Girlfriend Material

Summary: Basically, for summer vacation, Ally and her dad go to Cape Cod to stay with Trish and her family. Trish's dad was Ally's dad's old college roommate and are best friends. This is based on Melissa Kantor's Girlfriend Material and may have some references directly taken from the book. But, it's not copied completely and has been changed to fit Austin and Ally. It's a lot shorter. So enjoy! It's Auslly...just saying. Rated T for small reasons. Note: Dez is not that crazy in this.

P.S. They are all around 16-17.

I grumpily sat next to my dad in the van. I swear he had been talking for the last three hours. I was being unwillingly dragged from Miami to Dryer's Cove, Massachusetts so that my dad could have a bit of "stress relief" by staying with his old college roommate and his family. I didn't want to go. I like normalcy, I like having a normal organized every day system. I even brought up the point that I had a writing class that he had already paid for during the summer that I had to attend. I thought that this would win him over, considering how he is very stingy when it comes to money. But, to no avail, I had to leave the writing class and jump in the car for a road trip that I didn't even want to go on.

"Aren't you excited, Ally? You'll get to see Trish again. It's been a very long time since you've last seen her, and I remember you guys got along great." my dad said, clearly happy about this trip.

"Mmm," I mumbled, not wanting to comply, even though I was actually excited to see Trish again. I remember having so much fun with her, even though it was eight years ago. Trish was very devious...I guess the word would be, and we spent every second laughing our heads off. We spent the whole week together pulling tricks on our family. We put tons of silverware in my dad's bed so it would poke him when he went to bed, and switched the skim milk for whole milk when we knew that her mom was on a crazy intense diet. But I would never admit to my dad that I was excited to see Trish again, because that would just mean that I had given in. I was also glad that maybe I could reinvent myself a bit for a summer, it's not like anyone knew me at Cape Cod anyways.

One of the books my writing teacher, Ms. Baker, had assigned for the writing class this summer was Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. It's about this group of disillusioned and depressed people in their 20s in Europe after World War I. All of the main characters are men, except for one, Lady Brett Ashley, who I'm not afraid to admit, is basically my role model. Basically, every man she meets falls madly in love with her, but she doesn't care about any of them.

In reality, I'm nothing like her. I'm not gorgeous and super confident, and I'm pretty sure no guy has ever fallen madly in love with me. I'm more of the shy and quiet type, and I'd rather just sit at home and read a book and write songs. But, I imagine that hanging out with Trish and her friends might make me cooler and let me get out of my comfort zone.

After what seemed like forever, my dad finally said, "We're here, honey."

I glanced out my window to see nothing but a fork in the road up ahead with a sign that said, "PRIVATE ROAD. NO BEACH ACCESS." and a smaller sign that said underneath, "DE LA ROSA." We drove up the road and eventually saw a house that appeared almost out of nowhere. There were two buildings, a fairly big wooden building, and a smaller one which I assumed was the garage. My dad had mentioned that they had old family wealth.

"They're here!" a voice shouted. And, a familiar looking man and woman came out of the main house to greet us.

"Ally!" Trish's mom came up to greet me, while Trish's dad came to greet my father.

"Hi, Mrs. De La Rosa," I said weakly back, on account on the tight hug she was giving me.

She let go, "Oh, please, call me Marie. We're so glad you're here."

"Thanks for having us," I responded.

We headed inside the house and Marie fixed us up a snack. Then, she led us to the "garage."

"You guys will be staying here," she laughed, "I know it looks like the garage, but we renovated it into more of a guesthouse. She pulled open the door and showed us the rooms and bathroom, "Make yourself at home." Then, Marie turned to me and said, "Trish is so excited to see you again. She should be here shortly, but she's just at her job. I would tell you what it was, but I'm not sure what it is nowadays. She tends to flit around different jobs."

I nodded and smiled, "Okay, thanks." I headed to my room for the summer and unpacked. When I finished, I headed back down to the main house where my dad already was.

