Okay! I'm back with chapter 21! I am still loving your reviews and each one makes my day twenty million times better! I hope you like this chapter! Read on! :D
AUSTIN'S POV
I was up and moving at 6:00am, like I said I would be. I had already eaten breakfast. Pancakes tasted great at six in the morning. At least, today they did. I'd never get up that early to eat any other time. I put on some old jeans, a white t-shirt, and some of my dad's work boots. I also had a pair of my dad's work gloves.
I walked out the back door to go down to the barn. I was going to try and find some tools, and maybe extra wood. To my luck, I found both. Turns out, there's been a big, and I mean huge, pile of wooden boards and beams behind the barn for a long time. I heard the screen door open from back at the house, and I turned to look. It was my dad, he was wearing a grey robe, with loafers and sweatpants. He held a cup of his signature blend of coffee.
"Austin, can I ask what you are doing at six in the morning?" He said with a suspicious tone.
"Well dad, I was thinking I would go and rebuild the old fort in the woods, it's a little run down." I told him, hoping he wouldn't ask for more explanation.
"Since when do you care about that? You haven't been back there since you were little." He pointed out.
"Uh, well, I,...there's no reason to just kill all the memories!" I lied. Though it was somewhat true. "What if you ever have grandkids? Wouldn't you want them to live out those good times?" I continued, hoping to convince him.
He gave me a confused look. "I haven't the slightest idea what you're going on about, and honestly, it's too early in the morning for me to care. But as long as you stay out of trouble, and make sure your mother doesn't have another panic attack, whatever you're doing is fine by me." He said.
"Thanks dad." I said, and went back to work. After looking around, I realized that it would take forever to lug all this wood down to the fort. I remembered my dad's pickup truck that he used sometimes.
"Dad!" I called through the screen door.
"What?" He said, groggily walking towards me.
"Can I use your pickup truck to carry the wood to the fort?" I asked.
"Whatever, as long as you don't wreck it." He sighed.
"Kay, thanks again dad!" I said running to get the keys to the truck.
I drove it around to the backyard, and started loading it up. Board after board, I eventually filled up the back. My arms were already sore, and I hadn't even really started yet. I drove down the path to the fort. Luckily, it was wide enough for the truck. I then had to unload every piece of wood. I had to do this entire process of loading and unloading three more times. Finally, all the wood had been transported to the fort. But I was so wore out, that I decided to take a lunch break. Back up at the house, my mom had a peanut butter sandwich waiting for me. Along with chips, and juice.
"Mom, I'm seventeen. I don't need little kiddie lunches prepared for me anymore." I complained.
"Do you want it or not?" She said, taking the plate away.
"Yes!" I said, grabbing the plate back. I ate my lunch and rested my muscles. My arms were literally throbbing. I have worked out a few times before, but loading and unloading four truckloads of solid wood, was definitely exhausting. Though I was tired, I needed to get back to work if I wanted anything to get done. I finished eating, cleaned up my dishes, and headed back to the woods.
I needed to form some type of blueprint to get an idea of what I was going for. I grabbed an old notebook and pen out of the truck, and started drawing out my vision. After I finished drawing, I found many flaws in my plan. The slope of this hill, although it wasn't that big, would oppose the base of the building. I decided I would have to dig out the upper side of the fort to level it out.
Before I did anything though, I would have to take down the existing fort. I almost felt bad to take it apart. I never got rid of a single piece of it though. I stacked up each and every piece of the old wood in a separate pile. I wasn't going to throw away the magic in these boards. There were still some objects and things left in the old fort. I gathered everything and kept it safe in a separate stack. I got busy clearing out the entire area, and leveled everything off. It took a long time, but the space was ready for construction. It was too late to get started on that stuff today, so I would have to work on it tomorrow.
I left the wood down here, I just covered it with a tarp, so if it rained, it wouldn't rot. I kept the old pieces of the hut with me in the truck though, because I was too concerned with losing them to leave them alone. Yeah, I know it's been left down here for many years before, but I'm just paranoid. I drove back up to the house and parked my dad's truck in the backyard. I was dirty, sweaty, and exhausted. I just wanted to shower and go to bed. And that's exactly what I did.
ALLY'S POV
I had woken up feeling great. Last night was amazing and I wouldn't have traded it for anything. Since I was in a much better mood, I decided to call up Trish. It only rang once before she answered.
"Hello?" She questioned.
"Hey Trish! It's me Ally!" I said happily.
"Ally! Hey girl, what's up?" She greeted.
"Oh nothing, I just was wondering if you wanna get together and have a girl's day?" I asked.
"Of course! Do you know how long it's been since we had one of those?" She said excitedly.
"I know! I figured we could use another one, since we haven't hung out in a while." I suggested.
"Sounds great, come over A.S.A.P!" She squealed.
"Alright bye." I said, hanging up the phone.
I looked on my desk table for some clothes to wear. Man, I really needed to go shopping. I used to dress really nice and girly, but after, you know, I just didn't care what I looked like anymore. But I was ready to go back to being outgoing and enjoying life again, and I needed the wardrobe to show it. Maybe Trish and I can do that today. I found the most decent outfit I could, that consisted of a dark purple shirt, with my black jeans and boots that I wore on my 'goth day'. I grabbed my phone and headed to Trish's house.
