It's late I know… but what can a girl do when her mom takes her out shopping? LOL
Chapter 17:
Austin's POV:
I turn around to take a look at Ally and the others. They were walking at the back of the group, while I was stuck at the front. She was walking on her own, staring at the exhibits as we walk by them with this forlorn look on her face. I bit my lip, suddenly wishing I was in the back comforting her. But as I shifted slightly to the left, the grip on my hand tightens.
I frown, turning around to see Amy pointing at a jellyfish as she squeals, "Look Austin!"
I merely nodded my head before turning away to pay attention to what our tour guide was saying. I can feel her eyes burning holes into my head as I imagine her signature pout growing on her face, but I just ignore it.
I let out a sigh my mind wandering back to Ally and what had happen earlier.
"There you are!" I smiled finally glad that we've found the girls. I watch as Nate, probably overjoyed to see Nicky, jogs up to them.
"We've been looking for you girls everywhere!"Nate cries, throwing his hands up in the air, a goofy smile on his face.
"That boy has it bad." Dez comments as he gives me a sideways glance. I nodded my head in agreement, smiling as I watch Nate jog faster over to Nicky. My attention slowly averted to Ally though, a sudden queasy feeling erupting in my stomach, and not the bad kind but the one that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
I bit my lip, wondering how on earth this girl I barely knew, or well forgot, could do such a thing. But before I can dwell on this any further, Nate's frantic voice brings me out of my thoughts. "Nicky! What happen?"
I watch as Nicky quickly latches herself onto Nate, a series of sobs erupting from her. I turn to look at Trish and Ally, wondering what was going on. I felt like somebody stabbed me in my chest as I watch Ally bring a hand to her mouth, while leaning forward, and squeezing her eyes shut as the sounds of her crying is being muffled by her hands.
I felt my feet picking up the pace, and from the corner of my eye I can see Dez doing the same. As we near them, Dez quietly asks, "Hey. You girls okay?"
I'm expecting silence or at least a shake of their head, but what happens next scared me more than it should. Trish whips her head around to give us a glare as if to ask us, "Does it look like we're okay?", and before I can react to this, her head whips around again to glare at Ally. A minute or two passes by as Ally and Trish continue to stare each other down and before I knew it Trish was up with a grunt before stalking off to a nearby bench.
I turn to give Dez a look, but he's staring at Trish, who was violently wiping the tears from her eyes. I hear Dez sigh, before he's walking towards her, leaving me alone with Ally. I bit my lip as I turn to look at her, her head bow down. Not sure what to do, I finally decided on sitting myself down next to her.
I tilted my head to get a better look at her face. I can see her biting her lip and her eyes flickering back and forth as her hands fumble around with her necklace. I shifted slightly before, averting my gaze towards Nate and Nicky and then back at Ally, but this time she wasn't looking at the floor. She has her head tilted to the side as she stares up at something with this broken expression.
I follow the direction of her eyes, to see what she was staring at, but all I see is a blank wall in between the exhibits. I turn to look at her again. She's shaking her head this time, before turning her attention back to the wall, while clutching something to her chest.
She stares at that wall for a good two minutes or so, before turning around to look at me. She flinches, her head tilted with her eyebrows all scrunch up together. I couldn't help but smile at how cute she is, before I reach out to grab a hold of her hand.
She looks taken back and for some reason it makes my smile widens as I give her hand a reassuring squeeze. I turn away to look at Nate and Nicky. And from the corner of my eye I can see her still staring at our intertwined hands. She bites her lip, but I happen to notice the corner of her lips turning upwards, making me feel all warm inside.
However the feeling doesn't last long, because she soon turns her head to look at Nate and Nicky, bringing back tears to her eyes as she once again brings a hand to stop the sobs from escaping her mouth.
I inwardly groan, bringing a hand up to rub my face. I should be in the back trying to figure out what's wrong. I bitterly thought to myself as I take another glace at Ally. She has a small smile on her face as Dez wraps his arms around her and Trish. I shook my head again, scolding myself for not being the one to make her smile. I took a sideways glance at Amy, silently wondering why I had let her drag me away from Ally and the others in the first place.