I sat down by the parents, trying to pay attention to what they were saying, but got bored instantly. I was about to go back to the guesthouse to grab my songbook when I heard the front door click. And, Trish walked in.

"Hey," I said to Trish.

She gave me a once over, "Hey," she replied after a short pause. She turned to my dad, "Hi Lester."

"Hello Trish, it's nice to see you again."

"You too," she turned to her parents, "I'm gonna go shower." Then, she walked out of the room.

I watched her retreating form. I expected a little more enthusiasm, and I didn't expect her to be almost...cold towards me. I thought we were close the last time we saw each other, but maybe I thought wrong.

"Trish," Marie called. Trish looked back over her shoulder. Marie continued, "If you're going out with your friends later on, you should let Ally tag along, introduce her to them." Trish gave me a look as an invitation, but I knew that she clearly did not want me to be hanging out with her and her friends.

"Um, no thanks," I said, not wanting to get on her bad side, "I'm just gonna stay in and read or something." Trish gave me a nod and continued to walk away.

The next morning, I woke up at 7:30 and couldn't go back to sleep. So, I slipped into some clothes, grabbed my phone and songbook and pen from the shelf, and headed over to the main house. It felt weird walking into basically a stranger's home without them knowing I was there, but I didn't think they would like me announcing my presence especially since they were undoubtedly all asleep judging by the silence in the house. I grabbed a bagel from the pantry and some spread from the fridge, and made myself some breakfast. Then, I headed to the balcony, sitting on one of the chairs.

As I leaned back in the chair, I reminisced over my favorite part of The Sun Also Rises which was the ending. Lady Brett Ashley, and Jake, a man who is in love with her and she is only kind of in love with, are in a taxi together in Madrid. Her latest love affair had just ended, and she says, "Oh, Jake, we could have had such a damn good time together." And, he said, "Isn't it pretty to think so?"

I loved that line. I opened my songbook to a blank page and began thinking about what to write next. But, before I could get anything down on paper, Trish came out onto the balcony.

"Hi," I said.

"Oh, I didn't know anyone was out here," she hesitated for a moment, probably debating if she should sit out here with me or go back inside. Then, she thought better of it and sat down a couple of seats away from me.

We sat in silence for awhile, but not being able to stand it anymore, I said, "I can't believe how calm the ocean is."

Trish glanced at me, "It's the bay."

"What?" I asked.

"It's the bay," she repeated. "The ocean's on the other side of the Cape."

"Oh," I said. "Gotcha." Gotcha...did I really just say that? How stupid could I possibly sound?

I felt so grateful when I heard the door open behind me and Marie came out, "Good morning, girls!"

"Good morning," we responded.

"So, girls, I think we're all going to head down to the country club. Ally, you can ride with Trish, she just got her license."

I just nodded.

The whole way there, Trish blasted her music insanely loud, as if to possibly block any way of possible conversation to occur. Luckily, the club wasn't too far away. I climbed out of the car and followed Trish, who was headed down the pathway with a hand-painted sign that said, "POOL." We settled at two lounge chairs and sat in silence until Trish saw someone she knew and muttered an, "Excuse me," in my direction.

I heard a squeak of rubber, as someone took the seat that Trish had been occupying.

I turned to face a girl around my age, "Um, someone's sitting there."

"Yeah, I know. Trish. I saw you guys come in. I'm Jenna."

"Ally," I said.

"I go to school with Trish. You're the one living with her for the summer, right? You and your dad?"

"Yeah, I'm the one."

"I've been to Miami. Our family goes down there to go to the beach sometimes. And, to visit Disney World," she flashes me a smile, "So, how do you like Cape Cod?"

"It's nice," I replied, not sure what else to say. At that point, two boys came out of the pool, dripping water, and stood at the edge of the Jenna's pool chair. One was a redhead, very tall and skinny and a little cute. But, the other one, a blond with nicely toned abs, and sparkling brown eyes, was equally tall, but a lot cuter. He was hot.

