"Hey, baby," he says, smiling and setting me down.
I stare at him in disbelief.
"I'm here on vacation! My parents told me I could pick where we went and I said that I wanted to come back and see you."
"R-really?" I ask. "That's so sweet."
Before Austin, I would have been blushing right now but this is during Austin. My face stays its usual color.
"Yeah. I've missed you so much!" he exclaims. "It's been, what, four months?!" He wraps me in another hug and I sigh.
"Dallas, I have something to tell you," I say quietly into his chest. He doesn't appear to have heard me so I look up at him. He smiles down at me. "I have something to—"
"What the hell?" I hear from the stairs.
Dallas finally releases me and turns around. Austin's staring at us.
"What is he doing here?" Dallas asks me.
"Well, we're kind of—" I start but again, I'm cut off.
"I'm not allowed to be here or something?" Austin asks, slight anger in his tone.
"Well, you are kind of a bully to Ally and I don't think she'd want you around," Dallas tells him.
Austin walks up to Dallas and stares down at him. I notice that Austin is at least a full two inches taller than Dallas, maybe more.
"Actually, Dallas—"
"Ally loves having me around, thank you very much, Dallas," Austin spits.
"Austin—" I begin.
"Oh, yeah? When did she start to love having you around?" Dallas asks, putting air quotes around "love having you around."
I throw my hands up in annoyance at their ignoring my whole entire existence. I turn around and crouch back down to get the guitar picks. I reach under the counter and feel around for them.
"Hm, let's see. Maybe she started to love having me around the first time we kissed. That was not the time you saw us at the school, by the way," Austin starts.
I feel the bowl, grab it, and pull it out, setting it on top of the counter. I sit on top of the counter beside the bowl to listen to their argument. I would interfere but they wouldn't hear me if I screamed in their ears.
"Or maybe it was the night we went out on our first date... Or maybe it was, oh I don't know, when we said we loved each other!" Austin shouts.
"For some reason, I don't believe Ally even loves you," Dallas says. "Maybe the reason is that you've been a complete and total jackass to her since the day you met her!"
Austin's mouth falls open and so does mine.
"Ally, tell him you love me," Austin demands of me.
I stare at him, shocked that he acknowledged me. Dallas turns to look at me too, expecting me to disagree with Austin probably. I just blink and my breath catches in my throat.
"U-uh..." I say when I finally catch my breath. "Uh... um... u-um... E-excuse me." I push through them and run up to the practice room. I grab my coat, put it on, run down the stairs and out the door.
How could they just put me on the spot like that? I mean, obviously I do love Austin but I did really like Dallas. That was a long time ago though... I feel like I sent mixed signals or something. Does that make any sense? … Mrs. Pennyworth... Mrs. Pennyworth...! Mrs. Pennyworth...?
Sorry, babe, I've got nothing.
Don't call me babe. And thanks a lot for the help.
A door to my right opens and someone walks out. I pay no attention to them though.
"Ally!" I hear from inside the store that the man walked out of.
I look and see Hailey's Hot Chocolate. The door closes. I walk over and open it back up, walking inside. It's so warm in here that I have to take off my jacket. I see why they keep this door closed. To keep the heat in. I look around for the person who called my name. Suddenly, Trish runs up to me, wearing a sky blue shirt and a crème-colored apron.
"Hey, Ally, what's up?" she asks.
I glance out the door awkwardly. I bend my pointer index finger, gesturing for her to come closer.
She obeys my command.
"Dallas is back," I whisper to her.
Her eyes widen. "Dallas is—?!" she starts but I cover her mouth.
I shush her. "He told me that he's just here on vacation. He should be gone after Christmas break," I tell her.
"But that's, like, two weeks from now," she argues.
She's right. And two weeks is a long time when you're waiting for something. Like for Dallas to leave... Well, he had friends when he was in Miami. Actually, he was very popular. He'll probably hang out with his old friends and catch up with them. It'll be as if he's not even here.
"Do you want some hot chocolate?" Trish asks me, straightening up.
"Yes, please."
She walks off toward the back of the store. A few minutes later, she comes back with a beige mug that says 'Hailey's Hot Chocolate' in curly, black print.
"Thanks," I say, taking the mug from her. She sits down across from me. I wrap my cold fingers around it and I'm about to take a sip when I notice something. "There are no marshmallows in here."
