Well...If it isn't the very much anticipated new story.
First, I wanted to start off by saying thank you for the amazing feedback on The Assistant. The positive feedback is the thing that keeps me writing, even if I have been slacking a tad lately but I promise the cause of the delay is strictly homework, because we had a semester change and I now have English which is taking up every bit of my free time, literally. Chapter nineteen will hopefully be updated soon.
As for this new story...I am so glad you are eager to read it! I was given a lot of excited feedback after announcing the possible new story and your feedback is the reason it has come into action! In case you missed the title, the new story is called "Cupid, That's Now How You Aim" and was actually one choice out of five plots I had planned, but this one seemed to have my interest a lot more rather than a few of the others.
The story was surprisingly and oddly enough inspired by "This Love" sung by Taylor Swift. It was more so inspired by the secret message in the lyrical booklet for the song: "Timing is a funny thing", because in this story timing really is a funny thing! I realize that "This Love" is written in the frame of mind of having love, losing it, and then getting it back again and I don't want you to get confused so I'm telling you that, that is not quite the storyline for this story. This is more of a story that is about old enemies, who haven't seen each other in 5 years and have vowed at graduation to never see one another again, coincidentally, well, see each other again! And then all the drama, excitement, thrill, and craziness that comes with it.
I am hoping with an eager heart that this story is as eventful as I plan to make it and won't have you bored to tears. I'm excited and nervous to see the feedback and how this will all turn out and come into play. Hopefully, this story is enjoyable for you and I am full of eager hope to write it.
Don't forget to review. Favourite the story/author. Follow the story/author. Or you can simply just read and enjoy, whichever you prefer! :D
x
It was sticky and it was gross.
That was all Ally could think. She sat there blinking like a car's turn signal light. She didn't slump down in her seat. She didn't jump up or run away or cry in a bathroom stall. No. Ally was not that kind of girl. She was modest. She was calm, maybe uptight sometimes, but nonetheless, calm. She bit down on her lip and her eyes found her best friend, Trish, who also sat there blinking animatedly with her lips parted in surprise.
She could hear his laugh. His mean, crude, arrogant laugh. Ally's finger twitched. She wasn't good at punching people, nor was it nice, so she made the rational decision on not taking a large swing at him.
Droplets of milk swiveled down the straight line of her nose, past her eyes and dropped down her chin. Her new, sequined shirt was soaked.
That shirt cost $13.99. Her thoughts growled and she wondered about the apology she would be telling her mother when she got home.
"You...You just..." Trish sputtered, like a tire caught in a mud hole. Her eyes darted from Ally to the blonde boy behind her.
Ally saw a few students staring with wide eyes while others still had yet to notice that she was indeed soaked in cold milk with a boy - who had yet to hit puberty - standing behind her with an empty carton above her head. His friends were laughing, too. Even Elliott. The cute, quiet one.
Now, Ally could go about this in two ways:
She could scream at the top of her lungs, collect her dignity, and storm away. Or, she could carefully stand up, grab the milk carton from his hand to be assured that it makes it to the recycling, and then be on her way.
She was grumbling when she chose the latter. But this was sixth grade, not fifth, Ally knew how to handle a simple bully with maturity.
She stood up, soaked in milk and faced the boy. "Tell me something, Austin, " she said, so quietly that he almost had to strain his ears to hear her, "Was it expired?"
"No?" Austin's left eye brow quirked up in confusion.
An exasperated sigh escaped her lips and she snatched the carton from him. Her glare was dead set on him and he just smirked. Ally thought it looked terrible on his chubby cheeks.
She turned around and looked at Trish. Trish jumped up from her seat and followed Ally as she walked away, but not without recycling the carton first.
Ally heard him mutter a rude nickname, but she brushed it off her shoulder, just as she always had. Stupid boy, she thought to herself.
Present Day
Her finger pressed down on a circular doorbell.
Ally excitedly bounced up and down on the balls of her feet and straightened out her dress.
"Trish." Ally whispered, her smile only beaming in the warmest way when the door opened to coddle her excitement.
Across from her, a smile was splitting her best friend's face.
"Ally!" she cried out, hastily enveloping the brunette girl into her arms. Their grasp was tight and both girls were bouncing excitedly on their heels, forcing themselves to pull apart. "Forget the Face Time calls; it's been too long, Als." Trish brushed a curl out of her smiling face.
"Where's the lie?" Ally replied, her cheeks starting to ache.
