Sense of Reality (Alan Ashby)

There's No Saving Me This Time, I Fall Apart And It Figures

Alan

She looked beautiful, yet she seemed out of place at the same time. She wore battered jeans with rips in the oddest of places; halfway up her leg, at the bottom of her calf. The threads were unravelling at the ends of her legs. A plain tee shirt bearing the slogan "I prefer the guitarist" covered her upper body. Her shoes looked ready to collapse right then and there, her toe almost poking out of the thin fabric. A red cup rested lightly on her right palm, her left pointer finger tracing the rim. She was laughing, looking up into Jay's eyes. Her hair was longer than it was now. It was in need of a hacking, the split ends getting tangled. She hasn't straightened it, so the ends were curled slightly. No makeup was seen on her face and her nails were bare of any traces of polish.

Around her, girls were giggling loudly, wearing short dresses and showing almost all of their chest. They had on super high heels and were slamming their red cups on the counter, refills at the ready. They were leaning on each other, barely able to stand. I knew which girl I wanted. But she would never even contemplate talking to me. Not seriously, anyway. She would quite gladly hurl insults as long as I started the conversation. I felt a tug on my arm, and I looked down. Hayley was there, fluttering her eyelashes.

'Hey baby,' she said flirtatiously. She leaned even closer and ran her hand up my neck. I felt a pair of eyes on me as Hayley claimed my lips. I pulled away, not wanting to taste the neediness and alcohol on Hayley. I glanced over to Diana. She looked disgusted and said something to Jay, who smirked and nodded his head. I had a sinking feeling it was about me.

'Alan.' Hayley said, pulling my attention back to her.

'Hayley, you're drunk.'

'No, come on, Alan.' She led me away from the party.

- - -

'Hey, Ashby, snap out of it!' A tall guy laughed at me, clicking his fingers in front of my face. 'There's a party going on and you're staring into space. Live a little!' He dragged me out the designated "dance floor". His dark hair was spiked up, and his red cup was half-empty. I looked down at mine. It was still full. I was completely sober.

'Austin! You coaxed Alan out onto the dancefloor! How, exactly?' Hayley appeared by my side, wrapping a tendril around me. Here I was, at the first party of the school year, and I was thinking about a girl who had dismissed me in class. By standards, the party was awesome. Loud music, alcohol, no parents in sight. It was an equasion that ended with rowdy teenagers who took things a bit too far.

'Dragged him here.' Austin replied to Hayley, leaning down and giving her a kiss on the cheek and a hug.

'It's great to see you! I thought you graduated last year.' Hayley said.

'I did, but I couldn't miss a party. Plus, it's my house.' He replied. While they continued talking, I managed to sidle out of Hayley's grip. I walked out of the house, leaving behind the bright lights. I placed my cup on the counter and wrapped my jacket around me more tightly. It was only nine thirty. I fumbled for my phone and sent a quick text to Hayley.

Hayley

I watched Alan walk away from the party, head low. Something was up. I caught Stella's eye from across the room and tilted my head in Alan's direction. Stella's eyes narrowed, and my phone buzzed. I grabbed it, seeing a text from Alan.

Hey, I had to leave early. I'm not feeling that well. Love you.

I felt someone over my shoulder.

'Not feeling well my ass.' She said.

'I know, Stella.'

-the next morning-

Diana

Back to school for another day without Jay. I walked, not seeing any reason to catch a bus. I had gotten up earlier to avoid seeing my mum, so the air was cool and fresh. My hair was up in a sloppy ponytail and my face was bare of makeup. I had a compulsory fitness test first and second period. Yes, while I had taken no sport-related subjects, the school still required results. I planned on getting to school early and completing my testing without being under the judgemental eye of my peers.

I reached the school oval with half an hour to go until homeroom. Mr Dean was already out on the field, waiting for the classes to assemble.

'Diana, come to do yours early?' He called to me. I nodded my head, holding my bag by my side.

'What do I have to do?' I asked, stretching and switching from my comfy Vans to a beat-up pair of New Balance. Mr Dean smirked at me.

'I think you know what to do.'

'That's true.' I said ruefully. I set off at a quick pace around the oval as a warm up. As I ran past Mr Dean, he started his stopwatch. I jogged for a kilometre, before doing a horizontal and vertical jump and stretching. The bell rang while I was in the middle of my vertical jump, and Mr Dean handed me a pass.

Finally done with testing, I excused myself to go to the bathroom, where I fixed my straggly hair and put on a bit of makeup. I changed out of the loose-fitting, two sizes too big grey shirt Jay had given me to run in into a smaller, more form-fitting band tee. I changed out of my knee length shorts into my favourite skinny jeans and yanked some bracelets on. Satisfied with my more friendly appearance, I chucked on my Vans and headed out to survive the rest of the school day.

A/N

Title cred: Captain Tyin' Knots vs. My Walkway (No Way!) - Sleeping With Sirens

Wow, Alan. Let your feelings out, why don't ya? XD

Oh, and the first three paragraphs were a flashback for all you muggles who couldn't work it out ;)