Hey beautiful people!
First things first, I decided to split a long chapter I've written this week. This is because I'm going back to school tomorrow and I won't have a lot of time to write. So it was either post a long chapter tonight and nothing next week or split it and have two shorties in two weeks. I hope you don't mind.
HAPPY NEW YEARS! How were everyone's holidays? I'm officially an adult now and I can tell you, it feels exactly the same. That's the magic of adulthood.
I noticed you guys really liked last chapter! Me too, I was happy to see even some new faces in the crowd.
Shame to say that this story is approaching its end. There will be another 4-5 chapters as I look at it now.
OH HEY I FORGOT! I won the contest, both of them! Thank you all for voting, I received the good news yesterday. I know it's just a small and unknown contest that didn't get a lot of votes in total, but still cool that I got most votes. Thanks again!
Spring break was a quite known term for college students. And 'known' was even cutting it. The many movies made about crazy students going wild on the beach, usually followed by an attack of many killing sharks in the ocean or bloodthirsting piranhas, like the awful horror movie series might be an exaggeration, but the many Brown students were ecstatic about the ten days' vacation just before the finals would hit them like a ton of bricks. And you could tell.
There were different groups that used their free days in different ways. Some would visit beaches full of peers, drinking more than their body could probably handle. Some would visit their parents to spend some quality time before the stress would definitely take over their personal life and maybe study a bit, just to stay on schedule. And others combined the two. That's what the group of six planned to do.
It was the first day of Spring Break and they had agreed to leave early for an enormous lake, which was an hour drive, to spend the whole day having fun, while they still could. They all had visited their family for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so their parents had encouraged them to stick to their plan, especially the study part. All cramped up in Austin's car, they were on their way, packed with beach towels, numerous sandwiches and most importantly, enough alcohol to last for more than a day.
At first, Austin hadn't been too sure about joining the group, figuring he might need the extra few days to study, since he noticed he was struggling with the subject material more than the others. Even though Ally wanted him to make the right decision of staying at home if that would help him prepare for the tests, she couldn't be happier when he decided to tag along after all. She couldn't help but notice, though, that the realization of a 'wasted' day bummed him out in the slightest, no matter how badly he wanted to hide it.
''Are you sure you want to go? It's okay if you want to study today,'' she covers his big hand with her own as he's gripping her thigh as usual. His eyebrows furrow even more as he shoots her an annoyed side glance. The other four are laughing about some inside joke they both missed as they don't notice the conversation between the couple.
''Do you not want me here?'' he mutters, careful not to let the backseat notice the upcoming tension. The hurt look in Ally's eyes makes him sigh as he holds her hand apologetic. ''I'm sorry, I'm just really stressed out. Makes me say things I don't mean.''
''Today will be a good distraction,'' she smiles forgiving as she intertwines their fingers.
''I can use one.''
''Well, I'm glad you came eventually. We really don't go out enough,'' the finals had had a certain impact on all of them as the Friday night diners got cancelled noticeably more often. ''Besides, we have something to celebrate. Remember?''
''It's the day we met, isn't it?'' Austin gasps after thinking for a moment. Ally confirms it with a happy grin before squeezing his hand excitedly. ''It seems like a lifetime ago.''
''A lot has changed since then. Can you imagine how different my life would be if I hadn't used that gym card?'' she giggles. ''Not even to mention yours.''
''That reminds me, I should send your mother a thank you card for that,'' he jokes. ''And who knows, maybe we would've met on campus this year. I think we would've found each other anyway.''
''Do you believe in faith?'' Ally asks him.
''I guess I do. I wouldn't have met you if it would've have made a big impact on my life,'' he tells her with a serious stare ahead as they fly over the fast lane. ''We all get what we deserve and whatever we don't, we grow stronger because of it.''
''You almost sound like a psychology student,'' she giggles before kissing his cheek lovingly.
''You have that kind of effect on me,'' while rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand, he winks at her. ''Happy meeting anniversary, babe.''
''This looks like the perfect spot,'' Dan drapes his towel on the smooth sand, soon followed by the others, creating their 70 square feet of space that they will reserve for the rest of the day.
''I can chill here for a couple of hours,'' removing her floral summer dress, Hannah takes place on her equally florally towel, only to be covered by a pile of sand, scooped on her stomach by Dan's foot. Everyone holds their breath, waiting for the hilarious scene as she slowly opens her eyes to inspect the mess that's covering her before looking at her boyfriend. ''I'm going to give you a ten second head start.''
''I don't need a-,'' Dan fakes his casual mockery as he strips out of his shirt.
