Max stared at our hands holding on to each other's and then looked at Austin straight in his eyes with rage. None of them said anything for a while and I wondered if they were planning to stay like this forever.
"What's your problem. Why can't you leave her alone." Austin finally asked flatly.
Max crossed his arms over his chest and said
"None of your business. I can do whatever I want cause she's mine."
"Sorry to disclose this but she hates you." Austin replied.
"You know that's not true. Just ask her for yourself." Max said and nodded at my direction.
"I don't love you Max." I said softly, holding Austin's hand and placing another hand on his arm.
"Look into my eyes and say that, Ally." He said with a smirk.
I looked up from mine and Austin's hand and looked into Max's green eyes.
"I hate you, Max." I said assuringly.
"Stop lying, Ally." Max said and took a tiny step toward me. Instantly, Austin's grip on my hand tightened and he dragged me behind him and shoved Max away.
"Stay away from her." Austin gritted through his teeth, standing between me and Max.
The tension was thick and I was scared that there will be a major fight here. I held on to Austin's hand and whispered close behind him
"Calm down. He won't do anything. Especially when you're with me." But that didn't do anything to calm him. His grip on my hand was still firm.
At that precise moment, Cal and Joe arrived. They were unaware of what was going on but they knew that whatever it was, it was not good.
"Look dude. I don't wanna start a fight here, in front of everyone." Max said.
Austin's face was still as cold as ever.
"Neither do I. Now get lost."
Max glared at Austin and, thankfully, Joe dragged Max away from us. We all stared at Max until he was completely out of our sight.
We all turned and walked toward the stairs. I looked down and realised than we were still holding hands. My fingers were still locked between his. It felt good. It felt warm, safe. Austin looked at where I was gazing at and slowly, he pulled his hand away.
"I'm sorry." He said and looked away.
Sorry ? Why was he sorry when I wasn't ? What ? I should be. We shouldn't be holding hands.
I sat on my chair and massaged my head with both of my index finger. Today is friday. Only five days of school and already so much drama. Thank goodness it will be drama free for the next two days.
"What happened there ?" Maria asked. I sighed and filled her in with everything that had happened. I started with telling her how I had received a letter from Max and how he had called me again and again.
"So he was the one calling you when we were at Pizza Hut ?" She asked.
"Yeah." I said, partly feeling ashamed for not telling this to her at the very beginning.
Then I told her what had happened when we were in the Janitor's Room and everything that he had said to me, not even leaving out that Max had kissed me.
"Wait. What did Max say again ?" Maria asked.
"He said 'That dude doesn't have a single chance against me' or something along those lines. What does that even mean ? Against him at what ?!" I asked, annoyed.
"God Ally ! You're so dumb ! How can you not know this ?!" Maria asked in an exasperated tone.
"Oh, so since you're so smart and you know everything, then why don't you tell me what it means ?" I asked.
"Sorry, you have to find that out by yourself." Maria said and shrugged.
"What ? Why ? Urgh. Leave it. I don't even wanna know." I said, too tried to argue with Maria cause' I know that no matter how many times I say, she will never open her mouth.
"You didn't even finish !" Maria reminded me and I narrated the rest of stuff that had happened and me forcing Austin to promise that he'll not beat Max, or atleast until I tell him to.
"No wonder he didn't smack his face at the very beginning. I thought there would've atleast be some blood cause' they both were looking so angry, especially Austin. He could've killed him right away !" Maria said. For the time, I felt that I did the right thing by forcing Austin to take the oath. If I didn't, then he would not have hesitated a tiny bit and World War III would have started in our school, Delia Broadway.
Jess was apparently late and during the first two periods, English, Maria told Jess everything that had happened. The third period was Biology and I was looking forward to see Austin. I walked down the stairs and entered the Biology Lab. Everyone was seated on their seats, including Austin. As I walked to my seat, I sensed Max's eyes on me. Ignoring the disturbing gaze of his, I sat beside Austin.
"Hi guys." I said.
"Hi."
"Hey." said Austin and Cal.
Mr. James entered the classroom and started teaching about auxin in plants. I tore out a page from my notebook and started scibbling.
