(Ali's P.O.V)
After yesterday's dinner with Dylan's family, Mrs. Scott seemed much more at ease with my presence in her home. Hence the fact she baked me cookies when she found out I was coming here today, another day suffering the pain of tutoring Mr. Jason Scott.
"These taste amazing," I mumble to Jason through mouthfuls of barely chewed cookies. Jason shoots me a tight-lipped smile and shakes his head in an admonishing manner.
"Clearly we know Dylan doesn't love you for your table manners." He mutters, mostly to himself. I glare at him, furrowed brows and all as I take the last bite of this delicious dessert.
The reason Jason and I are alone is because Dylan is once again, stuck with coach Michaels at football practise. If it wasn't for this, I'm pretty sure he'd be sitting not far from me and Jason, waiting impatiently for this to be over.
After Jason was acting shady all through last week, Dylan grew more and more suspicious of what he was up to. So now I've made it my personal mission to find out what the heck is going on. Yep, curious Ali to the rescue.
"I think we should take a little break from all this learning, what do you say?" I ask enthusiastically.
"Sure, whatever." Jason dismisses, looking awfully engrossed in his mobile phone.
"I was thinking maybe we could, um... talk." This instantly calls for Jason's full attention.
"T-talk?" He stutters.
"Sure," I smile as a sign of reassurance to the hint of skepticism behind his grey eyes.
"Alright," he sits up, "what do you want to talk about?"
"You," I say simply.
"Me?" He asks astonished.
Jason having the reputation he does, it's needless and unnecessary for him to even speak to girls, they just come barrelling out of unknown locations and practically kneel at his feet.
Needless to say, any normal hormonal teenage boy wouldn't find this the worst of situations. After that, I'm pretty sure the only words spoken to each other don't go beyond the old "harder" and "faster", if you get what I mean.
Back to my point, I'm sure it must be very new for Jason to actually speak about himself, let alone it being to a girl. But let's see how long it takes for me to crack him.
"I actually have a question for you," I inform him, reminding even myself of this question that I've been itching to ask.
"Shoot."
"Did you know... about Mia. Is that what you were talking about when you told me I didn't know everything?" I ask, intrigued as ever. He sighs.
"I thought we were going to talk about me."
Egotistical jerk.
"Well, now we're not. Answer my question." I snap.
"Yes, Ali, I did know about the baby. And yes, if you must know, that was in fact, the part of the story you didn't know." He sighs again, rubbing his forehead.
"How did you find out?" I inquire, my brows furrow.
"Haley told me. As you probably know, Haley and I hooked up, shortly after Dylan and her broke up. About a year ago, I think."
A year? Hmm. Jason surprises me when he carries on speaking so I listen intently, grabbing on greedily to as much information as Jason is willing to give away.
"She came to me crying one day, saying she was pregnant but she didn't know how far along. Obviously I freaked out, thinking it could have possibly been mine, I just couldn't hack the responsibility. That's why we stopped seeing each other, after that she didn't bother me anymore." He explains, his eyes giving nothing away.
"So there's a chance she might be yours?" I question, my hopes shooting straight up.
This part of the story, Jason's side, I still didn't know. I never stopped to think that there was a possibility that Mia could be Jason's.
I mean, knowing Haley, and having heard all of the things Ava has said about her, you would think that there would be an endless list of possible fathers for Mia. So technically speaking, Dylan isn't necessarily 'the one'... right?
"Yeah, maybe, I don't know. I don't care either way, I want nothing to do with them." Jason interrupts my reverie.
"You're a jerk, you know that?" I ask, bewilderment laced within my voice. How a person could just not care about what could possibly be their child is beyond me.
"So I've been told," he mutters.
And then I realise something else.
"If you said you want nothing to do with Haley, then how come I saw you talking to her in the school's cafeteria?" I quiz, now really interested to hear his answer.
I remember sitting in the cafeteria with Noah and Ava, watching as Jason and Haley were off in a secluded corner speaking far too discreetly for it not to be anything serious.
His eyes widen for a second but he composes himself quickly enough for it to go unnoticed. But not by me. I give him an urging look with my eyes and he sighs loudly again.
