This is a different take on a story I started a while back and never finished, so I've brought it this way, hoping I can finish it.

If it's hard to tell, this introduction is in Ally's point of view, but it's the only chapter that is and that will be.

Enjoy!

I wasn't sure where exactly I was headed to. Or where exactly I needed to be. I just knew that I needed to get out of Miami, Florida, as quick as I possibly could.

When I pulled into the Miami International Airport, The guilt burned the inside of my stomach. Because I knew leaving my friends behind wasn't the answer to my fears.

Wasn't facing your fears some big spiel in middle school?

I guess when he traumatic endurance of embarrassment of junior high had all been blocked out, that lesson went with it.

But who knows? Maybe I would be back in a day or two, maybe a few weeks at the maximum.

Hands trembling beyond belief, I took in a deep breath as the taxi I was sitting in pulled into the airport parking lot. I had already explained to my mother and father before I left my house that I had to leave, also informing them as to why I was bolting out of my hometown so quickly.

They understood. Sort of.

There was a lot of yelling. A lot of crying. They tried to stop me, but I wouldn't budge.

Miami was suffocating me. Relationships were suffocating me. Everything.

Getting out of the state was something I needed to do.

Wiping the tears from my eyes, the cab driver's rough voice pulled me from my thoughts. "That'll be twenty-eight dollars and thirty three cents, miss."

"Oh, right," I smiled tightly at the older man, fishing a twenty and a ten out of my purse.

"Here's your change. Enjoy your flight," the man waved at me, placing a crisp dollar and a few coins in my hand while popping the trunk open for me to retrieve my luggage.

"I'll try."

I swung the bright yellow door open, feeling the warm Miami air blanket my face.

I had to keep telling myself how much I needed to do this. If I didn't, I knew I'd turn around and get back in the bright taxi and drive right back to my house and pretend this wasn't an option.

But it was an option. Practically my only

Rolling my red suitcase across the sidewalk and into the airport terminal, I felt the guilt become heavier on my shoulders. You have to do this, I kept reminding myself.

I found myself in front of the board that flashed the flight times and destinations. Glancing at my phone, I took note of the time - 7:23am. The closest flight timewise was a 8am flight to Baltimore, Maryland.

Letting out a sigh, I did my best to smile.

Baltimore.

It seemed like a nice place to live.

In the winter it snowed in Maryland. Miami didn't have snow.

New beginnings. New beginnings. New beginnings.

I had to do this.

I did the necessary procedures to recieve my ticket. Once I boarded and sat down in my seat, I felt my cell phone vibrate in the pocket of my skinny jeans.

The screen lit up with the words "1 New Message!" and a picture of Austin Moon.

I felt like a hole had opened up in my heart. I quickly opened it, feeling even worse as my boyfriend's words sat in front of my eyes.

"Good morning, Ally! I can't wait to see you today. Text me when you wake up, okay? I love you. :)"

I quickly deleted the text message, not bothering to reply. I was doing this for the both of us. I was doing this for everyone.

Austin was part of the reason I was leaving, I suppose.

We had been dating since the summer before sophomore year and now it was Spring Break of our senior year. And maybe I was getting tired of just being expected to do certain things.

And dating Austin was one of those things that I was just expected to do.

And I did love Austin with my whole heart, truly.

I just didn't like that "Austin's girlfriend" had become my title or my description when others described me to people who didn't know me.

And I felt terrible that the same had happened to Austin, because he was always "Ally Dawson's boyfriend".

And if I wasn't "Austin Moon's girlfriend", I was buying being "Penny and Lester's daughter" or "Trish and Dez's best friend". Or sometimes I was "the straight A student in the 12th grade". Or "the girl who dated Elliot for a month during freshman year and the first girl who dumped him". "The girl who did anything you asked".

I was never just Ally Dawson.

And that was because I was always expected to be Austin's girlfriend, Penny and Lester's daughter, Trish and Dez's best friend, the straight A student in the 12th grade, the first girl to dump Elliot in 9th grade, and the girl who did anything you asked her to.

They never expected me to be "the girl who caught a flight to Baltimore and laughed halfway through senior year".'

And maybe I never even expected myself to succumb to that. But I had. That was who I was now.

I knew that perhaps leaving the state and flying to an entire different coast because of my fear of never being my own person was an overreaction. I also knew that me leaving would let Austin realize that he was a lot better without me. That he was better off with another girl.

Without me, Austin wouldn't be simply "Ally Dawson's boyfriend" because he was more than that and I was hoping I could help everyone realize that.

Elliot wouldn't have to be reminded of how I broke his heart and ruined his "never been dumped" streak, all because a certain blonde best friend of mine had begun to catch my eye.

Trish and Dez would find a new best friend who would have a name for herself.

Things were going to change for everyone and I was beginning to realize it. I was lucky I was already on the plane, because my decision was beginning to seem a little flimsy.

"Please turn off your laptops and/or cell phones. The flight to Baltimore, Maryland, will begin shortly. Thank you for choosing Miami International Airport for your travels."

This was it.

I stared outside of the window, seeing the town I had spent the last seventeen years in for one last time.

And with that, I left my heart in Florida.