A/N: Sorry for the delay again! Summer has been holding me down with a bunch of stuff. At least it's been fun! Well, most of it haha

Enjoy :)

Disclaimer: don't own A&A, own other character's not associated with it.

Ally POV

I walked into my Advanced Music class Friday morning, already wanting the day to be over. Our music teacher, Mrs. Hastings, always liked to scrawl the date across half of the chalkboard, so right now, I was staring at a giant NOVEMBER 29th.

"You're late, Miss Dawson," she said, peeking at me over her glasses. "We've been waiting."

"Sorry, Mrs. Hastings, my first class ran later than usual," I lied. Really, I just liked to take my time getting to class, and I didn't care all that much if I was late for any of my classes. I dropped my bag by my desk and slid into it.

Mrs. Hastings sighed before grabbing a stack of papers. "Alright, these are your permission forms for the Christmas concert next month." She gave each student in the front of each row a stack to be passed down. "It will take place in the evening on the last day of classes before the break, and I trust that all of you will have these signed by your parents and returned on Monday. I'm also leaving it up to you to decide two songs to perform as a group, and at the end of today's class, I'll be selecting three of you to perform solos, based on your work ethic in the course so far. It seems early to be choosing, but finding good songs and rehearsing them takes time, and Christmas is going to be here before you know it."

No, no, no, no, no, no, NO. I couldn't go up on stage, even in a group. Oh my god, and if she picked me for a solo…I was actually going to die.

After her little rant, she gave us some free time to work on whatever we wanted. Everyone went about and played their own instruments or whatever, yet I stayed at my desk writing down lyrics. My stupid stage fright prevented me from playing anything in class.

Mrs. Hastings came over and pulled up a chair to my desk. "You're welcome to use an instrument that's already in the room if you've forgotten yours."

"No thanks, Mrs. Hastings. I'd rather just write down some lyrics," I told her. She didn't know about my stage fright. Actually, no one did, except my parents and Bryce. It was too embarrassing for people to know.

"You've been here for over a month now and I haven't seen you play anything yet, Ally," she said.

"I'm just trying to get used to everything still," I lied again, trying to get her to ease off. I knew she meant well, and it's not like she knew she was internally ripping me apart at the mention of playing in front of people, but you know, she was. "Once I feel comfortable, then I'll start playing." Feeling comfortable could take forever, right?

She eyed me for a moment before she spread her hands out. "Alright, I won't push you. But the room is always open if you ever want to come in and play or write." She stood up and went to check on the other students.

I let out a big sigh of relief. I thought I was good until the end of class, when she named the three students who would be performing solos.

"I've decided on my three solo performers. They are Jessamyn, Paul, and Ally."

Shit.

Austin POV

"So, I hear you're hanging out with Ally tomorrow," Dez said as we walked to our last class, which was Gym. Well, mine was Gym; Dez had Biology.

I sighed and hoisted my gym bag farther onto my shoulder. "You already knew that."

"No, I knew you were hanging out with her. I didn't know it was tomorrow."

"Dez, I told you yesterday when you asked me when I was hanging out with Ally."

"Really?" He scratched his head. "Oh. Whoopsy daisy."

I smirked and rolled my eyes. "Wait. Where else did you hear?"

"A few sophomores were talking about it in the hallway this morning. I heard that Kyler Jacobs talking about it with one of his buddies, too; I think he's in Ally's math class."

I groaned, and Dez looked at me. "Do you not want people to know you guys are hanging out?"

"No, it's not that."

"Oh my god, are you actually embarrassed by Ally?" he shrieked.

"Would you shut up?" I exclaimed, hitting him upside the head. "Half the school can hear you!"

"Sorry," he said. "But answer my question."

"Of course I'm not embarrassed by Ally," I said. "I just-"

"You just what?"

"I just don't want people thinking I have a thing for her or anything."

"Why is that a bad thing if you like her, Austin?"

"I just don't like her like that, okay? Can you let it go?" We had reached the gym doors. I ran a hand through my hair. "Look, I'll see you later."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't," Dez called as he walked down the hall towards his class.

What does that even mean? I thought as I walked into the gym. Some of the students were stretching on the floor, others were just walking out of the change rooms. I was little late.

"Hurry up and change, Austin," Coach Warren said as he walked out of his office.

"Yes, Coach," I sighed. When I came out of the change room, Ally and Samantha were sitting on the ground stretching their legs, so I went over to them.

"Hey Austin," Sam greeted. Ally just gave a little wave.

I relayed the greeting and offered my hands to help them both up. "What are we doing today?"

"It's drill day," Sam groaned. "No games or anything."

I inwardly groaned, and turned to Ally. "Ally?"

"Hmm?"

"You seem off today."

"I'm fine, Austin," she snapped, making Sam glance at her in surprise. Ally ran outside with the rest of the class, leaving Sam and I to follow after them.

"Did she say anything to you?" I asked her.

Sam shook her head. "Nope, nothing. I don't know, is it really that weird how she's acting? She's always quiet and kind of rude. She reminds me of Beca from Pitch Perfect."

I raised an eyebrow at her, and Sam sighed at my look. "Relax, Austin, that's why I like Ally. She's full of spark. But come on, we better hurry before Coach makes us run an extra mile."

Throughout the class, Ally did the drills and everything like normal, but I could tell that her head wasn't in the right place. She was half-assing the effort, too. She just looked…I don't know, different. Unfocused.

Oh my god, am I actually examining Ally? What the hell is wrong with me, why am I doing that? Knock it off, Austin, you're being stupid.

I shook my head and continued the drills.

After class, I hurried to catch up with Ally as we walked back into the gym. "Hey," I said, coming up behind her.

She jumped. "Damn it, Austin, stop doing that!"

"Sorry," I said.

She sighed and kept walking, not saying anything.

"Okay, seriously, what's wrong with you?" I asked her.

"Nothing's wrong with me," she replied. "Just get off my case about it, alright?"

"No, not alright. You weren't acting like yourself in English or this class."

"Jeez, are you observing me or something?" She glared. "Mind your business, Austin, it doesn't concern you." And with that, she ran ahead of me.

Sam came up beside me. "Well. Something's definitely wrong."

Yeah, no kidding.

A/N: Ally's in a bit of a pickle. Ha, get it? Because she loves pickles...and yeah...sorry, that was bad hahaha review please! Love you guys! :)

Joelle xx

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