Okay, first off, this chapter sucks and I'm sorry for disgracing the story. Secondly, WOW IT FEELS LIKE IT'S BEEN FOREVER! HOW ARE YOU GUYS!? Third, SCHOOL'S ALMOST OVER YAYYYYYYYYYYY! THAT MEANS MORE TIME TO WRITE! Okay, so now I have a story to tell you. My friend Emily has a twin sister named Grace and today Emily was complaining about fighting with Grace. She said Grace was like, "I need to protect you" and stuff. So Emily's ranting and she's like, "Grace is only seven minutes older than me, but she thinks she's seven years older than me!" and that reminded me of Austin and Rydel in this story and I had an inner fangirl session ok I'm done XD. So, um, DISCLAIMER TIMEEEEE! The prompt is from SomeMusicalMelody and it is you find a crazy big whale who has a long neck as a giraffe inside your tub. This'll be interesting XD

Maddie's Fancy Disclaimers: Part XVIII

Me: *skips into the bathroom singing an R5 song* IT'S ALL ABOUT THE GIRL, IN MY MIND, THAT I'LL MEET ONE D-AGHHHH! *Screams when I see a crazy big whale who has a long neck as a giraffe inside my tub* WHAT THE HECK?!

Whale: Hello.

Me: WHAT'S GOING ON?! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOUR NECK?!

Whale: I used to work with the Evil Toaster... He stretched my neck when I failed him.

Me: Aw... That's so sad...

Whale: *Nods*

Me: So...What are you doing in my bathtub?

Whale: Oh, well, you see, I hear you're friends with Ross Lynch, and-

Me: Are you a Rossian?

Whale: Of course not!

Me: What's your favorite R5 song?

Whale: Probably Can't Get Enough or Ready Set Rock. I like the old ones.

Me: Okay, you're good. But I still need you to do something for me...

To Be Continued

Jealous of Jordan?

"Hey, Austie!" Kira exclaims right before I go to lunch. Today's Wednesday, which marks two days since I 'gave up.' Operation: Ally hasn't worked yet, but I didn't expect it to. I just hope it will soon. Kira clings to my arm as we walk to our table.

"You're better!" I say, faking happiness. She nods.

"The thought of you helped." I give her a forced smile, but then I become distracted.

I've always known Ally had lunch with me. She obviously doesn't have it fifth period when the other half of the school has it. But I've never seen her at lunch before. And now that I do see her, I'm not happy about it.

There she is, at a lunch table with Trish and Jordan. Her shoulder is pressed up against Jordan's, and the three of them are cracking up at something. She leans her head on his shoulder as she laughs, and I feel jealousy bubbling up in my chest. Heat rises to my face with the anger that's partnered with jealousy, and I see Kira giving me a weird look.

"What's the matter, baby?" I force myself to look away and focus on Kira.

"Oh, um, nothing," I say. "Let's go eat." I lead her over to our table and we sit down. I make sure to keep Ally and Jordan in my line of vision. Trish catches me looking at them and glares at me, which makes Ally turn around. I lock eyes with her, and she quickly turns back around.

Trish leans over the table and whispers something to Ally that Jordan doesn't hear. Ally shakes her head quickly. Trish raises her eyebrows and in response, Ally pulls Jordan in for a tight hug, which he is all too happy to return. My blood boils and my hands clench into fists.

"Dude, what did your sandwich ever do to you?" Dallas asks, arching an eyebrow. I didn't even know I picked it up.

"I was putting the jelly out of its misery," I reply, dropping my sandwich on the plastic bag I brought it in.

"You feeling okay, man?" Elliot says, looking genuinely concerned.

"Yeah," I say. "I just felt bad because the grape jelly likes the smooth peanut butter, but then they got in a fight so now the smooth peanut butter is getting all buddy-buddy with the strawberry jelly, and the grape jelly is stuck with the stupid chunky peanut butter because the smooth peanut butter won't forgive it!"

Everyone at the table is looking at me like I just grew another head and started making out with it. I glance at all the populars' judging faces and exasperatedly get up from the table. I storm out of the cafeteria.

My chest hurts and my head pounds and my palms are bleeding from digging my nails into them so hard. I walk to the middle of the football field and let out the most frustrated yell I can muster and sit down, cross-legged. I clasp my hands and stare at them, trying to think of anything but Ally and Jordan.

Yeah, that doesn't go over too well.

Ally and Jordan? Just yesterday, she said she only liked him as a friend! Maybe I'm overthinking this because I like her and even the smallest interaction with another guy that could possibly be competition gets me imagining the worst case scenario. It would make sense. I heard weirder stories from Rocky back when Rydel wouldn't quit flirting with Ellington in the eighth grade and Rocky still liked her. She's over that crush now, obviously.

