Chapter One:

"Ally, wait!" A voice calls after me; a rich tenor echoes off of the empty walls of the corridor. "It wasn't what it looked like!" He pleads as I hear him running behind me.

I don't listen to him. I can't. My heart is telling me not to; to just keep running. So, I do. I don't care where I am going and I don't know where, either. But all I really know is that I need to get the hell out of here. And fast.

I urge myself to run faster, hot tears blurring my vision as they stream down my face. I wipe at my eyes furiously. My lungs burn and my legs feel heavy as my feet pound on the carpeted floor, but I tell myself to keep moving. I regret wearing heels.

"Ally! Please! I'm sorry!" His voice echoes down the hallway, as his distant footsteps get closer behind me. "It wasn't what it looked like! I swear!"

With those last two words, my feeling of despair turns into fury.

I whirl around to face him, my eyes blazing and my hands curled into fists. "Really? Because it looked like you were totally just making out with Kira Starr in a hall closet! You told me that you were only spending time with her for school! For your English project, which I thought was finished in March." I snap at him, my eyes at the brink of tears.

Instantly, I regret making eye contact and going against the orders of my mind. He looks so upset; sadness and regret written all over his face. My heart drops to the bottom of my chest as I can't peel my eyes away from him. My burst of anger dissipates, like a fire expelled by water, and is replaced with pain. Raw, physical and emotional pain.

"We were. Things … just got out of hand. I'm sorry. It was a mistake!" He begs, finally having caught up to me. His chocolate brown eyes look deeply into mine. His blonde hair is a mess from running, tiny beads of sweat drip down the sides of his face, and he himself is completely out of breath. All in all, he looks horrible.

But, I shouldn't care. I don't, I tell myself, though I don't know if I believe it.

"Forget it." I wave him off dismally with my hand, my eyes planted on the ground; I am unable to look directly at him anymore. It hurts too much, just being near him right now. I had forgiven him for once for kissing her before, and here was he, doing it again. Dallas had been right all those times, though part of me hates to admit it. He isn't good for me.

"Ally." The single word nearly tears me to the core.

I have to stay strong. I have to maintain my resolve. I shouldn't be upset. I shouldn't feel the need to cry. I shouldn't care. None of this should matter.

"It doesn't matter. It's not like we were actually going out. It was only for the plan. I don't care." I tell him, not being able to stop myself from looking up and meeting his eyes.

The words kill me as they leave my mouth, but I swallow hard. I'm right. The two of us had only become a couple for a scheme. A scheme that had been a success. But, instead of being overjoyed and celebrating, I am devastated. And hurt. Even though I shouldn't be. I don't know why I am.

I shouldn't care that he kissed another girl. He could do whatever he wanted. We aren't liable to be loyal to each other. But, that didn't change the fact that I felt my heart be torn out of my chest when I found him with Kira.

Looking into his eyes, I can see the flashes of pain, guilt, and hurt pass through them. I can't stand seeing them. I turn away quickly and begin walking down the corridor again.

I can't do this. A sob escapes my mouth, but I quickly muffle it with my hand.

I don't want him to see me hurt over him. I shouldn't be hurt. We weren't in a real relationship, so he could kiss whoever he wanted to. It shouldn't matter to me. However, for some reason, it does.

Stay strong Ally. My conscience reminds me. You have to stay strong. Don't cry. Don't be upset. This doesn't matter.

I walk faster.

"Ally, I'm sorry!" He grabs my hand, pulling me back to face him. "I didn't mean to." His eyes begin to tear up. "I'm so sorry."

It pulls at my heart strings, seeing him in this state. I'm about to say something to soothe him, but then the memory of what I had just seen less than five minutes ago makes its way to the center of my mind. The small tinge of sympathy I had just felt for him, completely disappears.

"I don't care Austin. It doesn't matter to me. You can do whatever you want. I can't stop you. I'm not going to stop you. We don't have to pretend to like each other anymore. I got Dallas back, just like I wanted. The plan worked. It's over. You can go have fun with Kira now. Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it."

I pause, trying to keep my voice even. "I couldn't have done it without you. But, there's nothing left between us anymore. You can go be with Kira. Enjoy your prom, and have a nice life." I say, completely surprised at the way my voice miraculously manages to remain firm and strong.

Not being able to stand with him in the silence for any longer, I force myself to give him a light smile and walk away again. I can feel the tears beginning to form at the corners of my eyes, but I can't let him see them. I have to get away from there as fast as possible. I furiously wipe the tears away with my hands.

"Ally." He grabs my wrist and pulls me back to him once more. I keep my eyes on the ground, not having the strength to stare directly at him and not wanting him to see my tears.

I shake my head.

"Ally, please." He speaks softly, trying to get his eyes to meet mine. I continue to stare at the floor. "It was a mistake." He says, his voice breaking.

I blink away my tears. "It doesn't matter, Austin. You shouldn't be sorry. It's okay. We can go back to our own lives. We don't have to act like we care about each other anymore." My heart breaks as I say the last words. Because they are a complete lie.

In the beginning, I may not have cared about him, but I had somehow ended up caring for him. In the past five months, he had become one of my best friends.

