A/N: I'm sorry for delay guys but this was a longer chapter than usual. Once again for your patience, guess what? Bonus chapter ahead! SO enjoy chapter 13 and 14.
Disclaimer: I don't own Austin & Ally.
Chapter 13.
An insistent sound wakes Trish up. It's the alarm. She turns off and she gets off the bed and heads to the bathroom for a quick shower before getting dressed. When she comes back to the room she sees Ally is still sleep, at that moment she stirs and slowly opening her eyes. Trish smiles at her best friend.
"Morning" Ally mumbles "What time is it?".
"It's 10 minutes to 7" the latina girl replies. "Hey, I gotta leave soon but I wanted to ask you something. What should I tell your mother if I see her on my way out?".
"Good morning Mrs. Dawson" Ally says yawning.
Trish chuckles as she pics up her bag. "Okay, see you in a bit" she tells her before exiting her room. She tiptoes while coming down on the stairs and over to the door, and just when she's about to reach it, she hears a voice behind her.
"Trish!?"
It's Penny in a white bathrobe, her face without any makeup and her eyes wide with surprise to see her there. Trish decides to do exactly as Ally instructed and just smiles waving and says "Good morning Mrs. Dawson" and exits the house quickly.
Ally gets up and enters the bathroom. She looks at her reflection. It's not her best. She washes her face with cold water and gets in the shower. Once she is all done, she wraps her body and starts putting her light makeup. Her sister enters through the other door of their shared bathroom while she is still brushing her hair.
"Ally, tell me everything. How Did it go? Is it as fun as they always say? Did you see anytone we know?"
"It wasn't a big deal. Just a group of idiots that are constantly risking their lives just to beat someone else at a race:" Ally answers while she opens the toothpaste and starts pushing from the bottom trying to erase Danny's thumb mark that has pushed it right in the middle of the tube.
"Yes but have you seen any of the siamese girls? were they pretty? They are so brave"
"I was a siamese." She tells her little sister while applying lip balm. She sees in the reflection Danny gaping at her.
"Are you for real? You were a siamese? Wow!" Danny says with her eyes shining excitedly.
"I told you, it's no biggie."
"Were you Austin's siamese?"
Ally feels her heart jump when she mentions that idiot. "No."
"Well, give me more details!"
"Danny! Please! It's getting late and we'll be leaving soon. Get ready!' Ally tells her before turning around and heading to her room. Her sister frowns and pouts at her.
Ally starts putting on her school uniform when her mother comes in.
"Trish slept over?" She asks her without saying good morning.
"Yes mom"
"Where?"
"In my bed"
Her mother looks at her confused. "That's not possible. I came to your room last night to check on you and there was no one else."
"She came later mom. She could not sleep at her house because her mom had a dinner".
"Ally, please next time that she sleeps over let me know beforehand" she says while heading to the door again. Her daughter nods before she exits.
Ally sighs. She's getting exhausted with all the lies she has had to say lately.
…...
Girls chatter happily in the school's hall waiting for the bell sound that signals the start of their classes. Ally and Danny both come off the Mercedes after kissing their father goodbye. The car disappears and they enter the building.
As soon as they step in, a group of girls surrounds them excitedly and Ally can't help to compare the situation to celebrities getting interviewed by a bunch of different reporters.
"Ally, is it true that last night you went to Ocean's Drive and participated in the siamese belt race?"
"Is it true you were being chased by a police officer?
"Is it true two racers died?"
"Did a police officer really pull you by the hair and Austin kicked him to help you?"
Danny hears all of it awed while Ally is astounded. How is it possible that they have already heard all of that? Ally prays that at least the poop story is not something that reaches their ears. Just then, she's saved by the bell. While she walks to her classroom, she answers vaguely some of the questions that are from classmates that she already gets along with. Danny gives her a hug before she enters the classroom and says: "See you in recess sis!" before heading to her own classroom.
That's odd. Ever since they've been to the same highschool, she has never acted like that with her here. As she watches her sister walking away, she notices that she has also been surrounded by girls in her class who must be also asking hundreds of questions, she seems to be enjoying the attention.
While everyone is still working on their songs, Ally is already done with this, she's the best at music. Second period, they'll have french again. Ally controls in the back of her notebook who is going to be questioned today. Today will be the last questioning to complete the third round since the school year is almost over and in the next few weeks they will be in their final exams. According to her notes, today's turn is for Kathy, Lorie and Julianne. She calls Kathy with a whisper who turns around to look at her.
"It's your turn today".
"I know. I'm studying" She replies with a smile.
When the bell rings again they all head out to the classroom. Trish comes running towards the group.
