"You—?!" Trish starts to ask but I clamp my hand down over her mouth.
"Trish, you can't say a word!" I tell her through sobs. She sighs.
"I'm sorry, I just can't believe it," she says, shaking her head and standing up. She paces around my room. "So..." she starts but she pauses, stopping her pacing. She looks around then starts pacing again. "I just can't make any sense out of this. Why didn't you just tell me?"
"I just couldn't find a way to," I admit. I wipe my tears and look down at my red blanket.
"Ally, we're best friends, you can tell me anything," she reminds me, sitting down beside me. I smile and sniffle. She hugs me and I hug her back.
"Thanks, Trish. You're the best," I say to her. I pull away from her and smile. "So you aren't going to tell anyone about this... erm... story I just told you, right?" I ask. She pretends to zip her lips and nods.
"My lips are sealed," she says. She shifts uncomfortably. "Can I twit about it, though?"
"No, Trish! You can't repeat this to anyone! Not virtually or in person!" I exclaim. She rests her hand on my wrists, telling me to calm down.
"Alright, fine," she says. She smiles. "I won't tell a living soul and if I do, I'll kill them afterward," she promises.
"You're a good friend," I say. Suddenly, my door bursts open and I know who it is before I even look at him somehow.
"Get out of my house, Austin!" I scream. "Who let you in anyways?!"
"Ally, your dad let me in," he tells me calmly. He takes a deep breath. "Ally, I just want to talk. No screaming and fighting until two am. Just talking."
"I'll leave you two alone," Trish says, standing up. I grab her wrist.
"Don't leave me alone with him. Are you crazy?!" I whisper-yell.
"Actually, Ally... I think this is more of a private conversation..." Austin says slowly and quietly. Trish walks away and I walk her to my bedroom door.
"Stay right outside the door in case I need you," I whisper after her, shutting the door. I turn back around to Austin.
"Look, Ally, I'm really sorry about saying what I did," he tells me.
"You have experience with saying sorry to me so by now, you can probably do it without even feeling anything," I spit, crossing my arms over my chest and sitting back down on my bed again.
"No, Ally, I mean it. I don't like fighting with you. Best friends shouldn't fight like this," he says sadly.
"Yeah, I've heard that before," I mutter, thinking of that night. Apparently, he remembers this too.
"You forgave me for that, remember?" he asks.
"Only because I was ready for that to be over."
"We both agreed that it was a stupid mistake. No, I mean..." He rambles on, trying to make me understand what he's trying to say.
"I don't regret it, if that's what you mean," I snap, standing up.
"What I meant to say is that it was meaningless," he says. His eyes widen when the words reach his own ears. I start talking as he opens his mouth.
"Meaningless?! How can you say that it was meaningless?!" I ask, infuriated. "Are you saying that I meant absolutely nothing to you?! Are you saying that you didn't really love me even though you said it countless times?!"
"What's going on in here?" Trish asks, walking inside at the sound of my screams.
"He just said it was meaningless," I say through clenched teeth.
"What was meaningless?" she asks.
"What we talked about," I say.
"You told her?!" Austin asks. "But we said we'd never tell! I never even told Dez!"
"Well, Trish is my best friend. I had to tell her. And I didn't think we weren't telling because it was 'meaningless'," I mumble. I roll my eyes.
"Ally, I didn't—" he starts.
"Just get out," I say, a lump forming in my throat.
"What?" he asks quietly. "You-you've never told me to get out before..."
"Well, you told me never to talk to you again so I wanted to try something new too," I snap. Usually, he leaves of his own free will after we fight. I've never made him get out of my house even though I easily could have. He blinks, obviously not believing the words emerging from my mouth.
"You heard me!" I yell. "Get out! Get out! Get out! Get out!" He blinks again, dumbfounded, but nonetheless, he hangs his head and leaves my room. I sigh.
My sigh is ragged though because of the tears streaming down my face now. I wait until I hear the door shut downstairs to turn to Trish and bury myself in her arms.
Austin's POV:
"Good job, babe," Hannah says, her arms encircling my neck from behind.
"I don't know..." I say quietly, shaking my head. "She seemed really angry this time... She... she told me to get out."
"All the better," she tells me, "because now she won't be jumping down your throat about every single thing you do wrong."
Ally's POV:
It's been about a week since I've spoken to Austin. Every time he passes by the store, if he passes by the store, I give him the dirtiest look I can manage and he runs the rest of the way past it. I sigh as I look up from my book. I see Austin standing in front of the counter.
"Get out of my store," I mutter, looking back down at my book.
"No," he protests.
"Excuse me?" I ask, looking back up.
"I said no. I'm not leaving until you forgive me," he says stubbornly.
"Well, I'm not forgiving you," I say.
"You have to," he tells me. "There's no Austin without Ally and you know it. You've been a mess since you kicked me out of your life, haven't you?"
"How did you know?" I ask. Wait. "I mean, psht, no. I've been having a blast." He gives me a look as if to say 'Tell the truth.' "Fine," I give in, "it's been boring around here without you. There was an occasional highlight from Dez but other than that, nothing." He smiles as if that were the correct thing to say.
"If you forgive me now, we can go somewhere fun," he tells me.
"Where...?" I ask suspiciously.
"You have to forgive me first," he jokes with a smirk. I roll my eyes. I smile at the fact that he's joking with me.
"Fine, I forgive you. Now where?" I ask.
"Hannah's house!" he exclaims happily. The smile is wiped off of my face.
"I'm not going there," I say.
"Fine. Hannah!" he calls. She walks into the store.
"Get out," I say immediately.
"Ally..." Austin warns. I sigh.
"Why is she here?" I ask. She smiles.
