"Right now? Like, cut class?" Trish asks.

"It's only one period," Dez tells her.

"Trish, can I talk to you?" I ask, walking back over to her.

"Yeah, sure. Hang on a sec', Dezzy-Roo," Trish says. I pull her over to my locker.

"Don't go," I tell her firmly.

"Why not?" she asks. "I'm just cutting one period. You've done it before."

"Once. Just once. And I shouldn't have. He's taking you into the woods where—"

"Into the woods?!" she asks, her eyes wide.

"Yeah. He's taking you to some kind of clubhouse. Austin and his friends all drink until they throw up," I tell her.

"Dez drinks?" she asks, glancing over at him.

"No, no, Dez doesn't drink. He's just there to make fun of them," I reassure her.

"Well then no problem, right?" she asks.

"I guess not..." I say, still worried.

"If you're really that worried then come with me," she says. I shake my head.

"Trish, I can't do that. Austin's going to be there," I tell her.

"That's what this is all about, isn't it?" she asks. "You just don't want me to be in the same room with Austin."

"No, I just don't want you to get in trouble, that's all," I say.

"Well come with me," she says. "I'm going to go whether you like it or not. Would you like me to go alone or would you like to come with me?"

"I guess I'm coming with you," I sigh. We walk back over to Dez.

"Ally's coming with us?" he asks. Trish nods. "Mmkay," he says, carelessly. We walk out of school, down the road a bit, into the woods, and to the clubhouse. They both walk in but I hesitate outside the door. I shove a strand of hair in my mouth and walk in awkwardly.

"Hey Ally!" all of Austin's friends say together. Austin nudges one of them and they all notice. "Hey, whore!" they exclaim. Dez sets up the drinks and I sit down beside Trish by the door. Austin looks me up and down and frowns. I roll my eyes, cross my arms, and look at my feet. I let the hair fall from my mouth.

"Guys, I think I'm gonna sit this one out. I'll let someone else win for once," I hear Austin say. Wait, what? Why is he sitting this one out? Why?! He comes over and sits down beside me.

"Hey," he says to me. He doesn't call me whore. He doesn't call me Ally. He doesn't call me Als. He just says hey. I don't answer. I continue staring at the ground. He sighs. We stay silent for about fifteen minutes as everyone drinks themselves sick. Then he puts his arm around me.

"Well, babe, what do you say we go back into that room over there and...?" He points to a door on the other side of the clubhouse that I'd never noticed before. It takes me a minute to realize what he's talking about. I shake my head, still refusing to speak. A thoughtful look crosses his face. "At least talk to me."

"Why?" I ask.

"Because I want you to get over this. It really isn't that hard to say four little words," he tells me.

"You called me weak," I spit. "And if there's one thing I'm not, it's weak."

You tell him! Good job!

"I never called you weak," he says. I look him straight in the eye.

"That's a damn lie," I tell him. "You said that just last night."

"Okay, okay, but I haven't said it since then," he says, apparently proud of that. I roll my eyes and look back over to the other idiotic boys. I see one of them—who I remember as Scooby—retch into the trash can below him.

"Ally, seriously, can we talk?" he asks.

He's just trying to pull you back in. Don't fall for it! He's trying to prove that you're weak. Show him that you're a strong woman!

"No," I tell him. "You're just trying to rope me back in."

"Ally, why do you keep staying stuff like this?" he asks, holding up his hands. "Do you see a rope?"

"Again, it's a metaphor," I tell him in a 'duh' tone.

"Would you stop using them? Because I obviously don't understand them," he says irritatedly.

"Well, I'm sorry that you're an idiot," I snap.

"Okay, that was rude," he tells me. I shrug.

"Well, guess what?" I ask. "Not a fuck was given." I stand up straight. "Fuck you. Fuck your friends. Fuck all the people in this room! Except Trish and Dez. They're pretty cool but other than them, fuck all of you!" I walk out of the room with my bag slung over my shoulder. I walk against the bitter cold back towards the school grounds.

