A soft hissing sound snapped Ally Dawson out of a trance. Lifting her chin from the palm of her hand, she slowly climbed out of her chair and walked towards the kitchen counter. "Check to see if it is hot to the touch", her mother's voice echoed in her mind, as she tapped her fingers on the side of the tea kettle quickly. Ally didn't know why some things stayed permanently embedded in her brain, but there were many things in her life that set off memories – and tea reminded her of her mother. It was peppermint – Ally's favorite – and as she poured the steaming liquid into her dark blue mug, she made a mental note to phone her mother soon. She stirred honey into her tea with a spoon before padding down the small hallway to her even smaller dorm room.

She'd been quiet so that she wouldn't wake Pete, but when her head peeked in the door, she found him propped up on a few of her pillows.

"Hey," he said groggily, giving her a sleepy smile.

She grinned. "Hey."

He patted the spot on the bed next to him, and she quickly skipped over to it, setting her cup down on the bedside table before scooting in beside him. He wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head, and she sighed contently.

Ally couldn't have asked for a more perfect boyfriend. As everyone who knew her was aware, she was a very firm believer in love. She'd read college-themed romance novels countless times, and had always wanted the ideal guy from the books – the one who showed up to dates on time and wasn't afraid to snuggle. Pete knew everything about her – from her favorite scenes in Pretty in Pink right down to where she was ticklish – and she felt very safe and secure when she was with him, like she was wearing a raincoat under an umbrella in a thunderstorm.

She'd met him on her first day at Berkley, near the big window in the huge campus library – one of the reasons why she'd chosen the University of California – and that was it. After talking for a few hours, and realizing that they shared a love for the song "Gone Away" by SafetySuit, and Scott Westerfeld novels, she'd fallen head over heels.

She lifted her head to look up at him. "Don't you have class tomorrow?"

"You mean today?" he asked, motioning towards the clock above her dresser.

Ally didn't even have to look – she knew that it was past midnight already. "You know what I mean."

"Nope, I'm a free man. We can spend the entire day together if you want."

"You mean like how we spent this afternoon together?" They had made plans to go out to dinner that night, but they'd ended up falling asleep while watching a rerun of The Dick Van Dyke Show instead.

"Oh, come on. You fell asleep too, Ally. Besides, we have the right – school is exhausting." He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear as he said this, and she smiled, giving in.

"Okay, fine. But I did really want to go out for dinner. Maybe tomorrow?"

"You mean tonight?"

She threw a pillow at him.

"Alright," he said, his muffled voice coming from underneath her pillow. "We'll go out – for sure this time."

"Good," she said, satisfied with herself.

His head popped up suddenly, and he gave her a quick kiss. "We'll go somewhere nice. I know a really fancy place off of campus."

"Okay." She didn't know if she owned anything that was even remotely fancy, but it'd be nice to get off campus. Ally had splurged for a single room by herself, but she regretted not saving up for a food plan, and she was sick of ramen noodles. At times it was nice not having a roommate – she had a big bed all to herself except for when Pete slept over – but she couldn't help but feel that she'd missed out on making friends.

"Great. I'll pick you up at six then." He got out of bed and pulled his hoodie on.

Ally frowned. "Won't you stay?"

"Don't pout, Ally." Pete leaned down to give her another soft kiss. "I think that it would be nice to do this right for once. You can spend seven or eight hours getting ready – "

"Hey!"

" – and I'll come and pick you up like a proper date."

She folded her arms across her chest. "I don't take that long to get ready."

He smiled down at her. "Goodnight, Ally."

She got up to walk him to the door, and he pulled her into a quick hug before leaving.

Pete turned to call over his shoulder. "Remember – six o'clock!"

"I know." She watched him until he turned a corner, disappearing from sight.

...

A familiar voice woke her at 6 am the next morning. Music blared from the radio on her bedside table, and she mentally scolded herself for forgetting to turn off her "wake-up" alarm. She'd set it for the days when she had early classes, but now Austin Moon's voice was booming from the radio for no other reason but to annoy her.

Ally's hand was inches away from the OFF button when she realized that she'd never heard the song before. She turned the volume down – so that it wasn't loud enough to earn a knock on her wall from Patricia next door – and settled back down into her bed.

The song definitely wasn't like most of Austin's modern pop stuff, and Ally briefly wondered if he had hired a new songwriter as she got lost in the lyrics.

So nice to see your face again

Tell me how long has it been

Since you've been here

You look so different than before

But still the person I adore

Frozen with fear

I'm out of love but I'll take it from the past

I'll let out words 'cause I'm sure It'll never last

And I've been saving

These last words for one last miracle

But now I'm not sure

I can't save you if

You don't let me

You just get me like I never

Been gotten before

Ally found herself smiling while listening to the song – something that happened rarely when she heard Austin's music.

When it was over, the radio announcer started to speak. "That was Austin Moon's new single, 'Gotten'! It seems like we've been listening to that song all night. Oh wait – we have!"

Sometimes radio stations played a new song for eight hours straight overnight to promote it the day of its release. Ally knew about the promotion because some very good songs had been ruined for her because of this. But as the radio announcer declared that there was still another hour left of airtime for the new song, Ally snuggled further into her bed and realized that she didn't mind at all.