As we continue to walk, our tour guide immediately clears her throat, causing all the chit chat to come to a stop. "And now we're at the shark exhibit! Be careful, we don't want any shark attacks!" Our tour guide jokes as she slaps her knee, bent over laughing. My classmates quickly disperse into the glass tunnel. Amy immediately yanks me towards the glass with the shark swimming about on the other side.
I shudder, watching the shark circling around the water in front of us, suddenly grateful for the glass between us. I watch as Amy places a hand on to the glass, making the shark move forward with its nose touching the glass. My eyes widen at the shark's unusual behavior.
"Did you know sharks can smell a drop of blood from miles and miles away?" Amy whispers quietly to me. I shook my head slightly as she looks at me from the corner of her eye. She starts muttering something and as if by coincidence the shark starts to swim away.
My mouth must have dropped open, because as I turn to look at Amy, she's snickering at me. She takes a step towards me, lifting a finger up to close my mouth. Slowly leaning in, she quietly murmurs, "That's why they're so deadly."
She takes a step back and gives me a small smile while tilting her head to the side. "I'll be right back. I need to go have a talk with someone." She says, before patting my cheek and walking off.
Did she just … leave? I thought to myself, leaning to the side to take a look at the direction she had gone. I nodded my head in confirmation. Yup. I thought, She's gone. Feeling giddy, I quickly turn around to scan the room for Ally.
I finally found her sitting on the floor with her knees pulled up to her chest. Her back was turned to me as she gaze into the water. I can see her reflection in the glass of the exhibit. She's lightly shutting her eyes as her hand begins to fiddle with the seashell on her necklace.
I stood there for what seem like hours, contemplating over whether I should walk over or not. With a shake of my head and words of encouragement, my feet started to walk towards her. However when I looked at her again, there was a shark in front of her.
She has her head tilted to the side as she continues to stare back at the shark. She then turns around to scan the room. I step towards the nearest exhibit, pretending to look interested to keep her from thinking that anyone was watching her.
From the corner of my eye, she turns back to look at the shark before nodding her head. The shark starts to swim away and she gets up and follows it out. I leaned back, looking at my classmates, before I dashed off to follow Ally.
As I neared the corner, I can hear Ally's hush voice, "How did they get a hold of her?"
There's a moment of silence. I stick my head out to see her back still turned to me. Her arms are wrapped around her as she continues to follow the shark.
"What do you mean you don't know? Weren't you there?" She hisses, throwing her hands up in the air as she stops to look at the shark. "Then how did you know, they got her?" Ally asks as I hid behind the corner again, straining my ears to see if I could hear anything.
Nothing.
Who was Ally talking too?
I look again to see that Ally and the shark were gone. I quickly jog to the other side, sticking my head out to see that she was still following the shark. Just then, she pivots on her feet, a look of shock across her face as she whisper scream, "Jelly, Squirt, Poof!"
She runs towards me, making my eyes widen, but she stops halfway, reaching her arms out for a hug. She pulls her arms in, wrapping it around herself again. She looks like she's squeezing herself to death as she quietly murmurs, "I thought you guys left us."
She starts to giggle, before letting her arms fall to her side. From the back, I notice the shark swimming over to them, making me shudder. Ally turns her head around as if to acknowledge the shark, before turning back around to look at the air before her. I watch as she brings a hand up to the clutch seashell again, her eyes widening a bit, before she turns around to the shark.
"Not to worry, these are my friends." She says with a small chuckle. The shark slowly nods it head, before turning around and Ally begins to follow again.
I groaned, turning away from the sight before me, before sliding down to the floor. I bring my head to my hands, rubbing my eyes viciously, before taking a deep breath. Finally getting up, I went to catch up with her.
Ally's POV:
"And now we're at the shark exhibit! Be careful, we don't want any shark attacks!" Our tour guide jokes as she slaps her knee and bends over laughing. I turn to look at Dez and Trish. I bring a hand up to stifle a giggle as I watch Dez doubles over laughing. Trish is standing there her eyes flickering back and forth from Dez and the tour guide, probably wondering about their sanity.
I roll my eyes as Trish looks up at me and points her hand at Dez and the tour guide, silently asking me what was so funny. I shrug, before nodding my head towards a corner.
