Hey everyone and here is the second chapter, well let's have a quick recap and then go ahead with the story. Also the song used is 'Princess Charming' by Megan and Liz, so check it out, I love this song
Recap…
"Fame changes people, Ally. Please just think-"
"Why can't you just be happy for once? Just because nothing in your life goes to plan." I said.
"Okay. I stand by you; although I don't agree with your last statement, 11 years of friendship do not mean nothing just because you just got scouted." She smiled.
"Sorry Hope but don't worry. I know what I'm getting into." I repeated.
Boy I didn't know how bad that statement would backfire.
Chapter 2: Hey, come sit with us.
I gave Austin, Trish & Callum a tour, while Dez filmed the surroundings which earned some strange looks from both Hope but also the children.
"Here at Missing we have an age range of 13- 16 and we help children from all different problems from bereavement to abuse, child neglect to depression and self-harm, although we don't get many self-harm people." I said smiling at the children we passed.
"Wait, it that a grand piano!" Austin suddenly exclaimed as we passed the hall.
"Yeah-" I started.
"Ally you have to show us what you can do." Trish said dragging me over to the white piano.
"I have stage fright, I can't really perform you see. I get nervous and then I start to ramble and hey you ever noticed that there is a paint stain on the corner of that wall over there. I mean I certainly didn't but then again it isn't that-"
"ALLY!" Austin and Trish shouted in unison.
"What?" I said timidly.
"Ally, it's just us I'm sure you are amazing and only play if you feel comfortable." Austin said smiling.
Needless to say I blushed, I mean that was so nice of him to say. I turned around to see Hope standing in the doorway and I started to make a few frantic hand gestures at her.
"Go on Ally, You'll be great." Austin prompted.
What to sing, what on earth do I sing? I glanced at Hope and thankfully she had seen my confusion.
"Play Princess Charming." She mouthed silently and finished with thumbs up as she quickly turned and ushered the crowding children out of the main hall.
I took a deep breath and glared as I saw Hope not so discreetly take out her phone to record the performance. She smiled sheepishly and popped the phone on the stand so I think she could dance around, but to my surprise she put her guitar strap over her neck and stood next to me.
"It's recording so start when you're ready." She whispered to me, as the children trickled in to watch.
You woke up, head aches
Car won't start and you're already late,
So you drove fast, too fast
Yeah, that was a cop you passed
Teacher pulled a pop quiz, that's right
Probably shoulda don't ya wish you
Studied last night
So head out lunch time
Never mind your cards declined
When life gets this rough
Don't need to be so tough
This time
This time
Everything
Everything will be alright
When the clock strikes midnight
I'm gonna be your hero
Oh, oh, oh puttin' on my best dress
Oh, oh, oh so baby don't stress
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
I'll be your Princess Charming
You had a bad day, today
Lost homecoming game
You're the one to blame
Called your best friend
But he bailed
Straight to voicemail
When life gets this rough
Don't need to be so tough
This time
This time
Everything
Everything will be alright
When the clock strikes midnight
I'm gonna be your hero
Oh, oh, oh puttin' on my best dress
Oh, oh, oh so baby don't stress
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,
I'll be your Princess Charming
I know it's not the way
The story usually goes
I'm gonna sweep you off your feet
Make your heart skip a beat
If you've read the fairy-tale
Where the boy saves the girl
Just stop
Cuz it's not the way it has to be
This time
This time
Everything
Everything will be alright
When the clock strikes midnight
I'm gonna be your hero
This time
This time
Everything
Everything will be alright
When the clock strikes midnight
I'm gonna be your hero
Oh, oh, oh puttin' on my best dress
Oh, oh, oh so baby don't stress
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
I'll be your Princess Charming
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
I'll be your Princess Charming
This time
This time
Everything
Everything will be alright
When the clock strikes midnight
I'm gonna be your hero
Oh, oh, oh puttin' on my best dress
Oh, oh, oh so baby don't stress
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
I'll be your Princess Charming
Throughout the song Hope was swaying with the music, and Austin and the others seemed so impressed. Then all of them broke into rapturous applause, I blushed a very unattractive shade of red and laughed nervously.