That's the thing about Miami. When it gets cold, if it gets cold, it gets cold. And I mean, freezing cold. Like, negative ten cold. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating. Maybe.

As soon as I'm on the school grounds, I hear footsteps on the black pavement behind me.

"What?" I spit, turning on Austin.

"Can we talk?" he asks. I wish he would stop asking me that.

"Fine. We can talk at our French lesson after school," I finally agree. I walk to the school and in the doors. I hear his footsteps, again, echoing behind me in the empty hallway. I guess he's coming back to class.

"Ooh," most of the people say as Austin and I walk into French together. "Uh oh!" someone calls. Someone whistles. Not a regular whistle. Like, a wolf whistle.

"Nice of you two to finally show up... thirty... minutes... late..." Ms. Moreau snaps. "Take your seats." She sounds so cold today. I wonder why. Austin and I sit down beside each other. Someone taps my shoulder. I don't bother looking behind me.

"Austin fucked Ally!" someone calls from the back of the room.

"Mr. Johnson! Watch your mouth in my classroom!" Ms. Moreau exclaims.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Excuse my French. Oh! See what I did there? See what I did there?" the boy asks. I hear high fives from behind me. The person behind me keeps tapping me. They tap me all throughout the period. At the end when the bell rings, I finally turn around.

"What?" I ask through clenched teeth.

"You've fucked Austin. Why not me?" the brown-haired boy asks.

"Maybe because I don't know you," I tell him.

"You're not denying that you fucked Austin," he says with a smirk.

"Well, I didn't fuck Austin," I snap.

"Dude, we didn't fuck," Austin says, turning around. I stand up and run to my next class quickly. After chorus, I run to gym, my bag flying behind me. As soon as I get there, Austin moves from his spot higher up on the bleachers over to me.

"Yes?" I ask.

"We need to talk. Like, now," he tells me.

"No. We agreed to after school and I'm sticking to that time," I say.

"Ally, please," he says, staring into my eyes with his dreamy own.

Don't talk to him now. You both agreed to later.

Shut up, Ms. Pennyworth.

"Later," I tell him. He sighs and goes back up to the top of the bleachers. After gym, Austin decides that he wants to ride home with me today. How fun. We stand on the brick wall, waiting for my mom.

"So," Austin says, breaking the silence. Of course my mom chose today to come late. The good thing is: I'll probably be getting my license in a few days so I can come to the parking lot and go straight home.

"So," I say.

"Look," he starts. "I—"

"Wait until we get to my house," I say, making sure no one else is around us.

"But—"

"Just wait," I hiss. He raises his hands in surrender.

"Sorry," he mutters. We plunge into another few minutes of awkward silence. My mom finally shows up.

"Mrs. Dawson, can I ride home with you?" Austin asks.

"Of course you can, sweetie. Anything for my daughter's little boyfriend," my mom says with a smile to him. We still haven't told her that we're not exactly together anymore. I'd better end this soon or I'll spend the rest of my life being called "whore" and "babe" by the same person. Because I know Austin won't end it just so he can mess with me. I sigh. "What's wrong, Ally?" my mom asks me. I shake my head.

"Nothing, Mom," I answer. She glances at me out of the corner of her eye and continues home. Austin's so quiet that I forget he's even back there until he opens the door to get out. He twiddles with his thumbs as we walk up to my room.

"What's got you so nervous?" I ask as we walk through my door. He lies down on my bed.

"Can we talk now? We're at your house," he tells me. Yeah, that was the agreement. We could talk when we got to my house. I glance at my open door and walk over to it. I shut it slowly.

"What did you want to talk about?" I ask, sitting down on the edge of my bed.

"Well, everyone thinks that we fucked so..." he trails off.

"Yeah, so?" I ask.

"Well, we either need to make it true or—"

"Excuse me?" I cut him off. He smiles awkwardly. "I'll go for the latter."

"The latter?" he asks.

"The second choice," I tell him.

"The second choice is for you to suck my dick," he says. I slam my fist down on his stomach.

"I'm not giving you a blow job," I say firmly as he clutches his stomach.

