Austin held the door open to the music store for Ally. They were both laughing, huge smiles on their faces. Mr. Dawson barely even noticed.

"Ally, where have you been?" He asked angrily. It was eight. She was supposed to be back by dinner, which was two hours ago. Ally stopped laughing.

"Oh no. Dad, I'm so sorry. I completely lost track of time. Austin and I were just having so much fun." Ally said.

"I'm sorry Mr. Dawson, I should have kept track of the time." Austin said.

"You were having fun?" Mr. Dawson asked, his voice softer. A hint of growing happiness in it.

"Yeah, we had a lot of fun. Austin took me to Disneyland." She said, a smile on her face.

"Well that does sound like fun. Well kiddo, we should head home. Will you lock up while I start the car?" Mr. Dawson tossed the store key to Ally.

"So..." Ally said turning to Austin.

"So I'll see you tomorrow?" He asked hopefully. She smiled and nodded. He wrapped his arms around her and grinned to himself when she hugged back. He was glad she was finally smiling and laughing. When he pulled away he noticed something on her wrist as her shirt rose up.

"Ally, wait." He said. She was confused. He grabbed her wrist gently and pushed up the sleeve and pulled back the band-aid carefully. His eyes widened and he struggled to find the words. Permanent, but faded scars covered her arm. Then there was the new ones, blood on the band-aid.

"Ally-Ally...what is this?" He asked. She ripped her arm away from him roughly.

"It's none of your business." She snapped. The cold, depressed, and distant Ally had reappeared in mere seconds.

"Ally, I understand you're going through something awful, but you shouldn't hurt yourself." He said firmly.

"No, you don't understand. Your life is so perfect." She yelled out. Tears beginning to stream down her face.

"Perfect? Do you not remember that I have to watch my best friend struggle with eating? What do you think that does to me? Now I have to watch the girl I love purposely hurt herself." He stormed out of the store. Ally rubbed the tears away and locked up.

"That Austin boy seems nice. I'm glad you had a good time today." Mr. Dawson said as she got in the car. It began to rain and Ally watched it out her window.

"Me too." She said in a monotone voice. When they got home Ally grabbed her book. She hadn't wrote in it hardly, since she had met Austin. That's how great he was. He was always spending time with her. She decided to vent out her feelings. When she wrote, she pretended that she was writing to her mom.

'Mom,

I really screwed up today. Austin's such a nice guy, now he knows everything about me. I don't know what to do. I hadn't wanted it to get this far. I hadn't even wanted to begin it in the first place. I do love Austin. I've been realizing this for the past couple of days. I'm just afraid that I'm falling to fast, then where will I be when he becomes famous and finds some blonde that's prettier then me? Nowhere. Oh well, it doesn't matter. Now that he knows, he probably won't bother to talk to me.'

After writing in her book she grabbed her pajamas and walked into her bathroom. She started a warm bubble bath. As she undressed she looked in the mirror. She was pale. What had happened to that Florida tan that once graced her skin? She had always been the lightest one, but never this pale. She had always had a healthy tan to her. She had also gotten thinner. She turned away at disgust as she got down to the scars. She hated herself. She wished she could just make it all stop and live happily ever after with Austin. But that wouldn't happen. She knew it wouldn't. Happy ever afters are for the books. Not real life. She sank into the tub and sighed in relaxation at the warmth. The scent of the bubbles calmed her and she breathed in deeply. After an hour of soaking she put on her pajamas and climbed into bed. She smiled lightly at the picture of her and her mom. It sat on her bedside table. She snuggled into the covers and was soon asleep.

-The Next Morning-

Ally woke up to the sound of her cell phone ringing.

"Hey, have you heard from Austin?" Dez's voice said into the phone.

"No. Well, we hung out yesterday, but that's it." She looked at her clock. One in the afternoon.

"Why?" She asked getting up and stretching.

"We were supposed to meet at the skate park at noon. He hasn't showed." He said.

"Hmm... I don't know then. I don't think he'll be talking to me any time soon." She said.

"Why do you say that?"

"He found out some things..."

-AUSTIN (COMING HOME FROM HANGING OUT WITH ALLY)-

Austin slammed his door shut. He got to the door and was about to unlock it when it opened suddenly. He seen his cousin Rocky standing there.

"Hey man. What are you doing here?" He asked walking in. Rocky had a saddened look on his face.

"Austin, it's Mel."

-AN- This is going to be the last big dramatic, upsetting thing to happen. After the next chapter it's going to be extremely happy(: I promise. Hope you enjoyed