Sorry about the wait guys...I hope you like the chapter! Good things come to those who wait and everything...

I kind of have a problem with my writing...I seem to drag it out so that over five or six chapters I have covered about two days. I really need to work on that, and it looks as if the first few chapters of this are going that way...but I am really trying to sort it out, and any advice you might have would be really helpful and greatly appreciated! :D

Please review and feel free to leave any constructive criticism, or even just something you don't like about the story so I can try to set it right or just keep it in mind in the future...thank you! 3

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot line :'(

Chapter 3

I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to handle school the next morning. I got there super early, thinking that there was no way any other student would be there that early. I hoped I would be able to wait around for Trish and then ask her where Dallas's lessons were today. For some reason, she always seemed to know these kinds of things…

Anyway, I got there and went straight to the library. Unfortunately, he was in there. As soon as I caught sight of him I froze. He was looking away from me, talking animatedly with the librarian, so I tried to slowly turn around and leave without anyone seeing me. No such luck.

"Ally! Nice to see you here so early! Dallas and I were just discussing his idea for a new filing system-he wants to put all the records on computer! Isn't that just genius?" she exclaimed excitedly. I turned around slowly and smiled at her, trying to ignore Dallas's wide eyes. He obviously hadn't realised who I was yesterday, but he definitely figured it out now.

"Sounds great. If you don't mind, there's somewhere I have to be…" I said, making a move towards the door.

"Actually, could you do me a favour? Dallas came in here originally to ask me where room twenty-four is. Would you mind showing him the way for me?" I froze, feeling my heart stop beating for a moment. Me alone with Dallas? This was like my worst nightmare come true. I was tempted to pinch myself, but I knew it wasn't a dream. I was pretty sure I could never dream up a horror like this. Nevertheless, I gulped and nodded, leaving the library quickly, assuming he would follow me. Which he did, and for most of the way he stayed quite far behind me. I was lucky-there were other people in the corridor. Not many, but enough that we were never completely alone together. But as we turned the last corner that led to room twenty-four, I felt him grab my wrist and turn me around to face him.

"Argh!" I squealed, trying to pull my hand back. He refused to let go, instead just looking me up and down, eyes hungry and desperate.

"Ally Dawson. Who would have thought I would end up in the same school as you? It really is a small world…" he mused. I struggled against his tight hold, fighting back tears of fright and pain.

"Let go of me Dallas." I said. He smiled.

"Aw come on Ally. Don't you want to catch up?" he asked me. I shook my head furiously.

"Nope. I just want to get away from you." I snarled.

"Look, I'm sorry if I hurt you. But come on, you have to admit…it was good while it lasted." He said, eyebrows raised suggestively. I made a gagging sound and finally managed to yank my wrist free.

"Fuck off Dallas." I snarled.

"Ouch." He said, looking genuinely offended. I just rolled my eyes and stalked off down the corridor. I turned back to look at him just as I turned the corner, and the look of pure fury in his eyes scared me so much that I broke into a run as soon as I was out of his sight.

Eventually the bell for lunch rang. I hadn't had any lessons with Dallas, but I had still been on edge all day so far. I threw everything back into my bag and slung it over my shoulder, following Trish out of the classroom and into the cafeteria. Apparently, Miss Danning hadn't yet sorted out a way for Trish and I to sit together in every lesson, so we were stuck with texting as our only form of communication during lessons. Well, she texted me. I didn't reply. Usually…

"Okay, Ally, time to spill. Tell me everything about what happened last night with Austin!" she squealed. My eyes widened, and I stared at her, horrified.

"What do you think happened between me and Austin? And please don't say 'last night'…it sounds so much more…ew. It was just 'yesterday', okay?" I said, shuddering. She rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on! As if you spent a whole two hours after school with the hottest guy in school and nothing happened." She said. I snorted with laughter.

"Seriously, Trish? As if. You know how much I hate the guy. And anyway, even if I didn't, you really think he would want anything to do with me?" I asked her, rolling my eyes.

"Erm, yes? Ally, have you looked in a mirror lately? You're hot! And Austin is hot. With a capital H. Of course I'm going to assume something happened." She said, rolling her eyes as if it was obvious. I laughed.

"As if. Firstly, as if a guy like Austin would ever like a girl like me. Secondly, I am not hot. And thirdly, nothing is ever going to happen between us, Trish. We're just too…different." I sighed, turning away from her and taking a seat on the grass outside the school. She flopped down next to me.

"Whatever. Are you trying to tell me you don't find him the slightest bit attractive?" she asked me seriously.

"Well…" I started, and she clapped her hands, jumping up excitedly.

"I knew it! I knew you liked him!" she squealed.

"Whoa, whoa Trish! Calm down! I never said I like him! I just said I thought he was attractive. Lots of guys are…doesn't mean I like them. And you know how much I hate him."

"Sure, whatever." She sighed, but I knew that wasn't the end of the argument.

"Just eat your lunch." I sighed. I had been told to go see Miss Danning about halfway through lunch, so I asked Trish to come with me.

