twenty-seven years. My mom doesn’t believe there’s such thing as being too young or too naïve to be in love. In my family, when you fall in love, that’s it. No one called it puppy love or made fun of me. He really was my Prince Charming, and I knew it right away. You should have seen the sappy smile on my face when I hung up the phone that first night. I was mush. I slept holding the phone next to my cheek as if that would keep him close.
From the very beginning, we were best friends. We talked all the time. He lived on the East Coast but would fly to Los Angeles, and I’d see him when I was in New York. Then he moved to L. A., to a house—get this—a few blocks from mine, and everything got more intense and more fun. Suddenly we were neighbors. It felt natural and just so easy. He’d ask me to come over at five in the morning to say hi before I went to work, and I’d just walk down the street. In the beginning, when we were thirteen, we’d play basketball in my backyard or play Nintendo at his place. His family always made yummy Italian food for dinner. I love to ride my bike, and he’d walk along next to me as I rode, singing “My Girl.” (by The Temptations) But instead of “my girl,” he’d say “Miley, talkin’ ’bout Miley.”
Wow! I was so in love. Do you know what I’m talking about? The kind of love where the sun could shine or not shine all day long and you wouldn’t care. The kind of love that makes you want to jump in the pool in December. The kind of love that makes you want to dance in the rain. (Who am I kidding?—this is L.A. It never rains.) This was the most magical journey of my life—it was a total rush.
My Turn
Y ou would think Prince Charming would distract me from my work, but it was actually kind of the opposite. I was in love, I had a lot to say about it—and good thing, because I needed to write a whole album of songs, pronto. The first Hannah Montana album came out right after The Cheetah Girls tour, and we immediately started planning the second. But this album was different. It wasn’t just a sound track for
Yenthu Wentz
Aneesa Price
Suzanne Weyn
Mary Marks
Craig Johnson
Patrice Michelle
Kate McMullan
Sherryl Woods
Steven Savile
Hallie Swanson