"Hey," Jenna said, looking up at the boys, "If you want to play, we got an earlier court time."

"Oh, great," said the redhead. "Yeah, I definitely want to play."

"Me too," said the blond, "But we need a fourth." He gestured at Trish's bag, "Where's Trish?"

"She's over there," I pointed across to where Trish was still talking to the person she saw earlier.

"Who's she talking to?" the redhead asked.

"Victoria," Jenna replied.

"Oh," he replied.

"Anyways," Jenna continued, "This is Ally. She's staying with Trish for the summer. Ally, this is Dez," she pointed to the redhead, "And, this is Austin," she pointed to the blond.

Dez held his hand out to shake mine, "Nice to meet you, Ally."

"Nice to meet you, too," I replied. He flashed me a smile.

"Hey," Austin said, "Where are you from?"

"Miami," I answered.

"Oh, that's cool. It's nice to meet you," he held his hand out to shake mine as well. I hate to say it, but I melted a bit under his touch. I've never been in the vicinity of this cute of a guy before.

"Yeah, me too...I mean, not nice to meet me...I already know me. I meant that it's nice to meet you," my face turned bright red when I realized I was rambling.

He just laughed. I couldn't be sure, but it seemed to me that our eyes and our hands locked for a beat longer than necessary.

"So, what's the deal?" Dez asked. "What time's the court?"

Jenna looked at her watch. "It's, like, now," she said. "Fifteen minutes. You guys should go change." She swung her legs over the side of the chair and stood up. She turned to me, "Well, it was nice meeting you, Ally. I'm sure we'll see you soon."

"Yeah," said Dez. "Good to meet you."

"I'm going to go get Trish," said Jenna.

"See you," said Austin.

I had to restrain myself from blurting out after him, "When? When will I see You?" But, what actually came out was, "Yeah. See you."

After they left, I pulled out my songbook to record about what just happened, but I thought better of it. I had a feeling I wouldn't forget it.

Trish came by to get her bag, and I went home with the parents.

The next morning, I went downstairs, "Morning."

Leo said, "I'm going to go over to the club. Anyone want to come?"

My dad stood up, "Yeah, I'll go."

Marie stood up, "I'm going to Provincetown for a haircut. Ally, want to tag along?"

"It's okay," I replied.

"If you feel like going out later, you can take one of the bikes in the shed," Marie told me.

"Okay, thanks," I said. The grown-ups got up and left the table. I wandered through the house and found myself in a room which I assumed was the library. There were almost two thousand books in there, most of which I had never even heard of. I pulled a book off the shelf right as Marie walked in. I dropped the book, startled.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"No, it's okay. I was just...reading."

"It's fine, help yourself to whatever you like. But, there's also a wonderful library in town. If you're a book lover, you might like to browse there."

"I'd like that. I'll probably go later," I smiled at her.

She picked up something off of the desk and left, "Have a good day today, Ally."

"Thanks," I replied.

After wandering around the house bored for a few hours, I decided to go to the library Marie told me about. I slid the bike into the bike rack and opened the door of the library and found myself in a low-ceilinged, wood-paneled room. I took a deep breath, loving the familiar smell of books. I wandered up and down the fiction aisles and pulled out a Sarah Dessen book, Just Listen. It was one of my favorites of hers and one I loved to reread over and over again. I decided to check it out and headed to the check out line.

"Do you have a library card?" the librarian asked as I slid the book towards her.

I shook my head. "I just got here," I explained, "I don't have anything." I gave her what I hoped was a charming smile.

She wasn't having any of it. "Do you have proof of residence?"

"Not exactly. I'm staying with a family friend."

"Mmhmm...name?"

"Um," I racked my brain. Really, to forget their name now?

Someone had gotten in line behind me, and I felt he or she leaning over slightly, "Don't believe a word she's saying Barbara. This girl has book thief written all over her."

The voice was familiar. Very familiar. I turned, to find myself face to face with Austin.

He smiled down at me, "We have got to stop meeting like this."