"Don't worry. I was just joking..." he tells me. He lies back down. "Even though you'll have to do it someday," he adds quickly, running his words together. I bring my fist back up and he doubles over to protect his stomach. I slowly let my fist drop back down to my bed. He lies back down again.

"Okay, no, really. We need to find out a way to make them believe the truth," he says.

"Yes, because that'll be so easy," I mutter. Austin takes out his phone and that reminds me of something. I walk over to my laptop and open it.

"Hey, Ally?" Austin asks. I glance at him.

"Yes, Austin?"

"What's your WiFi password?" he asks. I roll my eyes.

"Why should I tell you?" I joke, turning back to my laptop screen. I type in the URL and press the "enter" key. Suddenly, arms encircle my waist.

"Because I might just have to do something like this if you don't," he whispers seductively into my ear, making a shiver roll down my spine.

The tip of his nose traces down my neck and my body feels tingly. He bites the lobe of my ear softly and tugs on it. He turns me around and leans against me so that I'm trapped between him and my desk. He stares into my eyes and I can actually see the seductive look on his face now. He leans down to kiss me and I try to lean back but my head soon bumps into the wall. We're inches away now. A small whimper escapes my lips.

"Why are you so scared, whore? This can't be the first time something like this has happened. Plus, I've kissed you before," he whispers, my nose now filled with his minty breath. We're about a millimeter apart now.

"The password is the same as the name of it!" I finally exclaim. He pulls away immediately but he still keeps me pushed up against my desk. He types it into his phone and looks back to me. He puts his phone on my desk and brings his face closer to me again.

"It says it isn't right," he tells me. I pick up his phone and look at it. He's connected. He smiles evilly and I put his phone in his jacket pocket.

"Go sit down. We'll start studying in a second. I just have to check something," I say, shoving him off of me and turning back around. I hear him plop back down on my bed as he surfs the web via mobile. I look at my street team page. My "fans" have dropped down to a low number. A very low number at that. Exactly one fan. There's only one regular visitor now. I find myself wondering who this person is. I make a new post.

(Bold=Ally; Italics=The Other Person)

Who are you?

The person replies anonymously.

Someone you know.

I push my eyebrows together in confusion.

Be specific please?

They comment almost as soon I post my own reply.

Alright, I'm... human.

I roll my eyes.

Can you at least tell me about yourself?

They take about a minute to reply.

I go to your school...

I sigh in frustration at their difficult-self.

That narrows it down to about two thousand people... Thanks for the clarification on who you are.

I look behind me to make sure Austin is peeking over my shoulder or anything. No, he's too busy enjoying the free WiFi.

I'm a boy. Does that help?

Alright. Now about one thousand people. More please?

You see me a lot.

Where? In the hallways? In class? Around the mall? Around all of Miami?

Places...

Will you please just tell me who you are?!

Haha, why would I tell you though if you already know who I am...?

I don't reply. If their goal was to make me frustrated, then they succeeded. I slam my laptop shut and turn to Austin.

"Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?" I ask. He looks up from his phone. He sits up and shifts his eyes from side to side.

"I, um... I wanted to talk... about... us," he finally gets out. Maybe he's going to break up with me! I shoot across my room and sit down beside him.

"Go on. Lay it on me. I can take it," I say excitedly. He looks down.

"I don't... I don't like this," he says.

"You don't like what?" I ask.

"Being mean to you. I mean, I was used to it before but now it just feels... I don't know. It just feels... different... Like, it feels... wrong... y'know?" he asks.

Keep hanging on to that little thread of hope that he'll break up with you! He still might!

"Do I have to say the words?" I ask.

"It would help," he says a little sadly. It almost breaks my heart to hear that voice. But I can't give in. I'm not weak. I reach into my book bag and pull out my French book.

"Let's start studying," I say, standing up and walking to the other side of the room. I lean against my balcony window and realize that it's freezing cold. I pull back the curtain and look out. I see—and I can't believe this—snow! "Austin, it's snowing!" I exclaim. It's a gentle snow but it seems to be getting thicker and thicker. Austin rushes to my side and looks out too.

