This isn't a love story.
This is the story of Ally and I, best friends for 4 years. We're both in grade 11, nearing the end of the semester. We're both mildly popular in school. That's probably because of me being Austin Moon, "internet sensation" and all that. But even though we have other friends and are in relationships – most of us – with other people, we have a tight-knit group of four friends: Ally, her best friend Trish, my best friend Dez, and me. Ally is dating this boy named Dallas and I was dating this girl named Rachel. She broke up with me a few days ago. Yes, I'll admit she broke up with me. I'm not one of those guys who acts all tough and says that I obviously broke up with her, why would she break up with me? She said that she recently started developing feelings for her old friend. She said that if she hadn't broken up with me she might have snuck around and didn't want to do that. Rachel's really a nice girl. I like that she was honest with me. I took it a little hard at first, but I didn't cry or anything. We decided to stay friends like in those lame movies, but I think we really will. We didn't start hating each other. We were going out for 7 months. So I'm single. Trish and Dez are single, too, but they bicker enough to be an old married couple.
Trish and I don't really like Dallas, to be honest. But he treats Ally like gold and she looks at him lovingly. It's really cute. I hope he doesn't hurt her. Trish thinks he will, though, so it's a little concerning. Either way, neither of us will tell her because we don't want to jeopardize our friendship with her. I mean, it's not our place to tell her what we think of her boyfriend. It's not like it's our relationship. Dallas seems nice enough as a person, though. It isn't that hard to pretend to like him. Like, I don't hate the guy or anything. I just don't know him well enough to really make a judgement on him, you know?
Dez is out of town for the day with his mom. His parents are divorced and she lives a few cities over. Every few weeks she comes down and they make a day of it. It's a shame, too, because she's really a great person and a fantastic cook. Her pancakes are the best I've ever had, second to my mom. Dez acts like he doesn't miss her as much as he does, but sometimes I see a glint of nostalgia in his eyes when Ally talks about her mom out in Africa. Dez and I have been friends since we were 3 and both of our moms brought us to the same park in downtown Miami.
As far as I know, Trish and Ally have been friends since kindergarten when this little weasel child took Ally's pudding from her after the teacher left the room. Trish saw the whole thing go down and wouldn't stand for it. When she was telling me the story, Trish made all of these elaborate hand gestures that to this day are as funny as they were the day she told us.
Ally met Dallas at Trish's quincinera when she invited almost every mall employee so she could get more gifts. They both realized how horrible they were at dancing while watching each other. They clicked instantly and have been going out for 5 months. I met Rachel at a basketball game during the summer. She was sitting alone on the bleachers and looked a little sad. So during the break I sat beside her and asked her what was wrong. Coincidentally, she was upset at the friend she dumped me for earlier. Haha, anyway.
So today, since Dallas was going out of town, Trish suggested that the three of us get together and have a movie night or something. I agreed because Dez was out of town and normally on Friday nights we have a Call of Duty marathon at his house. Ally said that Dallas was leaving around 4 so to come at 5. It was 4:50 when I left my house. It was a little ways away to her house but I didn't mind the journey. Sometimes cute girls would be at the café on the corner that I drive past. As I brake for the red light, I get a text. I quickly glance at the phone and see that it's from Trish, asking me to grab a couple bags of whatever is on sale. I don't have time to reply but I head for the convenience store anyway.
Once I'm there, I send the text confirming and head in. The variety is the best. There's everything from cheese puffs to regular potato chips to party mix to little bags of bite-size version of big chocolate bars. Taking in to account what Ally and Trish like, I pick up a few bags of junk – as well as a variety of soft drinks – and take them to the counter. The cashier is this petite girl with long black hair. It's a little shorter than Trish's. It's relatively straight with a deliberate wave to it. She's slightly pale and has a nose piercing, completing her look. She doesn't seem to notice me at first because she's reading a book. A big one like the kind Ally reads. At least 500 pages. I quietly clear my throat. She jumps a little and looks at me, immediately blushing, adding a splash of colour to her pale skin. I grin.
"Workin' hard or hardly workin'?" I tease her.
She laughs slightly. "Sorry about that," she says. "I really love this book and it's been relatively dead in here, today."
I nod and laugh. "That's okay," I insist.
She rings my items through and tells me the total is just over 10 dollars. I pay with my debit, continuing the conversation. By the time I've left I already have her number. She's so cute.
I finally hit her house, parking just before the driveway where I see Dallas' care. He'll need room to get out, I think to myself.
Wait. He's still here. Oops.
Nevertheless, I take the groceries with me up to the door and knock. When she answers, her hair is slightly matted and her she looks breathless. Her arm is a little pink. Wow, they're rough when they make out. Gross.
"Hi," she whispers.
"Hey," I smile. "You said to come now. Dallas hasn't left, yet?"
"Nope," he says, appearing behind her.
"Hey man," I grin.
"Hey," he replies coolly.
"Well I'll go pick up Trish then and bring her," I say.
"Great," he says. "Sorry I've taken so long."
I just laugh in response and look at Ally. There's something written in her emotions but I can't tell what it is. Careful not to seem obvious, I come up with an excuse to go inside. "It's really hot out, Ally," I say. "You mind if I drop the food off here so it doesn't heat up in the car?"
