Hey! Just thought I'd post a little somthin, something for Valentine's Day! Hope you enjoy it!
NB: This will be two chapters long. Only two chapters.
I Own Nothing.
"I bet you can't get Austin Moon to kiss you a hundred times in one hour."
That's how crazy my best friends Trish and Cassidy can be.
This would be easy if it weren't for three things.
A. We haven't spoken for three years, since we were freshmen
B. He has a girlfriend
C. The annual Valentine's Day dance would be a perfect place to try this, seeing as thanks to someone's rich daddy we're having it on a cruise ship, but I'm not going.
I don't have a dress or a date plus I don't have enough cash on me to buy the tickets. I tried to explain this to Trish as we walked out of school once the final bell rang, but she just casually waved me off.
"I can get you a ticket," she said, texting. "My mom's on the committee, remember?"
I sighed. "But I don't have anything to wear and I don't want to go solo for the dance I mean-"
"We'll go shopping. Don't look at me that way, Ally," she said a warning tone in her voice. "It's on me. Consider it as a super early birthday present – that way I'm done." I rolled my eyes.
"Why are you doing this anyway?" I asked, exasperated as soon as we reached my dad's old range rover. He loved it dearly, even though it was really, really old. It could use a new sheet of paint, for starters. But recently, he managed to get a brand spanking new silver Merc. I really don't know what type it is, just that it's a Merc. I've never really been into cars, so that's why driving this old tin can doesn't bother me.
"Because you've been in love with Austin Moon since the beginning of time," she said matter-of-factly. "Can I have a ride?" I nodded and unlocked the car.
I started to protest about that comment she made, even though everyone knows about the history between Austin and I. Just then, he walked past us. Even in the midst of all his friends and his girlfriend, I only noticed him. The way he smiled. The way he laughed. The way his hair fell into his gorgeous brown eyes. He was just amazing.
We'd been best friends since kindergarten. And I'd only started to crush on him in the sixth grade, when we girls started noticing how perfectly kissable his lips were. But I'd always kept it a secret. The only people who knew were my two best girl friends, Trish and Cassidy. But one day Cassidy (accidently) told Austin my secret. He was really weirded out. We still were friends, but it wasn't the same. He never looked at me the right way from then onwards. Then we started high school. Just as thing were starting to look up, the queen bee, Tilly Thompson came along and snatched him away from me. She ended up as his current. We started seeing less of each other, and then finally he had to choose – me, Trish, Cassidy and Dez or Tilly and the popular crowd. And now it's just Dez, Cass, Trish and I.
Fir a split second, he glanced my way. His smile faded a little. My heart ached. I missed him. We all did. And Cassidy still beats herself up for telling him how I felt, even though we had all forgiven her. I looked away and started the engine.
"HEY! DAWSON! WAIT FOR ME!" Cassidy yelled from across the car park as she sprinted – well I would call it ambling very slowly. I could tell she was trying because she was in heels. And, as the universe has it, Cassidy O'Reilly can't run in heels. No matter what size the shoe is. No matter how high the heel is. She cannot run. Trish and I chuckled.
"Hurry up!" I hollered from my window. A little farther away, I felt Austin's gaze on me. I shivered visibly. When she finally arrived, she kicked off her heels and jumped into the car.
"You need to get out of class sooner," Trish said, "Otherwise we'll waste important time on important things. Like Ally's..."
"Makeover for Austin Moon," she finished, with Cassidy joining in. The both started laughing. I scowled. "Guys, you know that the whole idea is just really stupid."
"Is it now?" Cassidy said sarcastically. "I seem to forget that every time it is mentioned."
"But I don't want to do it, and there is nothing you guys can do to make me do it. Nothing you can say or do."
"Okay," Trish said in defeat. I smiled triumphantly.
"Thank you."
"Wait. That's it?!" Cassidy said in shock. Trish nodded, "Yeah. I guess you, doofus and I will go. And we'll have so much fun together." I knew what she was doing. She always did it to me when we were kids. But not this time.
"Yeah!" Cassidy said, catching on to what Trish was doing. "We'll eat off fancy platters served by butlers."
"And dance to awesome music."
"I heard we're going there in limos!"
"Oh man and think about all the fun we'll have rating how good guys look in tuxes."
"I bet Austin will look so sexy in his," Cassidy said, a teasing tone in her voice. "You think I have a chance to dance with him?"
"Okay fine. You guys can stop now," I said, now irritated because even now that I'm seventeen, this age old trick still works on me.
"So you'll come?" Trish asked, bouncing in here seat.
"Well..."
