Pictures

Teaser

A/N: Okay, so I wanted you guys to know what I was working on, and here you go, an excerpt from the first chapter of what, for now, will be called Pictures due to lack of a better title, lol. Enjoy! :)

~S

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It started like this:

Allie sat in class, chin on her hand, trying not to fall asleep, when Penelope, who sat in front of her, passed her an envelope. It was unmarked and completely plain, and Allie looked at it, wondering what was inside. "Who's this from?" she asked.

"Angelo." she said, then she turned to face forward again.

Allie turned the envelope over in her hands again, then ripped it open, pulling out the contents. Three photos had been tucked inside. One was of her back, when she had been sitting on the swing yesterday, quiet and alone and confused, the sunset rendering her no more than a shadow.

The next was of her camera. It was plain, nothing but her camera on the surface of her desk, probably from the other day when she left it by mistake that dismissal.

Finally, it was her again, laughing with her friends at lunch yesterday.

She turned them over, one by one. 'This is why' said the first. 'I can't' said the second. 'let you go.'

She tucked the photos back into the envelope, carefully keeping her expression blank.

Allie hated it. She hated how much she wanted to stay, how much her heart hurt every time she thought about leaving, about Angelo and the times they had had. She was tired of pain in general. Unfortunately, there is no switch you can flip to turn pain off. Pain was a part of life. One that Allie really, really wanted to kick the hell out of.

She stuffed the envelope into her bag and walked out of the classroom as the bell rang. She sighed. Angelo was waiting for her outside, leaning on the lockers. He looked at her from under his long lashes, and she met them for a moment before looking away. Those caramel-colored eyes would be the death of her resolution. "Allie-" he began, calling after her as she began to walk in the opposite direction.

"Hey, could you move? I gotta get to my locker."

Allie looked over her shoulder as Angelo smiled wanly and apologized to Penelope, who, despite being one of the tallest girls in the school, looked short in comparison to Angelo's 6"2 figure. Maybe after she left, he'd end up with Penelope? Penelope was a nice girl, and a beauty too, with long red curls and bright blue eyes. She wouldn't be very surprised. Penelope had always liked Angelo, but being as kind as she was, she had left him alone when he got together with Allie, and far from being jealous, she'd helped Allie a lot when she needed dating advice or something. After all, her friends weren't always the most reliable- they ended up just gushing or forcing her into a ton of outfits she didn't like.

Allie looked away again and walked even faster towards her next class, taking advantage of Angelo's distraction. She needed to stop caring so much. She needed to let it end. She needed to just rip off the bandage now, so that the pain would be quick; so that it would hurt for only a second, and then fade away, completely forgotten in but a minute.

That was why she forced herself not to look back again.

And so, without her knowledge, Angelo watched her go, his heart tearing a little more with each step she took away from him. He sighed, and watched as she melted into the crowd, heading towards her next class, which was Biology, one of the few classes they didn't have together on Wednesdays.

He started towards his next class, when Penelope caught him by the arm. "Are you all right Angelo?"

He opened his mouth to say yes, he was fine. Then he shut it again. He couldn't. He couldn't lie and claim to be perfectly okay when his heart was shattered and he was staring into Penelope's warm, concerned eyes; those eyes that looked so much like-

"Allie." He thought it might have been him, whispering her name like a secret, a secret he so desperately wanted to keep- a secret that so desperately wanted to break free. But no. It was not his voice. His mouth remained shut, his lower lip between his teeth as he unconsciously tried to keep her name in. It was Penelope's voice.

She was looking at him with sad, sympathetic eyes. "It's her, isn't it?"

Angelo nodded once, stiffly. "We should go. We'll be late," he said, and began heading towards his history class.

"Angelo! Wait!" Angelo turned to face Penelope, who remained beside her locker, clutching her books to her chest. She did not smile at him, nor did she give him a pity look. She looked at him only with concern and said, "I'm always here, if you need someone to talk to."

He shot her a grateful and tired smile. "Thanks." With that, they went their separate ways.