I'm kinda freaking out right now. Why? Because we hit the 100 review milestone! That's insane and wonderful and brilliant and so many other words like that. You guys are the best! Which is why I'm uploading this chapter so quickly despite the fact that I usually wait until the following chapter is complete. I'm kinda conflicted about what I want from this... Part of me is like 'please don't hate me' whereas the other part wants you guys to hate me because it means I'm doing my job... I'm not a big fan of how I started this chapter but I'm also really happy with the way it turned out (did that make sense?) Speaking of fans, Auslly and Chally are neck and neck on the poll which is surprising since for a while I was sure Auslly would be taking home the gold. Anywho, I hope you all enjoy the chapter and if you don't (or if you do) then please leave a review and let me know what was good about it and what wasn't so good... and what you'd like to see happen next since I'd love to make each and everyone of you happy :)
Disclaimer: I own nothing, with the exception of Chase and the storyline.
"I said no more teachers and no more books, I got a kiss under the bleachers hopin' that nobody looked."
Whilst what Austin had told her the night before had made her feel warm in a way she couldn't quite explain, Ally was still unable to shake the ever nagging feeling that if she didn't show Chase that there was more to her than her good girl reputation then he'd never see her the way she wanted him to.
It was safe to say that when she walked into school that morning that there was no escaping the combined look of shock and disappointment on her best friend's face. As Trish hurried over her to get a closer look at the studded biker boots Ally donned on her feet, Austin merely shook his head and turned his attention away from her. There was an uncomfortable pang in the pit of her stomach, she hated the look on Austin's face but he didn't understand; she had to do this.
"Ally, what are you wearing?" Trish gapped, drinking in Ally's sudden change in taste. "And your hair!" Though Trish seemed stunned it was also obvious she thought Ally looked good in her tight fitting clothes.
Gone were the brightly coloured skinny jeans and ballet flats, only to be replaced by heavy black boots, ripped tights and high-waisted shorts. Instead of her usual bouncy curls, Ally had spent the morning with the flat iron in hand, trying desperately not to burn herself as she worked. Though she had felt relieved when Austin had crept back out of her window before sunrise, part of her had wished he'd stayed; maybe he could have talked her out of this.
Ally had never been the kind of girl to enjoy every eye in the room being set on her and yet that morning every person she passed had stared at her like she had suddenly sprouted a second head. In some ways it was invigorating and it encouraged her to walk with a stride she didn't know she possessed but in others it made her want to jump into the nearest classroom and spend the rest of the day hiding from the eyes of the world.
"Oh, it's nothing really," Ally said bashfully as Trish continued to gush over the reinvention of Ally. "I just wanted to try something new."
"Sure," Trish scoffed. "This is about Chase isn't it?" The laughter vanished from the shorter girls eyes faster than Ally could process.
Ally stared down at her feet, ashamed that she had not only lied to her friends but also that she had forgotten to apologise. "Look, Trish... I'm sorry, okay?"
Trish hummed, her foot taping impatiently on the ground before releasing a heavy sigh, her arms unfolding and her gaze softening. "I just... I don't understand why you'd lie to us... to me."
Ally opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by an announcement over the school's PA system. "Will Ally Dawson please report to the Principal's office. That's Ally Dawson to the Principal's office, please."
Her heart dropped in her chest and suddenly she was that scared little girl begging her daddy to protect her from the monsters under the bed. Ally had never been called to the Principal's office before, at least not for anything bad but something in her gut told her this was not good.
Trish offered her friend a sympathetic smile. "I'll see you later, okay?"
Ally nodded, murmuring her thanks before shuffling her way down the corridor. Suddenly she regretted her decision to wear boots that day; they felt heavy on her feet, weighing her down and making each step harder as she made her walk of shame.
"What do you mean you can't come to the game tonight?" Austin had finally decided to speak to her though Ally wondered if it was due to his curiosity regarding her meeting with the Principal or whether he actually had the desire to talk to her now that the initial shock over her clothing choices had worn off.
Ally shrugged. "Principal Wilder said that since I've always been a model student he's letting me off with a warning and barring me from tonight's football game. I don't understand why you're making such a big deal out of this, I wasn't going to go anyway."
"Austin's upset because he's playing in the game tonight," Dez supplied though he didn't look up from his handheld gaming device; he and Trish had been competing to see who could get the highest score, though Ally found it more intriguing that they were actually managing to share something without trying to kill each other after five minutes. "He wanted you to be there to see him."
