(A/N - what is this, my third update today? Dang, I'm like, a writing machine! :D haha just kidding, but this is so much fun to write! And a bunch of you asked for another chapter, so your wish is my command! Enjoy!)

Thursday Evening

When I got home from my shift at Sonic Boom, I was rudely greeted by Natalie and Jessica. "Can I help you?" I asked slowly, glancing back and forth between them.

"Yeah, you can," Jessica snapped, rolling her eyes. "You're the help, after all." Natalie snickered, until Jessica shot her a glare, shutting her up. "Okay, we know that you're Austin's mystery girl."

I raised my eyebrows. "I'm not sure what you're talking about," I said, trying to slide past them into the kitchen. "I'm obviously not." I thought back on the past few days. After Austin asked me out Monday night, things got a little awkward between us. He hasn't been coming by the Sonic Boom in the afternoons, but I also know that he has been sitting through a lot of girls singing to him.

He is probably stressed, tired, and sick of hearing music for the time being. Plus, it's fine by me, that he hasn't been that close the past few days. I need a little time to get over him, because a relationship would obviously never work out between us. Austin says he likes me, but would he, if he knew the real me? If he knew that I was practically an orphan, would he feel the same way? If he knew that my step-mother and step-siblings hated me, and forced me to be the maid, even though I'm legally adopted into the family, would he still like me?

What about if he knew I was lying about not liking music? How would he feel, then? Would he be happy that I was his mystery girl, or would he be pissed that I have been keeping so much about myself from him? Probably the latter. I'm hoping that this chase for his mystery girl will dissolve any feelings he has for me. I just feel bad that both of the girls he wanted were me, and that he can't have either one.

He hasn't been completely ignoring me, though. He and Dez still talk to Trish and I in the mornings. In fact, it seems as though Trish and Dez are finally getting along. Dez eats lunch with us every day, while Austin is off who-knows-where, listening to girls sing.

I snapped back into reality to see Jessica and Natalie glaring at me, their arms crossed. "Like I said, it couldn't be me," I restated, shaking my head. "I wasn't even at the singing festival, I was here doing stupid chores. Besides, Austin would never fall for a girl like me, remember?"

"We know you were there," Natalie said. "We heard you singing up on stage, and it sounds just like the dying cat noises you make when you're singing in the pool house. I'm not sure why everyone liked it, but they did."

"Exactly," Jessica added. "And we know that you have the song that Austin is looking for. So, give it to us, and we will sing it to Austin. He'll realize that we're the girls of his dreams, and you can go back to being a loser."

"Give us the song," Natalie added, taking a threatening step towards me.

I held my ground, and glared at them both. "Fine," I said evenly. "I'll give you guys the stupid song. Let me go make dinner, then I'll write it down and give it to you." They smiled, letting me through to the kitchen, where I made their dinner. Honestly, I don't know why I don't just slip some poison in there one day. But, I'm not nearly that mean.

After setting their dinner out on the table, and making a sandwich for myself, I stalked off towards my little poolhouse, ripping a sheet of paper out of one of my school notebooks and furiously writing down the lyrics to the song that Austin was looking for.

I stomped back into the main house, thrusted the papers at the twins, and slammed back into my own room, before crying myself to sleep. Why is my life so complicated? I'm not sure what I did to deserve all this, but whatever it was, I'm really, truly sorry. "Mom, Dad," I whispered into my pillow. "I miss you guys so much. I wish I could give you something more to be proud of, instead of being the maid, that lets everyone stomp on her." With that, I drifted into a heavy sleep.


Friday Morning

It was another one of those mornings where I battled it out with the alarm clock. After ripping the cord out of the socket again, I yanked the sheet of paper off the outside of my door. Another list of chores from Barbara, of course. Feeling angrier than I was the night before, I tore the list in half, before spending an extra long time making myself presentable for the day.

I walked into the main kitchen, taking the time to make myself toast, and eating it in enough time for Trish to get here. "Ally, did you do your chores?" Barbara called out to me.

"Don't I always?" I asked sweetly, giving her a fake smile. She nodded her approval, before walking back up the stairs, no doubt to sleep all day. I smirked, knowing I had gotten away with that. Why didn't I try lying about the chores years ago?

Through the window, I saw Trish pull up, and dashed out to the car, accidently slamming it extra hard. "What happened?" Trish sighed, as she started driving towards the school.

"Somehow, the twin-witches found out that I was the one performing with Austin at the song fest," I said, running my hands through my hair angrily. "And then, they demanded I give them the song, so that they could sing it to Austin."

"Okay, first, chill out before you go bald," Trish said, making me take my hands out of my hair. I sighed and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down. "Second, I hope you didn't give them the song."

