Chapter One : The Blind Date
Hey, this is my new multi-chapter, I've already got a lot of chapters already written so the updates shouldn't be too bad. To the guest who reviewed my old story, Boarding School - I swear I a writing the first chapter for the sequel - but I've been working hard on this story for a while. I started writing this story quite a while ago, so that's why the dates are a bit old... but anyway, hope you like it!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything used in this story, just the storyline.
Ally's POV
I knocked on the tall wooden - locked - door that used to be my home, I haven't been here in two years so they're probably going to be mad but eh. They'll get over it. I recognized the face of the person who opened it. My dad.
As soon as he opened it, his face lit up, maybe he wasn't angry after all, "Sweetie!" He took my black carry-on, only one as I was literally staying for one day.
"Hey dad. Mom called me ages ago saying to come home ASAP, what was it?"
Sitting down on the couch in the living room, my dad responded, "Oh, I don't know. I'll ask her, I'll be right down." Nothing had changed much here, just more recent photos of them on the walls really.
My mom's voice rang out as she came down the stairs, "Hey honey, why didn't you come sooner?" when she began entering the room, I stood, so she hugged me tight and sat down next to me.
"Oh, I uh. Had things I had to do... So what's up?"
"We met some people and we wanted you to meet them. We met them on holiday and turns out they live here in Miami so we wanted you to meet them. I'll give them a call."
My mom walked out along with my dad so I pulled out my phone and texted Trish.
Just got here, i'll call you on my way back tomoro xx :)
A few minutes later I got a reply.
Kay see u then :) miss u alredy xx
Miss you too xx
By that time, my parents had returned to sitting next to me - I never feel really well ...close to my parents anymore. I used to. I used to love spending as much time with them as possible when I was seventeen I think, but when I moved to New York, things changed, I guess. I just don't feel very welcomed or wanted around them much, I usually feel like a burden. I don't like spending more than a few days with them, I just feel awkward. I don't know why - it just happened somehow.
My mother began to speak, "Okay honey, here's the thing..." she took hold of my dad's hand as she went on. It was gonna be serious, wasn't it? Oh my God, is my grandma dead? "Our friends, they have a son. And we have been thinking for a while of how much he would suit you. We've never met him, and it took your father a while to get his head around you dating men... But we've decided to set you two up on a blind date, would you like that?" I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.
"That it? My God, I thought Grandma was dead or something! Don't be so serious about that, Jesus Christ."
I knew what was coming next, "Ally, don't say Jesus Christ." My mom attempted to scold me, even though I was twenty-two-years-old. She doesn't care about that but my dad's brother is a real Christian.
"I didn't... I said, uh ...cheese and rice! Yes! Cheese and rice, that's what I said!" I exclaim, proud I covered it up.
"Ally, you are a terrible liar."
Trying to move onto a new subject, I ask, "I know. So when am I meeting these friends of yours?"
"Oh, they said they were getting in the car right now. Their son is coming with them."
"Their son lives with them?"
"No! Gosh no! He lives in New York like you, but he just came to visit them for the weekend. Strange how you two picked the same weekend to come down here. How long are you staying?"
"I'm going back tomorrow, just a flying visit," I say quickly. "Oh, and this guy, what's his name? I'm not really into dating at the moment - Trish and I are just being single for a while."
My father began to look suspicious,"Why's that?" he eventually asks, finally speaking up, he was actually beginning to freak me out a little.
I filled a little bit of my time,"Uh... I," I racked my brain for an answer. I hadn't told them about my boyfriend who was now my ex - cheated - so I have no answer...
My mom could obviously tell I was racking my whole brain for something to tell my very over-protective dad - seems really nice when you're just friends... boyfriend? Run, boy, run! "Did you break up with somebody?" She urges, trying to help me.
"Yeah I did, sorry I didn't tell you about him I-"
"Who was it?"
"You don't know him, wish I didn't either. He was a jerk."
