I sit on my knees in front of the toilet. Married? To Austin Moon? Excuse me? No! I don't want to be his wife! I don't want to be his fiancée either! No! No, no, no, no, no, no! I spit up the cake lodged in my throat. The room begins to spin. I clutch the toilet seat.
I hear a knock on the bathroom door, but I don't look up. "Honey, our parents sent me up to make sure you're okay. Are you on your period, sweetheart?" Austin asks in a slightly sarcastic tone. I roll my eyes. "Whoa!" is the last thing I hear from him before I faint and fall completely to the floor.
"Ally! Ally, are you okay?" Austin asks me.
My eyes flutter open. "Ugh, I'm fine. How long was I out?" I ask.
"About five minutes," he tells me. "Now come downstairs, or they'll start to wonder..."
I roll my eyes and stand up. Too quickly. My head spins, along with the room, and I feel the floor soaring upward—or myself falling backward.
Austin catches me in a flash though. "Gravity pulls you down. You can't rely on it to keep you standing, idiot."
He stands me upright and leaves the bathroom. I wait for the room to come into focus before I follow him. We sit back down on the couch and I stare straight forward.
"How do you feel about this, honey?" Mom asks me uneasily.
"Oh, it's a lovely idea," I say sarcastically. She doesn't catch it though.
"Wonderful!" Mimi exclaims. "See, Austin told us he really liked you and that he was too afraid to ask you out on a date. So Mike and I talked to Lester and Penny and we decided that we'd help you two skip the awkward stages and get straight to being married! In a few years, of course." I stare daggers at Austin, hoping that either they're lying or Austin was just joking.
"They can get married now, can't they?" Mom asks. "I mean, all they need is our consent, right?"
"Well, I'll check up on all the legal things and we can get straight to planning!" Mimi exclaims excitedly. "Why don't you two share a kiss?!" She smiles brightly. "Make the engagement official!"
My eyes widen as I look at our parents. "Um... shouldn't we wait until the wedding?" I ask. "Don't you think that'd make it a little more special?"
"Oh, no," Austin says. "I've been waiting my whole life for this."
I look at him. "Huh?" I ask.
As soon as that's out of my mouth, his lips are on mine. "Awww!" everyone in the room exclaims. My eyes stay open and wide. His hand is on the back of my neck so that I can't pull away until he allows me to. I whimper quietly so that only Austin can hear it. He grins against my lips, satisfied, and pulls away from me.
"What the hell was that?" I mouth to him. He just keeps on grinning.
"So cute!" my mom says.
"Penny, can I use your computer and look up the laws on weddings?" Mimi asks.
"Of course!" They walk off toward the study, which holds the computer.
"I think we should go help them. Mimi... isn't the best with technology," Mike says.
"Same with Penny," Dad says. They hurry to the study. I walk up to my room and slam the door shut. There's a knock on my door.
"Honey, are you going to let me in?" Austin asks.
"Stop calling me 'honey'!" I shout, sitting on my bed and crossing my arms angrily. I hear something in the door knob and the door opens. "How did you—?" I start to ask, but Austin just holds up an unfolded paperclip, which he now places in his pocket. He closes the door behind him and sits on the edge of my bed.
"Mind telling me your problem?" he asks.
"Um, sure, why not? Okay, first of all, we're getting married! Second of all, you kissed me like it was nothing. And third of all, you have a girlfriend!" That one, I didn't really care about, but I needed a "third of all." "No, actually, third of all, you told your parents you really liked me and then you said you've been waiting your whole life to kiss me!"
"All right. For your 'first of all,' that's not my fault. For your 'second of all,' you know they wouldn't have left us alone until we kissed. And for your first 'third of all,' I'll break up with her. The second 'third of all,' it was a joke, I didn't think they'd take it this far; and that was just to satisfy my mom," he tells me.
"Why are you going to break up with Cassidy because of a wedding that isn't going to happen?" I ask.
"It's gonna happen," he says simply.
"What makes you say that?" I ask.
"Our moms are very persistent," he explains. "I bet, if underage marriage isn't legal, they'll both try to pass a law just for us to get married."