"She was just trying to reach out to me," he dismisses, looking nervously into my eyes. I know he's lying. "Anyway, what's with all these questions?"
"Why do you keep sighing so much? I'm curious that's all, jeez." I shoot back, starting to become increasingly annoyed with his uncooperative attitude.
"Because you're annoying me by bombarding me with pointless questions, why don't you go ask that asshole boyfriend of yours instead?" He retorts, raising his voice a little.
"First of all, he is not an asshole, not like someone I know," I mutter angrily, giving him a shove, though he doesn't move. "And second of all, I don't see why you're getting so angry over all of this, relax will you?" I'm just about this close from full on screaming in his face.
"You don't see why I'm getting angry? I'm annoyed because shit didn't go according to plan!" He shouts, a look of regret instantly crosses his face when he is able to process his words.
What does he mean, didn't go according to plan?
Before I can fire back any comment, he storms out of the room, leaving me dumbfounded as I try to make sense of what just happened. Ok, now this is beyond weird.
Bringing me out of my trance is the pinging sound of a new text message. I search for my phone and realise it's off so where-- I pause and glance at the chair.
Jason's phone lies comfortably on the white silk cushion, just staring at and screaming 'go ahead, go ahead' at my subconscious. Do I dare go through his phone?
It could possibly hold all of the answers that I'm dying to find out, but it wouldn't be right. Dammit, why can't I just have the superpowers that I asked for on Christmas ten years ago? Life would have been so much easier if I could read people's minds.
My eyes are glued to that little electronic device, in my mind I'm contemplating. Do I, or don't I?
*
"And he just stormed out? Just like that?" Ava asks, the same look of disbelief plastered on her face as I had on mine when all of this took place.
After deciding not to be an intruder of Jason's personal privacy, I left the Scott household and told Ava about everything that happened as soon as I got back to my home away from home, Ava's house.
"Exactly," I state matter-of-factly.
"What a complete and utter fucktard." She shakes her head dissaprovingly and I stifle a giggle. This is serious business. "He's clearly hiding something."
"I know, but what?" I muse, crossing my legs as I sit on my bed.
"Did he not mention anything else?"
"Yeah, he also said that Haley--" I pause midway through my sentence when I hear a strange noise coming from outside of my door. Ava mirrors my actions and narrows her eyes at it as I slowly peel my body off the bed.
I tiptoe my way over to the door and briskly throw it open, revealing Haley in a not so innocent state. She has a glass cup pressed up against her ear, a stunned look possesses her face once she realises she has been caught red-handed.
"Haley, what the hell!" Ava exclaims, snatching the cup out of her hand.
"I knew something was fishy," I narrow my eyes at her.
"What? I was just going to get a drink of water." She feigns innocence, snatching the glass cup back from Ava's hand.
"Upstairs?" I raise a brow.
"Ok, fine Sherlock, you got me. I was eavesdropping. But so what? It's not like I'm the only one that does it around here," she rolls her eyes and my cheeks redden, remembering my predicament when I was caught listening to Dylan and Haley.
"Well now I guess we're even," she smiles falsely at me and I feel the need to say something, but I have nothing.
"What are you and that scumbag Jason up to, Haley?" Ava hisses, clearly unforgiving at the fact Haley was overhearing everything we said. Maybe that's because she mentioned private talk about Elliot.
Haley suddenly looks nervous and fidgety, not the cocky and smug person she was not less than thirty seconds ago.
"Mind your own business," Haley snaps then glances at her watch. "I'm going out," she mutters before scurrying downstairs. The sound of the front door slamming is a telltale sign that she is no longer in the house.
"What. The. Fuck." Ava pauses between her words, putting emphasis on all three of them. She shakes her head at the event that just took place.
"Right there with you sister."
"Ok, something is definitely up," Ava states the obvious and I feel like I'm missing the bigger picture here.
So far I know just next to nothing, but I hope that this changes soon. Could Jason and Haley have a connection to each other? Or was it just coincidence that I saw them together?
Could they possibly be planning something? If so, then what? These are all questions that I'm eager to find the answer to. I reach into my back pocket, pull out my iPhone and go straight to my contacts, scrolling to the exact person I need. My finger hovers above it as I contemplate whether or not I will do this.
Well do you want to get to the bottom of this? My subconscious chips in.