A movement behind Trish had Ally averting her eyes to a tall man. His red hair had grown and was now falling in his eyes. He hadn't been available to Face Time Ally at all and seeing him made her spirit leap.
"Dez!" she cheered, throwing her arms around his neck.
Dez embraced her, "Way too long, Ally." His chuckle was gruff as he pulled away to look at her. "I hear your hiding out in New York these days?"
Ally's eyes sparkled at him. "I guess I am." Ally's eyes fell down to a sparkle on Trish's ring finger where she quickly remembered the reason she was here. Her grin got wider, if possible. "Congratulations, you guys."
Dez wrapped an arm around his fiancé's shoulders. The couple grinned widely, thanking her and inviting her inside. When Ally's back was turned, the newly engaged couple spared a moment to send each other anxious glances. Trish forced a smile when her best friend turned to look at her again.
Trish cleared her throat, "I should introduce you to some of the new faces."
Ally smiled and followed Trish. As she walked through the giant house, she couldn't help but admire the beauty of it. She finally stumbled into the fact that this was her best friend's engagement party and started to wonder where time had gone. One second she was eighteen and hugging her best friend's goodbye and the next second, she was twenty-three and hugging her best friend's hello.
Ally chanted nice-to-meet-you's a multitude of times until Trish finally assured her that she'd met everyone necessary. Trish was watching her best friend greet her and her soon-to-be-husband's parents where she felt a weight settle on her shoulders. She hoped a certain event wouldn't send her best friend right back to the plane.
Trish made her way to her best friend, giving her a glass of wine. Ally looked down at it, her face confused. "Um, Trish, you know I don't drink."
Trish's lips tugged into a tight smile, "Yeah, but you'll want to soon." Trish muttered.
"What was that?" Ally asked.
"Nothing." Trish shook her head. Glancing over Ally's shoulder, Trish took a deep breath. She caught the eyes of her fiancé who gave her an equally nervous look.
The one problem with inviting Ally Dawson and then inviting Austin Moon, was the mutual hate the two held for one another. But that wasn't all; the real problem was when said duo had no clue about the other being there.
Dez had kept Austin locked in a conversation for a good amount of time, but Austin casually glances over and sees Latina eyes staring back at him. He gives a genuine gentle smile and she visibly flinches when his eyes glance to the body standing in front of her. His eyes harden and he immediately looks to his best friend. Trish reads Austin's lips and watches Dez wince. Both boys turn their heads, Dez looking at Ally with a grimace and Austin looking with a profound annoyance.
Trish clenched her clammy palms. She glanced around the room and silently prayed Ally would not turn around. Trish wanted to slow down doom for as long as she can. Her heart was pounding when Ally looked at her, "Do you want the wine?"
Trish felt like she needed it, but she shook her head. She pushed the glass back towards Ally. "Trust me...You're going to want to have it." Trish said, laughing nervously. Ally shrugged her shoulders.
"Well," Ally grinned, "Come on, I want to mingle."
Trish sighed and felt the fear deflate into a trust with God when her best friend turned around. Ally began walking, weaving through the guests and greeting nostalgic faces. Trish looked up at Dez who looked like he was holding his breath. Ally had yet to glance in their direction. Trish almost started praying it would never happen.
The anticipation was agony as Trish followed behind her best friend, doing her best to kindly brush off any guests who wanted to speak to the soon-to-be-bride. She walked lightly, feeling like the floor was ice and it was about to crack and she was going to be sucked into the cold depths of water anytime soon.
Finishing a conversation with an old friend, Ally walked to the snack table, still unaware of the doom who had his eyes on her.
Ally set down her glass onto the counter when she suddenly heard a familiar voice, "Hey, sweetheart."
Her guts twitched and her jaw tightened on instinct. When she turned her head, she found Austin Moon leaning against the wall on his shoulder, smirk on his face. She agreed with herself that he'd matured nicely - all dreamy eyed wonders, masculine jaw, and broad shoulders but, unfortunately, his looks were not enough to tempt her.
She blinked twice. Everything was taken out of focus except for him and trust her when she says, it was in no way romantic. "Austin Moon," she breathed. She'd forgotten the now-moved-to-L.A. boy was even Dez's best friend.
"Long time, no see." Austin replied, an eye brow quirked upwards.
It must've been the shock that kept her from swinging her knuckles at his straight nose that, in her opinion, still looked too big. Bringing herself out of her surprise from seeing him again, she glanced over at the party that was still going on. Right. That was the real reason she couldn't hit him right now, otherwise, she totally would have.