"Hey, Austin," I said, smiling back at him. He was wearing jeans with a white polo, and was looking very cute.

"So, trying to pull a fast one on the fine people of Dryer's Cove, are you?"

"I can't help her out without any information, Austin," the librarian said, "The best I can do is let you check out the book for her."

"Hmm," he pretended to think, "I'll have to see what she's reading then."

He pulled the book from my hand, "Just Listen, hmm?" He glanced at the summary, "Doesn't seem inappropriate...why not?" He handed the book to Barbara, "Can you check these out, too?" He handed a stack of comic books to the librarian, as well.

"I wouldn't have pegged you as a comic book reader," I told him.

"Really? I totally am. But, no, these aren't for me. I'm doing an internship with low-income, at-risk kids at the community center. Today's Manga Sunday."

This fact made him so much more sweeter and even more perfect in my mind than he already was. He held open the front door for me. Standing on the porch of the library with our books, and me dressed up in a flowery sundress from a vintage shop by my house, I really felt as if we had went back in time to 1955. I smiled at the idea.

"What?" Austin asked.

"It's just that this town is so quaint. I feel as if one of us should say, 'Well, golly, let's go get a pop!'"

Austin laughed and then said in a really enthusiastic voice, "Well, golly, Ally, would you like to go get a pop with me?"

I just smiled as a response, I didn't want to answer yes if he was just joking. I felt as if we were staring at each other for an hour before he said, "Unfortunately, I have to get back to work. Can we take a rain check?"

"Definitely," I replied. Was this a real rain check or a 1955 rain check? This whole conversation was starting to give me a headache.

"Okay then," Austin said, "See you later."

"Later." I hoped that later meant soon. And that the next time one of us suggested getting together, it would be in the 21st century.

The next day, I biked to the club. I wandered around until I heard a voice faintly say my name. I turned and saw Dez and Austin sitting in two overstuffed armchairs on the deck of the building. Austin looked up at me as I approached, and I felt my breath catch a little. I hadn't realized how much I was hoping to see him again.

"Hey," I said, glad I sounded normal, despite the fact that my heart was beating fast.

"Hey," he said. He pointed at Dez, "You remember Dez, right?"

"Right."

"Hey," said Dez.

Then nobody said anything for a minute.

In The Sun Also Rises, Lady Brett is always running into guys she doesn't know that well. When she sees them she says, "Hello chaps!" and suggests they go off and get a Pernod together. But, I couldn't see myself addressing Dez and Austin as chaps, especially since I'm not British...and I have no idea what a Pernod is.

"So, how come we haven't seen you around?" Dez asked.

"Oh, I..." I stalled not wanting to say that it's because no one issued an invitation...oh and yeah, Trish seemed to hate my guts.

Luckily, I was interrupted by Jenna climbing up the balcony stairs, "Don't start in on me."

"You're late," Austin said.

"I'm only ten minutes late, chill," she responded. She had her blond hair pulled up into a high ponytail and was wearing a white tank top with a short blue skirt. She turned to me, "Hey, long time no see." She turned back to the boys, "So, are you ready?"

"We've been ready for-" Dez started, but Jenna interrupted.

"Dude, it's not like you have a job or anything. Austin and I are the ones in need of desperate R and R."

I felt weird just standing there, "I guess I should go. Nice seeing you all again."

"Do you feel like playing?" Jenna turned to me.

"Me?"

She laughed, "Yes, you."

I accepted the offer and figured out that we were going to play golf. Not mini golf, but actual golf. If you've never held a golf club before, it's painful. If you feel comfortable, you're holding it wrong. You have to hunch over and grab the club with both hands wrapped around it in opposite directions.

"That's great," Jenna said, observing my stance.

"Wait," Austin said, coming over to me. "Hold your right hand a little lower." He put his hand over mine and moved it and I could feel my face blushing beet red as he did so. "Now, pull the club back and swing all the way through, over the horizon."

"Okay," I pulled the club back and swung with all my might.

