Oooohh...thanks for reviewing the last chapter guys! Sorry about the wait, I have had so much homework for teh first couple of weeks and homework has to come first...then I had some seriously bad writers block, so of course that didn't help. But it's the week-end now, so I can finally update!
I hope you find it worth the wait! :)
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot line :'(
Chapter 16
I was frozen. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I mean, I knew Austin had had sex before. He made that clear, and even if he hadn't, it's common knowledge. But I guess hearing this just made it sink in a little more. And knowing that he had had sex with Tilly? Wow that hurt. Austin still looked shocked, and he hadn't moved since she said it.
"Austin!" I snapped, waving my hand in front of his face. He snapped out of it and his arm dropped from where it was around my shoulders.
"I, erm…what?"
"Last year, at Justine Millicent's seventeenth birthday party. I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't remember. You were wasted, and I was pretty out of it myself. But I remember. I remember you following me upstairs to the bathroom, and then when I walked out you jumped on me. I've liked you since the beginning of high school, and I was too drunk to make any good decisions. As if I was going to say no." she scoffed. I could see the pain and shame in her eyes, and I couldn't help but feel bad for her. I stepped forward, and though she looked a little suspicious, she didn't move back or say anything, so I spoke.
"Look, Tilly, I know how hard it is to lose your virginity and regret it. I know you don't believe me, but I'm telling the truth when I say Dallas was lying. And I know it hurts…but if you're telling the truth, and Austin was drunk, you can't blame him. I'm not saying he wouldn't have taken advantage of you if he was sober, but the point is he was drunk. He didn't take advantage of you. And you can't blame him for this. Not any more than you can blame yourself, especially if he was more drunk than you were." I said reasonably. She glared at me, but it didn't reach her eyes. I could tell she knew I was right. Everyone was silent for a second. And then Tilly burst into tears.
She threw herself into me, forcing me to wrap my arms around her. I was so surprised I almost fell over, but Austin's hand on my back helped me regain my balance. I rubbed her back comfortingly, unsure what else to do. People had started to leave, probably disappointed that there wasn't going to be a fight. I was just shocked. Tilly Thomson was crying on my shoulder.
"I know it was stupid. I thought maybe it would mean something…maybe that he actually wanted me. I don't know. I just…that was my first time. I wish it hadn't been so crappy." She sniffed loudly, and I continued to rub her back.
"Look, Tilly, as bad as I feel for you right now, I don't think there's anything more that I can say or do. So why don't you go get yourself cleaned up, Maggie and Lissa will help, and then you can get to class." I said softly. She nodded, pulling away and wiping her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Ally. I'm sorry I was so harsh to you. I actually knew Dallas was lying…I know you're not a slut, and I will tell everyone you're not. I just…its always been kind of obvious that Austin liked you. And it hurt to see him look at you the way he did, considering how I felt about him. It was wrong of me to treat you like that, though, and I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?" she asked me. I nodded, smiling softly.
"Don't worry about it. I'm fine. But could you do me one favour?"
"Sure." She said.
"Do something to Dallas. I don't care what, but please get some kind of revenge. He's a twisted, lying bastard."
"I could do that, Ally…" Austin piped up, smiling cheekily. I glared at him.
"You've already broken his nose. I was thinking of something less physical."
"Leave it to me, Ally. There is nothing I do better than revenge." She smiled evilly and turned to walk off. I turned back to Austin, taking his hand and leaning into his side.
"Well, that was interesting." I said. He chuckled.
"Yeah. But, Ally, I need to tell you something. Promise you won't tell Tilly, though." He said. I smiled and nodded.
"What is it?"
"Well…I didn't go to that party last year. I specifically remember telling Justine I would be there, and then realising that it was the anniversary of Addison's death. I couldn't be bothered to track her down again, so I never told her I wouldn't be there. I spent the day in my bedroom, listening to music and trying to avoid my parents. It's kind of a tradition. On the anniversary of Addison's death, every year, I stay in my room all day." He explained. I instantly felt even worse.