"Ally that was amazing!" Trish said "How would you like to be my new client?"
I glanced at Hope but she was too busy talking to some boys our age that had gotten into a fight. I could tell as she crossed her arms, tilted her side to the left and pressed her lips into a thin line.
"Ummm… Can I give you the answer tomorrow?" I said.
"Okay Ally… By the way you go to Marino right?" Trish asked. I nodded. "Okay we'll see you there then." She said smiling.
"Umm… Ally? Who wrote that song? It's just that, you know I'm looking for that songwriter and I just want to thank her." Austin said.
"You don't seem like the kind of guy to just thank a person for a hit song." I said with an eyebrow raised.
"You see, oh you wouldn't understand." He said flinging his hands in the air in frustration.
"Try me." I said quietly.
"That person, I just feel like we understand each other, I mean did you hear the lyrics that person sounds like they are just waiting for a big break and show everyone what their made of. I want to meet them so I can help them, you know like granting a wish." Austin said walking away. "I'll see tomorrow Ally."
I just stood there dumbfounded, how on earth was he able to sum up how I felt and all he had to go on was a song.
"Ally, how 'bout we you come with us to see the house." Trish said.
"Sure." I said
"Great, let's go." She said dragging me to the limo they had parked outside.
I quickly glanced behind me to see Hope look around worried before running out of the room to get her phone. I felt a little guilty, but she'll understand, I'm just broadening my circle of friends. Trish jumped in the car and the others piled in. I sat in the back with them all and felt a little out of place.
"Where are we going exactly?" I asked.
"Maple Street." Trish said. Just then I heard my phone vibrate in my bag.
I pulled it out to see a text from Hope.
Hope/Ally
You won't believe it Azure fell over a cut her knee pretty bad; there was a lot of blood, heading home. And I took a shortcut, I'm already there. I was gonna tell you I was leaving but I couldn't find you.
Okay I'll see you tomorrow.
We all clambered out of the car and just my luck his house is opposite to Hope's house and she saw the car pull up. I subtly hid in the car while Hope walked over.
"Hi, I'm-, "Hope stopped when she saw Callum.
"You live here too?" Callum said hooking his thumbs into the belt-loops on his jeans, a clear sign he was nervous.
"Yep, I live across the road. Anything you want to know about our street just ask me okay." Hope smiled, seemingly unfazed.
"So I'll see you around then." Callum said sounding a little hopeful?
Hope smiled then frowned when she saw me. I tried a small smile and she beamed back at me pulled out her phone texted someone then walked back inside her house.
Get inside now. Girl talk.
"I'm sorry I have to go." I said
"Bye Ally." They all chorused back at me.
I ran inside Hope's house high-fived the twins (Ethan and May) and ran up the grand staircase to Hope's upstairs lounge. It sounds posh but it's just a large corridor so Hope's family put sofa's there.
"What do you want to talk about?" I asked.
"That exchange between you and Austin." She smirked as I blushed.
"Well what was going on between you and Callum, Hope?" I threw back at her.
"You first." She compromised.
"Okay, Hope he seems to understand me and he hasn't even met me." I sighed.
"Someone's star-struck." She muttered under her breath.
"Hey, I love that movie!" I laughed throwing a pillow at her.
"But I'm serious. It sounds like he really trusts you as he has known you less than 12 hours and he told you that. You could be soul mates." Hope said happily.
"Okay, but what was up with you and Callum? He was visibly nervous around you." I stated.
"I honestly don't know." She said bringing her knees up to her chest.
"What's wrong?"
"Austin ain't a player Callum is how do I know he isn't just playing with my feelings."
"Take a leap of faith. I learned that from a very good friend of mine." I smiled at her.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"HOPE!" A voice yelled.
Hope visibly flinched, she got up slowly and walked me to the door.
"Hope, be nice. I'll see you tomorrow." I said.
"See you at your house at 8:15 okay?" she smiled slightly. She closed the door and I headed back to my house which was just next door.
"Hey Dad." I walked and planted a kiss on his cheek.
"Hey darling. How's Hope, her dad worried about her." My dad said.
"Still adjusting, I guess. She's not used to being in the same place for more than six months." I said sadly.
