A/N: thank you so much for the wonderful reviews! I originally wrote this chapter in one big go, but then decided it was WAY too long, so I've split it in two parts, and I'll be uploading them both now. Okay, now you may read the chapter :D
The week at school just seemed to crawl by for Ally. She spent every moment at school with Trish and Dez, who tried desperately hard to make this easier, and less painful for her, by talking about anything but Austin. As much as she appreciated their efforts, none of it worked. Austin plagued her mind every minute of every day. She missed his voice, his touch, his laugh…everything.
However, this wasn't as hard as it was before. Austin refused to let Ally go, so he called her persistently every day. She didn't have the strength or the willpower to ignore him, and talking to him became the best and brightest part of her day. They talked normally; never about how much they missed each other, never about their feelings. They just talked.
Ally knew it wasn't a good thing that talking to him was the brightest part of her day. What was she going to do when she left for Julliard? Would she mope around all day until Austin called and made everything better? She couldn't go on living like this, but part of her just didn't care. She would never stop loving Austin, so why was it so wrong that talking to him brightened her world?
The theme of the prom was Fire and Ice; a different, unique theme that had never been done before at their school. The girls and guys had to coordinate with their dates and decide who would wear red, and who would wear white. But after several complaints from guys about renting white tuxes, the rule had been altered slightly so that as long as they wore a white shirt, they could wear whatever blazer and trousers they liked.
So on Thursday, Trish and Ally had gone dress-shopping, which may have seemed pretty risky because most of the good dresses would've been cleaned out, however, Trish's mom was a fashion-designer, and had put aside ten or twelve beautiful red dresses for Ally and Trish to try on.
The pair of them were now sitting in Trish's mom's huge closet, staring down at the gorgeous red dresses in front of them.
"They're all so beautiful," Trish whined. "I have no idea which one I want."
Ally flashed a small smile, not really listening. She was staring at the pools of red material, not sure which one she wanted to wear either. All she could think about was the fact that Austin wouldn't show up at her door wearing a tux and carrying a corsage for her. She'd be going to prom alone.
She'd had at least ten guys asking her to prom, and she'd declined every one of them. The only person she wanted to go to prom with was Austin, but he was probably rehearsing for his concert right about now, and that was okay.
I can't complain, she told herself sternly. I'm the one who let him go, for God's sake! This was the right thing to do. There'll be plenty of parties that Austin and I can go to together in the future. I'll be with my friends at prom – I'm gonna be fine.
"Ally? Did you hear me?" Trish asked, waving a hand in front of her face.
Ally snapped out of her thoughts. "Huh?"
Trish sighed. "Are you okay, Ally?"
"Yeah," she forced a smile. "Of course I am."
"Really?" she asked sceptically.
"Really," Ally nodded.
"You know, just because I'm going with Dez doesn't mean I'm going to leave you alone," Trish told her firmly. "And just because Austin's not going to be there doesn't mean you're not going to have an amazing time."
Yeah, Dez had asked Trish to the prom. It was something Ally never saw coming; in fact, it was something none of them saw coming. Trish had been stunned, pleased and shocked all at once; and the only two words she'd been able to choke out had been 'yeah, okay'. Ally was so happy for them, even if it was a little weird. As long as they were happy.
"Thanks, Trish," Ally smiled and hugged her friend tightly. "I'm going to miss you when I go to Julliard and you go to Yale."
Trish's eyes filled with tears. "I'm going to miss you too, Ally. Promise me we'll always stay in touch! Every weekend!"
"Of course," Ally promised, also feeling tears fill her eyes. "I'll call you every day, Trish. You and I are always going to be best friends, no matter what."
Trish wiped her eyes and pulled away to look at Ally. "I can't believe Team Austin is really ending. We're all going our own ways, aren't we?"
"It's not the end," Ally assured her. "Friendships like this don't just get forgotten about. We're going to be friends forever, okay? You can count on it."
Trish giggled. "Look at us – getting all weepy now, and we haven't even graduated yet! Let's just pick our dresses for prom first, before we even think about graduation."
Ally smiled. "Okay. I really like this one for you," she remarked, pointing at one of them.
"Ooh, yeah, that is pretty," Trish smiled. "What about this one for you?"
And so the pair of them sat there in the closet for ages, trying on each dress, styling each other's hair in different styles for each dress, giggling, chatting and just being Ally and Trish. The time flew by, and eventually, Ally hugged Trish goodbye with her dress all zipped up, and left to head home.
The next day at school, Ally was by her locker sorting her books out for next lesson, when Trent came up to her with a smile.
"Hey Ally, how are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm fine, thanks," she smiled. "How are you, Trent?"