Now, I'm finally starting to realize that liking Ally isn't as amazing a feeling as I thought it was. This jealousy raging through my veins doesn't feel all that great. It actually hurts. My chest tightens again as I imagine Ally-my Ally (even though she isn't actually mine)-hugging that pathetic wannabe. He's obviously trying too hard to be cool. And he is not 'sweet.' I mean, what kind of guy has so little respect for girls that they're willing to physically fight another guy for the right to have her like him? Girls can't choose who they like, no more than guys can. It's downright disrespectful to force every guy away from a girl if they didn't win some fight.

Even if I didn't have any respect for Ally in that sense, I still wouldn't fight Jordan. I don't think it would help my case to beat up her new best guy friend. Especially if she has feelings for him, which I'm praying she doesn't. But, judging from what I witnessed at lunch, the likelihood of my prayers being answered isn't that high.

I hear the bell ring to signal the end of lunch, so I get up and trudge to C-38, not feeling like spending fifth period with all my friends who will undoubtedly be talking about a certain brunette not being there.

When I get to the classroom, I sit at one of the desks and put my head on it. I still haven't been getting much sleep, thanks to the nightmares on steroids. No, 'nightmare' sounds too innocent. Like monsters under kids' beds or ghosts haunting the streets on Halloween. Maybe I should start calling them 'night-terrors', or 'night-wake-up-screaming-and-crying-and-being-afraid-to-blink-because-the-images-keep-coming-backs.' But maybe if I sleep, the pain of jealousy will go down a bit.

I close my eyes and hope for the best.

"Hey, Ally," Jordan says, walking up to the short brunette.

"Uh, hey Jordan," she replies.

"So, I was thinking. Since I like you and you obviously like me, maybe we could-"

"I don't like you, Jordan. At least, not in that way," Ally says quickly.

"Go out on Friday?" he finishes, ignoring her. Then he blinks. "I'm sorry, what?!"

"I still like Austin," Ally tells him. I step out from where I'm eavesdropping on them from behind the lockers.

"You do?" I ask her. She spins around to face me, and then freezes in her tracks.

"You do?" Jordan says doubtfully from behind her.

"You were eavesdropping?" Ally asks me instead.

"I wanted to know if you liked him or not," I explain. "I guess not." She swallows and doesn't say anything. "I actually have to talk to you about something," I say. Then I glance up at Jordan. I grab Ally's wrist and pull her to an empty classroom, locking the door behind us.

"You never stopped liking me?" I ask. She shakes her head.

"Trust me, I tried. But you're so…" She gestures to me with her hands. "You. I just couldn't not like you." I smile at her.

"You know, during the kiss, I-uh-realized something." She raises her eyebrows.

"That you were being an idiot and that it would come back and bite you in the butt?" I chuckle.

"No, I knew that before I kissed you."

"You realized I'm a terrible kisser?" I chuckle again.

"No…Quite the opposite actually." Ally blushes.

"Then what did you realize?" I feel heat rise to my cheeks as I start blushing. She smirks. "Who's blushing now, tomato?"

"Still you, Strawberry Shortcake," I tease back at her. She sticks her tongue out at me.

"Anyway," I say, "what I realized is that…" I take a deep breath. "Is that I have feelings you. Strong ones." My cheeks turn even redder, and so do hers.

"Really?" I nod. She smiles.

"I thought you were sure you wouldn't fall for me?"

"I was. But then I proved myself wrong and it's the best thing that's ever happened to me. Well, second best."

"What's the first best?" Ally asks. I grin.

"Ally Dawson, will you be my girlfriend?" She grins back at me.

"Yes." Then she kisses me.

I wake up to the sound of the bell ringing. Finally no nightmares. Even if it was only for an hour, I didn't wake up screaming, which hasn't happened in a week and a half.

I walk to Calculus with a smile on my face because that dream I just had was everything I'm hoping will happen when I ask Ally out, if I can man up enough to do it after she forgives me.

When I get to class, it takes me a minute to realize Ally isn't sitting in her seat like she usually is. She's on the other side of the class. Talking to Jordan. She's sitting on top of his desk, supporting herself by putting her hands behind her, and tilting her head while she speaks. All signs of obvious flirting.

You're being paranoid, I try to tell myself. She doesn't like him.

