The One: Scandalous Redemption (The One Series-Book10) (ORIGINAL DRAFT)

Chapter21: Frozen In Time

Chapter21-Frozen In Time
November 20th, 2012

 It’s a few days later. 7th Anthem were given a week off from everything. This gave Andrew and Alyson the opportunity to go to Boston. Alyson wanted to tell her parents in person. She felt like she needed to confront her fears. At least she had Andrew by her side.

 Sometime after they booked a hotel room, they got a car rental, and drove to the Beacon Hill neighborhood. Alyson tried to concentrate with driving, but she was taken in the scenery. She, an Andrew, hadn’t been in this part of Boston in years. To them, it was like the area hadn’t changed much, but it did. Yet, even with the new businesses around the area, all the leaves on the trees were gone. Winter was obviously coming.

 When they arrived at her house, she sat in the car, trying to breathe slowly and calmly. Andrew noticed, so he gently rubbed her neck, and said, “You can do this, Aly. Besides, I’ll be right beside you. I’ll defend you, okay?”

 Alyson nodded her head. Andrew kissed her cheek. Then they got out of the car. As they walked up the steps, she squeezed his hand tightly. He squeezed back, and gave her a reassuring smile. She then rang the doorbell. They waited for about a minute. No answer. Then she knocked. After another minute. Once again, no answer.

 Andrew told her, “They’re probably working at Harvard right now.”

 Alyson said, “Yeah…”

 Then she stepped off the “welcome” mat underneath their feet. She got Andrew to step off also. She picked up the mat. She saw a spare key. She picked it up, and opened the door with it. 

 Andrew was amazed by this, so he asked, “How did you know about this?”

 She replied, “For as long as I can remember, my parents always had a spare key hidden underneath the welcome mat. They did this in case Melissa and I came back from school, and we need to get in. Or if our parents locked themselves, the key was there for us.”

 Andrew a small smile, and went inside the house with her. She closed the door behind them, and locked it. She told him, “I don’t think you’ve ever been inside of my house before.”

 “No, I wasn’t. If I was, I would’ve remembered.”

 He then took in the interior. It was classy yet conservative. She noticed what he was doing, so she told him, “My parents have a thing for class. But all of this was done on a budget.”

 He turned to face her, and gave a smile. She told him, “You’re full of smiles. I like that.”

 Andrew looked away, and blushed slightly. She took his hand, and said, “Want to see my room?”

 Andrew smirked, and said, “You sound like a rebellious teenager.”

 Alyson also smirked, and said, “I haven’t been home since I was a teenager. What do you expect?”

 “Good point,” he said while giving a small laugh.

 So Alyson led him by hand to her room on the third floor of her house. She saw the door to her room was wide open. They both walked in. She was shocked by what she saw. 

 Her room was a normal sized bedroom. About the same size as her room back in the 7A condo. Except her closet wasn’t a walk-in. Her wall had posters of her favorite bands and singers from the early 2000s. There were posters of Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Aaron Carter, NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, S Club 8, The A-Teens, and only one poster of a Christian band: Jump5. Her wall was the very definition of a 2000s teenager who just got out of the 90s.