Thanks for reading and reviewing :) It really means a lot to me.

Oh and I saw in a previous chapter it showed that Lester's girlfriends name was Gena. My iPod autocorrected that. To clear things up, her name is really Gina. I apologize if it does that again.

—

Whenever Trish and I finished talking, I started my walk home. I was worried that my dad would be mad at me for being so late, so I pretty much ran home. When I opened up the door to my house, I saw my dad and Gina laughing about something in the living room. It made me happy, seeing my dad so happy. Gina gave him something that I was never able to give.

Happiness.

"Oh Ally, how was school?" My dad asked. Hearing that question made my heart sink. I was two hours late and he didn't even notice. Why would he notice? Why do I have all of this stupid hope that someone might actually cared?

"Um...it was...um...well it was...ugh, sorry dad, I have to go" I ran up to my room, trying to stop the tears from falling but it didn't work. They came down anyway. I shut my door and laid down on my bed, crying pathetically into my pillow. Soon I heard a knock on my door. Knowing it to be my dad, I chose to ignore it. He didn't stop though.

"Did something happen at school today?" He asked me. I cleared my throat and answered him.

"You do realize its five o'clock, don't you?" I asked him.

"Of course, Gina gets off at 4:30 and she's here now so what other time would it be?" I told you! He doesn't care about me. He remembers when Gina gets off work but not when I get off school. Great.

"And you didn't realize I was two hours late?" I asked, a new set of tears on there way down my cheeks.

"No? Why were you late?" He asked, sounding extremely uninterested.

"Nothing dad. It doesn't matter. I'm sorry I was late and I'm sorry I ran away from you. School was fine" My dad, seeming satisfied with my answered, bid me farewell and went back to Gina.

I just laid there and slept, sleeping past supper and sleeping until 5 am. Since I woke up so early and I couldn't get back to sleep, I tried to make myself presentable. I put on a flowery sun dress with black flats and curled my hair. I did my make up natural and even added some lip gloss. For me, I didn't look half bad.

I looked down at my arm and saw that there was a bruise where Cassidy grabbed onto me. I put on a small, white cardigan to cover the bruise, then I made my way down stairs. I grabbed a bite to eat then said goodbye to my dad and Gina before heading off to school. I really wasn't looking forward to going, especially since Austin was probably mad at me for not meeting with him.

When I got to the school I headed straight to my locker, ready to catch up on some more reading. Call me a dork, but I love to read. It's so interesting and so much fun to picture what everything looks like. Soon I saw a shadow stand above me then someone spoke up.

"To Kill A Mockingbird. Good book. Sad, but good" I turned around and saw that it was Austin standing beside me. I gave him a smile and closed my book, placing it gently in my locker.

"Very good book. But you're right about the sad part, but then again I get sad really easily." I said truthfully. I really did get sad too easily. I shouldn't have been so weak.

"So Ally, did you forget about me yesterday or what?" Austin asked, almost sounding disappointed.

"Um, I didn't forget. Trust me, I really wanted to go but something...held me back" I said, not really lying.

"Oh I'm sorry, maybe some other time?" He really surprised me there for two different reasons. Reason one, he wasn't mad that I stood him up, and reason two, because he offered to hang out with me again when he could have just forgot about the whole thing. Oh well, I'm not going to question him about it now.

"That would be nice. And believe me, I really did want to go but it's just-" He cut me off.

"It's fine Ally, if you said so, I believe you. I don't think you have a reason to lie to me, so why wouldn't I trust you?" He said with a chuckle. Now do you guys understand why I fell in love with him? He was incredible!

"Hey sorry not to butt into you guys conversation, but I know the reason Ally wasn't able to meet up with you" Trish said, coming up from behind Austin.

"And what is it?" Austin asked curiously.

"Cassidy got mad at her and locked her in a closet. I found her in there crying at 4:30" Trish explained. Austin's eyes went wide at the new found information. He looked over to me as if to confirm it and I just nodded my head.

"What'd you do to make her mad?" He asked, still in some sort of shocked state.

"I told her that you said she was a...bi*ch. Trust me, I don't usually cuss. It's just that she was making me so mad and making up lies" Austin laughed at my explanation, finding there to be something funny about it.

"What lies did she make up?" He asked.

"Well I just assumed they were lies. She said that you've slept with almost every girl in this school including her" I said meekly. I noticed Austin's expression changed from amused to embarrassed.

"I haven't...I haven't had sex before" He whispered so quietly that only Trish and I could hear. Hearing those words made me the one with the shocked expression. Austin's face soon turned bright red.

"Ally don't give me that look, you're just making it worse" He groaned.

"No, it's just, it's nice to have someone like you, you know, cute and popular, to still be pure" I said, accidentally slipping the word "cute".

"You think I'm cute?" He asked teasingly, letting the other conversation go.

"Maaayyybeee" I said, joking around for the first time in forever.

"Well does it help that I think you're cute?" He asked playfully.

"Liar" I stated. The bell then rang so I turned away and made my way to first block. I heard Austin call from behind.

"It's true you know!" He said with a smile. I just shook my head.

"Liar!" I shouted playfully, walking backwards to see his reaction. He was laughing.

I actually made someone laugh.

—

I was sitting at my usual spot in lunch whenever someone sat down across from me. Startled, I looked up to see Trish sitting there with her food tray. I gave her a curious look but she just smiled.

"Why are you sitting next to me?" I asked.

"Because we're friends" She said as if it were the most obvious thing ever.

"We are?" I asked, not rudely just...I was in disbelief that there were now two people calling me there friend.

"Of course Ally. You know, I really like you. You're like the only girl that's not fake. You don't dress provocatively and even though you're shy, you still try to stand up for yourself. You're like, really awesome, so without further adieu, you're now my best friend" My mouth dropped at what she had told me. Was that really happening?

"Thank you Trish, that means a lot-" Trish cut me off.

"Don't get emotional with me. Now let's talk some gossip!" She said excitedly.

"What gossip?" I asked.

"You know, how you and Austin are totally gonna get together. He is obviously into you, and you might as well wear a sign that says "I Like Austin Moon" on it" She said. My face turned bright red as I buried my head in my hands.

"Is it that obvious?" I asked her quietly.

"Yes, but I wouldn't worry. I'm pretty sure Austin likes you as well. You know, because he could be hanging out with a the cheerleaders or Cassidy but instead he hangs out with you" She said. I shook my head. No way did Austin like me. Not a chance.

"He hangs out with me because he's nice, not because he likes me" I stated.

"I'm going to try and say this as nicely as possible, Ally. You're an idiot" I was taken back by what she had just told me. Did I just ruin my chance of having a friend?

"Excuse me?" I asked nicely.

"I said you're an idiot. Austin wouldn't go to you're locker to meet you in the mornings if he didn't like you. I mean sure, he may have started talking to you because he's nice, but he definitely likes you now. Have you not seen the way he smiles when he's around you?" She asked.

"Um, no?" I said, but it sounded more like a question.

"Girl, you've always got that boy smiling like crazy and his face is always red. Face it, he thinks you're cute, why try and deny it?" After Trish said that, the bell rang signaling us to get back to class.

"We'll talk some more later. You should come over to my place, it could be fun!" Trish suggested.

"Sure! That's sounds fun! I'll just have to ask my dad. I'll see you later, okay?" After saying those words, a huge smile appeared on my face.

For the first time in my life, I felt wanted.

And it felt great.