"I'm going to go sit down for a bit." I said quietly, adding a yawn to make it look like I was tired. Trish gives me a sympathetic look, before nodding her head. I smiled, before jogging over to the quiet little spot. I plop myself down, bringing my knees to my chest as I leaned to the side, watching the quiet waters before me.
Unwillingly, I let my eyes shut, my thoughts wandering to Jelly, Squirt and Poof. I can feel the tears pricking my eyes, but I clench my eyes shut to keep them from falling. I wasn't going to cry here.
I sigh, before opening my eyes to meet a pair of pitch black ones. My eyes widen as I scoot myself back and away from the shark before me. And before I can get away, it started speaking. Princess, please help! My name is Sam.
I stared at the shark, my eyes widening, before I scoot closer to the glass. What happen?
The sirens got my friend, Boni! She's the only friend I have here! Please help her.
I wanted to awww, but this wasn't the time. I quickly scan the room, to make sure the coast is clear, before turning around to nod my head at the shark. His eyes light up, before he starts to swim away. With one last look at my classmates, I quickly follow him out.
Jogging up next to him, I finally spoke out loud. "Sam?"
He nods his head, allowing me to continue, "What do they want with your friend?"
I don't know.
I nod my head, wondering what the sirens purpose was. "How did they get a hold of her?" I ask, turning my head to look at him.
I don't know.
"What do you mean you don't know? Weren't you there?" I ask, throwing my hands up in the air, before turning to look at him. He shakes his head as I scrunch my eyebrows together, crossing my hands in front of me. "Then how did you know they get her?"
Something flashes through his eyes, bringing a shiver down my back before he looks up at me. Because, I just know.
Confused, I just nod my head, motioning for him to continue moving. He looks at me before moving forward. I sigh, running a hand through my hair as I looked at Sam from the corner of my eye. Something didn't feel right about this.
Ally! I stop, slowly recognizing the voice. "Jelly, Squirt, Poof!" I shout, spinning around to see them rushing up to me.
I ran to meet them halfway, reaching out to squeeze them into a hug. "Where have you've been?" I cried, adding, "I thought you guys left us!"
Women let us go, so we can explain! I giggled, nodding my head at them, before finally releasing my tight hold on them. After giving me a glare, Jelly turns to look at Sam.
What are you doing? He murmurs quietly, his gaze finally falling back on me. I turn around to look at Sam, he's watching me cautiously. Quickly, I turn around to look at the three of them. The sirens got his friend. I thought quickly to them. Their eyes widen, but before they can react Sam interrupts us. Who are they?
I turn around to see Sam glaring at them. I chuckle lightly before answering, "Not to worry, these are my friends."
He gives a nod, before turning around and swimming away. I bit my lip, before following him motioning for Jelly, Squirt and Poof to do the same. The three of them appear in front of me. They're all making wild jesters while scolding at me.
What are you thinking?
Helping a shark?
On your own too?
Are you crazy?
Have you lost your mind?
ALLY!? Are you listening to us? I fight the urge to roll my eyes at them, before lightly nodding my head.
I couldn't just let the sirens hurt his friend! I thought, giving them a pointed look.
Well, why didn't you get Trish and Nicky? Poor asks quietly, rubbing her fins together as she looks over her shoulder at Sam.
I don't know… I mean… it sounded urgent…besides they were busy… I trailed off.
Jelly gives me an eye roll, muttering something about excuses, making my face flush in embarrassment as I start to chew on my bottom lip. Maybe this was a bad idea.
Ally, maybe Squirt and I should go back and get Nicky and Trish. Poof says, tilting her head at me. I bit my lip, afraid she was going to say that.
Not yet. I said quietly, as a voice cuts in.
We're here. I turn to look at Sam. We were at the edge of the tank. And at the edge there were stairs leading to the top of the tank. My eyes widen slightly as I turn to look at him.
"Am I suppose to get in?" I mutter quietly.
He gives me a nod.
"But aren't people are going to see me?" I pointed out.
We won't go anywhere near the glass.
I turn to look at Jelly, Squirt and Poof. Jelly mutters something under his breath, making me give him a dirty look. He smiles at me, before it's wiped off replaced with a look that screams, I TOLD YOU SO.