"Ally." He begins. "I do have feelings for you. I do care about you. I didn't mean t-."

"Don't Austin. Just don't." I cut him off, not being able to stand his lies anymore. "Don't lie to me. I saw you. You meant to kiss her. You wanted to. Now, there's nothing left for you to say or do. I saw all that I needed to know. Besides, we're just friends, right?" My voice shakes as I speak. Tears continue to threaten to fall down my cheeks.

"Ally-." He chokes, holding onto my hand. Tears stream down his face. They mirror the ones I'm trying to hold back unsuccessfully.

"Good bye Austin." I whisper softly, shaking out of his grip. I look up at him one more time, before walking away.

I don't even have to look back at him to know that he is broken. And hurt. And guilty. But it is his own fault. He had kissed her. He had chosen to kiss her. But there was no need for him to apologize, like I said. Nothing real was going on between us, anyway.

I shouldn't be crying over him. He wasn't my real boyfriend. He didn't really mean anything to me; at least that is what I am trying to convince myself to think. And so far, I am not being very successful.

His feelings for me were fake; I knew that. Everything that happened between us, was only for the plan. Still, part of me couldn't help but wish that it was real. At least some of it. That it wasn't a façade I had dragged him into the first place. I knew from the beginning that we wouldn't be together. It was a temporary situation. So why was I so upset now that things were over?

It isn't a big deal. The plan is over. I should really be happy. I should be hugging Trish and celebrating with Dallas. But, I am not happy. I'm the polar opposite of it. Instead of smiling, I want to cry.

He was my best friend. I thought I could trust him. Apparently, I was wrong.

As I leave, I can't help but hope that he will come running after me again, begging for my forgiveness, like he was before. Just one last time. To show me that he really did care.

I would hug him and forgive him, and we could still be friends. It would be like one of those cheesy endings in movies, except we wouldn't become a couple at the end. We would just be best friends.

But, this isn't a movie. This is my life. And when is real life ever like the movies? Exactly, it never could be, or no one would pay money to watch movies. People wanted to imagine how their lives could be and dream about finding love or being rich. They wouldn't want to see something that was depressing and actually relatable to them. No one wanted to watch something like that.

This time, however, he doesn't run after me. I don't hear him call my name or see him try to stop me from leaving. This time, he just stands and watches me go, or at least I think he does. I couldn't let myself turn around to check, because I knew that if I did, I wouldn't be able to stop the breakdown I was on the verge of having.

I walk off of the ship. The instant the doors slammed behind me, I feel myself collapse on the floor of the pier, sobbing. I knew it is over. But I shouldn't be upset. Especially not over someone like him. But I am. And I can't help it.

But why should I care so much? It's not like we were going to be dating after the plan worked, that was a given from the start. I shouldn't be upset. It wasn't real. It had all been pretend. Well, at least at the start of it, it had been. At the start, it had just been a plan. An idea. A plot. But now? It had changed so much. At least for me.

But now, I'm not so sure.


Eight Months Earlier:

I walked through the white double doors of Marino High, excited and more than prepared for another, and sadly my last, year there. A sense of nostalgia overcame me as I strolled down the hallway, making my way to my locker.

I couldn't believe that it had already been three years since I had first stepped foot into the school, a bashful and awkward fourteen-year old girl. Now, I was "at the top of the heap", as people say. Still, walking through the large hallway, I couldn't help but feel like that timid little girl again. A year from now I would be attending college and facing the world all on my own, and just the thought of that terrified me a little bit.

"Ally!" A voice shrieked right before I felt myself being enveloped in a tight hug.

There was only person that I knew to be so enthusiastic and loud. "Trish!" I exclaimed, hugging her back.

She was my best friend, though it would be more accurate to call her my second sister. I had known her since the last year of junior high school, when I first moved to Miami. She was the first friend I ever made here. The two of us had been inseparable ever since.

"I've missed you so much!" She said, letting me go. "How was your summer?"

"It was great. Niagara Falls was breathtaking." I replied, smiling as I thought back to the picturesque scene of the world-famous water fall. I had spent a few weeks in Canada, where my mother's sister and her family lived. "How was the cruise?" I asked.

Trish had gone on a cruise to Bermuda with her parents and little brother. They went on an exotic vacation every summer. This time they just happened to choose Bermuda.

"Oh, it was amazing Ally. The view was beautiful, and I'm not just talking about site-seeing." She winked and I laughed. That was the same sense of humor, I had missed for the past two months.

I rolled my eyes. "You and boys." Trish had been looking out for a boyfriend since the eighth grade. She went through guys as fast as she went through jobs, maybe even faster, if that was even possible. And Trish goes through jobs pretty fast, if I do say so myself. She and working are not a good combination.

"Speaking of boys, how are you and Dallas?" She looked at me, eyebrows raised, her lips curled in a cheeky grin.

"We're doing great. Since I was in Canada all summer long and he was here for football camp, we face-timed every day. And we hung out the whole day after I came back." I explained with another smile as I opened my locker, thinking about the brown-haired boy.

Dallas Wilson. He had been my boyfriend since the beginning of sophomore year. He was very good-looking, which was the reason the entire female population at Marino swooned over him. He was the biggest bachelor when we were freshman, but that all ended when he had asked me out.