But as I watch her bat her eyelashes and smile shyly and blush at something he says, I can't help but see her dating him. Because whether she knew it or not, she used to do all that to me. She's one of those girls who flirts without knowing it, and she did it a heck of a lot with me, but I guess I didn't notice it until I started liking her and thought back on it.

I try yet again to burn holes through Jordan's head with my eyes. Ally is mine.

The brunette returns to her seat right before the bell rings, and when I look back over at Jordan, he's already eyeing another girl. Ally better not fall for that player, or she's gonna get hurt. Ironic for me to say, I know, but I didn't know kissing her would hurt her that much.

"Alright," Mr. Jones says, "Today, the entire school is using sixth period to talk about a topic we've realized is a large issue in our school." He sits on his desk. "Bullying. Now, what is bullying?"

"The intentional and repeated verbal or physical abuse to someone," Ally says out loud.

"Yes, thank you, Miss Dawson. Based on that information, how many of you have ever been bullied?" Everyone but me and Jordan raises their hands. I sink lower in my seat, knowing full well that me and the football team are the reasons these kids have been bullied. "Okay, put your hands down. Today, we're going to focus mainly on forgiving others. If someone bullies you, the best thing to do is always forgive them. That makes you the bigger person, while they look stupid as they're still trying to hurt you."

"Excuse me?" I ask, raising my hand. "What if someone unintentionally hurts you, and you refuse to forgive them?"

"I don't see why that would happen, Mr. Moon."

"Say it did. I'm just being hypothetical, but what if someone hurt their friend, and they tried everything-everything-to get that friend to forgive them, but the friend still wouldn't, and they didn't even say why. Does that friend have a reason to be mad, especially if they were hurt unintentionally? Again, I'm just being hypothetical here."

"Who knew Mr. Moon would have so many questions about forgiveness?" Mr. Jones says. "To answer your question, that's up to the friend that was hurt. They have every right to be mad-it is a free country, after all-but I don't see any way this could happen. Any mature person would be able to forgive if the hurt was unintentional." I shoot Ally a look, and I see her rolling her eyes.

"I'm being hypothetical here, too, but what if that friend had really hurt the other friend, and the other friend wasn't too sure if it was unintentional or not?" she pipes up.

"Hypothetically," I say, "it was unintentional."

"Anyway," Ally continues, ignoring me, "the friend who was hurt has no idea if the other friend was trying to hurt them or not, because that friend knew that would hurt them."

"Not that much!" I argue.

"Yet they still knew," Ally says, still talking to Mr. Jones. "So would it really be immature for the friend to be mad?"

"Yes, it would," I say. "Because, as I said before, we're talking about the friend who did the hurting doing everything he-or she-could do to try to get the other friend to forgive them. They're really trying, and eventually they give up because they realize that their friend is being too stubborn to forgive them."

"Well, apparently they didn't give up," Ally says.

"This is hypothetical, of course," the two of us say at the same time.

"Um, you two seem to be having issues," Mr. Jones says. "Why don't you go sort this out in the hallway?" I sigh in relief and walk out the door, and Ally follows.

"Why is it so hard for you to accept that I didn't mean to hurt you?" I ask, turning to face her after I hear the door close. She doesn't respond. "I know I'm not doing this whole 'giving up' thing very well, but I can't just stand here and let you push me out of your life!" Ally stares at the ground. "And another thing, I can see you flirting with Jordan, Ally. And he may say he likes you and flirt with you and be all sweet and everything apparently I couldn't be, but he's eyeing every other girl at this school, and he will break your heart faster than the Corpse Coaster at the amusement park!"

"I don't like Jordan," she says quietly. Then, she turns around and walks back into the classroom. I sigh and run a hand through my hair before following her.

"I trust you two are at least civil now?" Mr. Jones asks. Ally nods. "Good. Now, let's continue."

For the rest of the period, I let my mind wander. I think about music and try to forget about Ally, and for a while it actually works. Maybe I'm starting to get over her.

HAHAHA, THAT'S A GOOD ONE! my mind says.

I don't need your sarcasm, I tell it. And I'm talking to myself. Again.

The bell rings and I grab my stuff to go to music. Jordan holds the door for Ally like the gentleman he is-cue the gagging-and she smiles and thanks him. Either she's a huge liar or I'm seeing things, and judging by the smug look Jordan gives me, I'm gonna go with the first one.

"I'm gonna tell her you like her," he says to me as I walk past him. I turn around and look at him, my eyes blazing with a warning.

"I don't like her," I say. "I'm trying to be nice to you, Jordan. I don't want to hate you, but you're making it pretty hard."

"Oh, I definitely wanna hate you," he says. I raise my eyebrows.

"Why?"