"Yeah, I'm good," he leaned against the locker next to hers, and sighed. "Prom's tonight."
Ally chuckled grimly. "I know. How's your campaign for prom king going?"
"I haven't been campaigning," he laughed. "Cecilia keeps trying to get me to campaign with her. I think she wants me to take her to prom," he said, looking troubled.
Ally smiled sympathetically. "Go with whoever you want to go with, Trent. Don't let her influence your decision."
"I don't want to go with her," he sighed. "I can't forgive her after what she did. Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to go with me," he suggested. "You know, as friends, of course, seeing as neither of us can go with the person we hoped to go with in the first place."
As he'd been talking, Ally had noticed one of the girls, Jenna, from the play staring longingly at Trent. She'd always liked Jenna – she was a nice, quite eccentric girl who had played the role of Frenchy. And clearly, Jenna liked Trent.
"Trent," Ally smiled. "I – I would love to go to prom with you, but I think you should ask Jenna. I know she wants to go with you more."
Trent turned and looked around to see Jenna. She smiled shyly at him and waved tentatively. He grinned back, and then glanced at Ally.
"Yeah," he nodded with a smile. "I think I will. Are you sure you're gonna be okay, though?"
"Oh, of course," Ally nodded. "Well, you'd better go ask her before someone else does," she added jokingly.
Trent grinned. "Thanks, Ally. You're a good friend. Wish me luck!" And with that, he hurried over to Jenna and offered to carry her books. Ally smiled as she watched them walk away.
"Hey there, Dawson," Dallas appeared next to her, slamming her locker shut.
"What do you want, Dallas?" she snapped.
"Heard your precious boyfriend skipped town," he shrugged. "And I'm still free. Want to go to prom with me?"
"No," she laughed. "Are you crazy? Why would I want to go to prom with an asshole like you?"
"Funny," he snapped darkly, taking a step toward her. "You used to be into me, Ally, remember that?"
"Yeah, and then you cheated on me," she fired back. "The answer's no, Dallas. You're even more pathetic than I gave you credit for."
She turned and stalked off, suppressing the urge to start laughing hysterically. Dallas Centineo was officially the biggest idiot she had ever met.
Austin forced another smile, as he put his arm around another fan, smiled for another picture, signed another hat, another CD, another piece of paper…and then ended with a 'nice to meet you (insert name of fan here)'.
This should be fun. He should be enjoying meeting all of his fans, hearing their praise, signing their CDs…but he wasn't enjoying a single moment of it. All he could think about was the fact that Ally's prom started in five hours, and he wasn't going to be there to take her.
The meet and greet finished in ten minutes, and then he would have to start preparing for tonight's concert. Last night's concert had been exhilarating, yeah, but it wasn't the same. All he could think about was Ally. He was completely off his game, and everyone knew it.
At this point, Austin didn't care about all the fans that were screaming his name, and queuing just to get a couple of minutes with him. None of that mattered without Ally around.
"Excuse me? Austin?"
He snapped out of his chain of thought to see a young girl waving a hand timidly in front of his face and holding out a CD for him to sign.
"Sorry," he smiled. "I just spaced out. What's your name?"
"Alex Hudson," she smiled shyly. "But my friends call me Ally."
Austin's heart picked up, and he smiled a little. "It's nice to meet you, Ally."
"Can you sign this for me, please?" she handed him the CD.
"Of course," he said, scribbling his signature.
"Austin?" she asked curiously. "Why are you so sad?"
Her big, blue eyes were inquisitive, and her auburn curls bounced to the side as she cocked her head curiously, waiting for his reply.
"I – I'm not sad," he lied with a laugh.
"You are sad," she decided. "Your smile's not reaching your eyes."
"What?" Austin asked, amused.
"Well, when we smile normally, it reaches our eyes," she explained. "But your eyes are sad. And our eyes tell us all we need to know about a person. So I think you're sad."
"How old did you say you were again?" Austin asked.
"I didn't, but I'm going to be eight in a week," she informed him. "So? Why are you sad?"
Austin sighed. "I'm sad because I'm in love, Ally. I'm in love with a girl that I can't be with."
"Well, why can't you be with her?" she asked, confused.
"Because…it's complicated. We're worlds apart, and it's too complicated," he sighed.
"Well, I don't see what's so complicated about it," she shrugged. "You love her, and she loves you, right?"
"Yeah," he nodded. "But –
"But nothing," she interrupted. "Nothing else should matter, apart from her."
Austin stared at her, surprised. "You are the smartest seven-nearly-eight-year-old I have ever met. Where did you learn advice like that?"