"So she had sex with some random guy? She doesn't even know who? Poor Tilly, that's so horrible. I'm glad I can at least say I know who my first was, even if he did just use me for sex."
"Yeah, well, that's why I don't want you to tell her. I don't mind her thinking it was me; I know how much it would hurt for her to find out it was some random guy." He sighed. I smiled, proud of his selflessness.
"Wow, Austin. Who knew you were actually a really sweet guy?" I asked, faking surprise. He hit my arm lightly.
"You did."
"I know. Come on, we're going to be late for class." I said, grabbing his arm and tugging him down the hallway. He was caught by surprise and tripped, stumbling into my back and knocking us both to the ground. I laughed, trying to ignore the warm feeling spreading across my body at the feel of his weight on top of me. We stared at each other for a second, smiling as we tried to get our breath back. Then he leant down, and our lips we so close…
"Excuse me? Am I interrupting something? Shouldn't you two be in class?" Miss Davy, the vice-principal, asked, making us both jump and turn our heads to look at her. She was stood there, arms crossed, glaring at us. Austin groaned and rolled off me, onto his back. I got to my feet and brushed myself off, smiling apologetically at the vice-principal. Austin was still on the floor, although he had managed to get into a sitting position.
"Couldn't you have stopped us, like, a minute later?" Austin asked her. I kicked him, face reddening in embarrassment.
"I could have, but you know the rules about PDA's at this school, Mr Moon. And honestly, Miss Dawson, I am ashamed of you. You, of all people, should know that 'sorry, I was making out with my boyfriend' is no excuse for being late to class." She chided me. I flushed even redder.
"Sorry Miss Davy. It was an accident, we just tripped. And then I guess we got a little distracted. We were on our way to class, though, I swear."
"Well you had better get to class before you miss the whole lesson. But I'm giving you both detention, tonight after school, with Miss Danning." She said sternly. Austin groaned, grabbing my arm to pull himself to his feet and nearly dragging me back down to the floor. I elbowed him to shut him up and smiled again.
"We'll be there. See you, miss." I said, sliding my hand into Austin's and walking quickly down the hall. I turned to look at Austin in time to see him grin cheekily and salute Miss Davy as we walked past. I rolled my eyes, but couldn't resist a chuckle at her bemused expression.
"Why did you stop me, Ally? I could have gotten us out of it. I'm, like, an expert of getting out of detentions." He complained. I laughed.
"Yeah, but we have tutoring tonight anyway, stupid. So we would have to stay anyway. If you failed to get us out of it and accidentally reminded her that we had tutoring, she might have given us detention on another day." I explained. He smirked.
"Look at that. Ally Dawson, being dishonest. I never thought I would see the day." He mused. I slapped his chest.
"I guess you must be rubbing off on me." I muttered.
The first couple of lessons passed quickly. Mr Smith was pretty cool about us being late, and when we told him we had already been given detention he shrugged and told us to just sit down and pay attention. Mr Smith is cool like that. He knows that Austin and I are way ahead of everyone else in the class academically, so he doesn't care if either of us is late or slacks off in the lesson. Booth of which we did, although I did answer all the questions, unlike Austin. Despite having changed in many, many ways, he still didn't bother with schoolwork. Well, I had convinced him to do enough work to pass his classes, which he was doing, but today was just revision, so he didn't care.
I had half managed to forget about my eye, only reminded by the constant aching sensation. But then came lunch, and Austin and I decided to eat outside. It wasn't very warm, but we had jackets on and eating outside meant avoiding the stares and whispers from everyone in the cafeteria. We were sat facing each other under a big tree when the rain started.
At first it was barely noticeable, but then it got harder until it was coming down in sheets. We got up and ran from the cover of the tree, across the field and into the school. Once inside we both started laughing, but then Austin took one look at me and stopped.
"Shit, Ally, your eye. It's gotten way worse!" he exclaimed. I groaned.
"Oh God, Austin, I forgot to bring my make-up! I can't redo it!" I groaned.
"And?"
"If everyone sees me with a black eye, what are they going to think?" I hissed. His eyes widened and he shook his head.
