Chapter 21 – Ally's POV (A/N: Told you.)
I've spent the last week thinking about the picnic… Yeah, you know what picnic I'm talking about…
Austin actually almost kissed me. I know he likes me and he knows I like him. But then Tilly showed up and ruined it… She called Austin her boyfriend… Austin said that she was just crazy, but… he still has that reputation… I dunno, should I believe him?
"How am I supposed to know?!" the pizza delivery guy moaned. "I'm just waiting for you to give me the 10 dollars for your pizza."
"Oh! Um, um, sorry, just thinking aloud… heh… Here!" I said and handed him a twenty. "Keep the change, sorry for… annoying you." He rolled his eyes and left. I hit the couch and grabbed a slice of pizza.
I don't really have time to think about Austin right now anyway. It's almost Christmastime so I need to plan the annual party and buy everyone presents. And then the week after New Years we have that performance on Times Square.
I grabbed my notebook to write down what to give everyone. Trish has been wanting a new purse and some high heels to match so I'll get her that. I can get Cassidy a new keyboard, hers is dying. My cousin Alexis wants a new make-up kit. I could get Ethan the new myTab with the audio editing app, he'd love that. And I'll send Elliot an artist's kit. Just because he's moved away doesn't mean we aren't friends. …But what about Austin?
I could get him a new guitar… Nah, I'd never be able to afford that with Trish's purse and shoes, Cassidy's keyboard, and Ethan's myTab. He's said that he likes painting... nah, I can't get him and Elliot the same gift, that would just be weird.
New high tops?
No, too similar to Trish.
A basketball?
Nah, he said he doesn't want to play sports, too cliché.
Hey, he collects teddy bears! I'll get him one!
But wait, I don't want to embarrass him…
Why is this so hard?!
I grabbed a magazine to see if I could think of anything while reading it. After flipping a few pages I found a Christmas page of a woman giving a man some mistletoe and them kissing.
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Whaaat?! I didn't want to buy it for him! Are you kidding me? Heh heh…
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Alright, I walked to the mall and got some right then.
Why are you snooping in on my life anyway? All you're doing is reading everything that's personal to me! I mean seriously, it's creepy to have someone reading a story ABOUT ME! Leave me alone!
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Not telling this story is getting boring. Let's get back to it!
I ordered all of the presents (yes, including Austin's mistletoe. Stop asking.) and started planning the Christmas party.
Dad agreed to let me use Sonic Boom for it. At school the next day I gave out invitations (YES. AUSTIN GOT AN INVITATION.), and told Trish, Cassidy, and Austin to meet me after school to help me plan it.
"Hey Trish! Hey Cassidy! Hey Austin! Hey… Dez? What are you doing here?" I greeted everyone, also noticing that Dez had showed up.
"I invited him to come help," Austin replied.
"That's fine, we might need some muscle anyway," I said.
"Um, excuse me?" Austin said, flexing his muscles. I smirked, deciding to mess with his head.
"What are you doing that for? Now go get the streamers and hang them up," I told him.
"Streamers? …Don't you need help placing a giant snowglobe or something?" Austin asked, crossing his arms.
"Yeah, but you couldn't handle it, Dez'll just have to help!" I replied. Austin was really upset at this point. "Just kidding, just kidding!" I laughed. Austin pretended to be mad, but I could tell that he was quite amused. "The heavy stuff's over here," I said and lead him over to it. He picked up the giant snowglobe.
"Whoa, this is heavy," he remarked.
"Can't you handle it?" I asked, crossing my arms.
"No I'm fine!" he protested quickly. I smirked. This may come in handy.
Trish, Cassidy, and I got to work on the lights and streamers and stuff while Austin and Dez brought all of the decorations in.
"Where should this snowman go?" Austin asked me.
"Put it by the door," I replied, trying to hang up a light. Austin carried it to the door.
"Wouldn't it look better over by the stairs?" Cassidy pointed out. Austin carried it to the stairway.
"I think we should put it at the counter," Trish said. Austin sighed and carried it to the counter.
"No, it looked better by the stairs," I said. Austin glared at me and carried it back to the stairs.
"Actually I think I liked it better over by the door," Trish said. Austin grunted and carried it to the door again.
"Nah, let's put it at-" I started to say. Suddenly Austin fell to the floor.
"Ow, ow, my leg!" he began to scream. Trish, Cassidy, and I ran over to check on him.
"Austin, are you okay?!" I asked anxiously.
"I think I strained my leg too much carrying that snowman," he moaned.
"Oh gosh, should I call 911?" Trish asked, about to panic.
"No, no, I'll just… I'll just rest over here for awhile," he said. We helped him over to a chair and Trish and Cassidy got back to work. I started to but then turned back around.
"Should I get Dez to carry the snowman back to the counter? He'll probably be able to handle it," I said.
"What?! No, no, no, I can get it," he said and started to get back up.
"But what about your leg?" I said, crossing my arms. Austin's eyes went wide.
"Oh, um, it's… feeling a lot better…" he said nervously.
"Nice try, get back to work," I grinned and walked away. He rolled his eyes and carried the snowman over to the counter. A few minutes later we were almost done.
"You guys finish this up, I'm gonna go pick up everyone's presents from the mall and wrap them," I said with a smile.
"Got it," everyone replied. I headed to the mall and got everyone's presents (except Elliot's- I had his shipped to his new house.) As the clerk was handing me the mistletoe, she stopped.
"Who's this for?" she asked with a knowing smile.
"Oh, um, just a… friend," I replied, blushing.
"Friend? Really now?" she smirked. I looked down and nodded. She wrapped the mistletoe in a box and I took it (and the other presents) back to Sonic Boom. I put them in my personal room upstairs. From the top of the stairs I looked down at the decorations.
"Guys, this looks awesome!" I said with a grin. "I think we're ready for the party tomorrow night!"
"Well, I better get home," Trish said.
"Yeah, me too," Cassidy agreed. I gave them both a hug goodbye, thanked Dez before he left, then turned back to Austin.
"Well, see you at school tomorrow," I said to Austin and gave him a hug. He smiled and nodded and I started to leave, grabbing the keys to lock up. Before I did I looked to see if Austin was following. He didn't. "Um… Austin, we're done decorating, time to go…" I said. He peeked up towards the room upstairs.
"No, you cannot have your present early!" I said, crossing my arms.
"Please?" he begged, making big brown puppy-dog eyes. I smiled.
"No," I insisted. His eyes got even bigger. "Seriously stop it, it's gone from cute to scary," I smirked.
"So you DO think I'm cute," he grinned. My face turned bright red.
"Uh-um-well-uh…" I stuttered. Austin rolled his eyes and gave me a hug. "Well, seeya," he said and started to leave. I headed out in front of him and waited for him to walk out- and I heard his footsteps running up the stairs.
"Oh for crying out- GET BACK HERE!" I laughed and chased after him.