'Hey Austin. Thank you. Thank you so much for being with me this morning.'
I stopped, wondering what else to write and then added ':)' on it and folded the paper once and slid it on top of Austin's textbook. He looked at me and raised his eyebrows. I nodded towards the paper and he unfolded the paper and started reading it and later, he smiled. He took his pen and also started writing something and he gave back the paper to me.
'It's OK, Ally and that's what friends are for.' He wrote.
I couldn't help but smile. He is so sweet. I continued the conversation. I wasn't in the mood to learn today, I just wanted a good friend to talk to and after a while, Cal joined our letter passing game and wrote down some jokes which were so hilarious that I had to bite my cheeks from the inside to stop myself from laughing out loud, whereas Austin and Cal chuckled for like only five seconds and quited down.
The Bio lesson ended pretty fast as well as the rest of the lessons of the day. I was leaning against my chair and in just a few minutes we would be dismissed. Mr. James ordered everyone to return a notice and after a few seconds, Mr. James looked at me.
"Alicia, could you come here please ?" Mr. James asked and I walked up to the front.
"Yes sir ?" I asked.
He flipped through a thick stack of papers and took out one white A4 size paper.
"Are you feeling any better, Alicia ?" Mr. James asked.
"Yes sir. A lot better." I replied.
"Good. Since you were absent yesterday, here is a notice. Remember to return it to me on Monday with your parent's signature."
I took the notice from his hands and went back to my seat and started reading it.
It was about our camp ! Every year, our school would organise an overnight camp with loads of activities and fun. This year, the camp will be held in October and it's a 3 days 2 nights camp ! I can't wait for the camp !
As I inserted the notice in my file, the bell rang and we were dismissed.
"Bye !" Jess squealed and before we could reply her, she literally ran out of the class like a wild bull. I looked at Maria with a shocked look and she shrugged.
"What's cooking in her mind ?" I asked Maria.
"One word, Austin."
"Oh." I said.
We walked out of the class and met Cal outside the school alone.
"Hey Cal. Where's Austin ?" I asked and looked behind him to see if he was with him or not.
"He left with Jess." He said.
"Jess ?" Maria asked.
"Yeah, she appeared in front of us when we were leaving our class and they both went somewhere." Cal said.
Oh. Maybe Jess really likes Austin.
"So Cal, are you going home ?" I asked.
"Yep." He said and we left for home. After all the drama today, I didn't wanted to be at school. I simply want to go home and relax, and then there's Austin who is hanging out with Jess like nothing happened, but it's his life. He can do whatever he wants and he can hang out with anyone. Why do I care ? And why am I not liking the fact that Jess and Austin are hanging together at this.precise moment ?
"Cal, do you know who Austin loves ?" I asked Cal, leaning on the soft, comfortable chair of the train. What ? I'm a girl, I need to gossip.
"Nope." He said, staring at his mobile phone.
"You don't ? I thought Austin must have told you cause' . . . you're his best friend you know." I said. Austin didn't tell Cal ?
"I know that there is a girl who he is madly in love with for like his whole life but never revealed to me her name. He said that I could just tell everyone in the school who he likes the next day." Cal said and I instantly giggled.
"He's right you know. You can't keep a single secret in your mouth. You just blurt everything out." I said.
"That's not true ! I actually happen to keep loads of his secrets." He said and smirked.
"Really ? Haha. Okay. So, since when did he start to like that girl ?" I asked.
"I'm not really sure but definitely more than two years ago." He said.
"Two years ! That's a lot." I said, shocked that he still haven't told the girl that he loves her.
"Do you think that girl is Jess ?" I asked and Cal turned to look at me.
"Why do you think it's Jess ?" He asked with a curious look.
"Uhm I don't know but I think that maybe Jess likes Austin." I said.
"I don't know if that girl is Jess or not. It could be anyone, anyone from our school." Cal said
"Our school ?" I asked.
"Yeah. The only thing I know is that the girl who he loves is studying in our school, so it could anyone. Jess, Nia, Tasha, Marie, Jule or even you." Cal finished and looked at me with a grin. That girl surely can't be me. I've just meet him like weeks ago.
