Our eyes stayed locked and I looked for any recognition in his hazel orbs.

Remember me.

Remember me.

A look of confusion crossed his eyes and it didn't surprise me. There are moments that mean more to a person than they do to another. Austin had it all back in high school and telling by the way he grabbed everyone's attention, he still did.

Clearing my throat I broke the gaze, "Yeah...I have a question."

"What may that be Ms…" Mr. Campbell trialed off searching for a name.

"Dawson. Ally Dawson, and I just wanted you to go over the basics of the curriculum." The suggestion made him smile while the class filled with murmurs on the name that hadn't been mentioned in years.

My name...obviously.

It's funny how when people return changed it's like a shiny new penny. The thing is it's still a penny. Just without all the dirt. There's nothing more interesting about me since high school, just a couple more stories and a change in appearance.

Taylor always told me when all eyes were on you, act like I was on a reality TV show. Flip your hair back, look away and act as if there isn't a care in the world. Of course this is coming from the girl who slams into walls on a regular basis.

But I did it anyways.

Although the uttering of the name "Dawson…" didn't go unnoticed.

"Okay so who is he?" Taylor screeched through face time. I flinched, looking around for any witnesses, I was currently sitting at the park after a few of my classes and Taylor was being as loud as ever.

"What?"

"Don't give me that face Als. You look like you've just seen a ghost or something."

"Why does that automatically then apply to a boy?" Who am I kidding? Taylor could even tell which side I was sleeping last night. The dirty blonde knew all.

"Because you're you."

Thanks for the legitimate answer Taylor. I'm really not sure how she even get's these ideas, I mean I understand she wants to be a therapists and all-

"Psychiatrist. I want to be a psychiatrist."

"Stop doing that." Sam thing, I mean she's just good at reading faces. "Als...tell me about this boy!" Taylor exclaimed in frustration.

What was there to tell?

We weren't friends, ex lovers, hardly even acquaintances. I didn't bother to follow him on social media as the disinterest was returned from his side. We made it clear that we were just partners…

Anatomy partners that is...

Nothing more to it...

Nope…

...

Okay so maybe there was a little more to the partner thing than I was leading on . We did surprisingly connect very well despite bickering and our interests were very similar. Austin was always a mystery to me and I was the same to him. There was constant desperate attempts to figure out one another without initiating some kind of friendship.

Why?

Because the blonde would never admit it but I saw the shame in his eyes when seen talking to me. I wasn't in the slightest way something pleasing to look at so the only thing going for me and him was my personality. Which was unheard of in high school. How could someone of such high class even consider socializing with the bottom of the food chain?

Me.

If you haven't figured that out.

He always did love studying at Sonic Boom with me though. Austin and I would hang out upstairs and mess with my dad's stuff without even saying words to one another. But it wasn't awkward.

Okay so it was kind of awkward at first but we improved.

I just liked having his presence there and he enjoyed playing around while we 'tried' to work on projects. Austin would even hum some melodies on the radio which would always get stuck in my head, leading to papers being thrown in order to make him shut up.

It never worked. The boy was stubborn.

But anyways, besides that there is nothing to tell.

Sort of.

"ALLY DAWSON!" Taylor screamed, pulling me back into reality.

"Sorry, it was just my old science partner." The story itself felt so complicated that Tay would probably need me to repeat it 3 times. Which was not where I wanted this conversation to go. I still had to check out my newly furnished apartment.

"Oooo, tell me everything! Is he cute? Smart? Funny? Tall? Pretty eyes? Give me as much details of him as possible."

"I would Taylor but I have to go settle in but I'll text you later." I completely swerved around the question. I really didn't want to start thinking about his hazel eyes all over again.

Not in that way of course.

"But-"

"Okay love you bye." Hanging up quickly, there was now silence as I just realized even the janitors went home.

Oops.

"I hate you." I huffed as I continuously kicked the most impossible, stupidest, unreasonable thing that was my door.

Why do I always get stuck with vicious inanimate objects. Even in high school my locker hated me which Taylor said didn't make sense because every time she tried it, it opened. My reasoning still remained that evil object hated me.

I mean...The feeling was mutual.

The door was a pale green color with little chips of paint falling off of it, including new dents at the bottom from my shoe. And the apartment complex was pretty worn down with fades of white into a brown on the walls. It wasn't what you would describe as completely safe but I was a college student who worked part time at a music store, desperate was an understatement.

If only I had the strength or even somewhat of a capability to push the door open as the key was definitely not working.

Maybe a supernatural force?

Hey god, I've never done anything that wasn't in someway rational. Mind helping me out this once?

...

That's a no.

"Door jammed?" A voice questioned from behind me which hearing those words made me want to jump up and down from pure joy.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

"Yeah I'm pretty sure the problem is me though." the response came out as a breathy laugh because of the effort I put into this stupid door. Keeping my back to him, I gave it one more swift kick at the bottom for good measure.

"After a while, you'll kind of get the hang of it." I heard the footsteps walk beside me, placing his hand on the door while pulling it forward. The man turned the key and BAM!

Why wasn't I born with a useful skillset? I mean memorizing the origins of instruments isn't impressive or useful whatsoever, not even the customers want to know who created the violin. Taylor used to think it was hilarious by trying to make me show off my skills at a party, she would start reciting the history of the cello at full volume whenever I talked to someone mildly attractive.

As you can see nothing ever happened with any of those boys. It did put my mind at ease by the fact I wasn't the one scaring them off.

"Thank you so much! I owe you one." I looked up to meet his eyes with a smile when to my full surprise I was greeted by familiar blonde hair and a flash of hazel.

"Dawson?" Austin questioned in pure astonishment. Nothing in me moved. I mean how could it? He was still as hot and tall and blonde and just...as Austin as ever.

And I was close to him, like really close.

Close enough to examine that his roots started to get darker and the small amount of hair that was starting to appear on his face. The crooked smile he always wore, where his white teeth matched the fitted shirt the blonde was showcasing with ripped jeans, converse and from what I could see, some superman socks.

This may sound a bit odd or creepy but he was examining me just as much. That of course was definitely something I was completely aware of.

For a moment I felt like little Ally who suddenly wanted to tear her eyes away and look at her feet. Who mumbled small words and phrases with no emotion. Who all of a sudden wanted to shrivel up and repress every memory of the pass.

And I hated it.

I hated how he made me feel like that girl again. I worked my ass off to become something completely different and with just a simple meaningless look it was all of a sudden thrown out the window...but I won't let that show again.

"Yeah, you're the kid from class today?" I lied. The thing is I couldn't lie for the life of me and Austin knew that very well.

"Mmhmm. Yep." The look on his face was pure amusement as I backed away into my new hiding place. A new safe zone. Austin stepped even closer and my heart clenched because now he was in my new safe zone.

Well now what am I supposed to do?!

"I'd offer you something, but my apartment is kind of empty so…"

"Of course, if you need anything I'm right across the hall." Blondie smirked.

Why do I feel like I'm going to start to hyperventilate?

"Bye Bambi." And with that he was gone.

I'm screwed.

That egotistical, narcissistic, arrogant, obnoxious, blonde haired, stupid hazel eyed boy will honestly become the death of me.

And I'm not okay with it.

I apologize that I have the incapability to write long chapters but I will improve I promise. This chapter was a bit all over the place because transitions into them meeting is always weird to write, but for some clarity onto this chapter, Bambi was an old nickname Ally was given by her classmates. I promise the plot will get interesting soon, I just suck at writing beginnings because once the characters make some sort of connection, that's when the real story starts.

Hope you enjoyed.

- Del