I hated the sound of that. "... for us to get married." Ugh, that sounded terrible. "But I don't want to get married!" I yell. He raises his eyebrows. "I don't want to be Mrs. Moon! I want to stay Ms. Dawson for the rest of my life!"
"You don't want to get married ever?" he asks.
"No! Because knowing me, I'll end up marrying some librarian who pronounces it "liberry" and never does anything with his life!" I say.
"Don't worry," Austin says, standing up from my bed. "I pronounce it 'library' and I'm definitely going to do something with my life. I'll be a better husband than that librarian."
And he leaves my room, pulling the door behind him.
"So Mimi and I found out that you and Austin can get married as long as you're over sixteen!" my mom exclaimed.
After that awful sentence, I tuned out and headed for the car so I could drive myself to school.. I've been thinking about that all day. I wonder when they're planning on getting us married. I need to stop thinking about the...—I shudder—... wedding.
But if I can't think about the wedding...
What do I think about?
I sigh as the bell rings and I leave my classroom. As I walk toward my locker, I see Austin and Cassidy talking by his locker.
"You're leaving me for someone else? But I'm soooo hot! I'm so much hotter than she is and you know it!" she screams at him, rolling her eyes. "Who is she anyway?" The whole hallway gets quiet and Austin looks around, embarrassed.
His eyes land on me as I pass by.
He grabs me and pulls me closer, throwing his arm over my shoulders. "This is her," he says. "This is Ally, my fiancée." I try to throw his arm off, but he just tightens his grip. So much that it almost hurts.
"You're engaged?!" Cassidy asks. "Is her ring bigger than the one you got me for Valentine's Day? Let me see it. Let me see it!"
"She doesn't have a ring," Austin promises her. "And it wouldn't be bigger than yours anyway."
"Gee, thanks," I mutter.
"Austin got that Ally girl knocked up!" some guy in the crowd yells. I glare in their direction.
"Yeah! That's the only reason they're getting married!" another guy yells. I glare in his direction as well.
"Everyone shut up!" Austin yells. "Ally is not pregnant! The only reason we're getting married is because our parents think we like each other and they're forcing us! We had no say in this whatsoever!"
The warning bell rings and I flinch. I'm going to be late for class! No one in the hallway moves though.
"Don't worry, Cassidy," a familiar voice says. I close my eyes in aggravation. "Ally's actually mine. I won't let her marry this jock."
"Jock?" Austin asks. He releases his grip on me and steps closer to Dallas. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, a jock is—"
"I know what a jock is," Austin cuts Dallas off. "What I meant was: why are you calling me a jock? I'm not an idiot who thinks he can beat everyone up. I don't think I'm better than everyone else."
"If you say so," Dallas says, rolling his eyes. "Come on, Ally. Let's get to class." He takes my hand and tries to pull me away. I yank my hand away from his and start walking to class.
"I can get to class on my own," I mutter.
"You'll fall back in love with me, Ally!" Dallas exclaims behind me. "You'll see! You will be mine!" I imagine him tapping his fingers together and doing a creepy laugh behind me.
"Whatever!" I say. "Whatever."
After school, I get straight into my mom's car. I turn the car on, ready to go. Someone slides into the passenger seat before I can even get the car in Drive.
"So what's for dinner, honey?"
Austin.
"I don't know what you're having but I'm having a Mac-and-Cheese single," I tell him. "And I'd appreciate it if you'd get out of the car so that I could go eat my Mac-and-Cheese single."
"Make it a double so we can get on home," he says. Suddenly, someone knocks on the window on my side of the car and I scream. "Chill, baby, it's Dez."
"We're not really going to get married. I'll make sure of that. Would you stop calling me 'baby' and 'sweetheart' and all that nonsense?" I ask. He reaches across me, almost touching my chest, and rolls down my window.
"Hey, Dez!" Austin says, ignoring my question.
Dez, Austin's tall, lanky, redheaded best friend, holds up a jar full of a dark substance. I stare at it, trying to figure out what it is. Dez jumps around as he shouts, "I got a jar of dirt! I got a jar of dirt! And guess what's inside it!"
"The heart of Davy Jones!" Austin exclaims.
Dirt. Dez is carrying around a jar of dirt.