"Maybe it'll stick and we'll have a snow day!" he says excitedly. I let out a one-beat laugh.

"Have you forgotten where we're at? We're in Miami freaking Florida. One of the hottest places. It won't stick," I say. I look at his hopeful face. "I mean, uh, what do I know? It could stick." The excitement flickers back across his face and I smile. I reopen my French book to a certain page and hand it to him. He looks down at it.

"What am I supposed to do?" he asks.

"Read the poem to me," I command. See, the whole entire book is in French. Even the title page and the table of contents. He laughs.

"You're joking, right?" he asks. I shake my head. He sighs and struggles to read the poem. "Uh... je... je..." He sighs. "Ally, how about you read this poem to me then translate it for me?" I take the book from him and look down at it. I lead him to my bed, sit down, and read it out loud to him. He sits down beside me.

"Je T'aime, Je T'aime," I read him the title.

Je t'aime

Je t'aime

Mais vous n'êtes pas le mien

Je t'aime

Je t'aime

Pouvons-nous revenir en arrière?

Je t'aime

Je t'aime

Quand vous venez de me pardonner?

Je t'aime

Je t'aime

Et que tout cela se dérober

Je t'aime

Je t'aime

Si vous le faites, je vais dire...

Je t'aime

Je t'aime

Pour toujours et toujours...

I then realize what this poem is about. Austin watches me, waiting for me to translate.

"Well, what does it say?" he asks.

"Nothing. Let's translate another poem," I say, starting to flip the page. He stops my hand and turns the page back to Je T'aime, Je T'aime.

"What does it say?" he demands. I sigh and read him the poem in English.

I love you

I love you

But you are not mine

I love you

I love you

Can we just turn back time?

I love you

I love you

When will you just forgive me?

I love you

I love you

And let this all slip away

I love you

I love you

If you do, I will say...

I love you

I love you

Forever and always... (1)

I flip the page, looking for something else to read. Austin shifts his weight uncomfortably and rests his hands in his lap.

"Now I get why you didn't..." he trails off. I flip through the pages before I find one of my favorite poems...

"This is called La Façon Dont Je Ressens Pour Toi. A few years ago, someone put this poem in my gym locker on Valentine's Day. In English, of course. I really thought it was accidentally put into the wrong locker but it said 'To Ally Dawson' on the front. There's no way to misinterpret that, I don't think," I tell him.

J'aime la façon dont tu souris

J'aime la façon dont vous vous moquez

J'aime la façon dont vous parlez

Je l'aime quand je regarde dans tes yeux

Et je sais que je ne serai pas jugé

J'aime le confort et la façon dont je peux exprimer mon opinion

J'aime être ensemble, parler

Et être seul ensemble

Mais j'aime être votre ami

Et j'espère qu'un jour nous pourrons être plus

Mais jusque-là

Voulez-vous être ma valentine?

"Now—" Austin starts.

"—Read it in English," I finish for him. "I know."

I love the way you smile

I love the way you laugh

I love the way you talk

I love it when I look into your eyes

And I know that I wont be judged

I love the comfort and how I can speak my mind

I love being together, talking

And being alone together

But I love being your friend

And I hope one day we can be more

But until then

Will you be my valentine?

"Did you ever find out who sent you that?" he asks me. I shake my head.

"Nope," I say. He looks around the room and I narrow my eyes at him. "Why? Do you know?" I ask him. He nods sheepishly. "Well, tell me," I demand, getting excited to know who my secret crush was.

"I don't know..." he says as if he solemnly swore not to tell. Then a smirk begins to play on his lips.

"What?" I ask, staring at his perfect lips. The smirk, I mean.

Oh, don't lie. You know you just wanted an excuse to look at his lips anyway.

I look up into his eyes and I see the idea. Oh, God. What does he have in mind?

"What are you thinking about?" I ask, suspicious. He strokes his chin as if he has a beard, pretending to be deep in thought. He looks up.