"Oh, here," she says. She reaches into one of her apron pockets and drops a handful of marshmallows into my drink.
"Uh, thanks," I say again, taking a sip.
The hot liquid spills down my throat and I shudder. It feels so good. I take another sip before setting the mug down on the table.
Trish pulls the mug over to herself and takes a sip too before sliding it back in my direction.
"Trish, what if Dallas wants to get back together?" I sigh.
"Just tell him you're with Austin," she answers.
"I might... not be," I say. "He might be mad at me right now..."
"Why would he be? Oh, is it because you won't tell him what he did?"
"Uh... no..." I say quietly.
"Then why would he be mad?" she asks interrogatively.
"Well..." I sigh. "When I was at Sonic Boom, Dallas said he didn't believe I loved Austin. So Austin told me to tell Dallas that I really did love Austin and I... didn't."
"What do you mean you didn't? Do you mean you didn't say it or you didn't love him?" Trish asks, her eyes wide.
"I didn't say it!" I exclaim. I look around but, luckily, no one has looked up at me. She knows I love him. She should have known that I just didn't say it. We sit there in silence for a few minutes as I watch the steam rise from my hot chocolate. It cools down a bit and I see no steam. I gulp down some of my drink and sigh. I don't know what to do about this.
Oh, wait. I'm supposed to be working. Oops.
"Here," I say, taking some money out of my coat pocket and handing it to her. She gives me a small smile as I put my coat back on.
I smile back sadly and walk back to Sonic Boom, hoping Austin and Dallas have left. I walk inside to see them staring at each other from opposite sides of the room. Austin is by the front door, Dallas by the back. Austin notices I've walked in and he stares at me, anger in his eyes. I swallow and stare back at him.
"Ally, I need to talk to you," he says, barely moving anything but his lips.
I take a deep breath.
"O-okay," I stutter.
He takes my hand and leads me up to the practice room, making sure to give Dallas the nastiest look he can manage on the way. He closes the door as I walk over and lean against the piano.
"Ally..." he starts, pacing around the room.
"Austin, before you say anything, I want you to know that I do love you," I assure him quickly. He scoffs.
"Oh, really now?" he asks me. "Because, if you really loved me, then you would have told him that."
"I'll tell him right now," I suggest. He shakes his head.
"No, no, he'll think I paid you to do it or something," he mutters. "This wouldn't be so hard if you had just told him in the first place."
"Well, you two were making me uncomfortable and you were acting like idiots anyway!" I yell.
"How exactly were we acting like idiots?" he asks. I sigh and shake my head.
"Never mind," I murmur.
"No, tell me. I wanna know," he says as he stops pacing.
"It's not even important," I tell him. He walks up to me and looks down at me, towers over me.
"Tell me," he demands. I squeak, afraid.
"Don't hit me," I say, tears forming in my eyes. His expression softens a bit.
"Hit you? Why would I hit you?" he asks. "I would never hit you..." I look up, right into his big brown eyes.
"Well, that's funny because you did," I spit. Horror fills his eyes.
"I-I... I-I... I what?" he asks, not able to believe his ears. He shakes his head and swallows. "That's impossible."
"It's not impossible because it happened. And there's nothing you can do to take it back! That's why I was mad at you! I hate you, Austin Moon!" I scream. I stomp out of the room and down the stairs.
"Dallas, you have to get out. I'm closing the store." He opens his mouth to say something but I just point to the door. "Now!"
He runs out the door and I look under the counter for the keys. When I find them, I realize Austin hasn't left the practice room.
"Austin!" I yell. He runs down the stairs, apologizing many times. "Just get out!" I exclaim, walking to the door. He follows me out. I lock the door and he starts to follow me, spitting out apologies faster than you can say your alphabet.
When it gets unbearable, I break into a fast run to my house. When I get there, I throw the keys to Sonic Boom onto the kitchen counter and run up to my room. I strip off my jacket, throw it onto the floor, and jump into bed.
I cry my eyes out and no matter how hard I try, I can't lower the volume of my sobs. I cry all night. At some point, Jenna came into my room and held me while I shook with tears. She caressed my back and wouldn't leave even though I begged and begged. She had started crying too but they were basically silent except for the loud intakes of breath every few minutes.
