Recap: Ali was curious to find out what Dylan has been refraining to tell her. Jason tells Dylan that they need to talk. Ali, following her inquisitive nature decided to eavesdrop on their conversation but the only thing she got out of Jason and Dylan's talk was Dylan saying "they're back".
(Ali's P.O.V)
After an uneventful lunch time spent doing homework in the library whilst Dylan was off training for his upcoming football game, I hadn't really used up much of my time to think about what happened this morning.
I'm dying to ask Dylan about what he had said to Jason, but then he'd know that I'd been eavesdropping, and that's not really something I want to particularly disclose to him. "They're back" he had said. Who are back? What is he on about, and what does Jason have to do with it? Maybe instead of asking Dylan, I could get some answers out of Jason.
"Fancy seeing you here," a deep voice startles me from behind and I jump instinctively. I sigh in relief as I twirl in my seat to find Alex, only realising now just how much these thoughts I've been having are getting to me. I smile gingerly at him as he pulls out a chair next to mine.
"I think you almost just gave me a heart attack," I joke and he chuckles.
"Sorry," he mutters. "Mind if I sit?" My brow quirks as he says this.
"Tell me," I begin while Alex sits down, "what's a guy like you, doing in a place like this?" I gesture around the vast room, lined with row upon row of old books. Usually, you'd never find a member of the so called 'popular crowd' in a place such as a library, so what Alex is doing in here is simply beyond me.
"Charming my way into getting some random girl to do my homework for me," he smirks and my eyes narrow, causing him to chuckle lowly. "I'm joking," he ruffles my hair and I swat his hand away. "I came here to see you." My brows furrow once he says this.
"Why, exactly?" I mutter, confused.
"Gee, could you be anymore excited?" He places as hand over his heart, "just when I thought we could be good friends." He feigns hurt and I chuckle, getting instantly reprimanded by the pruny librarian. "Can we walk?" Alex whispers, picking up his backpack. I nod, clumsily gathering my things as well and follow him out.
"So, I hear you and Dylan are going on vacation." He says after we exit the library as we stroll down the deserted hallway.
"Uh, yeah..." I trail off, not sure where he's going with this.
"He sounded excited," Alex smiles, though there's a fleet of another emotion that momentarily flashes through his eyes. I can't quite put my finger on it. "Although he didn't tell me where it is you guys are going,"
"I think there's a good reason for that," I reply, referring to the date that was crashed yesterday due to Elliot disclosing to Jake where we'd be.
"Aw c'mon, you can get freaky with Dylan any other time. Wouldn't it be so much more fun if your bestest friends were to be there, too?" He puts on his widest smile and I instantaneously blush. Does he know about what Dylan and I did yesterday? No, he can't know. Dylan has never been the kind to kiss and tell.
A tiny sigh of relief escapes my mouth.
"If her bestest friends were where?" Someone suddenly appears from behind and we both turn to face the culprit. Jake stands with pretty much a buffet on a tray. Let me attempt to name at least half of the contents that are currently placed on the tray he's holding: four slices of pizza, two bags of chips, a pack full of donuts, two cans of soda and a bottle of water.
Yeah, I wasn't joking when I called it a buffet.
"Dude, where are you going with all of that? Feeding a small village in Africa?" Alex snorts and I laugh.
"Not exactly. I needed to pee and I didn't trust the guys with my food so--"
"So you're taking it to the bathroom with you?" Alex completes his sentence with a look of disgust evident on his face, same goes for me. Although I must say, I'm quite amused at the lengths Jake Zabinski goes through to protect his food. Now that's a man I can respect.
"Pretty much," Jake mutters, taking a huge bite off his pepperoni pizza. "Fuck me, this is good." He closes his eyes, moaning appreciatively.
"Dude, lady present, remember? No swearing." Alex reprimands and Jake looks at me as though he hadn't noticed I was here.
"How you doin'?" He smirks, sounding an awful lot like Joey Tribbiani from that old TV show, Friends. Of course, he's using his infamous pick up line.
"Don't you have a field to go run around? Football season is coming up soon, if you haven't noticed." Alex points out. "And correct me if I'm wrong, but you've already been late for practise everyday this week." Jake's eyes widen and he suddenly bolts down the corridor, portable buffet still in hand, as he sprints towards the football field.
"I'll never fully understand how he actually made it successfully to his senior year," I mutter, mostly to myself, but Alex chuckles anyway.
"He has his dad to thank for that,"
"Right." I nod, recalling the fact that Jake's father is the CEO of some sort of million-dollar company.