"Hey, how did everything go?" Ally asks her.
"Good. I just have a galon less of blood" she answers jokingly making Ally chuckle.
As soon as they take their seats Ms Jackson comes in. Everybody is silent as she takes her place and stars preparing her class.
"Ms. De la Rosa? May I please ask why you weren't in your music class in the first period?" she asks loudly without looking up.
"I have an excuse in my notebook ma'am" Trish tells her.
"Okay. Bring it here please" the teachers responds extending her hand.
Trish gets up and hands her notebook to Ms. Jackson who reads her mother's note and then she signs it.
"If my memory doesn't fail, there's another person who should be showing me her notebook" the teacher says with a smile looking at Ally's direction. "Isn't it true Dawson?".
Ally steps up taking her notebook with her. The teacher checks that the note she sent Mrs Dawson is properly signed and then she gives up the notebook but not before asking.
"What has your mother said about this?"
"She grounded me".
"She's done well." She says satisfied and then turns to look at the class "It's important that your parents value the hard work that us teachers do and that they support us in your education. After all, everything we do is look out for the students and for your own good"
Ally walks back to her seat. Funny way to look out for us.
Ms. Jackson proceeds to inform her students that she has already graded the last week's quiz. The suspense air in the room is suffocating after this as she starts handing them out. She always starts with the lower grades and keeps going until the good grades. She starts handing the 30% 's so and so, she keeps calling the names of every student. When she reaches the 50% 's Ally looks at Trish and smiles at her encouragingly. When Ms. Jackson is finally handing the ones who got at least 60, Trish eyes widen. She has never gotten more than a 50% in this class, she feels thrilled.
"Dawson, 67%" Ally stands up and smiles one more time a Trish who cannot believe it. This is the first time she gets a good score in this class, her mom will be ecstatic.
After calling to other girls, it's finally her turn.
"Ms. De la Rosa" the teacher calls.
Trish stands up proudly to pick up her evaluated quiz.
"40%" the teachers tells her with a fake sweet smile "I'm sorry, this one must have have gotten sorted into the wrong group by mistake".
Trish takes the paper and heads back to her seat with a fallen face. She looks at the paper. How could have she been so stupid to believe that for once, she would get a good grade. Ally turns to look at the teacher who still looking at Trish with a small smile and she feels her blood boil. Ally was sure she did it on purpose. She looks back at Trish, who is on the verge of tears.
"Save the tears for when you do the siamese belt race with Dez" Ally whispers with a smile trying to cheer her up and suddenly Trish giggles. The teacher looks their way annoyed.
"Silence! Now I will go ahead and start the questioning of today." Ms. Jackson says while opening her list. "O'brien, Lewis and Steele" she calls out.
Jamie Steele stands up confused. Today was not her turn, it was Kathy Pierce's. Everybody knows it. Nevertheless, she heads to the front of the class with her other two classmates but she's freaking out. Since it wasn't her turn, she did not study.
"Well, today would the last round of questioning. With you three, we would end the subject and we will focus on the final exam."
Kathy Pierce is worried in her seat. She was supposed to be called up today and she had studied so much to improve her average. She calls Ally."Pssst"
Ally turns around to look at her.
"Wasn't I supposed to be called for my last questioning today?" she whispers. "You checked it on your notebook didn't you?"
Ally nodded and whispered back "Yes. It should be your turn today?"
"So Ms. Jackson made a mistake?"
Ms. Jackson never makes any mistakes. That is one of the golden rules here in Brenton. Ally looks at the worried face of the freckled girl but there's not much she can do. After a few minutes, Kathy can't take it anymore and she lifts her hand catching the teacher's attention.
"Yes Ms. Pierce?
"Sorry ma'am. I don't wish to bother you but I believe I'm missing my third interrogation." She says smiling shyly.
"Let's see" Ms. Jackson taking out her own notebook to verify. After a minute of scanning she says: "Pierce, I evaluated you on March the 18th. You got a bad score, no surprise there. Satisfied?"
A sad 'thanks' is all that's heard in the classroom. The teacher resumes the interrogation with that same arrogant attitude. Ally checks her notebook again. She knows that she keeps a perfect control but how could she prove it? It's her word against Miss Jackson's. That would also result in another note to her mother. Poor Kathy, she's out of luck today. She checks her notebook and notices that Kathy was not interrogated in any other class that day. That's odd.
"Kathy" Ally whisper shouts "pass me your notebook".
Kathy looks back at her confused but hands it anyway. She opens it and looks at the dates trying to find March 18th. Nothing. Ally smiles and looks at Kathy whose eyes show hope. She gives the notebook back.