"Do I have to?" she groaned. I rolled my eyes.

"Well, no, but its either come with me or sit here alone for the rest of lunch…" I said.

"I do have friends other than you, you know." She said angrily. I chuckled.

"Like who?" I asked her. She looked around for a minute, and then sighed, getting to her feet.

"Fine, I'll come with you. Because I am such a good friend…" she said. I laughed and we started walking into school to find Miss Danning. Luckily, she was in her office.

"Ally! Glad you're here! Just wanted to speak to you about the tutoring thing with Mr Moon, if that's okay?" she said, smiling warmly. I inwardly groaned, but smiled at her as I nodded.

"Okay, well, are there any days that wouldn't be okay with you?" she asked me. I shrugged.

"I don't really do anything outside of school. I mean, if I do have plans I may have to cancel a couple of sessions but that won't happen often…" I said honestly. Miss Danning smiled sympathetically.

"Oh, okay then. Are there any days you would prefer?"

"Nah, not really. Whenever." I said, wanting to finish and get out of there as soon as possible. I knew Trish was going to take the piss even worse after this.

"Well, usually we would arrange a once a week schedule, but since this is a 'special' case….how about Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays?" she asked. My eyes widened.

"That often? Really?" I asked, shocked. I figured this would only be once or twice a week.

"Well, I suppose it doesn't have to be, but you never know how long this could take and I figured you might want to get it over as soon as possible?" she said. I sighed, knowing she was going to guilt me into this just as easily as she guilted me into tutoring Austin in the first place.

"Okay, fine, whatever. So I'll come here tomorrow and Friday after school?" I asked, resigned. She grinned, nodding.

"Perfect. I'll see you later Ally. And you Trish." She said happily, and we took that as our cue to leave. Once we were outside the classroom, Trish turned to me and squealed.

"Eeep! Even more one-on-one time for you and Austin!" she giggled. I rolled my eyes, turning to walk away. She was starting to piss me off.

"Aw, come on Ally! You know I'm only messing!" she moaned, chasing after me. I stopped and whirled around angrily.

"For fucks sake, Trish! Seriously, this is getting old. I do not like Austin. At all. Yes, he's hot. Really hot. But he would never like me like that, and I hate him too much to ever like him like that! Sheesh! Get over this already! Its starting to seem like you like Austin!" I yelled. There was nobody around, thank God.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, its just because you two would be such a great couple! And you have to admit, there must be some attraction." She said.

"No, there isn't!" I shouted.

"Well, it looks like there is. Every time you two are near each other, there's, like, this tension around you…it's obvious. Everyone notices. That's why none of the other girls like you much, Als…they're jealous." She explained. I felt my anger disappear; replaced by confusion and some other, strange feeling I couldn't understand.

"I….we…there is no attraction, okay? We hate each other! You know how much I hate him, and remember what I told you about? What happened on the park that time? Obviously he hates me back. So please, just drop this, okay? Any tension you sense between us is because we hate each other. Got it?"

"Got it." She sighed, hating to admit defeat but knowing when things had gone too far.

"Good. So, you want to go somewhere for the rest of lunch?" I asked her. She checked her watch and shook her head.

"No point. We have five minutes, let's just go to maths." She said. When we got there, there was only one person in there; Dallas. Trish looked over at me worriedly, but I shook my head and walked inside. Dallas looked up at us and smirked, watching us as we walked to the back of the room.

"Ally…I see your ass is as great as ever." He said, grinning cockily. I looked down, embarrassed, before looking up again when I heard him shout 'ouch'.

"What happened?" I asked, looking from him to Trish.

"I'm not sure…a random flying pen just hit him in the eye…" she said, faking shock and horror.

"Nice one." I said, laughing as I looked over at Dallas, who was rubbing his eye and scowling.

"Maybe if you had kept your eyes off her ass then this wouldn't have happened." Trish hinted. Dallas just glared at her and turned back around to face the front of the classroom.

We sat there and talked for a minute or two as the classroom started filling up. Austin walked in, catching my eye, and I smiled at him slightly. He just rolled his eyes and sat down at the front of the room. I guess things haven't changed, then. This was, surprisingly, the first lesson I had shared with him all day. I hadn't been paying much attention yesterday, but I had been today, I had assumed that things would have changed a little since the night before, but apparently not.

The rest of the day flew by, and Trish and I walked home together, talking and laughing, and for the first time since yesterday I managed to forget about Dallas and Austin. Wow, how typical, both of the guys I hate most in the world have similar names…they're both places in Texas. Kind of ironic, since my mom was from Texas.

Trish decided that, for once, she was going to get some homework done so declined my offer for her to stay for dinner. I went inside, surprised to find that my dad wasn't home, and grabbed all the ingredients for spaghetti bolognaise. Then I found a note taped to the fridge from my dad, telling me that he was going to work late and would bring a takeaway home, so I put all the ingredients back and tried to think of something to do.