She shrugged. "We have cable."
"Thank you, Ally," he smiled. "I know what I have to do now."
He jumped out of his chair without even yelling a goodbye to the rest of his fans. He was just lucky that the smartest little girl he'd ever met, Alex Hudson, had been the last fan he spoke to.
"Austin? Where are you going?" his dad asked. "Wait until the bodyguards have cleared the entrance a little before we leave."
"No, I have to go now," he said. "I'm going to Miami tonight."
His manager, Dexter, appeared behind his dad, and his eyes practically popped out of their sockets. Unfortunately, his manager also happened to be the guy who was in charge of his record deal.
"You're doing WHAT?" he demanded.
"I have somewhere I need to be," Austin grinned. "Don't worry, I'll pay for refunds for tonight, and I'll do a free show the night after for everyone. But tonight I have somewhere I need to be."
"A free show?" Dexter repeated furiously. "Refunds? I don't think so, Mr Moon! You will stay and do the tour as planned!"
"No," Austin shot back. "No, I won't."
"Why not?" Dexter barked.
"I made a massive mistake leaving," he stated. "None of this matters to me unless Ally's a part of it."
"Ally," he scoffed. "You're giving this all up for some girl whose name you won't even remember in a few years?!"
"No, I'm giving this all up because I love her," Austin rolled his eyes, as if it was simple. Because it really was that simple.
"I will drop you from the record label!" Dexter threatened. "And don't think that I won't!"
"Oh, I wouldn't doubt you, sir," Austin smirked. "Which is why I quit anyway. There are other record labels out there, Dex, and I'm tired of you ruling my life. Music should be something fun; something I do with my friends. And if I have to do this your way, then I don't want any part of it."
Dexter looked furiously, and helplessly over at Austin's dad. "Mike? Back me up here! Talk to your son!"
Mike grinned at Austin. "I've never been more proud of you in my life, buddy," he said, hugging him. "We'll get Will to take you to the private jet – you should make it in time."
"What are you doing?" Dex roared furiously.
Austin grinned. "I'm quitting. Later, Dex." And with that, he and his dad began to run past the screaming fans down to the car. The bodyguards helped them through, until eventually, Austin dived in the backseat and grinned at his driver, Will.
"I need to get to the private jet," he told him quickly. "It's kind of an emergency – I'm gonna be late for prom," he laughed.
Will also laughed. "You got it, Mr Moon."
He stepped on the pedal hurriedly, and then they were off.
"How long until it starts?" Mike asked.
Austin looked at his watch. It had just gone two o'clock, and the prom started at seven.
"Five hours," he sighed. "I just hope that's enough."
Ally stared at herself nervously in the mirror; flattening her skirt, checking her makeup, and messing with her perfectly curled locks of hair. Her eyes roamed the dress she was wearing. It really was beautiful. It was a strapless red dip-hem dress, made from red gauzy material, with a jewelled embellished waistline and an elegant skirt. On her feet were the red heels she would be wearing at her dad's and Charlotte's wedding next weekend.
"Ally, you look gorgeous," Trish told her, entering Ally's room and smiling.
"Thanks. You look beautiful," Ally smiled, turning away from the mirror. Trish's dress was absolutely stunning. It was a gauzy red dress with sequins across the bodice and straps, with a crossover back. Her black curls were left loose, and she'd paired the dress with gorgeous red wedges on her feet.
"Dez is gonna be speechless," Ally giggled.
"That makes a change," she retorted, although she was blushing.
"Trish, about this whole prom queen thing," Ally began hesitantly. "Do you want to win?"
"No," Trish scoffed. "Like you said, it's superficial. I've had the best senior year anyway, and I don't think some stupid crown's gonna make it better."
Ally grinned at her. "And that is why you're my best friend, Trish De La Rosa."
Trish giggled. "Let's just go have some fun, okay?"
"Okay. We should go now," Ally stated, grabbing her purse. "The dance starts in ten minutes, and seeing as we spent a whole hour and a half decorating the hall for tonight, we should spend as much time as possible enjoying it."
"I know, right?" she laughed. "Let's go."
Just in case anyone was wondering, here are the links for the dresses Ally and Trish are wearing:
Ally - shop/womens/dresses/ax-paris-red-embellished-waist-dip-hem-strapless-dress_273787560
Trish - webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?beginIndex=1&viewAllFlag=&catalogId=33057&storeId=12556&productId=8515960&langId=-1&sort_field=Relevance&categoryId=208523&parent_categoryId=203984&pageSize=200&refinements=Colour{1}~[red]^category~[209723|208523]&noOfRefinements=2