I got to her front porch, and the door swung open before I had a chance to knock. She stood there glowing with excitement, and a smile spread across her face.
"Ally!" She screamed, pouncing on me with a hug. I laughed and greeted her as well.
"Hey Trish!" I said.
"I'm so glad you wanted to come over! Come on, lets go to my room." She suggested. I followed her upstairs to her room, and we sat on her big beanbag chairs.
"So what's up? Anything new I need to know? I haven't talked to you lately, and you seem happier." She said.
"No, not really. Well, I guess there is this one little thing." I mentioned.
"Ooh! What is it? Tell me! Tell me!" She said, bouncing in her seat. It was funny how interested she was in my life.
"Well, you know Austin right?" I asked.
"Austin Moon? Your former best friend? Top dog of the school? Total hottie? Ki.."
"Yes." I said cutting her off. "That's the one."
"Well what about him?" She asked curiously.
"Well, I guess you could say...we're, um..." I trailed off thinking of the word. I knew what I wanted to say, but something inside me was holding onto the past, preventing me from actually saying it.
"Oh my gosh! You guys are dating?!" She screamed again.
"Yeah, that's the word I was looking for." I finally admitted with a shy smile, and slight blush on my cheeks.
"Aaaaaaaahhhhh! Ally, that's great! When did it happen? How did it happen? Is he like an amazing boyfriend?" She babbled, while freaking out.
I ended up telling her the whole story. Not missing a single detail. Now she also knew my life story. I figured it was only fair that my best girl friend knew what was going on. She understood me, and listened intently. It was really surprising that she didn't laugh or judge me, but I guess I was just being self-conscious.
"I think being Austin Moon's girlfriend deserves celebration. What do you think?" She suggested.
"I think that I agree with that." I said with a smile.
"Great, because I already had plans." She stated. I laughed at her controlling personality, and we got in her car to go have a girl's day.
We went to the nail salon first. We both got manicures and pedicures. I picked a vibrant yellow-orange color for my nails, whereas Trish got hot pink. It was relaxing, and I wish I had done this sooner.
"Okay, I know there's no point in asking, but do you wanna go clothes shopping?" She asked.
"Actually yeah, I could really use a few more outfits. Why isn't there a point in asking?" I questioned.
"Because we're going anyway. Don't even worry about money, I have that covered. You will have so many new clothes by the end of today, it will be unbelievable." She stated. I laughed once more and we headed to the mall. Trish's family was definitely a wealthy one, and they were very generous. So she meant what she said.
When we got to the mall, it seemed foreign to me. Everything had changed since I had been here. New stores, new setup, new technology, and more. I hadn't been here since I was probably nine or ten years old. But Trish could walk this place with a blindfold, so I wasn't worried.
Like she said, I had so many new clothes that it was unbelievable. I can't even remember how much money we had spent, but I had enough clothes to last me a lifetime. Or at least until I grew out of these clothes. Her car was loaded up with clothes, shoes, accessories and everything imaginable. I bought clothes that I liked, and also reflected my newer personality. Bright, girly, fun. That was the way I used to be, and that's what I'm going back to.
"You hungry?" Trish asked.
"Maybe a little, I don't mind, whatever you wanna do." I said considerately.
"Don't lie to me Ally. Remember money isn't an issue, and I am more than happy to do stuff with you." She said, seeing right through my act.
"Okay, I'm starving. I seriously haven't eaten anything today, and I almost shopped till I dropped. I could use some food right now." I admitted.
"That's what I thought. Ally, we're best friends. If you want something, just tell me. I can take it. You are like a sister to me." She said.
"Aww, thanks Trish. Now let's eat." I told her.
We drove to a diner about ten minutes away from the mall. It was a really nice restaurant, but it actually wasn't too expensive. I ate well, as did Trish. When we finished, it was about eight in the evening. We stopped at the store and bought movies and snacks to have back at Trish's.
I had just made popcorn, and we were sitting in Trish's room to watch one of the movies we bought. We stayed up all night watching movies, talking, laughing, gossiping, and just having an awesome girl's day. I think we finally crashed somewhere around two in the morning.
The next day when we woke up, Trish's mom informed me that their family was taking a trip to the beach for the next four days. She invited me to come along. I happily agreed, because I had been wanting to go to the beach again. It was settled and we were leaving tomorrow. It was weird not having to ask permission, but it made me a little upset to think of why I didn't have to. I needed to tell Austin that I'd be leaving for a few days, or he might think I ran away again or something. I decided I'd go over and see him later today. Tomorrow was gonna be fun.
There you have it! Sorry, I know this was a really sucky chapter, but right around this point in the story, I had a little writers block. But I thought of some new ideas for the remaining chapters. Please review and tell me what you thought! Oh, and I totally forgot about the preview in the last chapter, sorry! So here is your preview this time so I don't forget:
When we walked in the room, my jaw dropped. I knew this hotel was nice, and I expected the room to be impressive, but I was underestimating it. It was gorgeous. I don't think I've ever seen anything that looks more...expensive. From the huge balcony, you got an amazing view of the ocean, and all of the beach-life. We unpacked everything, and settled in.
Sorry for the super short and sucky preview, but I dont want to give away any hints to the twist in later chapters. Oops, didn't mean to mention that. Oh well, don't forget to review! :D