Okay.
"What are you guys going?" Dez asks.
"We're going to her house to have dinner and then make sweet love to each other," Austin says.
"Excuse me?" I ask, whipping my head around to glare at him.
"Oh, sweet! What are you having for dinner?" Dez asks.
"Mac-and-Cheese singles!"
"Awesome!" Dez replies. "Can I come?"
"Sure! Climb on in!" Austin tells him.
"Dez, just so you know, Austin and I aren't really going to 'make sweet love to each other,'" I say to Dez, looking at him in the middle rear view mirror after he sits down in the back seat and buckles up.
"You want to wait until marriage," Austin says. "That's okay. Take your time." He pats my hand, which is lying on the console.
I snatch my hand into my lap. "Shut up."
"I wasn't going to stay long anyway," Dez tells us. "I have to get home with my jar of dirt. I just needed to have an after-school snack. My mom keeps all of the snack foods locked up until after dinner, so I have to eat dog food if I'm hungry."
I open my mouth to say something, then think better of it, and close my mouth. I've learned to just nod and smile when Dez says odd things. I nod and smile at him in the rear view mirror. He gives me his goofy grin.
I put the car in Drive and take us all home. Well, my home, at least. This is going to be a long afternoon.
Austin and Dez sit at the island, waiting for me to make their Mac-and-Cheese. I sit across from them as it rotates in the microwave, cooking.
"So," Austin finally breaks the silence, "let's see your heart of Davy Jones." He turns to Dez and I look at him as well.
"Mm..." Dez glances at each of us. "Can I really trust you guys to just look and not touch?"
"Yes," I say, "Dez, I promise I won't touch. I can't say anything about Austin though..."
"Come on, Dez, we're practically brothers," Austin says. "You can trust me."
Dez hesitates before opening the jar and plunging his hand deep into the dirt. He feels around for a few minutes before taking his hand back out, covered in dirt and empty. The microwave beeps and I cross the kitchen to retrieve the Mac-and-Cheese. "Oh, my God..." Dez whispers when I return to the island. "It's gone. Davy Jones's heart is gone..."
"Here you go, Dez," I say, setting down the small blue cup in front of him. I put another one in the microwave.
Dez pulls a sword out of his pants—it must have been running down his pants leg—and points it at Austin. "I thought I could trust you," Dez says quietly. I glance at sword he's holding—the tip of which is almost resting on Austin's nose; his eyes are crossed so that he can look at it—and see that it looks extremely sharp and extremely real. "The closest ones are always the ones who betray you..." Dez's eyes blaze with fire. "You lied to me!" Dez screams. "I thought I could trust you!"
"Whoa!" I shout. "No swords in the kitchen! Take it to your own home."
Dez sheaths the sword within his pants again. "We'll settle this later," Dez says to Austin. He puts the lid back on his jar of dirt and stomps out of the kitchen. He then stomps back in, grabs his Mac-and-Cheese cup, and stomps back out.
I look at Austin, the two of us now alone in the kitchen. "And then there were two," he says, grinning. "No parents upstairs. No best friend around. "Just husband- and wife-to-be."
"You're screwed," I say, ignoring his statements.
"What do you mean?"
"With Dez?" I say. "You're screwed. Was that sword real?"
"Yeah," Austin replies. "Everything Dez has is authentic. It may not have been used in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, but it's a real sword. Why do you think I was so worried about that shit in front of my face?"
"So he's been carrying that around all day?" I ask. "At school?"
"Doubt it," Austin tells me. "Wouldn't want to get in trouble, would he? He probably stashed it somewhere off of school grounds or in the bushes outside of school."
"Yeah, probably," I say.
"So, where's my food, woman?" he asks me. I lean across the island and slap him clear across the face. "Um, ow? What was that for?"
"Never expect me to make your food, even if we do end up getting married, and never, ever call me 'woman,'" I say. The microwave beeps. "Make your own damn food."
I walk over and take my food out of the microwave. I feel Austin press up against my back, his cinnamon smell filling my nose. I love cinnamon.
"Please make my Mac-and-Cheese, Ally," he says, pressing his cheek to mine.