"That was good," Jenna said enthusiastically.

I looked around to see where it had gone and found it still where I had left it, "It didn't move."

"Don't worry, practice makes perfect," Austin said, picking up the golf ball and handing it to me.

"How many holes are there again?" I asked.

"Eighteen," Jenna answered. But, when she saw my face she added, "You'll be surprised how fast it goes."

On a hole where Jenna and I were searching for a golf ball I misplaced, I asked, "So how do you guys all know each other?"

"Well, aside from school? Um, well my boyfriend has been friends with Austin. So, I met Austin when Biff and I started going out. And I've also known Trish forever and so I met Dez when they started going out. And, also Dez and Austin have been like best friends since childhood."

There was one thing I couldn't get out of my mind, "Trish and Dez dated?"

"Yeah, but it's kind of sad though because I still think he's into her." She let out a triumphant scream and held up the runaway golf ball, "Found it!"

"Oh, you totally rock!" I gave her a high-five and felt consoled with the fact that she had mentioned, hers, Trish's, and Dez's love lives. But, she hadn't mentioned Austin's.

Later that night, as I was on my way to bed, I saw Trish and her dad throwing away the garbage from dinner and couldn't help myself but to try to overhear what they were saying.

"So, Ally's a nice girl," Leo began.

I couldn't make out an answer from Trish, but could almost see her shrug in the distance.

"Have you invited her to the Fourth of July bonfire yet?"

"I'm sure she won't want to go. She doesn't know anyone."

"That's why you'll introduce her to people," I could hear a slight edge in Leo's voice.

There was a pause, then Trish replied curtly, "Fine."

Now I knew that Trish was being forced against her will to ask me to go, there was only one thing I could say: no.

The next morning I got up and decided to go for a run. And...I ran into Trish who was also on a run.

"Oh, hey, you on a run, too?" she asked.

I paused, still kind of irritated from the exchange I heard between her and her dad the night before, "Yeah."

"So, I was going to invite you to the Fourth of July barbeque tonight...but, it looks like it's going to rain," she said, looking up at the sky, which was looking a bit cloudy and grey, "And, they probably won't have it if it rains."

"Probably not," I replied tersely.

She hesitated, "Are you like mad at me or something?"

Even though I was, I replied, "No, I'm not mad."

"Oh, good," Trish said, "If it doesn't rain later, you should come to the barbeque."

Even though I had vowed last night to not comply, I couldn't stop the words coming out of my mouth, "Great. Sure."

The weather held up for the rest of the day, and even with my reluctant invitation, I was pretty excited to go to the barbeque, especially because of the chance that I might see Austin again. I spent the day trying on and rejecting outfits. I eventually decided to wear the only super fancy outfit I brought to Cape Cod. It was a strapless wild profusion of purple and red flowers with a stiff crinoline under it and red heels. I felt so pretty, Austin just had to see me in it.

Satisfied with my wardrobe choice, I headed down to the main house to find Trish wearing purple leopard print leggings, a black shirt with cap sleeves, and flip flops. I was extremely overdressed by comparison.

"Um, hi," she said.

I could feel my cheeks blazing at my fashion fumble, "Hi...I guess I thought I should get dressed up."

She paused, "It'll probably be okay if you wear that."

"Um, do you think people will be dressed like me or you?"

"Honestly?"

I nodded.

"I think it's a really pretty dress, but you'll probably be more dressed up than most people."

"Would you mind waiting while I change?" I asked.

"No problem."

I ran over to the guesthouse to change as fast as I could. I kicked off my heels and unzipped my dress. Pulling open my drawer and thinking quickly, I pulled on a pair of capri jeans and a yellow tank top. Then, on my way out I slipped on my flip flops and headed back down to the guesthouse.

Trish nodded at me, "Way better."

"Thanks."

"You girls should probably bring something warm to put on," said Leo. "It's going to get cold later and it might rain."

"Talk about ruining a look, Dad," said Trish.