"You can still be best friends with him as long as you don't touch him. You aren't allowed to hug, kiss, shake hands, hold hands, or touch hips on the piano bench," she says as she counts them off on her fingers. "You aren't allowed to touch at all."
"Yeah, 'cause we hold hands, kiss, and touch each other all the time," I snort sarcastically, rolling my eyes. She walks behind the counter and gets in my face.
"Don't push me," she snaps. I put my hands up in surrender.
"Alright, alright," I say.
"Hannah, please stop it," Austin says. She walks back over to him.
"Okay, just for you," she says with a wink. She kisses him in the most repulsive way. "See you later, babe," she says then she leaves. Austin looks up in a daze.
"Isn't she amazing?" he asks, resting his head in hands and his arms on the counter, still looking up.
"I'd use other words," I mutter, thinking he can't hear me. Apparently, he can. He just returns to a normal standing position and rolls his eyes.
"So what'cha doin'?" he asks in a sing-songish voice, trying to read my book upside-down. I slam it shut even though he can barely read it when it's right-side-up.
"Nothin'," I say in the same sing-song voice. He sighs.
"You're gonna have to let me touch it one day," he tells me.
"Not anytime soon," I say with a smirk. He pouts.
"Pwease, Awwy. Pwease! Pwease! Pweeease!" he asks in a baby voice.
"No, Austy. No! No! No!" I say, mimicking him. He smiles and laughs.
"Fine," he says in a normal voice. "You wanna write a song?"
"I'd love to," I say, "if I had any ideas in mind." I shake my head. "I've been a bit dry lately." He takes my hand and leads me over to the piano. I snatch my hand out of his. "We aren't supposed to hold hands," I remind him.
"Did she see it?" he asks. I shake my head. "Then it doesn't matter," he tells me with a wink. He sits me down at the piano and sits beside me, our hips touching. I scoot away from him a little and fall off the bench. "Ally, I told you: She isn't here to see it so it doesn't matter." I sigh, stand up, and sit back down, allowing our hips to brush. He places his hands on the black and white keys and I do the same.
"So what kind of song do you wanna write?" I ask.
"The kinds of songs we always write," he says, "duh." I sigh again. No lyrics are coming to me. I play a few chords. Nothing. We sit there for about an hour, waiting for my brain to come up with something.
"I'm blocked," I finally decide.
"Blocked?" he asks.
"Writer's block," I say. He nods in understanding. He switches the sign on the door to closed even though I doubt anyone will come in. It's Friday night. Everyone's out partying with their friends. That reminds me. "Austin, don't you have a party to go to?" I ask as he sits back down beside me on the piano bench.
"What? A party? No," he says confused.
"You don't have any plans?" I ask. He shakes his head.
"What would make you think I do?" he asks.
"You know... it's Friday night... and you always have plans... It just kinda makes sense," I tell him.
"Not tonight, I don't," he says then his face fills with worry. "Wait a minute. Oh, no. I do have plans. I'm supposed to take Hannah to the movies!" We sit in silence for about a minute or so, staring at the keys. Suddenly, I feel my face being turned then I hear a loud noise, followed by a sharp pain in my cheek.
"Ow!" I scream. I look up and see Hannah.
"What did I say about your hips touching?" she asks through clenched teeth. I automatically stand up.
"It was Austin's idea!" I exclaim. "He told me that since you weren't here, it doesn't matter! And—"
"Don't blame this on Austin," she snaps.
"No, no, it was my fault," Austin admits, standing too.
"Don't take pity on her and say it was your fault," she tells him. She loops her arm through Austin's and pulls him out the door of Sonic Boom. I stand there with my mouth open. What. A. Bitch. Yeah, I said it. Ally Dawson said the word... the word... Never mind. I see Dez walk in with Trish.
"What's wrong, Ally?" Trish asks. I realize tears are rolling down my cheeks from the pain of the slap.
"Hannah..." I start. If she knew, she really would go kill her. "I tripped. Bashed my face on the edge of the piano," I lie.
"You're such a bad liar," she tells me.
"Why does Hannah bother you so much?" Dez asks me. "I saw her slap you. Trish just didn't notice."
"She slapped you?!" Trish asks. I ignore her as she goes on about the many ways she could kill Hannah.
"Hannah doesn't bother me," I lie yet again.
"Is it because you still love Austin?" Dez asks. My eyes widen.
"What?!" I ask. "I never... loved... Austin..."
"Please, Ally. I know you two dated," he tells me.
"You-you knew?" I ask. "Did Austin tell you?" He shakes his head.
"Wait... You told Dez, of all people, before me, your best friend?!" Trish asks.
"Dez knows everything," he says, also ignoring Trish. I blink. "And you didn't answer my question. Do you still love Austin?" he asks. Trish leans in closer in anticipation for my answer. I sigh.
"Yes, I still love Austin..." I say slowly. Trish gasps then squeals, smiling like a crazed maniac.
Oh, hi. I didn't see you reading there. I wanted to keep the secret a secret from you guys until later but, frankly, I'm just not very good at keeping secrets. Well, now we know the secret. Now we know Ally still has feelings for Austin. And now we know... that Dez really knows EVERYTHING. O.o …
The whole next chapter will be a flashback (except for the end maybe) and I really don't want to put the whole thing in italics so... it's gonna be in regular print. Just know that the whole thing (most of it) is a flashback.
Oh, by the way, I restarted the poll so you can vote again. Haha, I hope you know that I'm gonna keep reminding you until I get... hm... five votes. No, six. No, seven. No, eight. No, nine. No, ten. Okay, that's as far as I'll go. I'll keep reminding you until I get ten votes xD Sorry that I didn't update yesterday. My internet was out :( Anyway, review, my lovelies!
LoVe, KeNzIe