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Chapter 4

"It's almost ten o'clock, Ally. Where have you been?" he asked, trying to sound calm and collected, but I could tell that inside he was fuming.

"I'm so sorry dad…I was walking Lulu, Mrs Green's dog, and I got, erm…side tracked. I am sorry I'm late, dad. But I'm safe, and that's all that matters, right?" I asked him hopefully.

"Wrong. I mean, I'm glad you're safe, but the point is that you should be home on time. I was so worried about you, Ally. I almost called the police." He said.

"But it's not even dark out yet! And it's not as if this is a regular thing! Can't you just let me off with a warning, just this once? It won't happen again!" I begged him. His expression softened, but he shook his head.

"I'm sorry Ally, but if I let you off just this once, you'll do it again, and then I'll let you off again, and it will all spiral into a vicious cycle and you'll end up as one of those kids that lives on the streets and gets pregnant at sixteen." He said. I rolled my eyes, but knew that I had lost this argument. When my dad was like this…

"Okay, dad, fine. What's my punishment?" I sighed.

"No after school clubs or anything for a month. I want you straight home as soon as the bell rings for the end of the day." He said. I frowned.

"But I have tutoring…you know what, never mind. Thanks dad!" I said brightly, turning to run up to my room.

"Wait! You seem happy about this…" he said suspiciously. I quickly changed my facial expression to look sad.

"No, no, I'm devastated, honestly. I love tutoring Au…I love tutoring." I grinned, knowing that if my dad knew I was tutoring Austin he would stop me. He knew about Austin and his gang, and what he knew about them didn't exactly make him love the guy. But if he thought I enjoyed tutoring, he would stop me doing it. Sadly, he didn't fall for it.

"Nice try. You're banned from any after school activity except for detentions and tutoring." He said. I laughed.

"As if I would ever get a detention." I scoffed.

"Well, after what happened tonight…I wouldn't be surprised." He said seriously. I stared at him, gobsmacked, sure that he couldn't be serious. But apparently he was.

"Aw come on dad…you know what? Never mind. I'll see you tomorrow. I'm going to bed." I said, suddenly pissed off. And with reason. I was late home one time, for the first time ever, and suddenly I'm this wild child who can't be trusted ever again! I mean, I know my dad has to live with being a single parent and all, but seriously? This is taking things a little bit too far.

"Don't you take that tone with me, young lady!" he shouted, face red. I sighed, looking him in the eyes.

"I'm sorry dad. I'm sorry that, for once, I acted like a normal teenage girl and got pissed with my dad. It won't ever happen again. Because apparently, I'm not allowed to be a normal teenager." I said calmly. His eyes widened in anger but I think he was tired because he just let it go.

"Just go to bed, Ally." He sighed, turning around to pick up his newspaper. I rolled my eyes and stomped up the stairs. Sitting on my bed, I finally realised; I had changed. It wasn't just my dad being stupid; well, he was being stupid, but that wasn't it.

A year ago I would have walked in, apologising over and over and telling him that I deserved to be punished. A year ago I probably never would have been late, because I would have never even considered socializing with Austin Moon. A year ago I would never have sort-of sworn at my dad. To be honest, a year ago I would never have sworn period. Especially the way I was swearing at Austin the day before. I don't even know where that came from, but it definitely wasn't me. Or maybe it was me…the new me. And, in all honesty, I think I like this new me better.

I tossed and turned all night long, unable to sleep a wink. It didn't help that I was cold and damp from the shower. I could have dried it, but dad was in bed and my hairdryer is really loud. So I put it in a bobble and left it to dry on its own.

When I went downstairs the next morning my dad seemed to do a double take.

"Whoa, Als, you look tired honey. Are you stressed because of your punishment? I admit it may have been a little harsh…" he said softly, smiling apologetically. I frowned, puzzled.

"Since when do you change your mind about punishing me?" I asked him.

"Well, it doesn't exactly happen often….but I realised what you said last night was true. You are a lot better behaved than the average teenager, so I should be grateful for that and not punish you for stupid things like being late home once. If it happens again…we'll see. But for now, you're un-punished." He said. I smiled, pecking him on the cheek.

"Thanks dad. But don't worry, that wasn't the reason I couldn't sleep. I'm just stressed, I guess." I sighed. He chuckled, obviously not believing me.

"Ally, you've been back at school for two days. You can't be stressed already." He laughed. I shrugged.

"I guess I just have a lot to get used to…" I sighed. He just rolled his eyes.

"Same old Ally, always stressing about everything…" he smiled, walking over to the countertop to pour himself some cereal.

