I opened the door of Mom's car and it made a 'click' sound. Before sitting inside, I looked back and waved at all my friends. Jess, Maria, Austin and Cal waved back with a smile on their face. I slipped into Mom's car and sat beside Mom.
"So . . . how was your day, Ally ?" Mom asked.
"It was good."
"Who are those two boys ?" She asked while staring out of her window.
"Oh they're my friends." I said while trying to search for my phone in my bag.
"Are you sure ?" She turned her head and looked at me.
"Yes Mom I'm sure. Geez !" I said in irritation. This was not her first time to ask this question. The last time she thought I was dating Joe because she saw us hang out a lot. Can't I just be friends with boys ?
"Haha then that's ok." She laughed and placed her hand on the steering wheel.
Mom started the engine and drove, leaving the school behind.
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Maria's POV :
Ally turned and waved at all of us and we all waved back in response. Her mom's car drove out of our sight. I turned and caught Austin staring at the spot where Ally's mom's car was.
"Uhrm . . . What are you looking at Austin ?" I asked.
Austin snapped out of his thoughts and looked at me.
"Uh ? Nothing. I'm not looking at anything." He said.
"Uh-huh." was all I could say. I looked at Jess, she raised one of her eyebrows and nodded slightly.
"So Austin could you explain how you and Cal had a fight and how Cal caused the blemishes on your arm ?" Jess asked in a british accent, sounding like a professor.
"Uhm . . ." Austin said and then nudged his elbow at Cal. Cal looked at him and then they both exchanged glances.
"Oh you know like one day we were just arguing on something . . ." Cal said.
"What thing ?" Jess asked.
"Um . . . something."
"What ?" She kept on provoking.
"Is that really necessary ?!" Cal asked.
"Ok fine ! Continue."
"Yeah and we started to fight and then Cal clawed his finger nails in my shoulder." Austin finished for Cal while he gestured at his shoulder.
"What, were you like having a cat fight or something ?" I asked with a frown.
"No !" Cal looked at me and said.
"Uhm ok so even if Cal clawed you, Austin, then he surely must have long nails. Cal, can we see your nails ?" I asked, with a strong feeling that Cal's nail were short.
Cal looked at his own nails and then slipped his hands into his pockets.
"What's wrong ? Why aren't you showing us your nails ?" Jess asked and smiled victoriously.
"Uhm he had recently cut his nails." Austin said and Cal nodded.
"Yeah. I had just cut them yesterday." Cal said, still nodding.
"Uhm . . .we're getting late. We have to go. See you girls tomorrow." Austin smiled and left with Cal hurriedly.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking ?" I asked Jess.
"If you're thinking that Austin likes Ally, then yes." Jess replied.
"Did you see how Austin lied to Ally and told her that she didn't hurt him ?!" I said out loud, feeling extremely excited and happy for Ally.
"And how Austin asked Ally to go to the Cinema with her." Jess added.
"By the way, what was Austin going to say when that jerk-o-Max bumped into Austin." I asked.
"I think he said something like 'I don't care what he does to me as long as...' but he didn't get to complete it." Jess said.
My eyes simply popped out with realisation.
"OMG ! 'as long as he doesn't hurt you' ! He was going to say that !" I screamed with excitement.
"I can't believe it, Jess ! I am 100 percent sure that Austin loves her. We have to help him !" I said.
Jess' smile vanished.
"But Maria, Ally had just gotten out of a bad relationship. Don't you think she needs some time to mend her heart back ?" Jess asked.
"You're right but you know I've read this somewhere 'When someone breaks your heart, someone else is ready to fix it' so in Ally's case Max had broken her heart and Austin is the one to fix it." I said.
"You know you're right." Jess said and relaxed.
"Erm, I'm always right Jess." I said and smiled like a mad scientist.
"Oh no ! That look on your face. Don't tell me you have a plan." Jess said.
"I have a plan !" I shouted and smirked like an evil genius.
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Alicia's POV:
The next day, Mom dropped me off at school. I climbed up the stairs and reached the 3rd floor. The first 2 lessons for today were Maths. Oh right ! It's Wednesday and on every Wednesdays, we would be dismissed at 12 p.m. which means we would be hanging out today.
Wohoo !
Tall, beige lockers are lined outside every classroom. I walked up to my locker and entered my pin, which is 6877, the numbers on Mom's car plate. I pulled it open and searched for my Maths textbook and folder.
"Hi."
Austin ? Whoa, he's early today. I turned around with excitement, expecting to see Austin but I saw Max. Max was leaning on the locker next to mine. He was wearing a black T-shirt, grey jeans and black Nike shoes. He had his arms over his chest and he looked up at me, smiled sadly and repeated
"Hi, Ally."
Forget my books ! I immediately slammed the door of my locker and started to walk away. He rushed up to me and blocked my way.
"I want to talk to you, Ally." He said.
I stopped walking and stared at the ground, preventing myself from looking at him.
"Won't you even look at me ?"
Max asked, in a voice that seemed to be sad.
I grasped the sides of my dress, still facing down.
"No." I said with no emotion at all and walked away from him and entered my classroom.