"But why do you wanna know who the girl is ?" Cal asked.
"I don't know. I'm just curious. Aren't you ? Didn't you try to find the name of the girl or persuade Austin into telling you her name ?" I asked, I mean if I got to know that either Maria or Jess were in love with someone then I would have persuaded them for hours just to find out who the person was.
"I did in the beginning. I told him that I could help him get the girl and all but he still didn't tell me her name." Cal said.
"How long have you known him ?" I asked.
"Austin ? Oh since when I was like a few days old. Me and Austin are cousins, we practically know each other from the day we were born." Cal smiled.
"Aw, that's cute ! Brother love." I said and started to giggle.
_____________________________________
After finishing all the homework, I sat comfortably on my bed with my phone in my hand.
I turned it on and saw eleven unread messages. In a hope that the messages were from Austin, I opened just to see that all of them were from Max. I wasn't in the mood to read his message at all so I ignored the tiny message notification resting at the top of my mobile phone's screen. I started to place my books in my bag and got ready to go to the library when my phone vibrated, telling me that someone had just messaged me. Must be Max, who else would it be ? I ignored the disturbance and continued with what I was doing when my phone vibrated again, telling me that there's another message. This time, I didn't even glance at the name of the sender. I just knew it was Max. I tapped on my notifications and opened his latest message, without reading a single word, I messaged him
'Will u just stop ?! I dun wna talk 2 u ok ?! Bye !'
A few seconds later, my phone vibrated and I opened the message again.
"Im sorry Ally but what did I do ????? Plz 4give me if I did anything wrong :("
He was apologizing ? Max and sorry ? Not a good combination. I stared at the message and then it hit me. Above the message was the name of the sender and instead of Max's name, I saw Austin's. So Austin had sent me the previous message, not Max. Shit ! He must be thinking that I'm mad at him !
'No no no. U didn't do anything. Im sorry tht message was 4 some1 else. :)'
I typed and send him hurriedly.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Austin's POV :
'Thank God ! I was wonderin wht I did wrong.'
I typed and sent her my reply. Jess was at the counter ordering smoothies for us. I'm feeling restless at the moment. I didn't get to spend much time with Ally and I just wanted to be right by her side. What if Max did something to her again ? Was she still at school ?
'R u at home ?' I typed and sent the message to her.
'Yep. How about u ?' She replied instantly.
"Who are you talking to ?" Maria asked and sat opposite to me and placed a smoothie in front of me on the table.
"A strawberry smoothie ?" I asked while staring at the thick pink liquid in front of me.
"Why ? Don't you like strawberries ?" She asked me.
"Oh. I loooove strawberry flavored smoothies !" I stated with sarcasm.
"Good ! So who were you texting ?" She asked again.
"Uhm . . . Ally." I said and began to slip my phone in my pocket.
Jess immediately sprang from her seat and grabbed my phone.
"What are you doing ?!" I asked as she took my phone away with a mischievous grin.
"Look Austin. There's a very important thing we need to discuss." She said with a serious look on her face and she sank back into her seat and placed my phone on table beside her smoothie.
"Discuss what ?" I asked. There was no response from her. She stared at me and her gaze started to get a little disturbing. Jess saw something behind me and smiled. I turned back to see who it was and saw Cal standing behind me. Cal sat next to Jess and said
"Hey bro."
"What's going on ?!" I asked skeptically.
"Look Austin. We already know your secret." Jess said.
I leaned on my chair and crossed my arms over my chest.
"Which secret ?" I asked, as if I didn't know what she and Maria had been trying to do for the past few days.
Jess placed her hands on the table and said
"that you love Ally."
I knew it ! This is so expected.
"and ?" I asked.
"And ?! What do you mean by 'and' ?! You have to tell her, you moron !!" Jess shouted and attracted many unwanted attention of other customers. She looked around, realising what she just did, and said
"I'm sorry ! Enjoy your smoothie." She told the crowd.
"Why are you guys even doing this ?" I asked.
"Look Austin. Ally's hurt. We know that you love her and we just want to see both of you together." Jess said and Cal nodded.