"Because you're trying to steal Ally away from me."

"She was my friend first!"

"Actually, no. I've known her for years," he says.

"Whatever," I say. Then I sigh. "Look, can't we just try to get along? Ally will never forgive me if she finds out how much I don't get along with her new best friend." Jordan smirks for a second.

"You're right," he says. "She won't." Then, he throws a punch to my jaw.

"OW!" I exclaim, my hand flying up to grab my throbbing jaw. "What was that for?!"

"Don't you wanna hit me back?" he asks calmly. It dawns on me what he's trying to do.

"I can't believe Ally doesn't see you for who you really are," I say to him. "I'm not gonna stoop that low." With that, I march off to music, letting my hand drop from my probably red face.

"Austin, what happened?!" Mrs. Adagio asks me the second I walk in. Even Ally looks a little concerned.

"Is it that bad?" I ask, wincing.

"Did you get in a fight?" Mrs. Adagio says. I shake my head.

"A kid punched me for no reason. That's it." Mrs. Adagio raises her eyebrows. "Okay, fine. This kid named Jordan hates me for reasons I don't feel like explaining, so he punched me and wanted me to punch him back for other reasons I don't feel like explaining, so I walked away instead."

"You should put ice on that." Mrs. Adagio is looking at my swollen jaw worriedly, while Ally looks surprised.

"I'm fine, really," I say.

"If you say so…" Mrs. Adagio trails off. "Anyway, I bet you're both wondering when you're gonna perform your duet." I nod, and Ally doesn't react. "Well, that new coffee shop down the street was short on live music, so they're letting you play!" our teacher announces excitedly. I grin.

"Cool!"

"You'll perform two songs this Friday. One of them will be your duet, and I'm going to give you music for the other one. Sound good?" We nod. "Good. Next order of business, more love songs."

"Love isn't real," I singsong.

"Austin, Austin, Austin," Mrs. Adagio says, shaking her head. "When will you learn that you're wrong?"

"When pigs fly." She sighs.

"Well, on that note, when I say the word 'love,' what do you think of?" Mrs. Adagio asks.

"Puking," I say.

"Struggles," Ally pipes up.

"Ah, yes. Love does have its struggles." Mrs. Adagio writes the word struggles on the whiteboard. "Austin, pretend love is real and give me a serious answer." I sigh.

"Happiness," I say blankly. Mrs. Adagio nods and writes happiness on the board.

"Friendship," Ally says.

"Trust," I add.

"F-Forgiveness," Ally stutters out. I look at her.

"Irony," I call out. Mrs. Adagio stops writing.

"Irony?" she asks. I nod.

"In a lot of love stories, the love always has irony in it. The princess's ugly sisters say she's the ugly one. The prince falls for the poor girl. The bad boy falls in love with the good girl…" I trail off and try not to register what they might think I'm implying. "It's all so ironic."

"Alright. Irony," Mrs. Adagio says as she writes it on the board. "Anything else?"

"Butterflies," Ally says. "Lots of butterflies."

"Racing heart," I mention.

"Losing control, and liking it," we say together. I look at Ally, but she doesn't look at me.

"That's seriously starting to get freaky," Mrs. Adagio says. She finishes writing what we said. "Anyway, I think that's a pretty good list. Now, using at least one thing on this list, you need to write the chorus of a love song." We both nod and get to work.

I pick racing heart. The topic seems easy enough, and it doesn't seem too risky for me. I don't wanna accidentally admit my feelings through the song, even though I kinda already did with Say Something. Thank goodness for Ally's obliviousness.

Now, on the topic of a racing heart, how does Ally change my heartbeat? She makes it go insane, is my first thought. I get an idea and jot it down.

The lyrics come to me quickly and I write just as fast. I glance over at Ally to see that she's chewing her eraser, but then she smiles a little and writes something down.

Ten minutes before the period ends, Mrs. Adagio tells us our time is up to write the music.

"Now, you'll perform just those choruses and we'll guess which topic from the list you chose. Austin, would you go first?" I nod and stand up, grabbing my guitar.

I start playing, and then I open my mouth to sing.

You got my heartbeat pumpin' and it's goin' insane

You got me jumpin' outta aeroplanes

And that why-y-y-y-y-y

I'm crazy, it's true,

Crazy for you

You got me base jump livin' and I can't look down

You know you short-circuit my brain

I can't lie-ie-ie-ie-ie-ie

I'm crazy, it's true,

Crazy for you.

I finish playing and set down my guitar. Mrs. Adagio looks at Ally expectantly.