"Come on, Ally! It's the Valentine's Day Dance!" Cassidy exclaimed, "You can't not go! Especially when your dearest friend might win Valentine's day dance Queen." That did it. I mean, Cassidy has always been there for me. Now it's my turn.
"Fine! I'll go to the stupid dance," I moaned in defeat.
"Yes!" Trish and Cassidy yelled, high fiving each other with glee. "Ally's going to the dance!"
One hundred kisses from the same guy who finds me creepy? In one hour? And looking out for his girlfriend of three years at the same time?
What have I put myself into?
"Wow, ladies, you look gorgeous!" my dad exclaimed as we descended the stairs two nights later. Cassidy and Trish had really done a good job on me given such short notice.
I was wearing a red dress that stopped just above my knee, but had a separate delicate red skirt that started near my waist and flowed all the way down to the ground. The skirt flowed all around me except the front, so that the length of the actual dress could be seen. It felt nice and floaty and tickled my legs every time they touched. The top of the dress was strapless and showed just the right amount cleavage. The font of the dress an intricate but tasteful swirl design that starts from the heart shaped top and stopped where the skirt started. Cassidy had me wear a high pair of silver stilettos and dangly hoop earrings. Trish had my hair straitened and glossy and did my makeup perfectly. I felt like I just walked out of a glossy Hollywood magazine.
Trish, on the other hand, was totally loud, as usual and chose a strapless neon pink number that stopped at her knees. The very top of the dress was black and white leopard print with hints of pink that stopped at the bust. Then there was a thick band of solid neon pink and the rest of the dress just floated out and was a bigger version of the top of the dress, except it also had a see through pink layer on top of it. She wore silver super high killer heels with studs on them. Her hair was done up, with ringlets falling down. She looked beautiful.
Cassidy was totally different from both of us. Her dress was actually in two pieces, the first being a light pastel pink tank top covered in diamonds. The skirt was just plain pastel pink, and was long and seemed endless. She wore huge black and gold bangles and a pair of diamond earrings. (None of the diamonds on her dress were real, but you'd never guess it.) Her hair was curled and fell down her back in layers. And, of course, she wore extremely high heels, but the skirt covered the completely. She looked so fit for that crown in the dress.
At the foot of the stairs, beside my dad, stood Dallas and Dez in their tuxes. Both boys stood in awe. Dallas was Cassidy's date for the dance, so he had a matching tie for her dress. Dez was Trish's. They had just started going out, after years of being 'just friends'.
We took pictures and left for school. There, the limo would pick us up. It was a little hard to focus on how cool it was in the limo because I kept wondering how I was going to get the Austin Moon to talk to me again. It was going to be a long night.
The party was just getting started, but people were already dancing. The deck of the cruise ship looked so romantic with fairy lights draped everywhere, roses petals scattered on the floor. The DJ was playing really good music, and Cassidy and Trish were so happy to find the little finger sandwiches being served on shiny silver platters that were brought from waiters. All around, people were dancing, talking, laughing and just having a good time. The atmosphere was great.
Cassidy, Trish and I danced together a couple of times, and Trish let me dance with Dez once. It was really fun. No one minded my dorky dance moves, no matter how destructive they could be. But there were dances where I stood by myself at the refreshments table. I didn't drink anything because I saw Todd Sullivan from science spike the drinks earlier. I stood and sang along to the current song – A Thousand Years by Christina Perri.
On the dance floor, Cassidy mouthed something to me over Dallas' shoulder. I had no idea what she was saying. "Look behind you!" she mouthed again, and this time I got it. I turned around in confusion just as he spoke.
"I see you still have a great voice," Austin said with a smile. I took a deep breath. He looked so handsome in his tux. But Austin, being Austin, wore his favourite black sneakers with it. I laughed.
"You still wear these?" I asked with a laugh, pointing to his shoes. He laughed along. "I told you I'd grow into them. It only took me a while."
For his tenth birthday, he got these sneakers from his distant aunt. He only started wearing them when he was fifteen.
We stood in silence for a while. It was really awkward. How was I going to get a kiss from him at this rate? He was going to leave, but I couldn't let that happen.
"So, uh, where's Tilly?" I asked. Austin shrugged.
"Dunno."
"Are you looking for her?" I asked.
"Not really. These days she's not really all that fun," he said. "You look nice."
I blushed. "Thank you. So do you."
"Thanks."
A few more moments in silence. It was so nice having a conversation with him. It wasn't the best one, but it was the most in three years.
Suddenly, he took my hand. "Let's go talk. I want to catch up," he said. I wordlessly followed him from the deck until we were in an isolated hallway somewhere in the ship. I wanted to yank my hand away and tell him off. But because of the dare, I refrained from doing so. Besides, I didn't want him to slip through my fingers again.
