A/N: Warning: this chapter contains filling. Not cherry filling but plot filling. Anyways mad shout out to my faithful reader/reviewer felicia, thanx...enjoy!

Chapter 10: Conversations

'Great,' Allison thought to herself, 'The other one's here.' Turning back to the house Allison made her way back to the bedroom, the faint rumbling sound of the dishwasher following her up the stairs.

The darkness of her quiet bedroom was inviting. Without turning on the lights, she quickly spread herself over her bed and allowed her thoughts to wander. The events of the night were still swimming in her head. Mrs. Reynolds rude behavior wasn't new. In the seventeen years of her life Allison had grown accustomed to the constant insults and insensitive comments. But today her mother had decided to let Andrew in on the game as well. That's what had hurt the most. It had been an awful night but Allison did not expect her mother to see it as such and apologize.

Andrew, on the other hand, would probably try and apologize as soon as he reached home. Anticipating his call and an awkward conversation, Allison rolled over and unplugged her phone line. She wasn't sure she wanted to hear his apology and she wasn't sure if she would accept it either.

It had been a dreadful night and as the stillness grew, the first waves of sleep overcame her.

It wasn't the alarm or the voice of a deejay that roused Allison out of her sleep. For a while she sat up on her bed trying to remember why she had woken up so suddenly, and then she felt it. Deep in the pit of her stomach the gruesome sensations of menstrual cramps were surfacing. Looking down at herself and cursing loudly she realized she was still in her school clothes. On top of everything that she had been through already, she had started her period. She quickly made her way to the bathroom to clean up.

The next time she awoke it was with a frantic rush. Last night as she was changing into her pajamas she had decided that it would not be a good idea to ride with Andrew to school that morning. Unwilling to take the school bus either Allison put aside her pride and thought about asking her father for a lift. If she wanted to catch him still at home, she would have to make her way downstairs quicker than usual.

She found him at the kitchen table drinking coffee and reading the morning paper. He didn't look up when she entered but Allison did not let it stop her. Clearing her throat loudly she said, "I was wondering if I could get a lift to school. I have to go to the library early this morning and finish some work."

At first, it seemed as though Mr. Reynolds had not heard her, or if he had, that he wasn't going to do it. He put down his coffee cup and began gathering his things. As he opened the front door Allison was beginning to panic and considered calling out to him. But before he stepped outside he said, "Are you coming?"

She hurried over to the refrigerator for her can of Coke and with no time to make a lunch, followed her father to the car. They rode in silence for a while; Allison was already formulating plans on how to avoid Andrew at school, when her father spoke.

"Who was the young man you were with yesterday?" he asked, his deep voice breaking the silence. It was the first time she had heard his voice so clearly in years. Memories of her childhood came flooding back to her. Like the nights she would lay her head against his chest listening and enjoying the rumbling sensation as he read her stories out loud. Shocked into silence Allison stared at her father through the rear view mirror.

More than mere curiosity made Allison mutter, "He's just a friend."

"Well, is he your boyfriend?" he asked without taking his eyes off the road.

Still out of sorts from the unusual conversation she answered, "Yeah I guess." Her curiosity was fading fast as she realized where the discussion was leading.

"I hope you are being careful," he said. It was a loaded request one that made Allison wonder what her father was thinking. It was obvious that he thought she was having sex, since they were having the dreaded 'talk'.

At this point Allison no longer felt like giving him any more information. And if Mr. Reynolds had asked another question she would have responded with an angry, 'It's none of your business!' But it seemed as though the speech was over and they drove in silence the rest of the way.

At school, Allison watched as her father pulled out of the driveway without even a glance in her direction. Sighing to herself, and without any other choice, she made her way to her first class.

It was the first time in the year that she arrived early to Mitchell's. She suspected the old geezer would have a heart attack when he walked and saw that Allison was already there. As she took her regular seat she noticed that there were already some students waiting. Alan Micheal was sleeping on one of the desks nearby. She vaguely remembered something about his being on the swim team which would explain his early appearance.

Taking out her notebook and a pencil Allison was planning to doodle the time away. But with the blank page staring up at her and the events from the night before still fresh in her mind she could not find the motivation. Her imagination was tainted and she looked down at the page in disgust.