"Heart racing," she says quietly. I purse my lips, nod, and return to my seat. Ally stands up and goes to the piano. She starts playing.

Now I'm standing alone in a crowded room and we're not speaking,
And I'm dying to know is it killing you like it's killing me, yeah?
I don't know what to say, since the twist of fate when it all broke down,
And the story of us looks a lot like a tragedy now

"Forgiveness," I say instantly.

"I was going to say struggles," Mrs. Adagio says.

"It's forgiveness," I repeat confidently, looking at Ally. "It's saying that the girl is apologizing and willing to forgive her ex for everything that happened that caused them to break up, and all she needs is to hear him say he's willing to do the same, but he isn't." My look turns cold. "Guess it could also fit into the irony category."

Before anyone can say anything else, the bell rings. I grab my backpack and walk quickly out of class. All I have to do is survive English, and then I can go home.

When I get to English, I see that Mr. Jones's face is red with anger. He glares at me as I sit down.

"What's up with him?" I whisper to Riker. He shrugs.

"Would anyone like to explain why I woke up this morning with my house covered in raw eggs and toilet paper?" Mr. Jones asks, deadly calm. We stay silent. "What about you, Mr. Moon?" He stands in front of my desk.

"As much as I'd love to say I did it, I can't," I tell him. It was probably Dallas and Elliot. Which is weird, since they don't even have him as a teacher.

"Don't lie to me!" Mr. Jones yells at me.

"I'm not lying," I say calmly. My teacher glares at me, and I stare back coolly.

"I want a one-page apology," he tells me. "If you don't do it, I'll fail you." With that, he turns to the board and starts teaching. I roll my eyes behind his back.

Just because I'm the bad boy, doesn't mean I take part in every prank that happens here.

I write up the apology quickly when we're supposed to be doing homework. I stand up and turn it in to Mr. Jones, who looks it over with a scowl on his face.

"Sit," he tells me after a minute. I let my shoulders sag in relief that I didn't get a detention and go back to my seat.

For the rest of English, I pretend to do homework, but in reality I'm just doodling pictures of me and Ally. Riker looks over and raises his eyebrows.

"Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez," I say calmly. He gives me a weird look. "I like Jelena. Sue me." He rolls his eyes and goes back to his homework.

I can't believe he bought that.

The bell rings right as I finish a little picture of me and Ally kissing at the cove. I'm not a great artist, but I'm not terrible. I crumple up the paper and throw it away on my way out, not wanting anyone to see it.

I walk to my car quickly, ready to get home and sleep. I know I'll probably have nightmares again, although I didn't earlier today. But I need to sleep. My emotions are a lot stronger with my exhaustion, and that isn't a good thing.

When I finally do get home, I immediately strip down to my pajamas (a.k.a. my boxers) and lay down on the couch. It's weird: I can only sleep in my bed at night, but I can only nap on the couch. Unless I'm practically already asleep. And I'm tired, but not that tired.

I turn on the TV and mute the volume before resting one arm behind my head and shutting my eyes. I can feel myself drifting off to sleep…

A door shutting wakes me up before I'm even fully asleep. I open my eyes in annoyance.

"Austin, Ally's coming over!" I hear Rydel call.

"When?!" I call back.

"Now," she says, leading Ally in the room. My eyes widen and I fall off the couch. I grab my jeans and dive behind it, my face turning bright red.

"You couldn't have given me a little more of a warning?" I ask, pulling my jeans on. Rydel chuckles at my embarrassment.

"You couldn't have been wearing pants?" she asks in the same tone. "Hot pink boxers? Really?" I roll my eyes and step out from behind the couch, grabbing my shirt off the ground.

"I didn't know we were having company," I say. Then I nod to Ally in greeting. "Sorry about that," I say to her. "Probably a lot more of me than you ever wanted to see." Her cheeks tint pink, and mine are still the same shade of red. "Guess I'll be in my room, then. If I wake up with makeup and my nails painted, you two will pay." I point at both of them, Rydel smiling and rolling her eyes and Ally avoiding eye-contact as per usual, before climbing the stairs and going in my room.

I flop on my bed and try to sleep, but I know it isn't any use. Not at this time of day in my bed, and not while I know Ally's here. My mind wanders. I think about if Ally were here for me, because I invited her. I imagine her looking at the pictures on the wall with genuine interest. I imagine her eyes twinkling when she sees the instruments in my room. I imagine her laughing at my old superhero costume lying deep in my closet-she'd end up digging it out with curiosity.