"Jess, Ally needs a friend now. You know that." I said calmly.
"Urgh ! I don't understand. If you love her, then why aren't you telling her. We can help you ! We'll tell her for you."
"Jess, let me just clear one thing. I'm gonna be the one telling her that I love her. I will tell her one day and that day isn't far. And I don't need anybody's help. The time is just not right." I said.
"Aust-" Jess started to say when she saw someone walk along the sidewalk. She suddenly waved at that person. I turned around to looked at where she was waving at and I saw her. She was waving back at Jess with a heart-stopping smile on her face, her eyes twinkled under the evening sun. Jess pointed at the table we sat on, gesturing her to come over to us.
"What a coincidence !" She squealed as Ally sat next to me and smiled at me. I smiled back, a reflex action. I wanted to continue staring at her but that would be awkward.
"What are you guys doing ?" She asked and Jess and Cal looked at me for an answer. Ally followed their glances and looked at me too. She was smiling and she raised her eyebrows.
"What's going on ?" She asked.
"Uhm . . . Nothing. We were just chatting." I said, relieved that Jess hadn't blurted everything out.
" . . . Okay." Ally said slowly, looking from me to Cal with her beautiful brown eyes.
"Where were you going, Ally ?" Cal asked.
"Oh right ! I was going to the Library. Will anyone of you come with me ?" She asked.
"I don't like books. You know that, Ally." Jess said while drinking from her strawberry smoothie.
"I know that Jess. I was asking Cal and Austin." Ally said and looked at Cal.
"I don't like books also." Cal said.
"I can come with you." I said automatically and Ally turned to look at me.
"Okay then, let's go." Ally said and got up from her seat. She looked at me and nodded toward my strawberry smoothie.
"I don't like strawberry flavour. Do you want this smoothie ?" I asked.
"Nah. Thanks." She said.
"Ally take it. He bought the smoothie for you." Jess said and smirked at me.
"Really ? Then don't mind if I do." Ally said and smiled brightly. She grabbed the strawberry smoothie on the table and started to take a little sips from it.
I stood up from my seat and opened the door for Ally. We walked out of the shop and a huge gust of wind smacked us, ruining my quiff and sending Ally's black hair flying back.
"Looks like the weather is getting bad." I said.
"Yep." Ally said, staring up at the sky.
It was already half past seven. Therefore, we didn't waste a single minute in the library. Ally started searching for a good novel and I found I Am Number Four. Then we had a little debate on which book Ally should read. At the end of the day, I won and Ally borrowed I Am Number Four and it's sequel. I also got a warning from her that if she didn't like the novel then I would have to treat her a Seafood Pizza for wasting her time which I happily agreed on because I knew she would love the book. We left the library within 20 minutes walked along the empty sidewalk. It was quiet. The only source of sound were our footsteps tapping against the marble sidewalk and the sound of Ally's continous sips from her unfinished strawberry smoothie.
I slipped my hands in my pockets and looked at Ally who was watching her feet.
"Did Max try to talk to you again today ?" I asked, breaking the silence.
"Nope. Nothing happened today." Ally said and gazed at the lamppost ahead of us.
"Why are you asking ?" She added and stared at me.
"Just. I thought he must've atleast called you or sent you a message."
"Don't worry. I've received no phone calls or messages from him." She said and smiled a little. She looked at her half finished smoothie and shoved it towards me.
"Want some ?" She asked.
"No, thanks. I don't like strawberry smoothies." I said.
"Oh okay. Then what's your favourite flavour ?" She asked.
"Uhm . . . mango." I said.
"Mine too !" Ally squealed. Ally started a Q and A session and I kept on answering her questions. The sky was turning darker and darker and we decided to head home.
_________________________________________________________________________________
It was Sunday night and I had locked myself in my room and watched some episodes of Doctor Who on my laptop.
I continously heard the sound of vibrations from my mobile and continously checked to see who I got the message from. Max had been sending me numerous messages since Friday and I still haven't read them. To be honest, I probably won't be reading them. Whereas, Austin hadn't even texted me a single time from Saturday. I wanted to text him, to know what he was doing, to talk to him, but if he wanted to talk to me then he would've atleast texted me a single 'Hi'. Maybe he was just busy.