"What's wrong?" someone asked. She looked up to see Alan staring at her. His curly blonde hair was still wet from practice and his dark blue eyes were slightly red from the chlorine.

"It's nothing," she answered. Tired of all the recent arguments in her life, there was no sarcasm in her voice.

"It doesn't look like nothing," Alan responded as he stretched his long body in his seat and yawned. "It looks like you've got a lot on your mind."

Allison had no idea why he was concerned. It was the strangest sensation, having someone who had pestered her so strongly before take sudden interest in her well being. More unsettling was the fact the she was being so civil to Alan after all that he had done.

"Yeah," she said simply.

"I'm sure it's not that bad," he said smiling. Allison could not help but notice how straight his teeth were. Her smile broke into a laugh as she realized the strangeness of the situation. She was having a normal conversation with Alan, of all people.

"What's so funny?" he asked smiling.

"Nothing," she said. "It's just that you aren't half bad when you are not making fun of me or looking down my shirt."

"I know!" he exclaimed. "That's what I've been trying to tell everyone!"

They were both laughing as the bell signaling the beginning of the school day rang.

Trying to avoid any situation that would have her talking to Andrew before she was ready to, she decided to spend her break indoors. The problem was that aside from sitting in front of her locker, she did not know where to go. If she did wait in front of her locker Andrew might find her there. She opted instead to roam around the halls for a while and then spend the rest of the time sitting in the stall of her favorite bathroom. As she was making her way up one of the hallway stairs she heard someone call her name.

Turning she saw Brian running towards her. "Hey Ralph," she said. "What's going on?"

"Lot's," he said panting. There was geeky excitement in his voice. "I was hoping to run into you guys," he looked around and stopped when he realized she was alone. "Where's Andy?" he asked.

"Oh," Allison said as she straightened herself up. "I don't know," she told him and quickly added, "What's it all about?"

"Well," he said the worried expression on his face fading and quickly replaced by excitement. "I've entered the science fair."

Allison looked at him as if asking, 'And.'

Noticing her expression he continued. "I was wondering if you and Andy might like to come." He leaned in closer and looked around to make sure no one was listening. "Not to toot my own horn," he said quietly. "But I think I have a pretty good chance of winning."

"I really don't want to hear about you tooting your own horn," she said smirking. "But sure, I'll come."

"Great," Brian said grinning widely. "And you'll tell Andy too?"

"Yeah, whatever," Allison said avoiding his gaze. The bell rang not a minute too soon. Brian had looked as though he was about to ask her what was wrong. She didn't feel like starting that conversation with him so she said goodbye and made her way to class.

In Chemistry Allison found herself once again at the mercy of Katarina. Harping on the success of the previous experiment Weiner had decided to keep the class paired off in the same way for the next assignment.

Allison didn't mind to much working with 'Kat', as she like to be called, it was just that the girl had a way of making Allison feel uncomfortable. Kat was always asking inappropriate question and making blunt observations. Like the day she had said, "It seems the popular kids will let anyone in as long as they look good." Unable to respond Allison had ignored her comment and continued turning up the flame on her burner. Allison didn't really feel like working with Kat for the entire hour, especially with everything that had happened, but she had no choice.

They worked on the assignment in silence for the first few minutes but then as they waited for the liquid mixture to reach the appropriate temperature Kat turned her brown eyes towards Allison and stared.

"You look bad," she said. It wasn't posed as a question. It was a blunt observation that always caught Allison off guard.

"Thanks," she answered ungratefully. She tried to stop Kat from continuing by concentrating on her notes, but Kat kept on.

"What's wrong?" she asked suspiciously. "Did your friends turn against you?"

"What?" she asked in disbelief. Kat seemed to have no self control. It was almost as if she asked questions just because she wanted to. Angrily Allison continued, "What makes you think they would?"

Kat had not been fazed by Allison's sudden outburst. In fact, she hadn't seemed to notice. She simply shrugged and said, "I don't know, it's just something they do."

"Look," Allison said as her frustration peaked. "Why don't we just get this done, alright?"

"Fine," Kat said her voice showing no signs of regret.

Allison stared at Kat as they worked. She was an awkward person who asked uncomfortable questions. Kat's blunt observations always caught Allison of guard. The girl certainly had a way with people. Allison hoped that it would be the last conversation she had with her.

A/N: Now please do review cause my fingers love reading them!