He was walking away. Ally felt every inch of her body yearning for him to come back, calling for him. Her lips wouldn't work, her feet were frozen inside her heels. Why had she even come? Austin didn't love her. He wasn't even attracted to her; he hadn't said anything about her dress. And he was walking back to Mary-Lee, his prom date, without knowing how Ally really felt about him.
Ally ran in the opposite direction to the DJ's booth. She pulled a disc out of her purse and begged the DJ to play the next song.
"I wrote it myself," she said. "Please play it."
"All right," he groaned. He put the disc in.
Ally walked back to the dance floor. She stood against the wall as her song began to play over the speakers. The beginning of the song was her playing guitar. She'd had to learn how to play guitar herself since Austin had left, but he had always been better than her. She missed the way his fingers looked against the frets, the way he strummed so gracefully. They were meant to make music together. She was good at writing it, and he was good at performing it.
Ally heard her voice singing the words.
"If love was fair, I'd be a millionaire/ But happiness is free/ So I'll give you a piece/ And we'll count these sorrows down/ We'll count them all night long/ On our Happy New Year."
It wasn't New Year's, but Ally liked the idea of starting a new year, of starting all over. Maybe if she and Austin could start all over…maybe he would hear her song and know what she was trying to say.
She looked across the room at Austin. He looked sad and lost. Mary-Lee suddenly grabbed his tie and started licking his ear. His expression lightened a little, but he still looked serious. Then she started tugging him toward the doors.
They were going to slip out to the garden. She could tell, just from Mary-Lee's determined expression. And Austin was considering it. She could read his body easily, the way he peeled off the wall and followed her.
No, Austin, don't do it. Not with her.
Ally wanted to scream. Austin and Mary-Lee slipped out the door, into the outside garden. And he hadn't even heard her song.