Austin huffed, annoyed that Dez had spilled the beans; he hadn't wanted Ally to know yet. "Technically I'm not playing... the water boy is out sick and coach asked me to take over since Jimmy won't let me play anymore but there's a really good chance that if all the other substitutes get injured I might actually get to play this time," Austin enthused. Normally Ally would not condone excitement over anyone's potential pain or suffering, but there was something about seeing Austin so happy that made her forget the negatives of Austin's involvement in that night's game.
"But what are the chances of that happening anyway?" Trish snorted, she was currently leaning over Dez's shoulder in order to get a better look at what was going on in the game. Ally couldn't help but watch the pair with a growing curiosity; it was odd for them to sit that close, very odd. "And even if you do get to play you'll probably get injured since id all the other subs couldn't handle it, I doubt you can."
The blond frowned at his manager's comment, hurt that she did not believe he was good enough. Ally offered him a small smile which thankfully perked him up. "Don't worry Austin, on the slight chance that you do get to play then I think you'll be awesome."
"Thanks Ally," Austin grinned back at her. She knew he still wasn't happy that she had ignored his heartfelt words from the night before but she was grateful he was at least putting those feelings aside in order to have a regular conversation with her. "You always know the right things to say. See, this is why I need you at the game tonight! What if I need you and you're not there before I go on?"
"I wouldn't be much help anyway, you know that Coach Simmons hates having non-players on the field. You can always call me of you need me that badly," Ally offered.
"How can he be sure you'll pick up this time?" Trish said, a hint of annoyance in her voice. Though Ally had apologised to her friends the moment she had escaped the Principal's office it was evident that she would need to grovel a little harder before they, namely Trish, forgave her entirely.
"Anyway," Dez cut in before any form of argument was able to break out. "Ally, what's up with your clothes?" He handed the Gameboy over to Trish, his turn over.
Ally glanced down at her attire; she was beginning to wonder the same thing herself. "What do you mean Dez?"
"You just don't look like you," Dez quirked his head to the side as if trying to take in her appearance as a whole. Ally could see Austin nodding in agreement but she made a point to ignore this. "I don't like it."
The brunette frowned affronted, folding her arms over her chest in defence. "Well, I do," Ally said haughtily, her nose in the air. "And this is the new Ally Dawson so you're just gonna have to deal with it!"
Dez began laughing, however, he quickly stopped as he realised his friend was deadly serious. "Oh... really? It just doesn't seem like you."
"Yeah," Austin leant forward in his desk, leaning on his arms. For a moment Ally thought that was his only contribution and then she saw an odd spark in his eye which she knew could not have been good. "I thought you wanted to be a song writer, a performer... not a hooker."
Ally's jaw dropped and her eyes flashed with anger. "I am not a... a... a hooker!" Was that really what everyone had been thinking when they had watched her walk into school that morning? Her eye burned with unshed tears and she could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks.
Austin seemed to realise that he had hurt her; the look of spite in his eyes had been replaced with that of guilt and concern. He looked down at his desk, unable to look his friend in the eye. "I didn't mean it like that... I just... you don't look like you."
"It's okay, Austin," Ally took a deep breath as she picked her backpack up off of the floor and slung it over her shoulder. "Besides, there are a ton of performers who wear far less clothes than I and you really seem to enjoy that, so I think I'm good."
As she stormed out of homeroom and into the flurry of students bustling through the halls on their way to first period, she fought valiantly not to let her friends catch up to her; she could hear Austin calling her name but she chose to ignore it. They could not afford yet another public blow up.
"Ally! Wait!"
She tried to speed up but her ridiculously weighted boots would not allow it; instead she struggled to pick up her pace as the front of her shoe caught on the floor, nearly sending her tumbling to the ground though the fall never came. There was a brief pain in the back of her arm as someone grabbed her, yanking her into the nearest janitor's closet, the door snapping shut behind them.
"Let go of me!" Ally ripped her arm away from the unknown assailant, preparing to scream at the top of her lungs when suddenly the tiny storage room was bathed in light revealing Austin's apologetic face.
"Would you quit screaming?" Austin clamped a hand of her mouth and she scowled in response. "If you keep this up then we're gonna get caught and that will mean your second trip to the Principal's office in less than an hour."
Ally licked his hand, ready to grin triumphantly when he pulled it away. However, she was met with an amused smirk in reply as Austin said, "Nice try but I don't care if you like me but you really should be worried about all the things I've touched with that hand today without washing my hands afterwards."