''One,'' Hannah interrupts him with the start of her count down, a signal for Dan to sprint away in the lake's direction.
''This lake is safe to swim in, right?'' she turns to Lib as she gets up.
''If those kids won't melt when touching the water, I don't think you will,'' Lib gives her the sarcastic reassuring while pointing at a few toddlers playing in the shallow water. That's all the information Hannah needs as she waits one more second until the ten second count down in her head reaches zero before she takes off. Hannah used to be a field hockey player, a great one too, and since she had started taking up jogging, she never got out of shape.
It didn't take a lot of time to catch up with the video game lover who rarely liked leaving his room, let alone perform any kinds of physical activities and therefor couldn't run fast nor for a long time. With a soft push, Dan falls face first in the sand, making Hannah, the rest of the group and other witnesses burst out in laughter. After getting pulled up by his girlfriend and receiving an apologetic kiss, the two run towards the ocean.
''Well, I'm not getting any younger here,'' Lib comments before taking off as well and the others follow.
''Dan, catch!'' Austin warns the English boy before sending a small sized football flying his way. His eyes widen before he squeezes them shut in fear and sticks his arms out in an attempt to catch the dangerously fast and hard object. Surprisingly, it lands perfectly between his two hands.
''I actually caught it!'' Dan laughs before throwing it pretty decently in Ian's direction as everyone chuckles at his disbelief.
''Lib!'' Ian calls the momently distracted girl standing forty feet away from him waist-deep in the water just as the football hits the water surface right in front of her, making a splash of water hit her in the face. ''Stating the obvious, girls and football aren't a good combination,'' he jokes.
''Your throw just sucked,'' she yells his direction before sending the football back. As Ian is still laughing at his own joke, it hits him square in the face, making the others laugh at him shamelessly. ''And that's sexist, douchebag,'' Lib adds with fake smile before sticking her tongue out teasingly.
''Nice one, Lib,'' Hannah praises her as they do their signature handshake. Ally throws the ball at Hannah and she catches it with one hand, proving the stereotypical statement wrong as she shows Ian a smirk who rolls his eyes accompanied with a grin in defeat. He had invited Sarah to come with them to the lake, but she had decided to go home for the vacation. Her parents hadn't felt comfortable with their young girl between adult students in the most feared break of all, according to all parents. Besides, even though everyone in the group loved Sarah, she also had her own group of friends she liked to hang out with. Ian and Sarah saw each other a lot after school, though.
''Hey, quarterback,'' Austin could only turn around before a shove sent him flying backwards. Just before he disappeared underwater, he could pull Ally, the attacker, with him. She knew very well how much he treasured his hair and how he despised water ruining it, but, at the same time, he knew she felt the same way about her own hair. Water entered their mouths and noses before they could both rise to the surface again. Ally was still coughing, accompanied by laughing, while hitting him everywhere she could.
''Karma's a bitch. Only I'm helping it a bit,'' he shakes his head to move the locks out of his eyes before helping Ally to brush the wet curls off her face.
''Great, now my hair is ruined for the rest of the day,'' she exaggerates her self-pity. After playing around for another ten minutes, she starts shivering. ''I'm getting cold, I'm going back.''
''I don't think I even need to ask,'' Austin comments, moving his back to her and lowering himself. After giggling as confirmation, she jumps on his back, clinging onto his body for dear life while he walks back to their towels.
While the others were still in the lake, Austin and Ally were feeling the sweet water gradually disappear off their bodies. As Ally was reading a thriller written by one of her favourite authors, Austin was lying down on his stomach, using his hands to play with the sand and little shells next to his towel. Ally's head was turned away from Austin while resting the book on the sand, so her arm wouldn't get tired of holding the book up constantly when she suddenly felt a stream of sand on her bare stomach. She didn't have to turn her head to find out Austin had grown tired of playing with the sand alone and was now trying to get her attention.
Carefully avoiding her bikini top and bottom, he was scooping up hands of sand before sprinkling it softly on her belly. When she refused to acknowledge it, assuming he would grow tired of this activity as well, Austin stubbornly kept going. Until Ally decided to stop it herself. Without taking her eyes off the pages, she grabs his pulse as his hand is hovering above her just as he was planning on letting the sand fall down.
''Watcha doin'?'' she asks him sweetly.
''Nothing,'' he replies innocently. The tight grip on his arm didn't prevent him from moving his fingers, so he gladly starts to fill her belly button with the sand in his fist.
''Exactly how bored are you?'' she sighs, finally closing the book. This small gesture makes Austin's eyes light up as it's showing him she might actually do something other than reading.