"I guess so." Ally said. She looked down at the food, her eyes tracing over the finger sandwiches and vegetables. She looked back at Austin who seemed to be waiting on her for something. The corner of her mouth twitched, a smirk finding its way. She patted his cheek. "You lost your baby fat."
Austin took a deep breath, exhaling as he ran the tip of his tongue along his teeth in annoyance. He gave her a wry smile. "Good one, but I think we both know that was long gone by freshman year."
Ally pretended think and then slowly shook her head. "No...I don't...Hm...I don't quite remember you having lost weight in Freshman year."
Ally knew that he was quite fit all throughout high school, but it was his elementary and middle school years that were the highlight of insecurities.
"I guess it's alright that you don't remember. You didn't exactly have the best vision through those thick framed wonders." Austin replied, knowing the topic of her horrendous glasses would make her tick just the way he wanted her to.
"I'm surprised you remember that," Ally said, looking at him, "I recall you having a hard time picking yourself up off the floor everytime your big feet dragged you down."
"Oh, that was a good one, wasn't it?" Austin retorted, mockingly. "Let's not forget Ally-gator's chompers."
He did not just bring up the braces, Ally thought sourly.
A smirk lifted his lips when she scowled at him. "Aw, we still butt-hurt about the silverware mouth?" he cooed.
"How about you? Still crying in the baseball diamond? Remember it? That was me kicking your ass!" Ally spat, a rueful smile lighting her face darkly.
"Please," Austin spat, "Don't flatter yourself. I went easy on you."
Ally was about to spew another mocking reply when Trish stood between them, "Okay, Okay. Stop. Stop."
"You really invited him?" Ally questioned her best friend.
"Oh, like your God's gift." Austin cut in. "Hell yeah, they invited me!"
Trish sighed. She looked at Ally. "He's Dez's best friend. We couldn't not invite him. He has a right to be here as much as you."
Ally looked over to her best friend's fiancé and shook her head, "How...Just...Just how?" she questioned, looking at him with abrupt disbelief.
Ally found it hard to even fathom how Trish or Dez put up with Austin. The boy who has been a nuisance to her since sixth grade. She wouldn't say Austin bullied her, she wasn't a weakling to give him that right, but he definitely wasn't in her good books. The boy played pranks, picked on her, and just simply woke up every morning to make her skin crawl.
"Ally," Trish scolded. Ally rolled her eyes. Trish looked between the brunette and blonde. "It's been five years." Trish said, almost hopelessly.
"Five years, my ass!" Austin burst, "That doesn't mean anything."
"Come on, Aus," Dez said, "You two live in different cities, you're leading different lives, you haven't seen each other at all since Graduation, and you're telling me you can't make a mends? Not even a small one?"
"Nope." Austin and Ally said in unison. They glanced at each other and glared.
"Not even for our wedding?" Trish questioned.
Ally looked over at Trish. "Oh, come on, don't do that. You know I can't stand him."
"And you know I can't stand her!" Austin howled at Dez.
The to-be-married couple sighed and groaned.
"Well, then, this will be interesting." Trish said, crossing her arms and looking between the two of them.
"What are you talking about?" Ally said.
"You two will be living in the same house together until my wedding day!" Trish informed them firmly, but she still winced when the words left her mouth.
"What!" they yelped.
"Well," Trish said, looking at Dez for help. "Ally, you live in New York. I wanted you here to help me plan my wedding. You can't do that if you're in New York. Face Time won't cut it this time."
"And Austin, you live in L.A. now. Across the country. We've only seen each other twice in an entire year and each time, it was for a weekend. I thought it'd be cool to spend the summer with you before I'm married." Dez said, "Thus..." Dez cringed, "We invited both of you to live with us in the Beach House."
"What!" they howled again.
"Come on, Ally," Trish said, "You know you need the break and you know it'll be fun."
"Same to you, Aus." Dez said.
"No, No. I can't stay here. I'll stay in a motel." Ally said.
"Yeah...Yeah, she'll stay in a hotel." Austin replied, nodding.
"Ally, you know that's too expensive." Trish sighed. "For us? Can you guys just get along for three months, for us?"
Ally slowly looked at Austin as he looked back at her.
Begrudgingly, they both looked back to Trish and Dez. "Fine."
Trish and Dez grinned wide. Ally shook her head, tossing some food onto her plate and walking off. Austin dismissed himself for a drink.
"This is going to be a mess." Trish stated.
"Oh, yeah." Dez agreed.
x
well...how's that?
two people who hate each other have to live in the same house for three months? oh dearie.