Letting out a sigh, I nod my head at Squirt and Poof, telling them quietly to go get Trish and Nicky. They nod their heads quickly before dashing off.
I bit my lip, turning to look at Jelly, who's still giving me the look that screams, I TOLD YOU SO. I roll my eyes at him, before giving him a quick remark, What did you want me to do? Not come and let the sirens hurt his friend?
Jelly lets out a frustrated sound. No.
I give him a smile, before it's wiped off as I turn to look at the stairs and then Sam, who's been waiting patiently.
Well go on. We don't want to keep him waiting. Jelly murmurs as he motions to the stairs. I gulp, nodding my head, before grabbing a hold of the stairs. I took a deep breath, turning to look at Sam and Jelly.
What was I thinking? I thought to myself, as I finally took a step onto the stairs, but before I could take another someone grabs a hold of me.
"Ally! What the hell are you doing?" I turn around to see Austin. He yanks me away from the stairs, making me stumble back into him. Omphf. Grabbing a hold of my shoulders, he pushes me away at arm's length to give me a look as if he was silently asking if I've gone crazy.
"Uh…" I blink, completely speechless. My heart is racing as my brain tries to rack for an answer. What just happen? I groaned to myself, as I step back, lightly pushing his grip off of me. I turn to give a panic look at Jelly. His eyes are wide, as his eyes flicker around the room before looking back at me with a shrug. You're on your own.
"Were you following me?" I blurted out, turning to look at Austin. He steps back at my sudden accusation.
"Uh… yeah. I was." He mutters sheepishly, bringing a hand to rub his neck.
I sigh, shaking my head at him as I start to pace. Can we hurry this up? Boni … still in danger. I turn to look at Sam, nodding my head, before turning back around to Austin. "Okay. Fine! You caught me. I was going to feed the shark."
I winced at my lame excuse, before looking up to see Austin's reactions. He steps back as if to take a better look at me.
"Are you crazy?" He cries, stepping up to shake me. I bring a hand up to stop him, before adding, "I asked earlier and they said it was fine."
"So you were going to just jump inside the tank and feed him?" He asks motioning towards the stairs. I bit my lip, giving him my best bemused look.
"Of course not!" I cried, letting a nervous giggle out. "I was just… going to pet him." I state as if it's the most obvious thing in the word.
Austin looks at me, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion as he brings a hand up to point at me and then Sam. "Pet him?"
"Yeah." I said, nodding my head at him, making him drop his hand back to his side. "Oh.."
I let out a sigh of relief, turning to see Jelly on my shoulder. Not bad, very convincing. He says quietly, making me roll my eyes.
"Okay then. I'm coming along." Austin states, making me turn to look at him. There's a smirk on his face as if he's daring me to continue with this lie. I began to chew the inside of my cheek, as he watches my every move.
"Aha… Austin you're funny." I joke looking up at him as he tilts his head at me. "If you want to come along, you better go back and ask them first."
"Well, you better wait for me then." He retorts, smirking at me as if saying, "You're not getting away that easily."
"Ally. Close your mouth, you'll catch flies." He says with a chuckle as I realize my mouth was hanging open. I quickly shut it, before turning away from him, my face burning.
Jelly starts snorting and laughing, but he tries to stifle it as I give him a dirty look. I pivot around on my heel to shout a comeback at Austin, but he was already gone. I groaned, before turning to Jelly and Sam.
"Okay, let's do this quickly, before he comes back." I mutter, stepping onto the stairs. Once I'm at the top, I look at the water and Sam, before turning to look at Jelly. He nods his head and I quickly dive in.
The water around me starts to bubble as my feet glue together. The bubbles disappear, revealing my bright red tail and yellow flipper. I blink, taking a moment to look at my surroundings.
Taking a deep breath, I turn to look at Sam and with a nod he starts swimming off. Jelly places himself onto my shoulder as I flick my tail to speed after Sam.
AND… we stop here. The next part is going to be action pack as Ally, Trish and Nicky face the sirens yet again! DUN DUN DUN. I'll try to post tomorrow, but if not tomorrow it probably won't be up until next week.
If I don't post it up next weekend, pester me until I do! (;
~Christy :DD
P.S. Do you think Austin is catching on? Or is he as clueless as ever~