"So, about the vacation. Still no telling?"
"Sorry, Alex. You'll have to consult Dylan for any details." I mumble apologetically.
I know Dylan spent a lot of time planning our holiday together and I wouldn't want to do anything to ruin that for him. As much as I think it'd be fun for our friends to join us, I'm sure I'll enjoy myself just as much with only Dylan. And no, before all you dirty minded people start making sly innuendos, not enjoying ourselves in the way you're probably thinking of.
Albeit, I wouldn't mind doing it again.
Alison Vincent, what the hell? Stop with the corrupt thoughts!
"Damn it, Vincent." Alex admonishes jokingly, snapping me out of my hormonal teenager trance.
"What's my pain in the ass girlfriend done now?" Someone's arms-- Dylan's, I presume-- are suddenly wrapped around my waist and a kiss is left just below my ear, before he rests his chin on top of my head.
"I'll show you pain in the ass," I mutter petulantly with a scowl on my face, and from the vibrations coming from behind me, I know Dylan is chuckling.
"She's refusing to tell me where you two love birds are running off to," Alex informs, straightening up.
"She is, is she?" Dylan turns me around in his arms so I face him. I can't help but smile once my eyes land on his. "That's my girl." He grins and leaves a amiable kiss on my lips.
"Why won't you people tell me?" Alex whines.
"Tell you what?" Elliot appears all of a sudden, Ava in hand.
Seriously, where are these people so suddenly emerging from?
I check my surroundings to look for any magical wardrobes or secret portals. Nope, just ordinary rows of blue lockers and wooden doors.
"Dylan and Ali are running off together somewhere to do the unthinkable."
I almost choke on my own saliva.
"Oh, that." Elliot looks over at Dylan before sending him a suggestive smile and a wiggle of the brows. Ava frowns at Elliot before directing it at me.
Oh right, I may or may not have forgotten to tell my best friend about my vacation with my other best friend slash boyfriend. This news will not go down well with Ava.
"Something you need to tell me, Vincent?" She raises her perfectly shaped brow in that way that I never can and taps her foot impatiently.
"Uh," I stutter, feeling my words getting stuck in my throat. She is so going to kill me.
Now, I've never been a lucky person. Quite on the contrary, I've had my fair share of bad luck ever since I was a baby; I've plenty of battle scars to further prove my point. So as the school bell begins to sound, the relief and confusion as to why something good-- and dare I say, lucky-- happened to me, is evident on my face.
"Saved by the bell," Elliot mutters amusedly, so only I can hear. Ah, looks like I haven't been the only one to have experienced the wrath of Ava Arwin. He begins to pull her away, smiling sympathetically at me. He too, knows what's coming for me.
"I'm still not finished with you, Ali." She warns, getting dragged away by Elliot. And there we have it, always some bad to wash out the good. The inevitable has only been postponed. I sag against Dylan and let out a breath.
"Hey," he lifts my chin, "you okay?" He asks with genuine concern. I shake my head and he frowns. "She can't be that bad, can she?" Dylan's brows furrow.
"Trust me, when it's something like this, she's more than just bad," I mutter, beginning to feel awkward standing in the middle of the hallway as everyone rushes to get to class. "We should really move out of everyone's way," I tell him, looking around self-consciously.
"Or we can do this." Before I get the chance to reply, he grabs both sides of my face and places his soft lips on mine.
Really, Dylan? In the middle of the school hallway, surrounded by nosy students-- that's where you choose to commence a make out session?
"No sex in the corridors, please." The voice suddenly startles me. Dylan reluctantly pulls back, leaving me a quivering, blushing mess.
"Says the one who once did it in the school library." Dylan retorts before even turning around to see that it's Jake that's standing there.
Well, it's safe to say I'll never be setting foot in that library ever again. Thanks a lot, Jake.
He picks up on the look of horror plastered on my face and has the audacity to smirk. "Hey, you can't blame me. Hot girl, plus uncontrollable urges. I was really hor--"
"For the love of God and the sake of my lunch staying inside of my stomach, do not finish that sentence." I plead, already feeling the Chinese noodles rising, just about ready to spill. Jake Zabinski sure is one insufferable piece of work.
"You really don't know how to behave in front of females, do you?" Dylan reprimands in a good-natured manner, an amused smile on his face. He wraps an arm around my waist before subconsciously taking all of my books into his hand. I smile at the fact he didn't even have to think about it, it's just a natural instinct for him.
"Now that," I point to Dylan holding my books as we head towards our last lesson of the day, "That would be step one to becoming a gentleman." Dylan glances down at me, his shy smile that always makes my heart melt has settled onto his lips.
