The next morning I don't go to school. Instead I stay in my bed until about four in the afternoon because my father told me he would tell Austin to go away if he came over. My father is an evil man. He knows that taking Austin away from me would get me out of bed. A part of me doesn't believe he would actually do that, but I don't want to test it out.

I sit in the kitchen and stare at my glass of water in front of me. My father just left to the store and Austin is supposed to be here at any moment. I texted him this morning and told him I wasn't going to school so I wouldn't upset him like yesterday. He told me I should still go but I refused.

A knock on the door alerts me. I jog over and look out the side window. Austin is standing there, shoving his hands into his pockets. God, he is the most attractive boy I have ever laid my eyes on. His messy blonde hair is in every direction yet it's still perfect. I open the door and he smiles at me. Did I mention he has the most amazing smile I have ever seen too?

"Hi." I say, grinning.

"Hi school skipper." He says, punching me playfully in the arm.

I roll my eyes and walk into the living room with him close behind. I sit down on the couch and he does the same. He kisses me on the cheek and leans back, "But seriously…"

"What?" I ask.

"Are you going to school tomorrow?" He asks.

I shrug, "I don't know…"

"Ally, you can't let this get to you. It's just showing the person that did it that they matter, and they don't."

"It's not just that. They just put me over the edge. I haven't wanted to go to that school."

"Why?" He asks.

I shake my head, "Do you really have to ask? All those memories, I can't take them. I hated walking by that classroom every day and having to think of Stacy, or even Caroline." I cringe.

"You can't change what happened." He says.

"I know that. I just am having a hard time. I'm not bouncing back like all of you." I say.

"You think it's easy on me?" He asks.

I shake my head, "No, but you act like it."

"Because if I didn't I'd go crazy."

"At least you had a normal life to go back to. I was a loser and still am." I say.

His eyes widen and he turns to me, resting his hand on my thigh, "That is not true." He says.

"I really don't want to talk about this." I say.

"You need to talk to someone about it."

"Please." I beg.

He sighs as we hear my father coming in the front door. Austin takes his hand back and I turn on the television. My dad makes us tacos for dinner and we all eat in the living room. Things have been really laid back since the crash. My father doesn't care as much as he used to about the little things. He would never let me eat anywhere but the kitchen. Now I can even eat in my room if I want to. I guess that's been in a traumatic plane crash perk.

After we clean up Austin and I hang out in my room. He spins around in my desk chair as I lay on my stomach on my bed watching him. He yawns suddenly and I sigh, turning over onto my back, "Tired?"

"Yeah, I should probably head home." He admits.

I stand up as he does. He walks over to me and hugs me tightly to his chest. We break apart and he leans down and kisses me. He pulls away but I kiss him again, craving more. After a few more minutes of kissing I walk him out.

[][][][][][][][][][][]

After skipping school again on Friday, Austin practically drags me to school the following Monday. We walk in together and I keep my eyes on him or to the floor. By the time we get to my locker I think we are safe, until I get a good look at it. The lock is broken. I look up at Austin who looks back at me, mortified.

"Who would do that?" he asks.

I open it slowly, but it's too late, a thick red liquid pours out, getting all over my white converses. I hold in a scream as Austin pulls me back towards him. Everything in my locker is ruined. I slip a little and then grab on to Austin's arm, "And you wonder why I don't want to be here?" I say.

"This is bullshit." Austin says.

"What if your locker is the same?" I ask.

"It will be. Mine was." Daniel says, appearing out of nowhere.

"This is ridiculous." Austin says.

"Someone is out to get us." I say.

Austin shakes his head, "Don't be too paranoid Ally, it's just some asshole." He says.

"Yeah well, they better hope I don't find out who they are." Daniel says.

I spend the rest of the day on full alert. Any little noise makes me jump; someone dropping their pencil in class, a door shutting at the end of the hall. I feel like the person pulling these pranks could do something different at any time. And who knows what they will actually do next. By the time school is finally over, I'm a nervous wreck. Austin even skips football practice to walk me home because Trish had detention.

He wraps his arm around my shoulder as we walk down the sidewalk silently. A car goes by us and honks, making me jump. Austin waves; it was just one of his friends. I sigh and brush a piece of hair behind my ear.

"I'm sorry this is happening." Austin says lowly.

"It's not your fault."

"I can see that it's really bothering you." He says.

I shrug but unconvincingly. There's no point in lying to him, "Yes, it is. I'm afraid."

"It's just some idiot pulling pranks, there's nothing to be afraid of."

I shrug his arm off and stop, turning to him, "We don't know what they are capable of. Clearly they want us dead."

Austin's mouth hangs open, but only for a moment, "Ally, you don't have to be over dramatic here, they don't want us dead."

"What about what they did to the picture?"

"They are just trying to mess with us. You are over thinking it."

"Or maybe you are under thinking it." I hiss.

He rests his hands on my shoulders, "Hey, calm down, I don't mean to upset you." He says quietly.

I just nod at him and we continue walking. When we get to my house, we sit in the kitchen and drink cans of soda in silence. Usually we can talk about anything, but the silence has been lingering between us ever since all of this started happening. He doesn't think it's a big deal, but I have a bad feeling about all of this.