"Don't worry… so how 'bout you girls' love lives. Anything you want to say?" My dad looked at me
I blushed as red as a tomato "N-n-n-o g-g-got to go" I stuttered before running to my room.
My dad laughed "Ally, I'll find out from Hope anyway so there is no use hiding it."
The Next day
"ALLY! YOU OVERSLEPT AGAIN!" Hope yelled as she hovered above me.
I bolted upright, slamming my forehead into Hope's chin.
"Ouch! Did you really have to shout?" I asked sheepishly.
"Come on. I laid you out an outfit so let's get going." Hope said clapping her hands and heading down the stairs.
I had a quick shower put on my makeup and then shimmied into the outfit Hope had laid out for me. It was a sleeveless white flowered 1950s style dress that ended one inch above the knee; she had also laid out for me a half-length denim jacket and white kitten heels. I curled my hair, since it was naturally straight and placed a white flower hairpiece into my hair and bounded down the stairs.
"I knew this would look great on you." Hope smiled.
"Ummm… Hope I don't own anything I'm wearing right now apart from the shoes"
Hope scratched the back of her head and mumbled "I made them last night; I thought it was your style."
I squealed and threw my arms around her and dashed as fast as could out of the door and to Hope's car. She threw me a strange look and slid into the driver's seat.
"Why was that so exciting Ally?" She asked.
"Did you make what you're wearing?" I asked excitedly.
Hope was wearing a teal lace summer dress paired with mint flats with a bow, with a half-length brown leather jacket and a teal bow in her hair.
"Yeah…" she said, with an eyebrow raised as we pulled up into the school and she grabbed her backpack.
We headed in and walked up to our lockers, and talked with Cassidy, a good friend of ours. Then came the screams, what seemed like a thousand girls ran past us. Cassidy muttered something under her breath which sounded like "stupid pop star" and slammed her locker shut. Hope started laughing and soon it was infectious and all three of us were clutching our sides and laughing uncontrollably. Austin and the others walked up to and stared at us for a while.
"Ummm… Hope, Ally are you ok?" Callum and Austin asked concerned.
Instead of doing the normal thing and answering them Hope and I looked up at them then a Cassidy and then proceeded to break into a second peal of laughter. The boys stood there and waited while we calmed ourselves, well I did. Hope continued to stifle giggles.
"Yeah, we're fine how are you?" Hope spluttered out.
"Fine." Austin said slowly "Anyway Ally did you make your decision yet?"
"No…" I said throwing a fleeting glance at Cassidy and Hope.
Austin nodded then he and Callum walked off, I blew a sigh of relief then turned back to my friends who stood there expectantly. Cassidy glared at me and gave me a look that "We'll talk later" and then she stalked off angrily. Hope pursed her lips then gave me a sad glance and a slight shrug before walking off in the direction of her lesson since we had different first lessons. She turned around at the end of the hallway and waved and mouthed that she would see me at lunch. I took a deep breath and dragged my feet to my own personal nightmare, chemistry.
"So…" I started as Cassidy got the experiment ready. I was now seriously regretting choosing her as a lab partner.
"Oh, give it up Ally. What decision haven't you made yet?" Cassidy said coldly as she glared at me.
"It's not really any of your business." I muttered.
"Not my business, really Ally does the fact that we're BEST FRIENDS make it any of my business." Cassidy said raising her voice.
"Cassidy! This is blackmail, it's my life!" I shouted back, at this point everyone in the room including Austin and the others were staring at us.
"Oh, sure fine Ally but why can't you tell us!" Cassidy screamed.
"Because I got offered a record deal! And you would obviously would tell me what to do! Exactly like you and Hope always do!" I screamed, as soon as the last sentence flew out my mouth I regretted it.
Cassidy grew quiet, in fact she was deathly silent, her eyes softened and she took a deep breath.
"Fine, have it your way Allyson" She said.
Cassidy never says my full name, so I chewed my hair and we finished the experiment with an uncomfortable silence.
The lesson was finally over and I slowly packed up my things, Cassidy hadn't said a word to me since the argument, it's like I became invisible to her.
"So Cass will you wait-" I said, however I turned around and Cassidy wasn't there.