Oh, what the hell. I go with my gut and quickly press call, bringing the phone up to my ear. After three rings we're connected.
"Ali?"
"I'm gonna need your help." I gulp.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Jason's P.O.V)
"First of all, he is not an asshole, not like someone I know," she snaps, attempting but failing to shove me. "And second of all, I don't see why you're getting so angry over all of this, relax will you?" Ali looks like she's about seconds from exploding. But so am I.
"You don't see why I'm getting angry? I'm annoyed because shit didn't go according to plan!" I finally burst, instantly regretting it as I'm able to process my words.
Well, shit.
What the fuck do I do now? I wasn't meant to let that slip. Man, she is going to be pissed at me if she finds out I let this happen.
Within a split second, I am up and off my seat, storming towards the double doors. I need time to process all of this.
Why has Ali suddenly became so curious about everything? Could she possibly be doubting my motives? Do I really give off that kind of vibe? I don't see why she has to ask me all of these questions though, she has shit-face folding at her every wish. He's like a lost fucking puppy.
Anyway back to me, what do I do now? Do I go back in there and confront Ali? I can't just leave her alone, we haven't even finished revising. Oh fuck, why did I have to mess this up? Does Ali even know what is going on?
After minutes of deliberating, I start to feel bad about abandoning Ali so I proceed to make my way back into the study room.
"Look Ali, I'm sorry--" I glance around the vast room, past the towering book cases and uncle Christian's pool table. Where did she go?
Something came up, had to leave quickly. Sorry. -A
I let her note slide through my fingers and glide mercilessly through the air, landing on a chair where my phone rests.
"There you are, you bastard. I've been looking for you." I mumble to my phone under my breath, as if my phone was an actual person.
*1 new message*
I click open to reveal the attachment.
Meet me at our usual spot. Don't be late, we have to go over some plans.
I breathe in sharply and take a deep breath. I hope to God I'm doing the right thing here, this is all for you, sweetheart.
*
I show up about 30 minutes late, but all in all, I'm here. Looking around, I spot a rather pissed-off looking person. I smirk and stroll casually towards her.
"What the hell took you so long? I've been waiting for hours." She growls, her twisted face shows me she's not pleased.
"I got hungry," I state, shrugging my shoulders. She rolls her eyes and lets out an exasperated sigh, shaking her head.
"So how did it go with Ali? Was she mad?"
"Not even in the slightest," I spit bitterly, annoyed at this.
"Wait, so her boyfriend has a daughter with his ex-girlfriend and she doesn't even care?"
"Go figure," I mutter. She looks annoyed at first, but quickly composes herself again.
"So plan A didn't work, but never fear because I am here. Are you ready to put plan B into action?"
"I don't know, isn't it a bit extreme?" I ask, unsure of whether I want to carry this on any further.
"Look, do you want to be with Ali or not?" She hisses, clearly annoyed at the fact that I'm backing out.
"Yes," I look at my shoes, feeling like a toddler being told off by his mom.
"So then you'll do this," her voice softens now as she tilts my head up, "it's the only way."
I guess she's right.
"So plan B, just tell me what I have to do." I appease and she smirks knowingly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Ali's P.O.V)
I hang up the phone and toss it across my bed.
"Are you really going to go through with this?" Ava asks. I forgot she was even here.
"Well there's no going back now." I conclude, also as a reminder to myself. I have to get this over and done with, only God knows what Jason could be planning.
"What will Dylan think?" Ava chews her lip.
"He's not going to find out." I scold, being deadly serious now. If Dylan finds out I'm doing this he'll be infuriated.
"Be careful okay? If you need anything, call me." Ava shifts and gives me a tight hug.
"Don't worry Ava, I know how to look after myself. Besides, nothing bad will happen." I promise, giving Ava one of my reassuring smiles. Standing up, I tighten my jacket around my body and head downstairs.
It's go time.
*
I turn up for my rendezvous, looking around for a certain person. Reaching into my back pocket, I realise that I left my phone at home. Shit. How am I supposed to call him now?
"Boo!" Someone whispers into my ear and all of the hairs on my body come to a stand as I let out an ear-piercing scream.