A sound of lightning broke my thoughts and I reached forward and peeked outside my window. I saw billions of small, transparent water droplets resting on my window. The sky was dark and it was raining heavily.
It is raining ! I suddenly want to go outside and dance in the pouring with someone. I picked up my mobile and recalled how I used to call Max at nights like this and he would've arrive to me as soon as possible and we would roam in the rain and dance.for a few hours. I remember getting a fever the next day. I really wanted to go out right now so I texted the person living nearest to me. Austin.
'Hey Austin ! Can you come out, now ?' I texted him and he instantly replied.
'Right now ? it's raining...' He texted.
'I know tht silly. Can you come ? Plz come na.' I texted him back. I waited for his reply and every passing minute was making me restless. Finally, he replied !
'Khay. I'm coming.'
'Ok ! thank you ! I will be waiting outside the building :)' I replied.
I swung my legs to the side of my bed and hopped out. I took a look at myself in the mirror and wore my sandals.
"Mom ! I'll be back in an hour !" I shouted and ran for the door. I got out and ran down the stairs. It was dark with only a few lights were turned on. I walked out of my building and cold water droplets slammed on my bare skin. In a few seconds my hands, arms, legs, hair and face was wet. I walked behind the building and waited for Austin under the pouring rain as water dripped down my forehead and rested at the tip of my nose. I saw someone walk out of the building and coming toward me. I blinked a few times and saw Austin walking underneath the shelter, taking every step closer to me.
"Hi." I shouted as he came.
"What are you doing here in the rain, Ally ?" Austin asked.
"Just walking around." I said.
"Ally, you'll get sick !" He said, looking worried.
"Nothing will happen to me ! Don't worry." I said and grabbed his arm and pulled him into the rain. He began to soak, his wet, white T-shirt clung to his chest. I used my hand to mess his styled quiff and his hair fell in front of his eyes.
"Ally ! Do you know how much time I use to make it stand ?!" He asked and I ran away from him. He ran toward me and pulled out the ribbon from my hair and my hair fell down on my shoulders. The rain slowed down a little and we walked under the rain. We reached the 7-eleven and I entered it while Austin waited for me outside. I grabbed what not everyone would pick. An ice-cream from my favourite ice-cream company, Dreyers. I tore off the paper and started to lick the vanilla ice-cream.
"Ally !" Austin said as I walked out of the 7 eleven and back in to the rain.
"Nothing will happen. I've done this many times. You should know this Max." His name slipped out of my mouth. He'd always say the same thing and I'd always reply him with the same line. Guess, I should've replaced the name.
"I'm Austin, Ally. Not Max." Austin said and started to walk back toward our building. A pang of guilt hit me. I shouldn't have said that.
I ran up to him and said
"I'm so sorry. I really didn't mean to say his name."
"Whatever. I really don't care." He waved me off.
"If you don't then why are you angry at me ?" I asked with confusion.
He stopped walking and turned around to look at me. "It's just that . . . you still-" He sighed heavily and said "Leave it." He said and started walking real fast again.
"Hey ! Want some ?" I ran up to him again and asked.
"No, thanks." Austin said and slowed down a little.
"C'mon. It's so tasty. You have to have one bite." I said and stood in front of him, blocking his path.
"Ally, I really don't-"
"Pease only one. For me." I begged and moved my ice-cream toward him. He took a small bite of the ice-cream.
"It's good." was all he said.
"I know right !' I said and started finishing the ice-cream. We were again behind our building, standing on the red marble floor. Suddenly, I wanted to do what I always did when it rained, I wanted to dance, the way me and Max used to do before.
"Austin, do you know how to dance ?" I couldn't help but ask.
"Uhm . . .Not really." He said, looking away.
"I'll teach you." I said and held his hands.
"This will help you when you dance with your mysterious girl." I stated flashing him a smile.
"First, you place both of your hands on the mysterious girl's waist like this." I placed his hands on my waist.
"Then the mysterious girl will put her arms around your neck, like this." I said and wrapped my arms around his neck. We stood close to each other and the rain splashed on us.