I shrugged my shoulders and walked off to Literature, one of my favourite subjects after Music of course. The hallways seemed infinitely longer as I didn't have Cassidy to talk with and I kept getting weird looks in the corridors. Could news of our argument have spread that quickly? Realisation then dawned upon me. HOPE! She has to hear my side of the story first before she hears the gossip, I quickly picked up my speed and flew down the corridors to Literature. It turns out it was all in vain, as I stumbled into the classroom, Kira, the meanest girl in school was talking to Hope.
"So, Hope did you hear what happened in Chemistry today?" Kira said smiling.
"No, I didn't- I mean I wasn't there- what happened?" Hope asked creasing her forehead.
"Well why don't you have a look?" Kira said handing Hope her phone, I had literally seconds so I did the first thing I could think of.
I screamed.
Hope looked up, stared at me, smiled and then looked back at Kira. Not the result I was looking for, I have to say. I walked up to Hope as quickly as I could without tripping, a personal achievement I must say.
"Hope, I have a perfectly good explanation for this." I started.
Hope nodded in a way to say that she understood, and then Kira threw a smirk at me and played the video of the argument to Hope. I watched as Hope's face fell and she grew pale, her face crumpled and I felt so bad inside. After she finished watching the video, she stood gathered her books and looked at me. The look in her eyes was one of pure hurt; she walked to the other side of the classroom and sat at an empty desk at the back.
"Ally, come over here!" Trish called out to me.
Hope stared at Trish and then me; she shook her head and placed her head on the desk. I bit my lip, two sides of me warring against each other, one side told me to go and explain things to Hope, the other told me she needs her space and I need mine. I slowly walked over to Trish and sat down soon a note landed on my desk.
Austin/Ally
What happened there?
You were in science, you know.
She looks pretty upset…
She needs space, I talk to her later.
Are you ok?
I have to admit I was pretty touched that he cared about my feelings, but then my head reminded me that my best friend was upset.
I'm okay but Hope isn't and it's all my fault.
Don't beat yourself up about it, if she needs her space then give her the space.
You're right. Thanks Austin.
You're welcome.
The lesson ended pretty quickly after that and as I got up to leave I noticed Cassidy standing in the doorway.
"Listen Cass-" I started however she held up her hand and indicated for me to not bother.
"How's Hope?" she asked Austin who was next to me, it was like I didn't exist anymore. I won't lie it hurt, a lot.
Austin jerked his head in the direction of the broken-looking girl gathering her stuff from the back of the class. After Cass went to see her, I went to lunch, I needed to think and hopefully Hope will still sit with me.
"Ally, do you want to sit with us?" Austin asked and I gratefully nodded. Our usual table consisted of Hope, Cass and myself and since I upset them both I don't think that I could handle the tension.
Trish, Dez and Callum greeted me as I sat down and then they resumed their lunches, Austin and I continued to have a conversation until a meek voice interrupted us.
"Ummm… Ally?" Hope said, she looked as if she was trying hard not to cry.
I couldn't believe it! She was talking to me!
"Yes." I replied happily.
"Well, Cass told me not to tell you but I figured you would want to know." Hope dropped the envelope on the table in front of me. I read it aloud.
"Dear Miss Belle,
We have looked over your designs and you clearly have an eye for design. We would love for you to present a little fashion show to show off your designs. If we like the designs we will consider offering you a place at 'Parsons, New School for Design' in New York.
Yours Sincerely,
Melody Clarkes
No way Hope I'm so proud of you!" I jumped up out of my seat, this school was Hope's dream.
"So, I have to organise it with both the school and Miss Clarkes to have a fashion show. However I need models, Cass already agreed and I would love if you could it." She asked slightly smiling.
"I would love to." I said truthfully.
"So, make sure you are at mine tonight for babysitting duty." She said walking away.
"Hey Ally, want to come with us to the cinema tonight?" Trish asked.
"Yeah, sure." I said.
Now don't get me wrong, Hope is still my best friend but going to the cinema is way more exciting than babysitting the twins. Yes, we babysit the twins one Saturday a month, and yes it is kind of a tradition now.
But come on, she wouldn't mind that I missed one Saturday. Wouldn't she?