"It's your lucky day" Ally whispers at her classmate before she raises her hand catching everybody's attention.
"Sorry Miss Jackson?"
The teacher turns to her annoyed at her interruption.
"Yes Dawson?"
Ally stands up and remains silent for just a few seconds. All eyes are on her, especially Kathy's. Ally looks at Trish for a second and smiles at her. The truth is, she mostly doing it for her best friend.
"I wanted to tell you that you've made a mistake"
Murmurs start rising in the classroom as all the students goggle at Ally, who remains calm. The teacher is visibly angry but tries to maintain her composure.
"Silence!" she yells at the girls. "So, what am I mistaken in?"
"You said you interrogated Kathy on March the 18th, but that's not possible".
"What do you mean that's not possible? It's written right here in my list. She got a bad score. Would you like to see it? I'm starting to think you'd like for me to send another note to your mother".
"That score was for Olivia. You must have made a mistake when you wrote it down and put it on Kathy's scorecard".
The teacher looks at her with a red face, she is furious. "Oh right, because you write down everything in your own notebook. But it's your word against mine. If I say that on March the 18th I interrogated Miss Pierce, that means that I did and that's the end of it!"
"I, on the contrary, still maintain my posture. You're mistaken. You could have not interrogated Kathy that day" Ally tells her calmly.
"Oh yeah? Why not?" her teacher answers defiantly.
"Because that day, Kathy Pierce did not come to school".
The teacher visibly pales. She immediately searches her records, going back on the dates. She's fractic as she controls the ausentism on that day. Sure enough, Pierce. It's her name written in her own handwriting. It's her shame, her mistake. The teacher turns to look up at Ally and the tension is palpable in the classroom as all the girls wait for the final verdict. After a moment of silence, everyone starts to understand, Ally was right.
"Great job Ally!", "Wow" ,"She proved Miss Jackson wrong". Some of her classmates murmur but Ally pretends not to hear them. The teacher, however, is able to hear the comments perfectly well and those words nail in her mind. She was ashamed in front of her students..
"Ms. Steele, please go back to your set. Pierce, come up here" she says with a steady voice, although, those words confirm her mistake.
Ally takes her seat looking down. Finally, some justice has been made in this classroom. She slowly looks up and looks at Trish. Their eyes meet, thousand of silent words are exchanged. From now on, miss Jackson or any other teacher, can make a mistake. The gold rule of Brenton's has been broken, and as Ally turns to look at her other classmates, they all look at her back with proud expressions and smiles. She can't help but notice another pair of eyes watching her too. Miss Jackson is observing here and she can see a glint of hatred in them. Just for a moment, it makes Ally wish that she had been the one to be wrong.
….
It's 10 AM and Austin enters the Kitchen shirtless looking for pancakes. He has barely sat down to have breakfast when the doorbell sounds. Dez waits outside with an excited face while Austin lets him in.
"Dude! The greatest thing just happened!" Dez tells him excitedly as Austin heads back to the table. The redhead follows him while Austin takes a seat. "Look!" he tells his blonde best friend handing him the miami newspaper.
"What are you handing me the newspaper for?"
"Open it and look at the 5th page" he commands. Austin does and what he finds makes him grin.
"You're a freakin' legend now. They wrote a whole article!" Dez tells him proudly.
"Truth be told, it's a nice picture. Ally looks very pretty, don't you think?"
Dez nods although Ally is not exactly her type. Austin picks up the page and scans the photo ecstatically. His motorcycle looks gorgeous too. He wonders if Ally has already seen this as he begins to read the article. Suddenly, he has an idea.
"Hey, hold this and wait for me just a moment" he tells him as he heads to the bathroom to take a quick shower and get dressed. Dez sits and eats the rest of the pancakes, reading the article once more as he waits for his friend.
A few minutes later Austin comes out of his room with the towel on his hand still trying to dry his hair. "I need you to help me with some errands".
…
Dez waits patiently as his friend finally comes out of a Staples Store. He brings the big poster rolled in his right hand. They get on the bike.
"Okay, now we are heading to Pinecrest" Austin tells his friend who looks at him confused.
"What are we going there for?"
"That's where Ally lives".
"I thought you guys didn't like each other and now you're giving her surprise gifts?"
Austin gives a soft slap on the top of the redhead's head.
"Are you done now? You're starting to act like one of those uber guys who just won't shut up". They both chuckle and Dez drives away happily.
A few minutes later they stop in front of Ally's house.
"Okay help me out" Austin tells Dez as they get off the Bike. With the help of Dez, Austin is able to climb up to the window Ally had told him was her room's last night. Luckily, it opens and he gets in the room.