"I did," I replied, shrugging. Trish slammed on the brakes, nearly causing an accident. After she began driving again, I looked over at her. "Trish," I exclaimed, clutching the seatbelt tightly.

"What do you mean, you gave them the song?" she asked incredulously, while keeping her eyes on the road. "You just gave it to them, without a fight? Is it really worth that?"

"What was I supposed to do, Trish?" I asked, running my hands through my hair once again. "I'm obviously not going to sing it to him, and he would hate me afterwards, for lying to him and putting him through this chase."

Trish sighed, "Ally, you really need to tell him-"

"No," I shouted. Trish looked over at me worriedly, and I immediately softened, reaching over to hug her. "I'm sorry, Trish, but I can't. And you promised me you wouldn't tell him, so you can't either."
"Right," Trish said, nodding her head. I thought I caught a glimpse of a mischievious smile on her face, but shrugged it off, hoping it wouldn't cause me any trouble later.


"Hide me," a voice whispered from beside me. I glanced up to see Austin sitting there, a hoodie pulled over his head, and a dark pair of sunglasses on. He kept his head low as he joined me at the lunch table. "I can't take it anymore."

"What?" I asked, glancing around to make sure no screaming fan-girls were on the way. Once I realized the coast was clear, I bent down to talk to Austin. "What are you talking about?"

"They're crazy, Ally," he whispered, shaking his head. "I thought fan-girls were obsessive before, but now, it's out of hand. All of them keep trying to prove that they're my mystery girl, when none of them are. They all are terrible. And then, there are a few that are decent singers, but horrible at songwriting. I feel like the girl really just doesn't want her book back enough to reveal herself."

"Oh, I'm sure she does," I mumbled. Thankfully, he didn't hear me.

He sighed. "And now, I have to go to a house tonight for dinner," he groaned. "They're going to sing to me, and they said something about their mother wanting to get into Hollywood. This is getting so stupid, but I have to find her, now. I have been through too much to give up." I nodded my head. "So, how have you been? I feel like we haven't really talked much the past few days."

"Eh," I said, making a so-so hand motion. He glanced up with a worried look, but I sent him a smile, assuring him it was nothing. "No worries, Austin. I just have a lot going on."

"I'm not giving up on you either, Dawson," he said, shaking his head. "I still plan to figure you out, and all the mysteries that come with you. You're my friend, and I want to know what's going on."

"I wish you weren't so persistent," I said, shaking my head. "But, the thing is, even though you want to figure out so much about me, you will wish you hadn't asked afterwards. The things that you'll learn would make you not want to be my friend."

"Ally, listen to me," Austin said sincerely, even taking his sunglasses off so I was looking him in the eyes. "Whatever you're hiding, I'm sure it can't be that bad. I would never want to stop being your friend."

"Thanks, Austin," I said, smiling up at him. We held each other's gaze for a few more moments, before a loud squeal interrupted us. We glanced up to see a pack of fan-girls headed our way.

"Great," Austin groaned, slipping his sunglasses back on. "I'll talk to you later, Ally." He waved before running off, the girls chasing quickly behind him. I sighed and shook my head, knowing that none of them was the girl he is looking for.


Friday Evening

When I got home from school that day, Barbara gave me a long list, with the ingredients for an extravagant dinner. "Why?" I asked, glancing down. Shrimp? Fettucini alfredo? Salad and soup?

"We're having a guest tonight," she said, shrugging. I rolled my eyes and spent the next few hours cooking, whipping together everything. The only great thing that comes out of the large dinners are that there are usually leftovers, so I can sneak a decent meal to my room for once. "Ally, I'm going to need you to act as a waitress tonight, as well."

Barbara exited the kitchen once again, leaving me standing there. "Why would I expect anything less?" I asked myself, quietly, putting the finishing touches on dinner. I placed the food onto plates, ready to take them out to serve. At one point, I heard the doorbell ring, but never cared to check who it was. Barbara has fancy dinner guests over all the time, so why should I care?

Finally, I heard everyone get seated at the table. I grabbed a few glasses of water, to take out to the table, when I suddenly heard Natalie and Jessica, singing loudly. Not only were they singing off-key, but they were singing my song. I stepped into the living room, and nearly dropped all the glasses when I saw who was sitting in the extra seat, looking terrified as the twins performed.

He glanced up, and if possible, his eyes got even wider when he saw me standing there. Austin.

(A/N - dun, dun, DUN! Looks like Austin just got a step closer to figuring out all of Ally's secrets... Ruh-roh, Raggy... Anyway, I think you should leave a review, because they make me super duper extra happy! :D)

Confessions of a FanFiction Addict #3 - When you open your email, and it's all alert clutter.