Ally gagged as Austin removed his hand, giggling quietly to himself. Once their little charade was done and Ally had remembered her anger, she returned her arms to her chest and jutted her jaw out in annoyance.
"What do you want Austin? Have you pulled me in here to check my rates? Because I'm pretty sure you can't afford them anyway," She snapped. She wasn't so much mad about Austin's comment as she was concerned about what her peers had been thinking; she was used to Austin making an asshat of himself when he was mad but she didn't like the thought of rest of the student body judging her based on the clothes she had stupidly decided to wear that day. After all, it wasn't like Chase was going to actually show up and see her dressed to impress him anyway.
"I didn't mean it like that," Austin explained, resting his body against the door behind him. There really wasn't a lot of room to move inside the closet and Ally hoped that no one were to walk in on them for she didn't think she could handle the sort of assumptions that would be made. Even with Austin propping himself against the door there was still very little space between them, if she took so much as one step forward her chest would be pressed against his. "I only said that because I need you to see that what you're doing isn't right."
"Austin, we already had this discussion and this isn't even about that," She lied. "I just wanted to try something different for once."
The blond rolled his eyes. "Don't lie to me, Ally. I know you better than you think. You're doing this because of him, we all know you are."
"So what if I am?" Ally snapped, moving forward slightly in an effort to look intimidating though she had not anticipated him stepping forward too. "I like someone, why is that such a problem for you?"
"Because you shouldn't have to change yourself to get someone to like you," Austin said. His eyes were full of an emotion Ally had not seen before; they were so powerful and so entrancing she was having a hard time looking away. "Can't you see that? I told you last night that you were perfect the way you are and I meant it. Why would I lie to you about something like that?"
"I didn't say you were lying!" Ally said exasperated, wondering how the situation had gotten so out of hand. "And I get it, okay? But you're my friend, my best friend, obviously you're gonna be bias in this situation."
Austin choked out a laugh, running his hand through his hair as he took a step back and returned to leaning against the door. "I'm not being bias! I'm just telling the truth. I don't think you need to change yourself in order to get some guy's attention, especially not Chase, and I told you all of this last night but obviously you weren't listening!"
"Why have you got such an issue with Chase? I get why Dez does but why you, huh? Do you feel threatened, Austin?"
"Why would I feel threatened by anybody, especially Chase Hardy?" Austin glared at her. If looks could kill Ally was certain she'd be dead.
"I don't know maybe because every girl in school thinks he's hot and every guy would kill to be him," Ally supplied, prodding her friend forcefully in the chest. "And maybe you're jealous that for once not everything is about you! That for once someone is actually paying attention to me and not you."
"I'm not jealous because of that!" Austin said heatedly, pushing himself off of the door and pressing Ally into the wall opposite.
"Oh really? Then why are you jealous, Austin? Hmm? Because no normal person acts the way you have been this past couple of days," Ally could feel his heavy breath tickling her neck and she couldn't help but notice how adorable his hair looked when it stuck up at all angles like that but now was not the time to be admiring such things.
"I'm jealous because of you!" Austin snapped, his hands slamming against the wall behind her before quickly finding their way back to his hair.
Ally stared at the blonde rocker in stunned silence; he looked as though he'd had all the wind knocked out of him and his chocolate brown eyes were wide with what Ally could only deduce to be fear.
Finally, Austin sighed, his tired eyes resembling that of a frightened little boy. "I'm jealous because of you," He repeated. "I don't like that you're changing yourself for him and I don't like that your spending all you time with him... time you used to spend with me."
"Austin, I've been hanging out with Chase for less than a week... it isn't like everything has suddenly changed," Ally said, her previous fire lost in their dwindling inferno. The seriousness on Austin's face made her uncomfortable and she secretly wished that they could go back to screaming at each other because at least then the things that they were saying were nothing more than the products of the heat of the moment.
Austin swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat. "It is... you don't... you don't look at me the way you used to."
"What do you mean?" Ally asked, her eyebrows meeting in the middle as she frowned in confusion.
"You -" Austin opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by someone outside attempting to open the closet door. The door handle jiggled wildly and Austin and Ally shared a similar look of fear; they had no idea how they would explain their reasons hiding away in a cupboard when they should have been in class. Knowing they only had a few precious moments left, Austin turned to Ally, his hands clutching her arms, forcing her to look at him. "Meet me after the football game. I promise I'll explain everything then."