I had a pop tart for breakfast then made my way up to my bedroom. Deciding to be a little adventurous with my outfit today, I went for a low cut black top Trish bought me once and some super skinny red jeans. I teamed it with a couple of chunky bracelets and a heart shaped necklace, then went to my vanity to brush my hair. I froze when I saw my face.

Dad was right; I looked shattered. I had circles under my eyes and my skin was all blotchy. I couldn't remember ever looking this bad before. Sighing, I grabbed my make-up bag. I saved my make-up for emergencies, which this was. Trying not to make myself look too orange while at the same time attempting to cover all the imperfections wasn't easy, but somehow I pulled it off. Then I decided that it looked odd without mascara and eyeliner, and then a little blusher and some lipstick. Finally happy with the way I looked, I got up. I was surprised at myself; I never usually wore anything like this to school. I wasn't sure what had gotten into me, but I could honestly say that I had never looked this good.

"Ally! What on earth do you think you are doing? Go change, now!" dad said, surprised, when he saw me. I rolled my eyes.

"Relax dad, I'm just trying something new…you're acting like I look like a hooker." I laughed. He glared at me.

"In my books, what you're wearing right now is just as bad. And what is with your face? You look…nice. Not that you don't always look nice, you just look a different kind of nice…an more grown up kind of nice." He said, confused. I laughed.

"Don't worry dad, I'll be fine. And grown up is good; I am seventeen, after all." I laughed, hurrying out the door before he could say anything more about me changing.

I met up with Trish, who did a double take when she saw me. Second person this morning. Must be a record.

"Ally? Is that you?" she asked disbelievingly. I laughed.

"Yeah. Just trying out a new look…what do you think?" I asked her, doing a little twirl as a joke.

"I love it! Is that the top I bought you? And I love those jeans! Why haven't you worn them before?" she asked. We started walking towards school.

"Yeah, it's the one you bought me. And, in case you haven't noticed, I'm usually not the type to wear skinny jeans." I said, shrugging.

"Well, you totally should be! I actually love this new look…and the make-up! For a girl who never wears it, you're pretty damn awesome at putting it on!" she exclaimed. I laughed.

"I kinda like it too. I'm not sure why I've done it though…"

"Don't even try it. I know exactly why you're doing this." She laughed. I looked at her questioningly.

"Why?"

"To impress Austin, of course. And to show Dallas what he lost." She said, grinning. I rolled my eyes.

"Actually, neither of those are strictly true…but I guess showing Dallas what he's missing wouldn't hurt. Not the Austin thing, though. I don't give a shit what Austin Moon thinks of me." I said lightly. Trish nodded.

"Of course you don't." she said sarcastically. I dropped it, not wanting to get into a fight.

"Anyway, dad got really mad at me last night." I said. She gasped.

"What? Your dad never gets mad! What did you do?" she asked.

"I took Mrs Green's dog for a walk, and was late home." I shrugged.

"Why were you late? Last time I checked it doesn't take long to walk a dog."

"Yeah but I got…side-tracked." I muttered, blushing at the memory.

"Ooh, you're blushing! Something happened…tell me tell me tell me!" she squealed. I shook my head, knowing that if I told her the teasing about Austin would never end.

"It's not important…and I was blushing because it was embarrassing. Sheesh." I laughed. She glared at me suspiciously but kept quiet. We walked the rest of the way to school in silence. For the first time in years, I was late for a class. Mostly because I had spent so long getting ready and had been late to meet Trish. Surprisingly, I didn't care. Our teacher was so surprised to see me, of all people, walk in late that she didn't give us detention, just told us to sit down. People were staring at me, shock, confusion and surprise on their faces. Usually I would have been embarrassed to have so many people staring at me, but today I just smiled and walked confidently over to my seat. Dallas wasn't there, thank God, and neither was Austin. I could have a stress-free lesson. Or so I thought.

About halfway through the lesson, while Miss Lime was working out a complicated algebra problem on the board, Austin and Dallas both sauntered in. Together. Laughing and smiling. And the first person they saw? Me. Of course. They both froze, although I'm not quite sure why Austin looked so strange…Dallas was staring at me, looking horrified, and almost a little bit jealous. I was tempted to look away, keep my head down and avoid eye contact. But Instead I met Dallas's intense gaze, smirking a little when he eventually looked away. For the first time ever, I didn't feel like Dallas was too god for me. Even while we were dating I constantly felt like I was beneath him, somehow. But not today.