Thinking of all this just makes me sad because I start thinking of the much more likely possibility of her doing that with Jordan. I can't think about this any longer. I get out of bed and pick up my acoustic guitar, sitting down on the floor. I haven't played this particular guitar in a while, so it's extremely out of tune. I start tuning it slowly, channeling all my focus into listening to the sounds I've become so familiar with.

Just then, my door opens and shuts quickly. I look up and see the back of a certain brunette's head. She's trying to open my door.

"You're not gonna have any luck," I tell her. "Delly used to do this all the time when I was younger. She wouldn't let me out for hours. Of course, it probably won't be that long for you." Ally ignores me. "I'm telling you, Als. It won't open." She finally gives up, but doesn't face me. "I'm wearing clothes this time," I say.

She sighs and does something that surprises me. She turns around, takes three strides, and plops down on the floor right in front of me. I look up from my guitar.

"Hello," I say. She doesn't say anything, so I return my attention to tuning my guitar. "Should I count this as attention, or not?" I play the B string, and then start to tune it.

"I'm not mad anymore!" she blurts, as though she just confessed she robbed a bank. I look up at her through my bangs and give her a small smile.

"I know," I reply.

"I stopped being mad after about three days, but-wait, you know?" she asks, surprised. I nod and start tuning the G string, trying to be calm about this, about the fact that I was right about her not being mad, and she's talking to me. Of her own free will. "How?"

"Same way you knew I had that nightmare yesterday, and I understood that you knew. That best friend telepathy thing doesn't go away just 'cause you aren't speaking to me." I tune the E string. Once I'm satisfied that the guitar is in tune, I play a few chords of You Can Come to Me.

"I don't know how I'm gonna survive on Friday. I could hardly handle singing in front of you, much less a coffee shop full of people." I chuckle and stop playing.

"You'll be fine." There's a bit of silence. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you finally talking to me again?" Ally sighs.

"That's the question, isn't it?" She shrugs. "Not talking to you wasn't having the effect I wanted it to. By the way, I know you were working with Rydel to get me to forgive you, even though you 'gave up.'"

"And you're not mad?" I ask her, setting my guitar down. I notice that she still doesn't look in my eyes, but at my nose or my forehead or my mouth. Never my eyes.

"Not really. I told you, I stopped being mad after like three days. That whole 'being forced to forgive you, even though I don't want to' thing was true, but after I said it I realized I really wasn't mad anymore. I was just-" She cuts herself off here. "Annoyed." I raise my eyebrows.

"That isn't what you were gonna say."

"Is too!"

"And now you're defensive."

"Am not!"

"Ally." She sighs.

"I can't tell you," she says. "Just…sorry for being so stubborn, okay?" I sigh, not wanting to argue with her.

"Okay. And I'm sorry for…well, you know. Everything." She smiles at me, but it isn't real and I know it.

"Are we good?" I nod, not as happy about it as I should be. There's something she's not telling me. This isn't…her. She's being too guarded. She still won't look me in the eyes, and I feel like she's put up a wall between us, like if I reach out, I'll touch glass instead of her.

"So," I say, snapping out of my thoughts, "what's with you and Jordan? I thought you said you didn't like him."

"I don't," she replies. I raise my eyebrows.

"You were so flirting with him. I know you don't know you do it, but you can be a pretty big flirt if you like someone. The way you bat your eyelashes, laugh at everything he says, swing your legs all cute, lean on him, hug him longer than you should…" I trail off, feeling the jealousy come back. I shake my head. "Don't deny it, Als."

"I don't flirt."

"Wow, your head is big, Austin. I mean, look how huge this hat is. You know, the one I stole and put on my head-that super cliché move all girls do when they like a guy," I say in a high pitched voice, batting my eyelashes. I return to my normal voice. "You don't flirt." I scoff. "Okay."

"Okay, so maybe I was flirting with him." I get a sharp pain in my chest.

"Told you so," I say. "At least you got over me."

"I wish," I hear her mutter under her breath, but then she smiles and nods. Once again, the smile is fake.

"I heard that," I say. Then I tilt my head. "You're not over me?" Ally's cheeks turn pink, and I have to purse my lips to keep from smiling. "Then why were you flirting with Jordan?" Her cheeks turn redder. The smile breaks through. Not a smirk, but a genuine smile. I rest my arms on my guitar and let my chin fall on the backs of my hands. "You were trying to make me jealous, weren't you?"

"Well, I really didn't want you to give up," she starts in a rush. "Jordan was coincidentally coming to the school, so I figured that if I could make it look like I was replacing you with him, you wouldn't wanna give up. It's terrible to lead him on like that, I know, but I couldn't help it, okay?" I laugh.

