Austin's POV
Do you know what it's like to find out your best friend is leaving you at the last second? Do you know what it's like to watch your best friend actually leave? Do you know what it's like to be away from your best friend from halfway across the world? And, do you know what it's like to find out that your best friend has gone missing?
For me, the answer is yes to all those questions – even the last one. Yeah, that's right: somewhere, somehow, Ally went missing. And, I'm worried sick about her.
What happened?
I only found out this morning when I was scrolling through my Tweeter news feed. I noticed that a bunch of my fans were mentioning about how they wished Ally would be found soon and that they felt bad for me and all that. After seeing a boatload of the same kind of tweets over and over, I looked it up online. Upon finding out that it was all true, I kind of, well, accidentally freaked out.
It literally breaks my heart knowing that back in Miami; no one knows where Ally is. I just wish I could go back and look for her, but I need to stay on this tour. That's what Ally would want, right?
My music career means so much to me. Then again, if it weren't for Ally's song, Double Take, I wouldn't have a career. In fact, without Ally, I'd probably be sitting at home strumming a guitar in my room – not living out my world tour dream. Ally means everything to me.
But, there's no way I could go back to Miami. I mean, I could, but I shouldn't. It's not what Ally would want, is it? That would be crazy… Right?
Ally's POV
The sun wakes me up from a long slumber; the brightness blinding my eyes. I sit up from my position comfortably when a pain stings my ankle. Then, all the memories from last night come in a fast flowing river into my head. The tree house, the sunset, the darkness, the running, the root stump, the ankle pain; I remember it all.
Oh gosh, I am in BIG trouble. What would my parents thing? They are for sure worried sick. And, knowing that they can be over protective, they just might report to the authorities. That would mean people are looking for me. Though, it relieves me that someone's going to eventually discover where I am, it's the fact of how much concern my friends have that worries me. What would they think? Would they do?
What would Austin do?
The boy with the mop of messed up blonde hair and kind hazel eyes makes me feel…well – as he would put it – all kinds of feelings. When we first met, I was angry, agitated, and annoyed. Then, the moment Austin told me that his dad said he had a bazillion in one chance of making it in the music business, I felt sorry for him and felt that he could understand me. During the course of our partnership, the blonde made me feel happy and wanted. Recently, I was saddened by the fact that we wouldn't see each other for a few months. And now, I'm concerned about how concerned he is for me.
I then realize the difference in my surroundings. I'm not outdoors under a tree or anything. I'm inside some shack on a bed. No wonder I slept so well.
The walls are made out of old, brown wood. I'm pretty sure if I touched them that I would get painful splinters. Trust me; it's not fun when getting them. There are evidently no windows inside since it is just a little hut after all, so I currently can't see any of the outside world. On the floor, is a simple, but furry brown rug lying next to the bed I'm in. I move my feet and touch the carpeted mat. I have to admit; it's a little rough, although, still comfortable all the same. I try to stand up from the mattress, but immediately wobble from my ankle pain, mutter an "Oww", and fall back onto the bed.
Bringing my left ankle closer to me, I notice that it's bandaged in white strips all around. I put my hand on the white bandages and stroke my fingers back and forth on them. As I do that, someone walks in through the door.
The person is generally tall – or at least taller than I am. She has slightly messed up curly hair tied back in a hair tie that's colored a deep chocolate-brown. Her bright, blue eyes almost look like they're shooting daggers at me, yet I feel as if they have a kind and caring feeling towards me. The girl's figure is very slim and I can tell that she doesn't eat or even drink much. I know that I'm really skinny, but not as skinny as her. Her clothes consist of a camouflage green t-shirt and brown army jeans with pockets at the sides. They're covered in specks of dirt and crunched up leaves as is part of her face.
"I see you're awake," she says in a rough tone. In her right hand is a woven basket filled with an assortment of fruits that include a few oranges, mangoes, and guavas. The girl puts the basket of fruit on a small table next to the bed. I observe her movements carefully; debating whether or not I can trust her. In the past, my dad's taught me several survival skills just in case anything ever happened to me. Well, now it's time to put these skills to the test.
The first thing to come out of my mouth is, "Who are you?"
"The name's Talia," she casually answers. Talia takes an orange out of the basket and starts to peel off the skin. "I'd like to ask you the same thing."
"I'm Ally," I say. We both shake each other's hands like normal. "Can I ask how you found me? And, where I am?"
Clearing her throat, Talia sits down on the wooden floor and continues to peel her orange. She then grabs one out of the basket and throws it to me. I catch it, when she advises, "Go ahead and eat. You're probably hungry."
Right as she says those words, it strikes in my mind, that I haven't eaten anything since lunch yesterday. Nearly hesitating to eat, I look from the orange to her, and back to the orange.
Talia raises an eyebrow. "What? You think I poisoned it?"
My expression remains stoic. The brunette adds on, "I wouldn't even know how to poison an orange if I could."
I decide to start peeling; due to the famine issues my stomach keeps pushing to my brain.