Marino High School was not known for its ability to bring home championship after championship, in fact, they were frequently made fun of due to their knack for losing each and every competition that came their way. However, what could not be said about Marino High was that it's students were not enthusiastic because they were, not matter how inevitable their loss.
That evening Marino High was squaring off against championship winning, Shermer High School, much to the relief of MHS's students Shermer High School was award winning when it came to basketball and baseball, not football. So, it was with high spirits that the students of Marino High prepared for the most hopeful game of the season.
Though Ally had barely stepped on to the school premises she could already hear the thunderous noise of the crowd. The sun had begun to set and soon the football field's flood lights would be on, illuminating the entire pitch. Ally knew she shouldn't have been there and if Principal Wilder caught her she would be in way more trouble than she could probably anticipate but when Austin had asked her to go, she had felt an overwhelming need to do as he had asked; perhaps it had something to do with the desperation in his eyes when he had asked.
As Ally made her way closer to the football field the noise of fan screaming in their seats and cheering along with the cheerleaders, gave Ally an intense sense of pride in her school but even more so, they gave her an idea of where to hide and not get caught by any members of the faculty.
Hiding behind the bleachers was both a disgusting and terrifying task. For one thing, Ally could not shake the fear that the bleachers would somehow collapse and crush her to death mid-way through the game, but worse still was the disgraceful amount of litter that had accumulated during the first quarter of the game; her feet, which were now clad in her usual ballet flats, were surrounded by a sea of trash.
Thankfully, there was an upside to Ally's choice in seating; she could see Austin perfectly from where she was stood. Currently he was sitting on the bench with Coach Simmons on one side and the water cooler on the other; he was hunched over somewhat, head tipped towards his lap instead of focused on the game and Ally wondered if their conversation in the closet earlier that day was still bothering him.
Further along Ally could see Dez huddled with his fellow cheerleaders, presumably preparing for their next performance for the crowd; not that either Dez nor Chuck, the squads only other male cheerleader, looked particularly concerned about for they appeared to be squabbling over a super-sized pompom. Ally shook her head with a smile, she knew the pair had finally gotten over their childish feud but she had known better than to assume their arguing would ever stop, though it was more endearing to watch now than anything.
Ally wasn't close enough to be able to hear the decision being made on the field and she didn't have a view wide enough to allow her to see the plays being made, all she knew was that Coach Simmons had blown his whistle and was now hurrying out of her vision, leaving behind Austin who seemed to be staring after him in shock. The brunette tried to get a better look by pressing her face closer to the gaps in the stands and peering through, but a short tap on her shoulder startled her causing her to hit her head hard into the cold metal.
Ally hissed in pain as she turned to see who had touched her. Much to her surprise Chase stared back at her, an apologetic look upon his face.
"Sorry about that," He gestured to her forehead. "But on the bright side, it doesn't look that bad. Just a little bump really."
Ally rubbed at the spot that had collided with the bleacher as she nodded in response. "What are you doing here?" She asked. There was another shrill whistle from out on the field and a angry roar from the stands above told her the crowd was not happy with whatever had just gone on behind her. "You never come to these things."
Chase shrugged. "I thought I might mix it up a little, keep people on their toes but more importantly, what are you doing here? Should you be up on the stands cheering for your little boyfriend over there?"
"He's not my boyfriend," Ally said defensively. "And I'm not supposed to be here, I've been banned because I cut class with you yesterday."
There was an awkward silence between them, filled only by the screaming of the people above. Both their minds drifted back to the uncomfortable moment Ally had decided to step out of her comfort zone and consequently push Chase out of his.
"About yesterday -" Chase began but Ally cut him off, waving her hands as if to cast away the entire topic.
"No, you don't have to say anything," She said, stepping closer to the taller boy so that they could hear each other over the yelling of the Mantee's fans as they were taunted by the Sherwood Stallions. "I was way out of line yesterday, I should have... done what I did, especially after everything you said to me. You just want to be friends and -"
Before she could say anymore, Chase had thrust his hand behind her neck bringing her lips up to meet his in a fervent kiss. Her hand travelled up to touch his cheek, holding him in place; her assurance that he would not suddenly evaporate into thin air. His lips were hot against hers, moving faster than she could process. He tasted like cigarettes and poor life choices; and there was nothing she wanted more in that moment than his lips on hers.