Getting interested in the new conversation, my dad questions, "What did he do?"
"Cheated," I mumbled as there was a knock on the door.
"Oh, sweetie, I'm sorry. Just let me get the door and later we'll talk, just us - okay?" I nod as she gets up, leaving me and dad alone.
He took a seat next to me, "So what was the guy's name?" My father asks.
"Dallas. But it's cool, I'm over it."
"Good," He kissed me on the cheek as he got up to meet his friends probably.
I heard murmurs of names and dates and where I was gonna go for this date I hadn't even agreed to go on yet.
"Ally, this is Mike and Mimi. Mike, Mimi, this is our daughter Ally."
I smiled, standing up and shaking both of their hands, "Nice to meet you two."
"Nice to meet you too, Ally, we've heard a lot about you. Our son likes the sound of you too, he can't wait for the date. Sorry he couldn't come to see you now, he said he didn't want to meet you until the date," A blonde woman who looked like she was in her late-forties, I guess she's Mimi, says as we get lead into the front room and I sit in the same seat I was sat in a minute ago.
"Oh, uhm, I haven't really heard much about him - I found out about him five minutes ago. What's his name?"
"His name's Austin, he's twenty-two like you, honey," Mom tells me as they all sit down.
"Oh, and when is this date?"
"Well as you're going home tomorrow, why not do it tonight? When are you leaving tomorrow?"
"Uh, probably one-ish. What time is it now?"
Mimi's husband - I guess, or boyfriend... - checked his watch and told me, "Only twelve, we'll call him and tell him to meet you somewhere." He pulled out his flip-phone and dialed a number and held it to his ear, soon enough he left the room to talk in private while my mom begins another conversation.
"So, Ally, how's New York?"
"Great, I just got promoted at my job and I haven't been mugged yet!" I exclaim happily as Mike comes back in.
"Austin said it's good with him and to meet him wherever, just to text him where." Mike said, sitting next to Mimi on the red sofa.
"Okay, uh, I guess I should get going - tell him to meet me at the coffee shop 'round the corner in ten," I say, getting up from my seat to get changed out of my sweats.
"Okay, sweetie." I went upstairs to my old room where my mom had put my bag.
I changed into a white top with a floral skirt, as it was hot out.. Along with a heart necklace and a pair of white flats - it worked quite well for a weird blind date I was not gonna enjoy. But it was only one date. How bad could it be?
When I got to the coffee shop, I see that nothing's changed so I go in and sit at the table I used to sit in all the time as a kid. After a few minutes of waiting for this guy to show up, he did and he looked nothing like I pictured him. I was imagining brown hair, blue eyes who wore white t-shirts with black pants. I don't know why, I just pictured him like that... But, he was different though.
He had blonde hair, messy blonde hair but it was purposely messy - it was that 'bedhead' look I think - it suited him well. Brown eyes and he wore a blue t-shirt underneath an unbuttoned blue and purple checked shirt with a pair of jeans, and for shoes he was a pair of sneakers. Oh, and he wore a black leather jacket over the top of it, opened. A casual look.
"Hi, are you Ally?" He asks me, now standing in front of me.
Forgetting what his name was, I attempted to not use it at all until he told me, "Yeah, are you the guy I've been set up with?" I question with a smile, he returned the smile as he sat down with me.
"Yup, that's me. I'm Austin."
Sitting up now he's here, I try to make conversation, "Good to meet you, so why are you being set up with a girl you'll never see again- probably?" I say.
"My parents met your parents and they thought you were the 'perfect match for me'," He says, mocking his parents words by putting up air quotes with his fingers. "And who says I won't see you again You live in New York, right?"
In all seriousness, I answer him, "I'm visiting from New York, and even when you go back there, you'll never find me." I began remembering Mom said he lived in New York earlier.
"Fair enough, my mom told me you lived there too, so uh - why're you visiting?"
"My mom told me to come urgently last year but I kinda forgot so I came now."