Eventually I decided to take Mrs Green's dog to the park. Mrs Green is the lovely old lady that lives next door to us. She has a lovely little poodle, but she can never take him for a walk because she is too frail. So sometimes I take him out, because I feel sorry for the poor thing being cooped up all the time and I know that she feels bad about it too.

"Hello Ally! It's nice to see you! I haven't seen you for such a long time! When was the last time I spoke to you? You look so grown up!" Mrs Green smiled as she opened her front door. I smiled warmly back, deciding not to tell her that we had spoken just yesterday, when I gave her some mail that had been delivered to the wrong house.

"I'm sorry it's been so long, Mrs Green. I wondered if you wanted me to take Lulu for a walk. I have nothing else to do…" I asked her. She grinned.

"Oh, would you? She's been so miserable lately; I think some fresh air will do her some good." She said, smiling as she stepped aside to allow the little dog to run over to me. I laughed as she jumped up, tail wagging, and petted her head gently.

"Okay then, Mrs Green. I'll be back soon; do you have a leash for her?" I asked.

"Oh, yes…it's in here somewhere, I'm sure…" she sighed as she started to search the hat stand next to the door.

"Thank you. I'll see you soon." I said to her as she handed me the worn blue leash. Lulu started jumping up and down again at the sight of the leash, so I picked her up to attach it to her collar.

"See you Ally. And thanks again." She said as I walked away. I waved to her until she retreated into her house and shut the door. I sighed, feeling bad. The poor lady was all on her own, with just a little dog for company; I really should visit her more often.

Twenty minutes later I was sat on the fountain in the middle of the park, watching Lulu run around the field. I laughed as she stumbled and fell, standing up again and shaking herself off. Suddenly I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders pull me backwards. I screamed, before being completely submerged under the water. Struggling against the strong hold, I eventually managed to get my head above the water, and I sat there, coughing and spluttering, in a daze. After I had got my breath back I looked around and saw Austin sat there, soaking wet, laughing madly. I looked around, expecting his friends to be there, laughing at me along with him, but was surprised to see they were nowhere in sight.

"What the fuck, Austin?" I shouted. He just laughed harder.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't resist." He spluttered between giggles. I rolled my eyes, but felt some of the anger fade, since he didn't seem to have done it to embarrass me.

"Well, look at me! I'm all wet!" I cried, getting to my feet. He raised his eyebrows.

"That's not something you hear every day off someone like you…" he said suggestively. I scowled, slapping his arm angrily. Then I burst out laughing.

"You're such a guy." I complained.

"Hmm. Is that why you hate me so much?" he asked me. I froze.

"W-what makes you think that I hate you?" I asked him, blushing.

"I overheard you talking to your friend, Tish, in school." He admitted bluntly. I was shocked.

"You what? How much did you overhear?" I asked him, eyes wide. He chuckled.

"Well, I heard you say that you think I'm hot. But you don't like me, you made that part clear. Although, I have to wonder what makes you so sure I would never like you like that…I mean, you seemed pretty convinced, which is strange since we've barely even spoken to each other." He said, standing up and jumping out of the fountain. I sighed.

"I just know, okay? You're…you, and I'm…well, me. It's that simple." I explained. He laughed, although I wasn't sure if he was laughing at what I said or the fact that I was attempting to climb out of the fountain without letting my skirt ride up too much.

"Well, if that's how you feel…but, for future reference, you are pretty hot." He said, winking at me. I blushed again, looking at my feet. Just in time to see them slip on the wet marble and feel myself go flying. At least, I would have gone flying, if not for the strong pair of arms that wrapped around my waist. I gasped, scared, but then I heard Austin whisper in my ear.

"It's okay. I got you." He said. It was kind of ruined by the way he was shaking with laughter, but at least he caught me, and didn't let me fall on my face.

"Thanks." I said after he helped me stand up properly.

"No prob. Just don't expect this to be a regular thing. Next time, I'm just gonna let you fall. It'll be a hell of a lot funnier." He promised. I laughed.

"Why did you catch me this time then?" I asked him. He frowned, looking confused.

"Instinct, I guess." He shrugged, before turning and walking off. He didn't even say goodbye. Rolling my eyes at his strange behaviour, I turned around to look for Lulu.

I managed to drag her away from the rabbit she had cornered and took her back home to Mrs Green.

"Oh, thank you, Ally! I'm so glad you found her, I was so worried! Where was she?" she asked me, grabbing the poodle and kissing her, sounding relieved. I frowned, puzzled.

"I just took her for a walk, Mrs Green. You said that was fine…" I reminded her. She looked at me, frowning, and then her expression changed.

"Oh, yes, I did, didn't I? Ah, I guess my memory isn't what it used to be…Thank you for taking her out for me. She gets so lonely…" she muttered as she shut the door. I sighed, feeling terrible. She was almost ninety, the poor woman. She really belonged in a nursing home.

Sighing, I went back to my apartment to find my dad sat at the table, looking extremely angry.

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