"Well, you succeeded. I'm happy you don't like him, though. I saw him eyeing every girl that was in his line of vision."

"What a player," Ally says. "But he really is a nice guy. He just hates you, for obvious reasons." I nod.

There's silence for a while, but Ally breaks it again. "I heard what you said in the hallway yesterday. When Jordan challenged you or whatever, and you said I wasn't a prize." I go rigid. Did that lead her to figure out I like her? "Thanks," she says. "Even though you don't like me, you care about me way more than he ever could." I smile.

"You don't have to thank me for telling the truth," I say, setting my guitar down next to me. Ally suddenly scoots forward and wraps her arms around my neck, but only for a second. She lets go as soon as she hugged me. I don't even have time to hug her back. "That hug was oddly short," I note when she gets back to her original position.

"I forgot that-" She stops again. "I don't quite trust you as much." I raise my eyebrows.

"You're doing it again. That isn't what you were originally gonna say, and I know you know that I did that on purpose, because I specifically told you that."

"I dunno what you're talking about."

"Yes you do," I say.

"No I don't." She still hasn't looked me in the eyes once since she got in here.

"And you're not looking me in the eyes. What's going on that you don't want me to find out about?"

"Nothing's going on." I grab her chin and tilt her head so she's looking in my eyes. Our faces are close, but not close enough that my urge to kiss her is more than usual.

"Ally. What's. Going. On." Her eyes shift from one of my eyes to the other nervously.

"It doesn't matter," she says, turning her head away from me. My hand drops.

"If it doesn't matter, then why are you so set on not telling me? What is it that you're so afraid I'll find out, you won't even look at me?" I ask her. She sighs and finally looks me in the eyes.

"I love you, okay?!" she exclaims. "When you kissed me again, that was the last push I needed, and I fell in love with you! That's why I didn't talk to you for so long. I thought that if I avoided you, I'd get over you. But it didn't work. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, yeah? That's what I didn't wanna tell you. I gave up on trying to get over you because avoiding you hurt more than being around you. Now I just got you back, and I'm gonna lose you again because you don't believe in love and we're gonna get in an argument about it!" At this point, she's standing and pacing back and forth in my room. I stand up, too.

"Ally," I say calmly. She keeps pacing and runs a hand through her hair.

"I already know you don't think love is real, Austin!" she exclaims, turning on me. "But it is. And I know it's gonna ruin whatever friendship we have left, and I can't take that! But I also can't stand the fact that the strongest feelings you believe are just a crush!" She's angry, and I don't know with what. Probably herself, if I were to guess. But there's something in there other than anger. Something she's trying to hide, but I know her too well.

Fear. She's terrified of her feelings.

I don't believe in love. That hasn't changed. But I also don't think the strongest feelings someone can feel are 'just a crush.' I mean, I'm living proof of that, and apparently so is she.

I can tell in Ally's eyes that she expects me to yell back, to get angry at her for thinking she's in love. Instead, I pull her into me by her waist. Her arms instantly go around my neck and we stay like that. I hold her in my arms for the first time in what feels like forever and I think she's just as relieved as I am.

"It's okay, Als," I tell her. "Why don't we compromise? I still don't believe in love, but I do believe that it's possible to feel something more than a crush." She pulls back to look at me.

"You do?" I nod.

"Why don't we call it… a megacrush?" I suggest. She smiles a little.

"That's such a dumb name." I grin.

"Exactly. Then, whenever it comes up, we can laugh about the dumb name and neither of us have to be so serious about it!" She tilts her head.

"You're smarter than people give you credit for."

"Duh," I say.

"So…a megacrush, huh?" she says. "I can live with that." I nod.

"So can I. See? Things can go back to normal like that." I snap my fingers.

"Normal?" I roll my eyes.

"I won't make fun of you." She nods. "As often…" She rolls her eyes and I grin. "So…just to clarify: you are no longer mad at me and we are officially friends again?" She smiles. This time, it's a genuine one. The kind that reaches her eyes. The kind that brightens her whole face. The kind that makes my stomach flutter and my heartbeat quicken.

"Only if you wanna be."

"Yes!" I say immediately. I clear my throat. "Yes, um, please. I miss you. A lot." Her smile widens and she hugs me again. I bury my face in her neck.

"Then yeah, we're officially friends again."

I smile so wide my face hurts in seconds, but I don't really care because I did it. I actually got her to forgive me. This is really happening. She's here, in my arms, like we never even fought. And there's also the fact that she still likes me!

"You little liar," I say jokingly, pulling away a little. "You said you didn't like me anymore." She shrugs, her cheeks tinting pink at the topic of her feelings for me. I've missed that.