He feels her smell is all over the place and he closes his eyes inhaling softly. He opens his eyes again and looks at his surroundings. He smiles, just like he imagined. Everything is so neatly organized, her bed is made. He only has a few minutes so he looks at the ceiling, it's not so high up, there's a chair and he's tall enough. This will work.
Just minutes later he is climbing down through the window again. He makes a jump on the last part landing safely.
"Took you long enough" Dez tells him as they head to the motorcycle. "I thought you were just leaving the poster there and coming out".
"Mmm, I decided to do something more special for when Ally comes home" he replies simply.
Dez shakes his head and adds: "Careful Austin. You taking gifts to a girl's home? That's a first. You like her that much?"
Austin smiles remembering Ally's face, her eyes closed and lips apart waiting for him to kiss her. Suddenly, he gets an urge to see her again.
"She's quite alright" he says simply.
"What about Piper?" Dez insists.
"Dude, what about Piper? That's a whole 'nother story".
"Are you gonna date Ally now?"
"Jeez Dez!" the blonde interrupts his friend "What's with your all your questions today? Let's just leave".
They get on the bike again and drive away.
…..
The house's landline rings insistently. Penny Dawson picks it up.
"Hello?"
"Penny!" her husband's voice sounds alerted on the other end. "Have you seen the Miami newspaper today?".
"It's on the table but I've really hadn't had time to read it Lester. What's going on?"
"Penny you have to check it out as soon as possible. Ally is there in one of the articles!" Lester's voice urges her. Without saying goodbye she hangs up and runs to the table to grab the newspaper. She starts rummaging the pages when she finds what she's looking for. She feels like fainting.
There she is, sitting behind that insolent boy's motorcycle holding onto him. She starts reading the article feeling weaker with every word. It says it all. The illegal races, the accident, the police persecution and her daughter, who has always been the pride of her family seems to be part of it all. What would she tell the neighbors? Or her friends who surely will inevitably see this article.
Ally will have some explaining to do.
…
By the end of the classes, Trish jumps down the stairs with Ally walking by her side.
"It's so cool! You sure made a fool out of Miss Jackson in front of everyone" the curly girl says with excitement.
"Oh God! I know… I feel so sorry" Ally says back biting her lip regretfully.
"Sorry? What do you mean sorry?" Trish says looking at her like her friend is completely out of her mind. "She deserves it Ally! And not just because of what she did today with me. She's a total bitch to all of us all the time! She had it coming."
'Yes, I know but I still feel bad. And, didn't you see the way she was looking at me after that? I know she will do anything in her power to make me fail the class".
Trish just gives her a soft palm in her shoulder trying to cheer her up and adds "Nah, don't worry. You're one of the best students Ally, you'll see, there won't be something she will be able to against you".
Ally sighs defeatedly. She spots her mother's car parked, waiting for Danny and her. "Do you need a ride?"
The latina shakes her head. "No, Dez said he will be picking me up. He's probably on his way. Austin might be coming too you know. Why don't you tell your mom that you'll stay with me so you can see him?" she suggests with a mischievous smile.
Ally stops to think about the blonde. She hadn't had much time to, due to all that had happened today but when she remembers of last night's events, she immediately feels her face flush, not sure if out of embarrassment or anger.
"No, but thanks Trish. I'd rather go home and anyway, I've told you before, I don't want to see Austin if it's possible so please don't insist on that story because I would rather not fight with you again".
"Fine" Trish says. Ally smiles at her and starts walking away. Why is she always to stubborn? Trish thinks to herself as she watches her heading to the car. A girl that is from one grade before theirs comes to Trish with a newspaper on her had.
"Hey! Isn't this your friend in the newspaper?" she asks her and Trish takes the paper out of her hand. Sure enough, there she is. A big article with a picture of Ally sitting behind Austin on his balck motorcycle. Trish looks up trying to locate Ally and warn her, but it's too late, she is getting on her car.
Ally gets inside and as she inclines to kiss her mother's cheek to greet her, she is the one to be greeted by a slap across her face. 'Ouch' she says grabbing her cheek on the verge of tears. Just in that moment Danny enters the car too and cluelessly says: "Have you seen the newspaper! Isn't it awesome. Ally's picture is in an article!".
Silence follows for just a few seconds before Penny Dawson starts yelling at her daughter hysterically. Ally explains the whole story to her omitting just the details in which she voluntarily participated in the race and Danny testifies on Ally's favor. Nevertheless, Ally gets grounded but at least it seems her mother seems more calm now.