When Austin is near me (like, less than a foot away), my brain goes insane. He always smells like cinnamon—which is the most romantic and intoxicating flavor/smell in the world to me—and I always end up closing my eyes, letting myself sink into the cinnamon and letting it take me away to another world. I turn around, his body pressing my backside against the counter now. I take a deep breath, breathing in the cinnamon deeply... and snap my eyes open.
No, Ally.
"Fine, if you go over there, away from me, I'll make your stupid food," I promise him.
"Yay!" he exclaims, jumping and sliding over the counter and sitting down. "Have you ever tried cinnamon in Mac-and-Cheese?" I stare at him, slamming my Mac-and-Cheese cup down in front of him. "What's your problem?" he asks. "Cinnamon is awesome."
"You never talk about cinnamon around me," I say. "Ever."
It's not that I don't like the flavor. I just said that I do, didn't I? It's just... cinnamon makes me weak... I'm not entirely sure why. It just always has. And I'm pretty sure it always will.
I'll probably never know why either...
I turn back around to start making the last cup for myself. "A-Ally...?" Austin asks in a small voice. I turn on him, eyes blazing.
"What?" I ask.
"D-Do you have any?" he asks me.
I frown. He looks so scared, so small, so... delicate. You never see Austin Moon like that. He exudes confidence with every step, every breath.
I guess I just really scare him.
My eyes soften as I begin to feel sorry for him, the boy in front of me who looks like a small child, incapable of reaching the top of the counter.
"Yeah," I mutter. I open the cabinet and toss the cinnamon to him. I should use this thing against Austin.
Angry Ally=Afraid Austin
That could work for me. I'll only use it when I absolutely need it though. I'll use my powers for good, like any good super hero would do.
Austin pours the cinnamon into his Mac-and-Cheese cup. He takes a bite, sinks down in his chair, and moans. "Mmm," he says. "Are you sure you don't want to try this?"
I think about declining his offer, but you know what they say: Curiosity killed the Ally-Cat.
I walk over to him, take his spoon from him, and take a bite of the cinnamon-y/cheesy flavor. I take a deep breath. "It is kind of good," I tell him, taking one more bite before giving him back his spoon. "Thanks."
"You're welcome," he says. A grin spreads across his face. "Is that the only thanks I get or...?"
I roll my eyes as the microwave beeps a third time. I sit down beside him and start eating. After a moment, I stop.
"What's wrong?" Austin asks me, glancing sidelong at me.
"Nothing..." I say. I take the cinnamon container and pour some into my Mac-and-Cheese. I mix it up, take a bite, and smile.
"Are you gonna eat it like that every time from now on?" he asks me, with a slight chuckle.
"Yeah," I say, "probably." We sit there and eat in silence as the room starts to fill with the smell of cinnamon.
(IMPORTANT A/N READ THIS NOW IF YOU DON'T YOU WILL SURELY DIE IN TEN DAYS FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO SEVEN PEOPLE OR THE DEAD LITTLE GIRL WHO LIVES IN YOUR DREAMS WILL COME AND—Sorry, that was a lie. Don't report me I love you guys don't die. This really is an important A/N though. Well, the postscript is anyway.)
Sorry I haven't updated in a couple of days. I'm at my house at the place I moved FROM (not the place I live at now.) And there's internet here. We actually came to get the internet stuff and the cable boxes and you know. But while I'm here, I'm gonna update. And they're going to transfer our internet and cable to my new house on... Wednesday, I think. So I'll possibly be updating more often. Or not, because you know how I've started to update... terribly... :( Sorry about that.
LoVe, KeNzIe
P.S. To the people asking me to finish other stories, they're most likely already finished. I'm sorry. And to the people who reviewed on The Next Summer, telling me to update, I SHALL NEVERRRR. Just kidding, but really, I probably won't update for a while on that one. If someone could help me think of an idea for it, I'd continue. And yes, some people have given me ideas; I just haven't got around to writing on that story. I've been obsessing over this story and over a book I'm attempting to write. So the book is pretty much the reason for my slow updating now... Thanks for the ideas and sorry I can't update the stories that have ended that you like so much. :/ I'll update my poll though and put some sequels on there though? How does that sound?