Austin kept glancing between us, confused. I ignored him. I couldn't quite believe it, but they almost looked like they were…friends. This was just going to make it that much harder to stand him in these tutoring sessions. Eventually the bell rang, but I took my time packing my stuff away. I decided that I didn't need to rush to my next lesson; arriving at the same time as everyone else would be fine.

"Ally! Wait up!" I heard Austin shout from behind me. I turned, and saw pretty much everyone in the hallway turn too. Austin never really spoke to anyone, especially not to ask them to wait for him. This was a first. And I almost waited. But when I saw that he was with Dallas still I simply rolled my eyes and continued walking. There was a deathly silence in the hallway, everyone too shocked to even breathe after seeing a girl walk away from Austin Moon.

I heard people start whispering as I turned the corner, and even though I knew for sure they were talking about me, for the first time I wasn't embarrassed at all.

My next lesson was Spanish; easy. I could relax. I was already practically fluent in the language, thanks to the many holidays I spent there when I was younger. When my mom could still bear to look at me. Before the new baby came along.

I sat in the back of the room, alone, since Trish wasn't in this lesson. Surprisingly, even though she was Latino herself, she was clueless at the language. I was doodling on my book, in my own little world as I waited for the lesson to begin. I jumped at the sound of a chair scraping across the floor next to me. Whipping my head around, I was surprised to see Austin taking a seat next to me. I looked around, assuming that there were no empty seats.

There were only five people in the classroom. I frowned at him.

"What?" he asked.

"Why are you sitting there?" I asked him. He shrugged, looking embarrassed.

"You're the only person in this room who's at least a tiny bit bearable." He shrugged. I scoffed.

"You hate me, Austin. And I hate you. So why are you really sitting there?" I asked. He looked hurt.

"I don't hate you. And, you know, it hurts to hear you say that you hate me. It really hurts." He ruined the dramatic effect of that sentence by smiling, but it made me laugh anyway.

"Well, whatever. But seriously, why are you sitting there?" I asked him.

"For fuck's sake Ally! Can't a guy sit down without his motives being questions?" he shouted, frustrated. People started to stare.

"Nope. But you aren't just a normal guy." I said. He sighed.

"I'm sitting here because I want to sit here. I like to sit at the back and I guess I just wanted someone to talk to. If you hate me that much I guess I'll just move." He sighed, moving to get out of the seat. I grabbed his arm, sighing resignedly.

"Don't move. I wasn't asking because I want you to move. I was just surprised you would voluntarily sit next to me, that's all. I thought you hated me.

"Nah, I never hated you Ally. I just always thought you were a goody-two-shoes who wasn't up for any fun. But you've changed since last year. All these years I have sat next to you for everything, and I never once heard you swear, or even sort-of swear. Then on Monday…I guess something must have happened to you over the summer. I won't ask what, but it's obvious that you're not the same girl you used to be. Especially today. You look…"

"Completely different?" I offered. He laughed.

"That too. But I was thinking more along the lines of, well, hot." He said. I blushed, looking away.

"Thanks, I guess. But you already said you thought I was hot." I chuckled.

"Yup. And yesterday, at the park, you looked so absolutely, positively swelteringly hot I just had to pull you into the fountain to cool you down." He joked. I laughed loudly, encouraging everyone who was in the room, which was almost full by now, to look at us.

"Sorry people." I apologised, stifling a fit of giggles. Austin was laughing silently behind me.

"By the way…" he whispered, "I liked your red panties. They really went with the dress."

I shrieked, slapping his arm playfully. By now almost everyone was staring at us disbelievingly. Even I was surprised; we were acting like friends. Obviously, we weren't friends. I still didn't like him, but for some reason…I didn't quite hate him right then.

"Shut up Austin." I whispered loudly. He chuckled, looking around the room.

"You hear that people? Ally's getting all shy 'cause I-oof!" I slapped my hand across his mouth to shut him up. People were laughing at us, but they soon stopped when the teacher walked in.

"Hello class. I…do we have a new class member joining us?" Mr Thomson asked, looking at us puzzled. I looked at the seats near to us, confused, before realising he meant me.

"Oh, no sir! It's me, Ally!" I told him, slowly removing my hand from Austin's face. Austin was vibrating with silent laughter. I elbowed him, but he just laughed harder.

"Ally Dawson? Wow…okay. So, class, let's get to work." He said, looking like he was still reeling.

"Looks like you weirded out Mr Thomson, Als. Nice job." He laughed. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah. Wow…you gotta love how people don't recognise me now that I look hot. It's actually kind of…offensive." I sighed. He smiled.

"It's not because you weren't hot before. It's because you were hot in a different way." He shrugged. I smiled slightly; maybe Austin wasn't as bad as I always thought he was…

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