"Yeah, yeah." Jake waves me off, though from the corner of his eyes, he glances at Dylan and nods, as if taking a mental note. Hmm, maybe Jake isn't so bad after all. As we enter our history classroom, the atmosphere instantly sucks out all of the enthusiasm that I could have had for this class as I take a seat in my usual place.
"Ok, class. Let's get started."
***
"I really wish you'd drop out of this already," Dylan mutters, walking me to my car as he squeezes my hand.
"I know, but I've already agreed. I can't just back out now, what would I tell Mr. James?" I try to reason. I mean, sure I'd like to not have to spend any time whatsoever with the notorious Jason Scott. But on the other hand, something about him just seems different now. He isn't as bad as he used to be, but that's not something I'm willing to admit out loud.
Moreover, I'm kind of hoping to potentially crack Jason and squeeze out any useful information that he could have about what's going on with Dylan.
I know, I know, this is wrong and I probably shouldn't be doing this and blah blah blah. But I just can't help it, ok? Besides, I'm sure you're all just as curious as I am to find out what's going on. I'm doing this for our sake.
"If he tries anything on you--"
"He won't," I reassure him. "And if he does, I won't let him. I can protect myself." I smile and caress his face as we come to halt beside my Wanda. He sighs and looks down at his shoes in contemplation.
"Be safe," he mutters defeatedly, opening the car door for me. As I step in, he hands me my books and I place them on the passenger seat. "So you'll go to my house afterwards?" He asks me as he closes the door.
"Won't your parents be home?" I ask, recalling the fact that last time I was there, they still weren't around.
"They won't be home for a while," he smiles sadly and I feel a pang of sympathy towards him. I of all people should know the feeling of being abandoned by your own parents. It sucks.
"I'll be there," I smile, reaching out my hand to bring his face closer. As I do this, I leave a tender kiss on his lips and smile warmly at him. When he opens his eyes, he licks his lips and grins, instantly snapping back to the confident, over-achieving idiot that he is.
"See you soon," he leaves a quick kiss on my forehead before jogging back around the school building, off to football practise. Coach Michaels had reluctantly given Dylan strictly three minutes to walk me back to my car. I tried to tell him it didn't matter, but Dylan insisted on it. By now coach Michaels must be going ape-shit whilst impatiently waiting for his return.
Revving the engine, I smoothly glide Wanda out of her parking spot and ease her onto the gravelly road. Well, off to Jason's house I go. Let the Vincent inquisition commence.
*
As I arrive at the Scott's residence, I realise that his house isn't far away from the one I used to live in. In fact, you could almost call us neighbors.
Well, at least that's one good thing that came from my parents leaving me.
"Ali, honey. What a wonderful surprise. Come in!" Grace, Jason's mom, ushers me inside. She immediately pulls me into a hug once I set foot in her house and I flinch a little when I realise how not even my parents ever gave me this kind of treatment. I reciprocate the hug and finally pull back.
She leads me through a set of pale wood doors and into a vast, modern room where the walls are painted a cream colour and the furniture are different shades of beige, brown and maroon.
"Jason, Ali is here!" She bellows at the top of her lungs, surprising me and causing my eyes to widen a fraction. She then looks back at me and smiles sweetly before scampering off into the unknown. Damn, that woman would put even coach Michaels' yelling to shame.
"You'd think I'd be used to her shouting by now." Jason mutters after a few seconds go by, sauntering down the stairs, clad in red basketball shorts and a white t-shirt. "You made it." He smiles once he spots me standing awkwardly at the end of the stairs.
"Well, duh." I reply once Jason stops in front of me.
"Alright, snarky. Come, let's get to work."
So after managing to teach Jason simultaneous equations in math, covalent bonds for chemistry and trying but failing to make him learn the basics of la lengua Española, we finally gave in. Well, I finally gave in. I'm not sure I could handle any more of his moronic questions without cracking open his skull.
Jeez, since when did I get so violent?
"Can I ask you a question?" I mutter, to distract myself from coming up with a list of different ways that I could kill Jason Scott.
"Sure,"
I hesitate a little, but then decide to just go for it. "What were you and Dylan talking about this morning?" I blurt, fiddling with my bracelet as a sign of nervousness.
"You were listening?" His eyes narrow before his lips set into a grim line. He doesn't look pleased.
But then again, what do I care? It's only Jason.
"I mean, I tried to." I trail off, recalling how Ava nearly gave me away whilst I was attempting to do what I do best-- eavesdropping.