Now, it's probably about midnight and my tears have finally stopped. I'm probably out of tears, to be honest. Jenna's now in my arms. I set her down on my bed and pull my covers up to her chin. Her face is pink and puffy from the tears. Mine probably is too. It probably wasn't too long ago when she fell asleep.
I walk across the room and look into my mirror. My face is pink and puffy. My eyes are red and very wet.
Well, duh, Ally. You were just crying. Of course they're wet.
I sigh and turn around. I touch my cheek softly. I shake my head, remembering that night. Suddenly, another night comes to mind. The night Austin saved me. That, of course, reminds me of his scar. And it makes me uncomfortable.
Why is that thing bothering me so much?
Are you really that dense, Ally?
What do you mean...?
It's obvious why it's bothering you.
I don't understand...
It's bothering you because it reminds you of Austin's ugly face and you hate it.
That wasn't Mrs. Pennyworth's voice... That was more of a man's voice... Who's was it? I know it came from inside my own head...
Oh, go away, Mr. Johnson.
That sounded like Mrs. Pennyworth's voice.
Wait, Mr. Johnson?
Oh, right, he must be the bad voice. I forgot about him... But this is just crazy. Mrs. Pennyworth and Mr. Johnson. One more "imaginary friend" to deal with.
But what if I don't want to, Mrs. Pennyworth?
I have gone insane. My imaginary friends are fighting with each other. I have gone insane.
I push their voices to the back of my head and they just become muffled noises. I pace around my room, thinking of nothing in particular... No, really. My mind is almost blank.
Suddenly, Jenna sits up, mumbling about something. I run over to her and kneel on the ground beside my bed.
"What's wrong, Jenna?" I ask. She frowns at me.
"Where's my unicorn?" she asks worriedly.
"I'll go get it," I tell her.
"It is a she!" she says annoyed. I throw my hands up in surrender.
"Okay, okay. I'll go get her," I correct myself. I run down the hall to her room and grab the unicorn off her bed. I notice a piece of paper on her side table. I pick it up and look at it.
She's drawn two stick figures: one very tall and one very short. The tall one has blond hair and the short one has brown. It's obviously Austin and Jenna. Austin's kind of leaning on a red guitar she's drawn and Jenna is hugging her unicorn. They're standing on lime green grass and the sky is a light blue. There's a sun in the corner of the page and a few clouds in the sky. Across the top, it says "Merry Christmas, Austin!" in yellow crayon.
I put it down quickly and walk back to my room. I hand Jenna her unicorn and she smiles at me briefly before rolling over and falling back to sleep. I should probably get to sleep too. My head has gone quiet now. They must be done arguing. I sigh and lie down beside Jenna. I stare at the ceiling for a few minutes before finally drifting off to sleep.
LoveAndLaughter, Little Red Riding Hood? That's awesome! Omg, by the way, I typed in your name and it asked me if I meant "manslaughter"... O.O Just thought you'd like to know that xD
Astrawberry11, omg, I love her!
Awesomesauce325, that's good that you've been good xD and homework? Booo! Ah, sisters. It's as if they're just there to annoy you -_- Aw, doggy! :D I'm not a cat person either XP but I didn't want to be animalist (I dunno, it's like sexist but with animals. Does that make any sense?) and just say dogs. A female Optimus Prime? I don't think I've ever heard of an outfit like that but I'm sure it looks amazing! :D
Ausllyluvr, I think it'd be cool to be Rydel or Taylor Swift. They're both amazing people! c:
AusllyBoriJimelFinchel1, that's good :) And Draculaura? Is that, like, a mix between Dracula and Laura? Haha, it sounds cool though :) And yeah, he was the boy Ally went on a date with after Dez. He moved away and shiz.
xXDemiFanForeverXx, whoa, awks O.O
Randomsmileyperson, *dramatic gasp* How could you NOT be a fan of Halloween?! But, I understand. Christmas is my second favorite because of all the mistletoe-y romance ;)
Bubbleslolz, Rydel? Awesome! And ugh, cats. XP I don't like cats very much.
Lema, :O You're gonna be Annabeth?! I love her! PERCABETH! WHOO! Haha
HG Just Because, hey! Like Ally! Haha, anyhoodles, Katniss Everdeen? My friend is gonna be Katniss this year, I think c:
Happy Halloween, my lovelies! Hope it's great for you! Review!
LoVe, KeNzIe