"I don't."

"But-"

"Technically, I was telling the truth because I don't just like you anymore, see? You just took it that way."

"I-but-and you…Ally Dawson, that was such a me move. You should be ashamed of yourself." She sticks her tongue out at me.

"What are you gonna do about it, Moon?" I shrug, pretending to turn away before grabbing her waist and falling backwards on my bed, pulling her with me.

"My threat to use your attraction towards me as a means of revenge still stands, sweetheart," I say quietly, as her face is inches from mine.

If you kiss her again, she'll never forgive you.

Thanks, I needed that.

Just then, the door opens. Ally and I snap our heads toward it and see Rydel with a smirk on her face. We don't even bother trying to move from our position.

"That was fast," she says. She nods to Ally with a grin. "So what did you do when he told you-"

"That I knew she wasn't mad anymore!" I exclaim, knowing full well what Rydel thinks is going on. I give her a look and her eyes widen. Ally raises her eyebrows at me and I stand up, gently pushing Ally off while I go.

"I was surprised?" Ally says, as if it's a question. She looks confused.

"Oh," Rydel says. "Well, um, I just remembered I have to…study for my English final! Austin really needs to tell you something." With that, she shuts the door.

There's no way out of this. I mean, Ally can read me like her own brown book. She can see through me like…glasses or something. Either way, I need to escape, but there's no way I can get out of telling her. At the same time, I can't tell her just yet. I'm not ready to commit to a serious relationship-frankly because I'm terrified of what that would mean. Now that I have her back, the happy bliss of liking her has been replaced with fear of what could happen. I mean, yeah, we could become a happy couple and stuff, but I don't believe in love, and that could cause so many problems on top of all the normal couple problems. And I've never been in a relationship with a girl I actually wanted to be with. I've never truly committed to a girl before, and I'm scared to. I'm scared of being a boyfriend, because when you think about it, I've really never been one before. My only experience is my act, which doesn't count at all. So Ally can't find out, not yet.

"What's Rydel talking about? Is everything okay?" Ally asks.

"Yeah!" I say. "Everything's great. I have no idea what she's talking about, honestly."

"Not honestly," Ally says. "Tell me what's going on, because I know it's something. And I also know when you're lying."

"I…" I trail off, trying to think of something, anything. "I wanted to tell you that, um…" Ally sighs and rolls her eyes.

"Whatever. If you really don't wanna tell me, you don't have to. I know how your sister can be, and I don't want to argue with you about it. Besides, I have to go home. So much homework…" I nod.

"Thanks," I say. She hugs me one more time and starts towards my bedroom door, before turning back around.

"I expect my chauffer service back tomorrow morning," she tells me. I grin.

"Of course, Ms. Dawson," I say, bowing. She chuckles and rolls her eyes. "Only if you join us for fifth period tomorrow instead of the 'We Hate Austin Moon' club."

"Guess I lost my membership for that one," she says. "Oh, well. See you tomorrow, Moon Boy." I smile.

"See you tomorrow, Als."

BAM! Yeah, I know I could've written it WAYYYYY better, but oh well, I guess. Anyway, THINGS ARE BETTER AGAIN YAYYYYY! I'M SO HAPPY YOU DON'T EVEN UNDERSTANDDDDDDD! AND NOW QTTA!

1. When will Austin tell Ally his feelings?

2. Will it even be Austin who tells her?

3. Will Austin ever believe in love?

4. Will Ally being in love with Austin cause any problems?

5. What is Jordan gonna do when Ally starts hanging out with Austin again?

Yup... Not many. Anywhoozles, I need more disclaimer prompts. PLEASE SEND SOME IN THEY CAN BE COMPLETELY INSANE! Also, does anyone have Tumblr? I have no idea how to use it... My username is austins-pancakes if any of you wanna follow me XD but someone please tell me how to use it? Anyway, if you liked the chapter, put LOVE in a review. If you thought it was okay, put MEGACRUSH in a review. If you hated it, put STORY OF US in a review! Thanks for reading and please review! Love you more than clothes!

~Maddie :)

Maddie's Fancy Disclaimers: Part XVIII Continued

Whale: *sings* What do I have to do? What do I have to do?

Me: *Grins* Do my disclaimer.

Whale: Okay! Maddie doesn't own Austin & Ally, Story of Us, or Crazy 4 U, or anything else you recognize!

Me: Thank you! *Snaps fingers and Ross appears*

Ross: What the-?

Me: Ross, meet Whale. Whale, meet Ross.

Whale: *Fangirls*

The End