"Oh, shit, they're gonna think I hit you. Fuck, Ally; I don't want people to think I hit you. Well, I know I did, but this looks really bad."
"Technically you didn't hit me; you elbowed me." I pointed out. He rolled his eyes.
"Whatever. It still looks bad. Does it still hurt? I can go get you an ice pack from the nurse if you want." He offered. I nodded.
"I've been ignoring it all day but honestly? An ice-pack would be amazing." I sighed. He laughed and threw his arm around my shoulder. We walked to the nurse's office quickly, careful to avoid any attention. I walked with my head down just in case, and when we finally got there we both sighed in relief. We had to wait for a couple of minutes for the nurse to get to us, and I used that time to check that the hickey on my neck was still covered. I thanked the Lord that it was. Unlike the black eye, nobody would believe that was an accident.
"Hello kids, how can I-whoa! What happened here?" the nurse stopped her automated greeting when she caught sight of my eye. She looked from me to Austin, looking suspicious.
"It was an accident, Nurse Green. Honestly, it was. He accidentally elbowed me last night, and we iced it, but over the day the pain has gotten worse." I informed her. She nodded, looking a little relieved but I could tell she still had her doubts.
"Well if you come take a seat over here, I'll find you an ice-pack and something for the pain." She said, gesturing to the seats lined up against the wall. I sat down on the end chair while Austin hovered awkwardly next to me. The nurse came back after a minute or two with an ice pack, some pills and a wet cloth. She handed me the cloth.
"Your make-up had gone everywhere. Unless you like looking like an orange zebra, you should probably wipe it off." She said. I smiled sheepishly and started dabbing at my face. After a minute or two Austin sighed dramatically and snatched the cloth from my hand. He then squatted down beside me and finished cleaning my face off. I smiled gratefully, wincing a couple times as he wiped my eye. He frowned apologetically, trying to be as careful as he could. I tried to keep my face straight, focusing on Nurse Green to distract myself. She was smiling a little to herself as she watched us, and I wondered why briefly. Then Austin was finished, and she stepped forward to lay the ice pack against the bruise.
I took the pills gratefully, waiting patiently for them to work their magic. The nurse had to leave us to tend to a freshman who had been kicked in the face during a particularly rough football practice, and she told us to head to our lesson as soon as I felt good enough. I finally decided that the pain had eased enough and we made our way to history. I handed the teacher the note from the nurse and ignored all the inquisitive stares from classmates as we made our way to the back of the room.
The next lesson was much worse. It was one of the few lessons I didn't share with Austin, and although my main tormentor was now neutral, there were still plenty of bitches who were quick to make assumptions about my black eye. They sneered at me as I walked into the room, and I distinctly heard the words 'Austin must have punched her' coming from one pretty brunette girl at the back. I just rolled my eyes and took a seat next to Trish, who's eyes widened.
"Ally, what the fuck? Tell me he didn't punch you!" Trish exclaimed. I shook my head and she relaxed.
"Of course he didn't. It was an accident. He elbowed me." I shrugged.
"Well I want the full story later, once we're away from all these nosy cows." She said, looking pointedly at the girls behind us, who happened to be leaning over their desk to not-so-subtly eavesdrop on our conversation. I laughed.
"Sure. But I have tutoring-slash-detention with Austin after school…" I said apologetically. She shrugged.
"I don't mind, I have something I have to do anyway." She said. I was relieved, but confused at the same time.
"What do you have to do?" I asked her. She squirmed, embarrassed.
"Nothing important…" she said vaguely.
"Fine, if you want to be like that." I huffed, turning away. The teacher was droning on about some kind of civil war, but I wasn't paying attention.
"C'mon, Ally, it's not that I don't trust you, it's just…"
"No, it's fine, don't tell me." I said, smiling. I had been keeping enough secrets from Trish lately, I couldn't be mad at her for keeping secrets from me.
"Are you sure you don't mind? I mean, I'll tell you eventually, but for now…" she said. I smiled.
"It's okay, I promise. Come on; let's try to at least get something done this lesson." I said, opening my note book and beginning to take notes.
