The next day Ally went for a stroll along the beach, trying to organise her thoughts and make sense of them. She didn't understand why she had flipped out on Dylan the other day. What he had said was sweet, he was gutted they had missed out on these eight years apart. Well, at least thats what it sounded like. But it had been a trigger of her memories, memories she kept locked away and never let resurface, and in one great force, the pain that came from her miscarriage hit her square in the chest with great strength, and she had found it hard to breath. She had clearly overreacted but at the time she had acted on instinct. She had wanted to run far away from him. Far away from the pain of their pasts.
She had also come to realise that she had jumped straight from Arthur's bed to Dylan's and that made her a slut. What she had with Dylan was casual and she liked that and she was trying bloody hard not to let that make her feel cheap. She had been enjoying herself without the fear of being hurt but the whisper in her ear had very much sounded like a whole lot of commitment. She didn't think she was ready for that yet. Her heart was not yet fully recovered from Arthur. She couldn't love someone else quite so soon. She wasn't even sure how they had ended up in this situation. One night she had been storming away from him, the next she was sitting on his lap letting him suck on her neck. It had happened so fast, and she had liked the pleasure he brought him that she hadn't given it much thought. Now, she couldn't think of anything else. She liked Dylan, he was her oldest friend, her first love but she wasn't ready for any sort of relationship past a friendship. She would have to back off. She had meant it when she said she wanted him as a friend. At the moment it seemed like she needed him, and she had been through enough hurt in the past few months that she was not going to deny her of his presence. She wasn't that strong.
A small puppy ran up to her and started to jump on her legs. Damn it was cute. Bending to her knees she stroked and cooed at the dog.
"Lacey, you gotta teach your dog not to lick shit."
Angelina and another gorgeous girl, who Ally guessed was Lacey and hated on sight; no one should look as perfect as her, came strutting towards her.
"Ang, that wasn't nice." Lacey was a stunner. Her hair was redder than a raging fire and her eyes as blue as the morning sky. She bent down and put the leech on her puppy. She looked at her cousin, she hated the pout that her cousin had perfected. If truth be told, she hated her cousin in general. She wasn't a nice person but unfortunately for her, she was the only person she knew in this small town. "Now wipe that snarl of your face, it ain't pretty."
Her hands curling into fists, Angelina snarled at her. "Whatever, I'm out of here." She stalked away.
Standing up Ally muttered 'cow' under her breath.
Lacey let out a laugh "Yeah, she is." She held her hand out. "I'm Lacey."
"Ally." She responded, taking her hand. She guessed Angelina had been bitching about her as she watched Lacey's face fill with recognition.
"Oh. So you're the girl, Ang, is having a cow about." Her face broke into a smile. She was glad someone was finally standing up to her cousin. God knew she needed to be put into her place.
"Since I moved here, you have been the cause of my entertainment. It's been great seeing Angelina finally not getting her way."
Maybe this girl wasn't too bad thought Ally. "Glad to be of service."
"You walking up the beach? I'll come with you." Lacey told her, rather than asking. She needed a friend and she had decided Ally would be it.
"Deal. Just bloody deal. Some people are so darn greedy." Ally's mum screamed at the TV. It was gone eleven at night but her mum recorded every Deal or No Deal so they could watch it whenever they wanted. Wasn't she the lucky one? "She's going to end up with a blue, I can already see it." They were sitting on her mums bed which enabled her to rest her ankle more comfortably. Despite the ghastly bruising, the pain had eased and she was becoming more mobile everyday. As much as she loved having her daughter around she didn't really need Ally around to help her anymore.