"So how have things been?" he asked, now leaving my hand.
"Well Dez and Trish are together now," I said. Austin's eyes widened. "No way? Really?" he laughed. "I didn't see that coming."
I just continued with my update. "And Dallas got Cassidy a puppy. And Dallas is getting braces," I added with a grin. Dallas was far from happy when he told us the news.
"Really?"
"Yeah. He told us the other day, right after Cassidy and I finished our orchestra practise."
Austin looked surprised. "You're in the orchestra? Since when?"
I looked at my shoes. "Two years now. I play the violin and Cassidy plays the sax."
Austin also looked down. I wonder what was going through that head of his. Back when we were friends, I could read him like a book. But now that book won't open anymore.
"And your dad? How is he?" he finally asked.
"He's good. He got a new car," I said.
"What car?" I shrugged, making Austin laugh. The butterflies in my stomach fluttered at the sound of that familiar laugh.
"And what's been going on with you lately?" I asked. Austin shrugged again. "Nothing really."
"What about your friends? What are they up to?"
"They're okay."
"And Tilly?" I asked innocently. Austin knows that I've always hated her. Austin smiled a weird almost sarcastic smile and shook his head. "She's... difficult."
I could see I was getting somewhere. But not close enough. I was about to say something when the sound of hushed voices started. They sounded like they were coming our way. I recognised the voice – it belonged to Tilly and one of her friends. Austin noticed too and opened a door. We quickly ran inside to escape the witch.
Austin and I shared a laugh. It was so cool how he chose to stay with me than be with his girlfriend. I felt around for a light switch. Once I flipped it on, we discovered we were in the captain's control room. It was quite empty, but we could see the dance from the huge glass windows. I looked down at everyone. They all seemed to be having a great time. I wondered what time it was, and how I was going to get Austin Moon to kiss me.
Conveniently, the DJ started a slow love song – My Kind of Love by Emeli Sande. It was one of my favourite songs to play on the piano at home. I smiled and started to sway along to the music. I guess some of the lyrics describe my situation.
"And when you're crying out
When you fall and then can't pick your happy off the ground
When the friends you thought you had haven't stuck around.
That's when you feel my kind of love," I sang along.
That's kind of how I felt the first few weeks when Austin stopped talking to us. It really stung. I wasn't the only one who was shaken by that. Cassidy, Trish and especially Dez felt it too.
From behind me, Austin spoke up. "So... who's your date?"
"I don't have one," I replied, a little embarrassed. He walked up to me and took my hand. "Let's see if you're still a bad dancer," he teased. I smiled. "I've gotten better."
"We'll see."
We danced throughout the whole song. It was nice, just Austin and I. We swayed together even after the song had ended. My head lay on his chest, and his on top of my head. My heart started beating irregularly fast. This was it. The time. I wanted to back out so badly. I knew that if I kissed him, I'd lose him again. Because he didn't feel the same way. History would just repeat itself. But I wanted to kiss him so badly. And my chance was right here. In the palm of my hand.
Before another negative thought could enter my mind, I looked up at him. Well, because of my heels, we were the just about the same height. He was only a little taller. I stared into his eyes. His wonderful brown eyes that made my insides turn to jelly. I slid my eyes down to his lips. His oh-so-perfect lips. He was saying something, but I heard nothing.
Slowly, I leaned in. To my relief, he didn't lean back. But he didn't lean in either. It was up to me. Our lips connected. Suddenly, sparks flew. Tingles shot through my body. He started to kiss me back. His hands pushed me closer to him. One of my hands stretched to his hair and tangled my fingers in his golden locks. The other remained on his neck but started to trace his collarbone, then cupped his cheek, and then down to his chest. Austin didn't seem to mind. His hands travelled from my waist down to my legs, as if he was trying to memorize every curve of my body. He pushed me onto the glass behind me, kissing me harder.
It was crazy. I couldn't believe that I was actually kissing Austin Moon.
But my Cinderella moment didn't last long. Well, not long enough for me. Give me a break, I'd been dreaming about this moment for years.
We heard footsteps outside. And voices. One of them belonging to her. That seemed to snap us out of our trance. The door opened, and Tilly Thompson walled in, just as Austin and I sprang apart.
We both looked guiltily at her. I licked my dry lips and looked at the ground to hide the tiny smile that grew on my face.
One kiss down, ninety-nine more to go!
I hope you guys enjoyed it! This will probably be two chapters long. It was just meant to be a one-shot but I decided to extend it a little. I'm already working on the second (and last) chapter. It will be up later tomorrow. Please review!
Sammie ;)