''I'm actually considering opening my books and study,'' he states dramatically. While it would be a good idea to start learning his material, they both knew that there was nothing more distracting than a beach full with people doing more enjoyable things.
''Fine, what do you want to do?'' Ally lets go of his pulse and cocks her head. Grinning, Austin sits up and reaches into his bag.
''I challenge you to a game of beach bat and ball,'' Ally's eyes light up when she sees the recognizable bats and the little pink ball in his hands. She remembers the game as it was her favourite to play as a kid. She was never good at it, though, but, who cares about that?
''I hope you're not expecting a lot of me,'' she warns him as she takes one and rises to her feet.
''I actually have a feeling you're a natural at this.
''Prepare to be disappointed, then,'' backing up, she waits for him to start playing. As the ball makes its way over her in a perfect arch, she already proves her warning right. Trying to make a perfect swing with the wooden bat, she hits the ball harder than intended and sends it flying over the hedge standing next to them. Two seconds later, they hear a faint splash of the rubber ball hitting the water surface of the creek running next to it. Both trying their best not to laugh, they bite their lip as they exchange a glance.
''Beginners bad luck,'' she calls it.
''That's not a thing.''
''Shut up.''
Second attempt. They actually manage to hit the ball back and forth for quite a while, with the occasional cheers and squeals. Holding the record at eight, they keep trying to beat it fanatically. When the rest comes back, they cheer them on for a while until Austin accidently lets the ball hit Ian against his forehead, making everyone break out in giggles.
''Sorry, dude,'' he chuckles.
''Today is not my day,'' Ian shakes his head in disbelief as he throws the ball back with a smile.
After a few more minutes of playing, Ally grows confident in her skills, too confident. Every hit goes accompanied by a pow! as the smile on her face grows. Austin snickers at her adorable excitement, but manages to keep control over the ball, in contrast to Ally who was now carelessly moving her bat. With one enthusiastic move of her bat, the ball flies over Austin, who still misses it with his bat up in the air, and lands in the dumpster ten feet behind him. Ally's eyes go wide before she covers her mouth with one hand out of disbelief and to hide her huge smile.
''You know,'' Austin starts with a straight face. ''if you didn't want to play anymore, you could've just said so,'' that's the drop that makes both of their masquerades fall and they break out in laughter. Ally falls down on her knees, her wobbling legs just unable to hold her any longer as she covers her whole face, struggling to breathe enough oxygen for her laughter.
''I'm sorry,'' she giggles, but she's really not and Austin answers it with even more laughter.
This was a little bubbly chapter for you all. Don't forget to tune in next time to read the rest and watch the finale of Austin & Ally.
Enjoy the last day of the Austin & Ally takeover weekend! Be sure to live tweet the episodes with the hashtag #AustinAndAllyTakeOverWeekend
Last night, I spent quite a while rereading my old story Roles Of A Lifetime (yes that is how I spend my Saturday nights, I'm that cool) and I felt so happy and sad at the same time. Weird how that happens. If I can give quick advice to writers; write when you feel good. It creates the most wonderful adventures. Last year, when I started writing ROALT, it was the first time in years I felt like I was climbing out of a dark time. That's why the story means so much to me. I feel so happy I got to share it with you (if you read it) because it's the proof that you can actually achieve something beautiful, something you didn't plan on helping you be happy, but it did.
ROTBTDreader chapter 9
Imma cry cause you write everything so good :) - Imma cry cause you're so damn sweet :') Thank you!
Lookin' For Treble chapter 9
Um, ohmygod, hold on. He understands period problems, comforts her, buys her pads and water bottles for warm compress?... WHY DOES HE NOT EXIST I NEED ONE OF THOSE. gosh darn. - The government should just produce a small army of Austin's, one for everyone. I'm really setting the bar too high for, you know, real boyfriends.
Guest chapter 9
love this chqpter but feel sorry for ally - Tell me about it! Everyone experiences periods cramps from time to time, luckily she has someone who understands it so well damn
sicklscaler chapter 9
I love reading this story. There is always something new to entertain in each chapter. Looking forward to the next one to see what you have planned. Happy Birthday and Happy New Year! - Wow, thank you so much! Glad to be able to entertain you every week, sweetie. Thanks and Happy New Year to you too!
adorableness chapter 9
Aw I love their relartonship, its so cuute! The prequel to this was also adorable, thank you these are great! - Me tooo :) Aw thanks for reading the prequel as well, it's quite practical, I still have to decide which one I like better ;)