"Okay, let me explain what happened, how you got here, where you are, blah blah blah," the girl starts. "Last night, I was hunting through the forest for something to eat for dinner. I was walking around through the trees with my bow and arrows to see if there was any game around. Then, I heard this loud 'thump' on the ground somewhere nearby. Obviously, that was you. Though at the time, I didn't know it, so I assumed that it was some animal that fell out of a tree." Talia pops an orange slice in her mouth before continuing. "I snuck over to where you were and hid by a tree. I was about to pull out my bow and an arrow to strike, but I realized that you weren't an animal. I watched you pull out your phone and try dialing a number, but then you stopped and put your phone down. I continued to watch you for a while, until I figured out that you had fallen asleep. So, I decided to take you here – my shack, or rather, home. You're still in the same forest as you were in. It's a bit far off from where I picked you up." Talia, having finished her orange, throws the scraps into what I assume is a trash can. I also then finish and she holds out her hand for me to put my own scraps in. She takes them, and tosses them into the can.
"So, is that all there is to it?" I ask her.
"Pretty much." The brunette shrugs and picks herself out and grabs a mango to eat. "You want another fruit?"
"Nah," I lie. "I think I'm good for now." Though, I'm still famished from lack of food, I turn down her offer; not wanting to eat anything else at the moment. I just want to go home, but something holds me back from going back yet. "Thanks for helping me out though," I add-on.
She brushes off, "It was nothing." A moment of silence falls upon us, and I start to examine my ankle again. "Oh, your ankle seems to be broken," Talia interrupts. "I'm no doctor, but I bandaged it up. You can get it fixed when you go back to civilization." She says the last word as if it were acid in her mouth; making questions pop into my head.
"Wait," I begin. "You live here?" I take another look around the tiny wooden hut, as it's not much.
"Yeah, I broke off of my Miami home months ago," she responds. In other words, Talia basically ran away from her house. "I've been living here since. It turns out that this is a Native American Reservation, and I ended up encountering with some Indians, but we worked something out so that I could live here."
All that I can manage to say is, "Oh." Talia's story intrigues me, as if I were part of an adventure novel. A part of me wants to hear more of her tale, but another part of me doesn't want to make her uncomfortable of her past.
Though, Talia continues on anyway. "So, after the natives let me stay in their territory, I found this old shack. No one lived in it, or even bother to came, so I claimed it as my new home. You can tell that it's not much, but it's somewhere to stay." The brunette takes another look around her small home, but hey, it's home to her. "I haven't really talked to any of the Indians since the agreement. But, I see them from a distance every once in a while. Anyway though, I've considered going home back to Miami so many times, but…" Her voice fades away, and I can guess that she's almost afraid to admit of what happens next. I would know that feeling; I've felt it before whenever I've had to tell someone the story of how I got my stage fright.
"You don't have to tell the rest if you don't want to," I tell Talia. I know that sometimes I would hesitate to tell certain parts of how I got my paralyzing fear.
"No, no," she says. "I want to tell you the rest."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah." Then, Talia confesses, "It's been kind of a while since I've really talked to anybody. I'm surprised I haven't gone all 'animal' yet." She giggles at her own tease at the end, making me chuckle too.
Going back to our serious mood from earlier, the brunette resumes to her tale, "So, I didn't want to go back to Miami because…" She pauses again and sighs. "I was too scared to see what people thought. They would think of me as some crazy rebel who's too scared and desperate to face the facts of the things that happen in life."
I'm about to ask what had happened, but she answers before I could ask. "See, what happened is that I was channel surfing at home and came across the news and in big and bold letters it said "BREAKING NEWS". I watched to see what it was about, and it turns out that my parents were killed in this car crash." Talia stops at the moment. I can just tell that memories are flooding into her brain at the moment. "I was terribly shocked at the news and I started to cry. That was because not only my parents had died, but because I was then and there an orphan. I have no other family left in my life. Both sets of my grandparents have already passed away, and both my mom and dad don't have siblings; meaning that I am completely alone and would have nowhere to stay. So, I panicked and ran away from home before authorities could get ahold of me." The brunette hunter looks down at the ground stoically.
"I'm sorry for what happened." She looks up at me, and I also add on, "But, things would have gotten better. Sure, things seemed tough then, but that doesn't mean life will always be that hard. It always gets better." I let out a small smile, and Talia ends up grinning back.
"Thanks."
I nod; not sure of what to say.
"Hey," Talia speaks up again. "You know, you can go back anytime you want. I'm not stopping you. I can lead you back to where I found you if you want."
I think about how I had wanted to get home and go to my parents and hug them, and explain to them why I was gone for so long. I suppose my secret hideout wouldn't be so 'secret' anymore. But then, I think of how Talia is really lonely; considering she's been on her own for months without anyone to live with. Since this is a Native American reservation, I doubt that no one would come into the forest. I didn't even know that this was a territory for the Indians. I consider actually staying here in the shack with Talia for a little while to keep her company rather than leaving her alone. I mean, I'll get back to Miami eventually; maybe convincing her to come back into the world with me. Of course, everyone would be worried sick about me. They'd go insane trying to find me. What would they think when I tell them that I've been able to go back this whole time?
Nevertheless though, I say, "Actually, if you don't mind, I think I'd like to stay here with you for a while. Looks like you need some company."
This story isn't probably where you thought it was headed… But anyways, just want to give a heads up that the fanfic will be ending soon. It was kind of interesting to write it, since it technically still is my first published fanfic. :P But, once I get this done, I'll focus more on The Dream World, and then possibly start writing this new fanfic I have in mind. Though, that might not be published for months. :|