The lamppost around us were not working and only one of the lamppost's light's were on. Therefore, I could only see the outlines of Austin's face. I stared at him, at his features. He had high cheekbones and his eyes were hard to look away from. It was not just beautiful but dreamy. I simply wanted to stare at his dreamy eyes for as long as I could.
"And then ?" Austin asked huskily.
"Then you sway like this." I said, coming out of my fantasy and we moved around the ground. The lightning flashed and in that split second of white light, I saw Austin staring into my eyes with something. Something I couldn't understand. I stopped moving and my heart started to beat rapidly. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me even closer.
"Ally ?" I heard Austin whisper and I looked at him harder, trying to see him more clearly in the darkness.
"Yeah ?" I asked softly.
"I want to tell you something." He said.
"What ?" I asked softly. Feeling his arms around my waist.
"I . . . " He started to say and all the lamppost around us were suddenly turned on. I could now see Austin. His beautiful face was wet and his hair was also wet. I then realised how close we were standing, our faces were just inches away and his chest was almost touching mine. I pulled my arms away from his neck and he pulled his arms away from my waist and we both looked away. I didn't know what to say. What just happened ?
"I think we should go back home now." I said softly, embarrassed.
"Yeah." Austin said and we walked back toward our building, still walking in the rain. I felt cold and I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to lessen the cool air coming toward me and then I sneezed.
"Hatchi !"
"You alright ?" Austin asked.
"Yeah.". I said and we kept quiet. The rain splashed on our face, my clothes clung to my skin.
"Hatchi !" I sneezed again, and then another sneeze escaped through my lips.
"I think you're getting a cold. See I told you not to walk in the rain !" Austin said and handed me a tissue which immediately got wet in the rain.
"I'm okay, Austin. I'll be alright tomorrow." I said and I sneezed once more.
We entered our building and this time waited for the lift instead of taking the stairs. There were many people waiting for the lift. As the lift came, we entered, or you could say that the people waiting for the lift pushed us in and we were crushed at the back of of the lift together. The whole lift was packed with people and they had started talking, filling noise all around us. A boy standing next to me had his shoulder digging into mine and I started to feel very uncomfortable. I tried to move further away from him but there was no space left to go. I could feel his shoulder digging deeper into mine and then the uncomfortable feeling went away. I turned to see if the boy had left. The boy was still there, staring at someone and I saw Austin's hand resting on the wall of the lift, right between mine and the boy's shoulder, preventing him from touching me. He looked at the boy sharply. I smiled mentally, if that's even possible, feeling grateful. The third floor came.
"Excuse me !" I said but nobody heard me. We tried to squeeze our way out of the lift but there were just too many people. The lift closed and ascended up.
What else could we do ? We only had to wait for the last person to go. I waited and looked up. Austin stood in front of me, his hand was still next to my shoulder and he were staring at me. I raised my eyebrows and nodded once. He shook his head and looked away.
We arrived the thirteenth floor and a person pushed everyone to get out of the lift. He had sent everyone flying to the side, there were curses as people staggered and Austin fell on me, water droplets escaped his wet hair and splashed on my face. His white, wet shirt attached to me for a split second and he moved away immediately and said
"Sorry."
The last person left the lift and I pressed the button for the third floor. There was nobody in the lift now. Only me, Austin and a lot of space. We stood apart. I stood in one corner and he stood at the other. He stared at the floor. His hair was wet and he had pushed them back from his eyes. His white T-shirt was soaked up and his abs were visible, giving me goosebumps. I stared at his abs, I just couldn't look away from them. Austin raised his head and looked at me and I looked away. There was an uncomfortable silence between us. We arrived to our floor.
"It was fun today. Thanks for coming. See you tomorrow at school." I said as I unlocked the door of my home.
"No problem. I . . . uhm . . . see you tomorrow." He said and I entered my home.
"Ally ! Not again !" I heard Mom say from the kitchen.
"Yes Mom. Again." I said and giggled.
I took a bath and changed in to a T-shirt and a comfy trouser. Then I sat on my bed and got a long lecture from Mom about not to shower in the rain and eat ice-cream the same time. In between Mom's lecture, I sneezed a few times and that increased the duration of the lecture.