"Hm..." he says. "I'll tell you if you give me a kiss." He raises his eyebrows.

"I can live without knowing," I say nonchalantly, flipping the page in my French book.

"Alright," he says, shrugging, "I'll just tell him you aren't interested." He sighs loudly. "Poor little guy..."

You don't need to know.

Yes, I do.

I grab Austin's shirt, turning him toward me, and crush my lips against his. I've been wanting to figure this out for a long time. A long time. I pull away from him as soon as possible and bounce in anticipation.

"Well, who is it?!" I ask. He shrugs.

"I dunno," he tells me. I stare hard at him. "Okay, okay, me and my friends dared some kid to do it." I roll my eyes.

"That was stupid," I mutter. I glance at my phone. "Well, it's time for you to go," I tell him, standing and pulling him to his feet. I push him out of my room and close the door, turning and leaning against it.

I shouldn't have kissed him. I really could have gone without knowing. I sling my head back once against the door. I walk over to my bed, picking up my French book. I shove it into my bag and pick up my songbook.

Dear Diary/Songbook,

Okay, you're going to be mad at me but... I kissed Austin. I really wanted to find out who the boy was. You're probably wondering who I'm talking about. Remember that time I told you about finding a note with a poem on it in my gym locker that one Valentine's Day? Well, it turns out that Austin and his friends got some kid to do it. I feel like such an idiot for even falling for something like that. Anyway, I'd better get ready for bed. It's already getting cold so I better double up. Remember? My dad doesn't like to turn the heat up since it costs extra? Well, my mom might turn the heat up since my dad is at another accordion convention... Anyway, I'll write in you later. Goodnight.

Love, Ally

I place my book on my bed and walk over to my bathroom. I pull on my bright pink pajamas with flying, orange pigs on them. They seem to be the warmest of my pajamas. Then I pull on a green pair of pajamas with my initials printed all over them in many different colors. But when I begin to sweat already, I take off the second pair of pajamas and throw them back into my drawer. Ew, it has my sweat on it though. I take it out of my drawer and throw it in my dirty clothes basket.

I walk out of my bathroom, yawning. I almost run into someone. Wait... who would be in my room? I look up and see Austin.

"Austin? What are you doing here?" I ask, trying to push him back out of my room again. I notice that he's shivering a little. Nonetheless, he just chuckles as I push him down the stairs.

"Ally, what are you doing?" Mom asks me.

"Don't you think it's time for Austin to go home?" I ask her casually as I stop pushing Austin. She smiles at me.

"Honey, do you remember that blizzard that was supposed to happen yesterday?" she asks me. I nod. "Well, the blizzard is happening now." I look out the window and I can't see anything. The snow is built up against the window. "And all of the roads are closed. The blizzard is supposed to last for a few days which means your father's plane will be delayed." She frowns. "On the bright side, you don't have school tomorrow! And your boyfriend will get to stay over!" she exclaims excitedly. I sigh.

"Yay," I say as excitedly as I can.

1.This isn't a real poem which is why it sucks xD

poem is The Way I Feel About You by T. J. M. I found it on My Word Wizard . Com.

I just realized that in chapter 11, Ally said "Bye, Blondie" and he wasn't even there xD You're probably wondering why... In a previous version, before I edited it, Austin came and sat down beside Ally.

LoveIsMyCure, omg what? My stories inspired your story? Omg, what is—what is this feeling... inside my heart...? It's... it's... IT'S PRIDE. I FEEL SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW. OMG. :'D

Jake, if you're going to review and bash my story, at least use correct grammar and speak in complete sentences instead of making every word its own sentence. Thanks.

Guest, they still like each other but Ally is mad at Austin. Austin just doesn't realize why. And I promise, you'll all find out why soon.

Storiesyeah, omg. When I read your review, first, I laughed then I thought of all the fangirls on Twitter. Like, the ones who are like, "Omg. _ and _ happened. Omg. Lemme go cry in the corner." That's seriously the first thing I thought of xD

Review!

LoVe, KeNzIe