"How much did you hear?" He inquires, inching closer to me.
"Woah, ok. There's this thing called personal space." I use my hand to push his shoulder back, allowing my anti-Jason zone to remain Jason-free. "And not much." I add, answering his question.
"How much is not much?" He questions again.
And here I thought that I would be the one doing all the questioning. Leave it to Jason to completely screw up my plans.
"Who is back?" I cut to the chase, reversing the roles and sticking to my original plan. I need to leave this house with at least one piece of newly acquired information. Jason sighs and rubs his temple as if in frustration. Like Dylan, he also wants to keep me in the dark.
"No one of consequence," he finally answers, shaking his head.
"Then why were you so worried?" I fire back, satisfied with the reaction I get from him in return. He swallows before raking a hand through his messy hair, like a certain someone I know.
"Look, Dylan doesn't want you involved with this stuff, ok? So just drop it." He deadpans, looking increasingly distressed.
"Since when do you ever listen to Dylan?" I provoke, somewhat annoyed myself at the lack of information I'm receiving.
"When you said if you could ask me a question I thought it'd be something more simple like, let's say, what's my favourite color." He sighs, resting his elbow on the table and balancing his chin on his hand.
"Where's the fun in that?" I mumble, rolling my eyes at Jason. So turns out, that just like his complicated cousin, Jason is unwilling to tell me anything.
Great.
"Purple," Jason suddenly blurts out. I turn to questioningly stare at him as if he's some sort of half demented squirrel. "My favourite color," he clarifies and realisation hits me. For a second, I thought he might be going crazy.
Not that I even asked him what his favourite color was. Why he felt the need to tell me is totally beyond me.
"That's a bit gay," I finally say, not really interested in this conversation anymore. If he's not going to give me any answers then he can do one.
When Jason is about to reply to my accusation, my phone suddenly starts ringing. When he gets a glance of the name that's displayed on my screen, his eyes harden.
"Where are you?" Dylan's velvety deep voice echoes through the phone as I answer the call.
"Hello Dylan, how lovely it is to speak to you on this fine afternoon." I chirp with an extra cheerfulness added to my voice in response to his lack of basic greeting abilities. Whatever happened to good, old-fashioned and simple 'hello'?
"I thought you were coming to mine after you finished," His voice softens, completely ignoring my pleasant greeting. I glance at the clock placed above the office desk and realise that I should have left over a half hour ago. "Did you just decide you didn't want to come anymore? Where are you?"
"Still with me, little cousin. We were having way too much fun, so Ali decided to stay a little longer." Jason smirks as he snatches my phone out of my hand. Dylan stays quiet for a while before I wrestle Jason to grab my phone back.
"If by having fun you mean me having to explain what the word cumpleaño means to you over and over again because your stupidity simply makes you immune to learning, then yeah, that's why I had to stay longer." I glare at Jason but his smirk doesn't fade. "I'll be there soon, ok? I'm leaving now." I address Dylan this time, remembering how he still hasn't spoken.
"Alright. Have a safe trip." He mutters before hanging up. Well, wasn't that pleasant.
I gather up my books and place them into my bag before completely ignoring Jason and heading towards the front door. Luckily, as his house pretty much resembles my old one, I'm able to quickly find the exit.
Jason follows me out, unfortunately, and stops in the driveway as I climb into my car.
"Birthday," he says, completely throwing me off track. "Cumpleaño means birthday." Jason clears up as he approaches my car. I revv the engine without a word and before I can ease my way out onto the road he mutters: "Drive safe," and heads back into his house.
On my drive over to Dylan's house, I try to completely block out all thoughts of Jason. To assist me on my task, I switch on the radio just as some cheesy pop song begins to play. Yes, this is just what I need.
After a few more minutes of getting the annoying, but catchy chorus of the song stuck in my head, I'm finally able to think somewhat clearly.
I don't know what possessed me to look in the direction that I did, especially since my favourite bakery was right on the opposite side, displaying mouthwatering pastries on the shop window.
But instead of drooling and imagining myself rolling around in a pool filled with cinnamon buns, I chose to look the opposite way. I'm not really sure whether it's more of a good or a bad thing that I did, but when I looked closely, that's when I saw him.
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A/N: Soooo sorry about the extremely late update but I was on holiday for my 17th birthday and so I couldn't write. But thank you so much to everyone who has been reading and an even bigger thanks to the ones who have been voting!!
Don't forget to comment and vote pretty pleaseee *puppy dog eyes* I love you all. Happy reading :-))