As I entered my class, Tasha said
"Hi Ally." I looked up and said "Hi."
"Are you ok ?" she asked with concern.
"Yeah, absolutely fine." I replied with a smile.
The bell rang and Mrs. Johnson, our Maths teacher, entered our class and instructed everyone to take out their Maths textbook and folder.
"Oh shit !" I cussed softly.
"What happened ?" Jess asked.
"I forgot my books in my locker." I said.
I raised my hand.
"Yes Alicia ?" Mrs. Johnson asked as she opened her Maths textbook and flipped the pages of it.
"Uhm, I actually forgot my Maths textbook and folder in my locker. Can I go and get it ?"
"Don't you have your time schedule, Alicia ?" She asked, still flipping the pages of her Maths textbook.
"I do have it." I replied.
"Then how can you forget to bring along your textbook and folder ?" She said and sighed
"Never mind. Go and get it."
I stood up and left my classroom. As I entered the pin and pulled open the door of my locker, a paper fell down. I kneeled down and picked it up. It was white in color, small and folded many times. I unfolded it and there was someone's sloppy handwriting on it.
'I know you won't talk to me during school hours and I know that you're really mad at me. But I really want to talk to you, I want to tell you something. So, I'll call you after school. Please pick up the phone - Max'
Why the hell is he even trying to talk to me ?! I folded the paper back angrily and searched for a rubbish bin nearby so that I could tear it into millions of pieces and throw it away, unfortunately there was no rubbish bin so instead, I took out my Maths textbook and folder. I went back into my classroom and Mrs. Johnson said
"Don't be so forgetful the next time, Alicia." I nodded and went to my seat.
"What took you so long ?" Maria asked.
"I . . . I couldn't find my folder." I lied.
"Hey, you arrived to school early right, then why didn't you take your stuff before the lesson ? You'd always take the textbooks from your locker before even entering the classroom." Jess asked.
"Uhm . . . It just slipped out of my mind that the first two lessons were Maths." I lied, again. Great ! I'm lying to my best friends and that too because of Max.
I can't tell them what Max is doing because we all know that something is definitely cooking in Max's mind and if I tell them that he is trying to talk to me, then Maria will be furious and she'll argue with Max, or worse she could even start a fight.
_____________________________________
12:00 p.m. and every student in Delia Broadway was already leaving the school campus.
"Guys, let's have something to eat." Maria said.
"Pizza Hut !" Jess squealed. She loves eating pizza.
"Pizza sounds good. Even I'm feeling hungry so let's walk fast." Cal said and pushed me and Austin to increase our speed.
Pizza Hut wasn't really far from our school. It just took about 5 minutes for us to reach there. As we all walked, I heard Jess say
"Oooh that's an awesome idea ! I'll do it." They kept on whispering something in to each other's ear and gave high-5s to each other and laughed after every little while.
Cal was talking to somebody on his phone and I was talking to Austin. He was telling me how he and Cal had taken the wrong train when they were going back home yesterday. I actually laughed at that, because when they had already reached the last stop of the train, they then realised that they were on the wrong train the whole time. So it took them two extra hours to reach home. They are such idiots.
We all entered the Pizza Hut and found ourselves a table at the back of Pizza Hut. The whole place was buzzing with students from our school. I saw Tasha with her boyfriend and she waved at me. I waved back at her sat beside Maria and Austin sat opposite to me. Jess slipped into the seat beside Austin and smiled at him sweetly. Cal, who thought that he would be sitting next to Austin, frowned and sat next to Maria.
"So guys, let's order !" Jess clapped her hands and squealed excitedly.
Before I could ask her why she was so excited, Jess turned her face and looked at Austin right in the eye.
"What would you like to eat Austin ?" She asked, still smiling brightly at him.
"Uhm . . . I don't know. What would you guys like to eat ?" Austin asked.
"I am ordering the Thousand Island Seafood Pizza." I said, it has always been my favourite pizza.
"Yeah, me too." Austin added immediately.
"Why don't we order one large Thousand Island Seafood Pizza and eat it all together ?" Maria asked and a few seconds later, everyone nodded in agreement.
"I'll order the pizza." Austin stood up. I didn't even notice he was wearing a black and white T-shirt which fitted him perfectly and black jeans. He eyed Cal and a second later, Cal stood up and said
"I'll be back in a moment." and left with Austin.
I felt my bag vibrate. I placed it on my lap and opened it. My mobile phone was vibrating, there was an incoming call. I took it out.
'Max'. Max is calling me ? I tapped at the 'End Call' option on my screen and placed my mobile on the table.
The boys came back with our lunch. Seafood Pizza ! Everyone took a slice from it and we all ate like wild animals, as if we had never eaten a pizza in our entire life before.
Jess looked at Austin and offered him a bite from her pizza. We all looked, with wide eyes, at them. I didn't know what my reaction really was because my mouth dropped open and I was smiling at the same time. Austin looked at all of us and then later at Jess and slowly took a nibble from Jess' pizza. Uhm, what the hell just happened ? My phone vibrated again. It was Max, again. I tapped at the 'End Call' on my screen, again and ended the call.