It was eleven already and I had school tomorrow so I decided to sleep. I lay on my bed with my eyes open and stared at the ceiling. An image of me and Austin dancing today formed in my mind. His face flashed across my eyes. The way his hazel eyes gazed into mine. I found myself smile. It was sweet. I don't know what I was talking about but he gave me goosebumps. I tucked myself inside a warm blanket. I was feeling cold and I kept of sneezing. I tried to remember how many times I had called Max. How many times we did the same thing he had never given me goosebumps but Austin had.
What am I even doing thinking about him ? Seriously Ally, stop before you fall for him. You don't want to go through the same old heartbreaking cycle again.
___________________________________________________________________________________
I felt my feet burning as if I was walking on burning coals. I was walking on them and winced after every second, feeling the pain, feeling the burn. There was this person, wearing a black cloak and his face was hidden. He walked beside me. He walked gracefully as if he was walking on warm floor, not burning coals. He walked in to steps with me and picked me up in bridal style. He was now walking on the burning coals slowly with me in his arms. I was crying from the burn and I tried to see who it was but I could only see the person's jaw bone. It was a man or a boy, I am not sure but it definitely was a male. I felt a sharp pain in my feet and I woke up. I sat straight on my bed. It was a dream ! I took a look at my feet. Sunlight escaped from my window and rested on my feet. I wasn't walking on burning coals, it was just the sunlight. Why was the sun so strong ? It's just six in the morning. That's were I was wrong. I grabbed my phone and looked at the time. It wasn't six in the morning ! It was already twelve. I got off my bed and my head started to ache.
"Mom !" I shouted from my room but there was no answer. I got off my bed and entered the living room.
"Mom ?" I asked. Maybe she isn't at home. I called Mom from my mobile.
"Ally ?" I heard Mom saying over the phone.
"Where are you and why didn't you wake me up ?" I asked.
"You've got a fever, Ally. I've taken an appointment for you to the doctor's. I'll pick you up later. Till then, eat the dinner I made for you. It's on the dinning table. Take care and stay under the blanket." Mom said.
"What ? Mom, I'm fine !" I said.
"No, you're not. Be ready for the appointment." Mom said.
"Khay." I replied.
I had a runny nose and I kept on using the tissue. I felt cold so I tucked myself inside a blanket and sat in front of the TV and watched some reality shows. Maybe I shouldn't have eaten the ice-cream, but it was so delicious ! As I watched the shows, I fell asleep again on the sofa.
"Ally wake up !" Mom said and I opened my eyes.
"Let's go." I knew what she was talking about so I got off the sofa and washed my face and changed in to a decent looking dress. I sat on the passenger seat of Mom's car and she started the engine.
"Mom, when did you first met Dad ?" I asked. I've never asked Mom anything about my dad. She always felt uneasy whenever I raised questions concerning him.
"At college." She said, her eyes on the road.
"Did you love him then ?" I asked, staring outside.
"Yes." She replied.
"Then what happened now Mom ? Why aren't you two together now ?" I asked.
There was no response, then Mom sighed and said
"Ally, sometimes your first love isn't your last. Sometimes, your first love is just a mistake, a lesson for you to learn. Your dad and I are just not meant to be." She said and turned to smile at me. It was the same smile she had given me when I gave her my report card or when Andy did a stupid mistake. But this smile was filled with a little sadness and a lot of of bravery. It was as if she taught me a lesson.
'Sometimes, your first love isn't your last.'
We had arrived at a hospital and in half an hour, we were already heading home.
"See ? I told you I was fine. You just wasted the doctor's time. " I said and looked outside the window of Mom's car.
"Oh I'm sorry for worrying too much. It's my job to check if my kids are alright." She said. After a long silence, I asked.
"Mom, do you miss him ?" I asked, looking at her.
"Not at all. I've got everything, everyone. I don't need him." She said.
"Mom ?" I said.
"Yes ?" She asked, looking away from the road and staring at me.
"You always teach me a lesson. I love you." I said and Mom laughed.
"I love you too, Ally." She said.