Two Stars- An Auslly Fanfiction

Chapter 7

I’m still perfectly ready to cry, as I walk home by myself. This morning, Sabrina had said she’d walk home with me, but now, I honestly want nothing to do with her. I’m not entirely sure how to get home, but everything looks familiar from when I walked with Sabrina before, so I know I’m going the right way.

I hear footsteps coming up behind me, and automatically speed up, without seeing who it is, because I’m just so fed up with people right now. It’s Austin, he’s beside me now. I’m trying to pretend I don’t see him, but I can tell I’m doing a terrible job.

“Ally,” he says, and I walk even faster, crossing the street without looking. A car honks at me. Oops. When the car passes, Austin jogs after me. “Ally, you were supposed to turn right back there.”

“I knew that…” I mutter, and turn around, my head still down.

“Okay, on a scale of one to ten, how mad at me are you right now?” I stop (and so does he), and ponder over his question. I’m not…I’m not mad, not really, but…

“I’m a Reject, Austin.” I look up at him, and he winces.

“No, Ally, no you’re not. You-“ I cut him off.

“I’m a Reject, and you know it!” I sigh, and lower my voice back to a normal volume. “I’m just the “wild tree girl” Reject.” He furrows his brow at that.

“Who said that to you?”

“I don’t know. People.” I want to keep walking; I try to leave, but he grabs my arm.

“You’re not. Any of those things people say, I mean. They don’t know you.”

“You don’t know me, either.” He moves his hand off my shoulder, and I close my eyes tightly, wanting this to all be just a dream, just a silly nightmare. When I open my eyes, I’ll be in my own bed, my real bed, at my real home. This is not my place.

I can still hear the city noise in the distance, so I know that in reality, I really am stuck here, but I still keep my eyes shut.

And then I feel his hand slip over mine. My face feels hot with…I don’t even know what. And I don’t know why, but I let myself lean into him a little bit, he puts his other hand on my other arm, now he’s half holding me. Normally, I’d think this was weird. But…it’s not weird. If I’m going to be miserable…this is a good way to be miserable.

“I’m sorry,” I hear him whisper.

“Austin?” I begin. His grip on my shoulder loosens a little bit, but not completely.

“Yeah?”

“If I’m not anything that anyone says, then what am I?” I stand up straight, and now I open my eyes, and face him hopefully. Hopeful that he’ll say something…good. He bites his lip for a moment, thinking.

“You’re…Ally.” I shake my head, and sigh in frustration.

“But…you don’t understand. I don’t want to be Ally. At least not if I have to be here. No one gets Ally. No one cares.” I step away from him and continue down the street. After a few seconds, he calls out to me.

“Wait!” I pause. “I-uh….Tell-tell Dez I’ll be over later.”

This time, I don’t stop.

Susan tries to ask me how my first day went, but I veer off towards my room before she can finish her sentence.

Not a minute after I flop back onto the bed, Eli bursts in.

“How was school?” he asks excitedly.

“It was…an interesting experience. I met some nice people.” That wasn’t a lie, at least.

“Me too! I can’t wait for tomorrow!” Ugh. Tomorrow. A repeat of today. And then tomorrow’s tomorrow, and the day after that…all the same never-ending rejection. A small sigh escapes my mouth.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t like it here,” I blurt out, though I hadn’t meant to show Eli that I was upset. He cocks his head, like he couldn’t possibly imagine what there was to dislike about Miami.

“Well…I like it.”

“But I don’t!” I feel very immature, arguing with my little brother like this, but I don’t really care.

“Don’t worry. You’ll probably get used to it,” he assures.

“And if I don’t?” I question.

“Then…then I guess you just gotta take a deep breath in, and let it out. Don’t be sad, Ally.”

“I want to go home.”

“You know we can’t.”

“I do know,” I sigh again, and Eli holds my hand. He’s a sweet brother.

“Hey, Ally?”

“Hmm?”

“Can you sing the Tiger Song?” he pleads.

“Eli, I barely remember the words! It’s been, what, three years?”

“Only three years!” I shake my head. I do remember the words, but I’m not at all in the mood for singing right now. My words will just get caught in my throat, along with the lump that reminds me how bad I want to cry.

The “Tiger Song” actually isn’t about tigers at all, but the song says “stripes” in the lyrics so often, Eli has permanently dubbed it “The Tiger Song.” Raleigh taught it to me on the guitar, after I heard it on the old iPod. But when I can’t remember a line, I’ll make up my own words.

“Pleeease?” he begs.

“No!”

“Oh, c’mon, Ally, sing for us,” Sabrina says, smiling at me as she stands in the doorway. The anger that had started to melt away as my brother tried to calm me is back in a flash.

“Give me one reason I should listen to you,” I snap.  She looks taken aback.

“I mean, I guess you don’t have to…” she slowly backs away from my room. “Someone’s on their period,” she mutters under her breath, before turning away.

“What’s that mean?” Eli asks, bounding after her. I get up to close the door. I really don’t want to know where that conversation will lead…

It’s still opened a crack, I can hear Sabrina try and escape…I almost feel sorry, for not even trying to stop him.

“Oh, Austin!” Sabrina calls; I can hear the relief in her voice. “Don’t go downstairs yet!”

“What is it?”

“Do you think Ally is mad at me? I think she is…but I can’t figure out why…” I shut the door all the way.

Of course I’m mad! She made my life into a joke. She’s been treating what seem like the friendliest people so terribly! Is that reason enough for you, Sabby? How, I wonder, can a person be so totally clueless?