He laughed, "I'll be right back, I'm gonna grab a coffee - you want anything?" I shook my head as he walked off to the counter.
Austin's POV
"Hey, can I have two hot cocoas please?"
"$2.80."
"Thanks," I say as I give him a five dollar bill. I look back at Ally, and smiled, she seemed nice and innocent. Nothing like the girls I usually get set up with by my parents. The girls I usually get set up with are weird clingy girls who want to get married after the second date.
"Sir, here's your drinks. Anything else?"
"No thanks," I say as I take the drinks and get back to the table.
"You got two?"
"No, silly, one's for you. Here." I say, placing one of the hot chocolate's in front of her.
"Oh, thanks, how much was it?" She asks me, pulling out her purse.
"No, no, no, no. I'm the guy - I'll pay."
"Oh, are you sure? I mean, I've got enough-"
I start a new conversation, "Leave it, just... tell me about yourself," and take a sip of my cocoa.
"What do you wanna know?"
"I don't know, everything. What do you like doing?"
"Uh, I like... going places with my best friend. Sorry, I don't usually go on blind dates like this, I don't know what to say. I like music, I guess, write songs and stuff." She awkwardly says, you could tell it wasn't because she was nervous - it was just pure I-Have-No-Idea-What-To-Say awkwardness.
"I like music too, you write songs? That's awesome."
I bet those songs are really good, I'll never know, but I bet they are, "Yeah, I uh don't think their any good but I like a few of them. What about you?" She says.
"I just go with the flow."
"You did not just say that," She comments, cringing at the sentence.
"I said that and I am proud," We both laughed.
Soon enough, our drinks were finished and I took her for a walk, mainly because I didn't want her walking home alone in the dark. I took her to some weird place where you could see all the stars, it was basically an empty space where you could just see the stars in the night.
We laid on the grass, and looked up at the sky.
"Nice, huh? I don't usually come to this place, I go to a different one in New York - a nicer one. But it's a nice place to come on a date when you're nineteen. Girl's used to love it here," I tell her.
There's a really cool place in New York that my Pops showed me on holiday, it was just us - my nan didn't go and neither did my mom or dad - just a grandad-grandson holiday to New York. It was a place where you could just see the stars of New York - you could barely hear the loud noises of the Big Apple or the flashing lights. I loved it, and I go there a lot. It was sort of my safe haven, my parents didn't know it existed - I'd never taken anyone there other than Pops.
"It's pretty," she says from next to me, bring me back to reality. I put my arm up underneath my head as I see the stars - until I see one move.
Pointing to it, I say, "Hey, look - shooting star."
She closed her eyes as her mouth moved, I'm guessing she was mouthing her wish - but I did the same.
When we re-opened our eyes, we both locked eyes for a second. But then we got up as it was eleven. My parents will be getting worried, they still think I'm a five-year-old.
Ally whispered, "I should get back."
"I'll walk you."
The Miami air wasn't as cold as the New York air at night, but I could tell she was a little cold. So as we walked down her road, I slipped off my leather jacket and put it over her shoulders. I kept my arm around her, I liked her warmth. I wasn't usually like this on dates, I usually take them for a coffee then walk them home - the end. But we had the coffee, went freakin' stargazing and now I'm giving her my jacket, it's probably because I know this girl won't get clingy with me.
She looks up at me with a smile as we approach the drive of her parents' house with a black car parked there. I walk her to the door and before she goes in she thanks me.
"I had a good time tonight."
I reply truthfully, "Me too, this is probably the best blind date I've ever had."
"Me too, I've only ever been on one but this was really fun tonight."
"Could I maybe give you a call when I get back home?" I ask her, hoping for a yes.
Cheekily, she responds, "You'll need my number to do that, won't you?" meaning no. Great.
"Can I at least give you a-"
She interrupts me but giving me a soft kiss on my cheek.
"Goodnight Austin."
Then, she disappeared.
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