"Holy shit, Ali. Calm down, it's just me." Dereck turns me to face him and my screaming ceases. I smack his arm, hard.
"Why the hell would you scare me like that!" I bark, annoyed at the fact I almost jumped out of my skin for no reason.
"Hey, it wasn't my fault. I didn't know you'd be so jumpy." He utters, clutching his arm. I smile inwardly at the fact that I was able to hurt him. Anyway, enough of beating around the bush. Let's get to business.
"I need you to do something for me, Dereck." I state clearly.
"What is it exactly that you want?" He crosses his arms over his chest, raising his brow in that way that I should never attempt to do.
"I need your expertise. God knows how you found out about Dylan but knowing this, you could find out other things about other people, right?"
"Possibly..." he drawls.
"Possibly?"
"What exactly," he takes a step toward me, "is in it for me?" Dereck raises a brow.
"My gratitude?" I mutter, unremembering of the fact that Dereck is a self-centered egotistical jerk. Of course he would want something in return.
"That's not enough." He steps forward again so we're inches apart, my back lying flat against the cold, brick wall. Dereck lifts his arm and caresses my cheek, I swallow hard and turn my face to the opposite direction.
"Dereck, that's enough." I quiver, afraid of what he might do. As if he hadn't heard what I just said, he leaned his head towards me and memories of that dreaded day in the alleyway come flooding back.
The feeling of weakness and insignificance. I felt like that was it, like I couldn't do anything to protect myself. But I did it, I faced my fears and I did it, I was able to take a stand. I can't let people always take advantage of me, sometimes I just have to man up.
Before Dereck could even cry out, my knee connects with his precious jewels, his hands rushing to their condolence. I smirk and push him back, allowing myself enough space to escape. Before abandoning the scene, I take a look at Dereck one last time.
"I told you never to do that again." I berate him, remembering the last time he made a pass at me in the school hallway. I remember I slapped him hard and warned him never to that again, guess he didn't bother listening.
I glare at Dereck one last time, wondering what I ever saw in him. Oh well, at least I got some payback, I think to myself, quite enjoying the sight of him in pain. But I think the sadistic part of me is reserved for Dereck, and only Dereck.
Before he recovers I quickly saunter away from the alleyway and down the street to where I parked my R8. Revving the engine, I start to think about how in the world I'm supposed to tell Dylan about this.
I remember him explicitly telling me, time and time again, that I was to stay away from Dereck. Bossy, I know, but that's just Dylan's way of being. He has been his overprotective self ever since our early years, the only thing that's changed since then is that now, he's worse.
Should I even tell him?
Stepping on the gas, I ease Wanda out of her parking space and out onto the open road. Cruising through the streets of Atlanta, I notice that I never really took the chance to explore a lot of places here. I'm always stuck at home or doing something that I never take the time to appreciate the outside world.
Heading into the highway, I turn on the radio and repeatedly change stations, looking for a decent song to play.
Ugh. I mutter under my breath, whatever happened to good music? I reach for my phone and plug it into the USB slot. Scrolling through all of my songs, one of them catches my eye and I chuckle lightly remembering how it got here in the first place. I press play.
'My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard' The voice of Kelis echos around my car and I start to sing loudly-- but very badly-- along to the lyrics.
'Damn right, it's better than yours,
I could teach you, but I'd have to charge'
I ease off the gas at a red light and begin to dance like a maniac when Wanda comes to a halt. That was until a knock at my window made me jump out of my skin, for the second time today.
I quickly pause the song and glance out of my window to reveal where the knocking came from, my cheeks red from embarrassment that I was caught listening, and dancing like a mad-woman, to that song.
"Meet me at my house." He commands, his voice tight and his face impassive. Dylan's window slides back up and he drives off once the light turns green.
Shit. I gulp.
I don't know what that was all about, but one thing I do know; I'm in deep trouble.
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A/N: NEW CHAPTER!! Hope you guys enjoyed it, this was kind of a filler but some parts did have some significance to this story. So who do you think Jason was speaking to? Why could Dylan be mad at Ali?
Please don't stop voting or commenting, I don't want to force you guys to do so but it just helps me write more, seeing that you guys appreciate my effort and give me support in return. So please don't forget to vote and comment. Until next time :)