She nods, stepping back to let me through. I just smile and head in. I quickly look around and nothing seems out of the ordinary. I go to her kitchen, grateful they didn't follow me, and put the groceries down on the counter. I quietly unlock her back door and head back like nothing happened.
"Okay," I say. "See you in a bit. Have a good one, man," I say to them.
As I get in my car and they wave, I only drive around the corner. I am very careful not to alert myself to the neighbours, but since the majority of them know me, I don't think they'd worry about me being a robber or something.
I sneak around to the back of the house by the unlocked kitchen door and peer in. No one in there. I quietly open the door a crack to listen and am alarmed by Dallas yelling at Ally.
"You little bitch," he growls. "I'm leaving for a week and you don't have the decency to fucking give your boyfriend a proper goodbye?"
"Dallas," Ally whimpers from the living room. "I'm not ready for what you're asking of me. Please stop this."
I creep around behind the island counter.
"Fuck it, bitch. I'm going to get some of you before I leave tonight. And you're little bestie Austin won't know. Neither will Trish. Because if you tell them I will hurt you."
"Dallas, stop!"
I hated hearing Ally so scared but I couldn't help her yet until I was sure that he was doing something. He was only threatening her and my say wouldn't be liable in a court of law. Unfortunately I had to wait.
"Save it." Just then I hear a mild shriek that's soon muffled. I hear the shredding of clothes. "I'm going to enjoy this."
At this point, even though I wasn't sure if it there was enough proof, I had enough of him. I peer in the room and see Ally struggling against Dallas helplessly on the couch. As he starts pulling her underwear down, before it gets too far, I run in and tackle him, making him hit the wall. We both fall and I start landing punches in.
But he isn't weak. He manages to get one in and knocks the breath out of me, making me winded. I hold my gut for a moment as he starts getting kicks to my ribs and lover abdomen. I think I felt on crack. Or two. But I was high on adrenaline and I wasn't going down because this guy was trying to rape Ally.
On his last kick, I put my arms up in defence, shoving as I did. He lost his balance and stumbled a little. I pulled my phone out and dialed 9-1-1 before throwing my phone on the couch so the operator would hear the situation.
To my luck, Dallas started to get cocky about his chances of winning, just loud enough for the person to hear. "You won't win, Austin," he informs me. "I mean, you're almost unconscious and Ally hasn't moved." I look at her, staring at the wall in almost the same position I found her in, obviously in shock.
"You will get caught," I tell him, trying to regain the strength to get up.
As I do, he chuckles and comes over. "Yeah, right," he says and kicks me once more for good measure square in the gut. I crumple to the ground, seething. He walks over to a frozen Ally, leans down, and plants a wet and disgusting kiss on her lips. She doesn't move. He looks at me, also powerless, and very slowly and deliberately leans down to separate her legs. He sluggishly drags them apart, revealing her underwear again, winking at me. I shut my eyes and clench my teeth. I think I hear the wonderful sounds of sirens coming our way. Dallas doesn't seem to. He pulls Ally's shirt over her head and throws it at me. It lands on my face, perfectly blocking my vision. I can't even lift my arms long enough to remove it. I start to see lights behind my eyes, indicating that I'm going to pass out very soon.
Just then, I hear him whisper something creepy and seductive. Then the door busts open. "Freeze," the policewoman shouts. "Put your hands where I can see them and back away from the girl."
"I was just trying to protect her from him," he tells them innocently. "I didn't want to hurt him but I had to! He almost raped her."
"Sir, this boy's cell phone made the 9-1-1 call just a few minutes ago. We heard what you said. We have proof that you're lying. Turn around."
Just then, a different officer came and removed the shirt from my face, allowing me to see. Medical aid was rushing to assist both Ally and me and the other officer was cuffing Dallas. "You are under arrest for sexual assault and lying to a police officer," she informs him. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney present during questioning. If you cannot afford one, one will be provided for you..." She leads him out of the house.
I'm then very aware of how much my stomach hurts. After we both get medical attention, I'm put on a stretcher and put in to an ambulance while Ally is given a blanket. She's fine, but she's horribly disturbed. She sits next to me in the vehicle and stares at my bare stomach full of cuts and bruises.
I knew it wasn't the time to make jokes. But I attempted to do one anyway. "My stomach is more purple than your blanket," I laugh painfully. She just looks at me, her eyes starting to water heavily. Soon the tears are streaming down her face. "Hey," I say. "Shh, it's okay. I'm okay."
She shakes her head and leans over, carefully hugging me. She rests her head on my chest for a moment, the tears lightly staining my skin. She sits up slightly and looks at me. "I'm sorry," she whispers before leaning in and kissing me.
Now I wouldn't say my world exploded. But something within me did, like her lips opened the cage in my heart where my feelings for her were buried. They were buried so well I didn't even know about them.
She held my hand all the way to the hospital, even when I briefly fell asleep from the physical exhaustion of the last hour.
When I woke up, she smiled at me and I smiled back, wondering what this was. This... look. This feeling. This story.
And then I realized.
This is a love story after all.