…
At the end of the day I said goodbye to Trish and met Austin outside his art classroom. He took my hand and grinned at me, then asked me how my lesson went.
"It was okay, I guess. I never liked history though. It bores me." I shrugged. He chuckled.
"I'd better be careful to never bore you, then. I'd hate for you to stop liking me." He joked. I rolled my eyes.
"Trust me, you could never bore me." I smiled.
When we got to Miss Danning's room I was surprised to find her there, but then I remembered we had been given detention. She frowned at us as we walked in.
"Oh, I forgot you two had tutoring. I'm afraid you'll have to find somewhere else today; apparently some kids were caught messing around in the hallway and I have to hold detention for them." She said, and I could tell she was miffed about having to do detention, so I was apprehensive about telling her we were those kids.
"Erm, Miss Danning…Austin and I are the kids who got detention." I admitted. She frowned in confusion.
"But she said…she said these kids were caught in a public display of affection. That can't be you two…can it?" she asked. I was surprised to hear her ask, but then again, teachers don't really keep track of relationships in the school.
"Yeah, for a while now. We've both been through some things and I guess it's brought us together." I shrugged. She looked thoughtful for a moment, and then broke out into a huge grin.
"Am I right to assume that this 'relationship' began with these tutoring sessions?" she asked. I blushed, glancing at Austin before nodding. She grinned even wider.
"Oh goodie! I love being the reason for two people to fall in love. To think, if I hadn't begged you to tutor Austin here in the first place, you two never would have fallen in love!" she squealed. I laughed, but Austin shook his head.
"That's not strictly true, Miss. You see, I was in love with Ally for a long time before these tutoring sessions." He admitted. I smiled at him, squeezing his hand.
"Oh, well isn't that sweet. You two are just…awww." she was smiling fondly, but then her expression changed to disappointment.
"What's wrong Miss?" I asked her.
"I would have expected someone like you to know better than to PDA in the school…" she frowned. I shrugged, blushing again.
"Well, it was more of a misunderstanding…and it won't happen again, I promise." I reassured her. She nodded, her expression softening slightly, and beckoned for us to sit down.
"Well, I suppose you two can just continue with your tutoring as normal. I was planning to sit in on a session at some point anyway. Just do what you usually do." She ordered, and we nodded, turning our seats to face each other and smiling worriedly. Usually we didn't really do anything, just talked and kissed and stuff. But I knew Miss Danning, nice as she was, probably wouldn't be very happy with us if we told her that. So I started asking questions, and Austin answered them accordingly.
"Have you started doing any work in class yet?" I asked him cheerfully. He shrugged.
"Mostly just what you've made me do."
"And in the lessons we don't have together?"
"I did everything she asked us to do in art today." He said, and I beamed proudly.
"What was that?"
"Well, she only asked us to do one thing, which was to finish the work we started last week."
"What work was that?"
"I don't know. I didn't start it last week."
"So how did you finish it?"
"Well, I didn't."
"So you didn't do what she asked you."
"I would have if she asked me to do something I could have done." He shrugged. I groaned, burying my face in my hands.
"Oh God, Austin, why do I even try?" I asked him, exasperated. He grinned cheekily.
"Because you love me."
"Oh, do I?"
"Yup."
"What makes you so sure?"
"You told me."
"When."
"You've told me loads of times. The last time was the other night, when I was bit-" I covered his mouth with my hand, glancing towards Miss Danning who was staring at us with her eyebrows raised. I smiled sheepishly, and then turned to glare at Austin.
"Okay, I love you, I admit it." I said quickly, rolling my eyes at Austin's smirk.
"Okay you two; I think I've seen enough. Ally; keep on trying to crack him. Austin, stop being a dick and do your work." She said, standing up and grabbing her bag. Checking the time, I realised that it had only been half an hour, but I didn't try to tell her. I wanted to get out of there, before my dad started to worry.
"See you Miss." I said, jumping to my feet and slinging my own bag over my shoulder, waiting for Austin to do the same so that we could leave.
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