With his chocolate brown eyes, hair that flipped just the right way, and a million-dollar smile, it was no wonder that so many girls drooled over him. On top of that, he had been voted captain of both the football and soccer teams last year, only making girls want him more.

But his good looks were not the main reason I had been attracted to him. He had an even better personality. He was such a sweetheart when you really got to know him. We had been made lab partners in Chemistry during freshman year and ironically, the two of us had developed some chemistry of our own.

He was actually very shy when we first met; it was adorable. He was quite clumsy during Chemistry as well. I knew back then that he had joined the JV football team, so he had to have good hand-eye coordination. It surprised me that he was so awkward and such a klutz when we worked together on labs. It didn't occur to me that I was the reason for his nervousness, until he asked me out. As soon as I agreed to go on a date, he regained his hand-eye coordination in the lab room.

With the modest size of the student body, Dallas and I were well known throughout the school. People referred to us as the school's notorious "It" couple.

"Aww! You guys are too cute! I just wish I could be with someone as long as you have been with Dallas." Trish said, sighing sadly. "You guys are just so happy together."

"Aww, Trish." I placed my hand on your shoulder. "Don't worry. You will meet a wonderful man one day and the two of you will be happy together." I assured her. "You just haven't found him yet, but you will someday. And then all of the heartbreak you went through will seem so irrelevant."

"Thanks Ally. I really hope so." She smiled genuinely at me.

"If not in high school, there's always in college."

Trish grinned. "Speaking of perfect guys, here comes yours right now." She motioned with her head in the direction behind me.

I turned around to see that Dallas was in fact walking over to us, grinning.

"Hey." He said as he came up to our lockers. He leaned against the locker between Trish and I, and smiled down at me.

"Hi." I smiled back. He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me into him for a deep kiss.

Every time we kiss, it brought me back to our first one. It had been on the steps to my house after our first date. I remember being nervous as he walked me to my door. I wasn't sure if he had as nice of a time as I did. I told him thanks for a nice night and was about to walk inside, when he grabbed my hand and pressed his lips to mine.

"I missed you." He told me, while playing with a strand of my hair.

"I know. I missed you, too," I said with a smile.

"How was your summer, Trish?" He turned to ask the raven-haired girl.

"It was good. Are you and the boys ready for the game next week?"

"Definitely." He grinned.

"Good. You better destroy the Pirates. See you guys at lunch." Trish said, smiling at the both of us, before closing her locker.

"Bye, Trish." I smiled and waved at her as she walked away. I turned to face my own locker, just as the bell rang, signaling the beginning of homeroom.

Dallas straightened up and I closed the door of my locker, after fixing my hair in the mirror I hung on the door. Everyone else in the hallway closed their lockers as well, starting to head off to their homeroom classes.

"Can I walk you to class?" Dallas offered me, holding out his hand. "I haven't been able to do that in almost three months."

I rolled eyes, but smiled anyway. I readjusted my bag over my shoulder. "Sure."

He grinned as he swung his arm over my shoulder and we walked down the hall. I leaned my head against his shoulder and he pulled me in closer to him. I closed my eyes momentarily, enjoying the warmth of being near him.

Everyone we passed smiled as the school's "It" couple walked by, as happy as ever.

But that was before. Before everything came crashing down.


Would it be too cliché to say I'm back?

I felt that it would only be appropriate to start back publishing with the start of a new year. Happy New Year, by the way.

Words cannot begin to express my deepest apologies for having been AWOL the past few years. I honestly kind of lost the passion to write and I started doubting my writing skills. I reread all of my stories and I wondered what ever possessed me to actually write and post them. Looking back at my writing, I cringe.

But, let us not dwell on the past. The fact is I have rediscovered my joy for writing, albeit at a bad time now that I am in my second year of college on a pre-med track. That being said, my update schedule will probably be really off track.

I have for the most part completely rewritten this story, so all of the chapters, for the most part, are ready to be published, minus some last-minute edits.

I hope that if those of you who have read my stories before will rejoin me on this journey, but I do welcome newcomers as well.

Once again, I really am sorry for removing all of my stories. Some I will rewrite, others I will not. But, I will consider re-uploading some of them. I must admit that in the period of my absence, I actually have created two other fanfiction accounts and I have posted stories on each.

One story is very unusual for me, in style and plot. The story on the second account is similar to my style and subject matter. I choose to start posting it on another account, in an attempt to make a fresh start for myself and dabble in my writing skills. Unfortunately, I have experienced some writer's block with it. I do know how I want the story to end and I do have a climax scene in mind, I am just stuck as to what to do in the middle with some minor character development and storylines.

I wonder if any of you will figure out what accounts and what stories I am referring to *wink*.

I applaud and thank those of you who have actually read this far, or those who have just skipped to the end of this author's note.

It is with great honor that I end this author's note as I have ended most of them before,

Write on, my lovelies

~ honesthannah

P.S. I have changed my username back to the one that started it all :P

I would also like to take the time to thank all of you who have messaged me in my absence. Everything is well and I appreciate your concern.