"Who is it, Ally ?" Austin wiped his mouth with a napkin and asked.
"Uhm nobody." I said and a few seconds later earned stares from everyone. To make matters worse, my mobile vibrated again and I had to immediately end the call, this time I switched my mobile off.
"Must be a wrong number." I smiled.
"So Austin, how was your day ?" Jess asked Austin in a flirtatious way.
"It was good, thanks Jessica." Austin said.
"Oh, just call me Jess." Jess said.
This is so weird. I can see that Austin was feeling uncomfortable at the way Jess was looking at him. Seriously, even I would've felt disturbed with that concertrated gaze on me.
"By the way Austin, do you just so happen to have a girlfriend ?" Jess asked.
Austin coughed a little and glanced at me.
"No, he had never had a girlfriend."
I answered on behalf of the poor fellow.
"How do you know that ?" Maria asked with curiosity.
"Uhm . . . he told me that before." I pointed out.
Austin just smiled at me.
"Uh-huh." Jess said.
"How can you not have a girlfriend ? I mean you're hot. I'm sure lots of girls had asked you out before. Am I right ?" Jess asked.
Cal took a bite from his pizza and said
"He had been asked out by many girls but he didn't go with them because-"
"Dude shut up !" Austin shouted and Cal stopped talking.
"Why ?! Tell us then. Do you like someone ? Is that why you've never dated anyone ?" Maria asked and I saw Cal grin.
"No ! I don't like anyone." Austin stumbled.
"Guys ! Why are you making him uncomfortable by asking him these kind of questions ?" I asked.
"Yeah. Sorry." Jess said.
Jess faced Maria and shook her head as if she was saying 'No'. Maria, in return, smiled sadly. What is even going on in their minds ?
After having a little more fun talks, we all walked back to our respective homes. Cal had to go somewhere else, leaving me and Austin on the train alone. The train was almost empty. There were just a few passengers riding on this train. There was an old man reading a newspaper and a women who was watching something on her iPad.
"So now tell me who do you like ?" I asked playfully.
"Weren't you the one telling everyone not to ask these kinds of questions in the Pizza Hut ?" Austin asked, smiling and frowning at the same time.
"Yes but now I want to know. C'mon tell me."
"I can't." Austin said softly.
"Why ?! I wanna know who the lucky girl is."
"Do you really think she's lucky ?" Austin asked.
"Well duh ! You're hot, sweet, caring and funny. Who wouldn't want you to be their boyfriend." I blurted. I just called him hot, and sweet and hot ! Control your mouth Ally !
Austin said nothing. He simply smiled shyly. He looks so cute when he's shy. I wanted to crab his cheek amd pull it but it would be so awkward.
I leaned in and asked
"Ok just tell me, do I know that girl ?"
Austin looked at his hands and said
"Yes."
"Is she Jess ?" I asked.
"Wait, What ? No !" Austin looked at me wide eyed and I burst out laughing. His reaction was priceless.
"Haha don't worry. I was just kidding." I said.
"Ok, so now that I know that you're not gonna tell me the name of the girl, can I atleast know if the girl knows that you love her ?" I asked.
Austin shook his head.
"OMG why didn't you tell her ?" I asked.
"Well it's not the right time." He said.
"It's always the right time to tell someone that you love them."
"But she, you know, how do I put this ? Ok, let's just say that she's gotten out of a bad relationship."
"Oh. Yeah then you should probably wait." I suggested him. I mean I've just gotten out of a really bad relationship. Austin smiled sadly.
"Wow Austin, you really love her so much. Whoever the girl is, she will be damn lucky to have you as her boyfriend." I said with a smile.
When I reached my home, I took out my mobile phone from my bag and turned it on. Mom was still at work and would probably arrive home at 7:00 p.m. and Andy would be home at about 5:00 p.m. There were 23 miss calls, all from Max. What is his problem ? Why is he even calling me ? I placed my mobile phone underneath my pillow. It's just 3 p.m, what should I do ? I turned on the T.V. and Extreme Makeover : Home Edition was on. I made myself some noodles, sat on the sofa and watched the programme.
My ringtone buzzed after a few seconds. I've had enough of him. I walked to my bedroom and took out my mobile underneath my pillow. I picked up the call.
"What is your problem, Max ? Just leave me alone ! Which part of 'I don't want to talk to you' do you not understand ?" I asked angrily and ended the call without giving him time to answer.
The next day I walked along the hallway, entered my pin and opened my locker as I normally would. I took out of my Chemistry textbooks and suddenly someone grabbed my arm firmly. The person dragged me and my books slipped out of my hands and fell on the ground.
"What the-"
The person kept on dragging me.
"Who are you ?! What's your problem ?!"
I asked and started to claw that person's hand. I knew from the haircut that the person was a guy. He stopped, opened the door of the Janitor's Room and pushed me in and I slammed against the wall. He entered and closed the door behind him. His hand wasn't on my arm anymore. I turned around to see who it was but the room was dark. The light bulb was off.
I heard a little movement and the light bulb flicked on. The face of the person came into view. My throat dried up all immediately when I saw Max standing right in front of me. He looked angry. No he was about to blow up.
God, help me !