"Suit yourself. Ally, I hope you're more practical than my daughter. There are plenty of sweaters in the closet. Or you can take a sweatshirt."

I shook my head.

He shrugged and turned back to the TV he was watching.

Everyone at the beach was dressed casually, and I was so thankful to Trish for letting me change. There was a buffet table and bar near the entrance. And, there was a bonfire about a hundred yards away that little kids were playing around.

Dez, Jenna, and Austin were standing near the buffet table. And, I felt a little tingle of something between happiness and relief when I saw Austin.

"Hey," Jenna called at us. Austin looked up at us, too. He had on jeans, a gray long sleeved shirt, and a sweater tied low on his hips. In my opinion...he looked kind of...sexy.

We all headed towards the buffet table and we all filled our plates with food. The five of us found an open area of the beach and sat down to eat.

After everyone had finished eating, Trish stood up, "I'm going to go see who else is here. Anyone want to come?"

"Sure," Jenna replied, standing up as well.

Dez nodded his consent and followed after the two girls, but not before looking down at Austin and me, "You two coming?"

"I'm good," Austin said.

I shook my head, "I'll hang out here for a little while."

"See you guys later," Trish said with a wave.

"So, are you having fun so far?" Austin asked me, once we were alone, laying down on our stomachs, with his head resting against his arms.

"I am having fun. And, I'm getting in some reading and writing, too."

"You write?"

"Yeah, I keep a diary of sorts. But, I mostly write songs."

"Oh really? I can't write a song for my life, but I do sing," he replied. He belted out a few lines of a Script song.

I smiled, could he get more amazing? "Wow, you have a really great voice. I'd sing, but I have stage fright."

"Aw, why?"

I didn't like the sudden turn the conversation had gotten to, "Um, I'd rather not talk about it...hey, want to go for a walk?"

"Yeah, sure," he got up and helped me up.

We began walking along the shoreline of the beach.

"So," he began, "What books have you been reading?"

"Well, I recently finished The Sun Also Rises. It's my new favorite book."

"Yeah," Austin said, "I love that book. The last scene is so great."

"You mean when Brett and Jake are in the taxi?" I was a bit amazed that I was talking to a boy I liked about a book I liked. "And she says how they could have been so happy together?"

"Exactly," Austin said, "I love when Jake says, 'Isn't it pretty to think so?'"

I was impressed he could actually quote the line, "I love Lady Ashley," I said.

"Really? Why?" he asked, surprised.

I didn't want to say the real reason which was that it was because she was so irresistible to guys, so instead I said, "She's so independent. I admire that."

"I guess. She seems kind of sad to me."

"Really? She's like my role model."

"You're way cooler than Lady Brett Ashley."

"Thanks," I suddenly found it hard to breathe.

"You're welcome."

We had been walking so long that we were getting farther away from the party and were getting towards the deserted part of the beach. Plus, it was getting dark and cold, and I suddenly regretted not taking Leo's advice of getting a sweater.

We'd been walking in silence for a few minutes when Austin said, "Look, you have to let me give you my sweater."

"Aren't you cold?" I asked.

"Yeah, but I can't possibly be as cold as you are, what with my having a shirt with sleeves and all. And I can't put my sweater on when I'm walking with a girl who's freezing to death."

"I'm not freezing to death," I replied, hoping he couldn't hear my teeth chattering.

We'd now stopped walking and were facing each other.

"I'm freezing to death," Austin protested, "So you have to be freezing to death."

"Maybe I'm very warm-blooded."

He untied the sweater from his waist, "Nobody's that warm-blooded."

"I can't take it. I'd feel too guilty."

"There's no point in both of us being cold. Take the sweater."

"You put it on. It's your sweater. I'm the one who was stupid enough not to bring one."

"I'm not going to put it on. I can see goose bumps on your flesh." He touched my arm gently, and I shivered, but not just from the cold. I took a step closer to him. He'd been holding the sweater bunched up in my direction, but when I stepped toward him, he lifted it up and found the neck. Seeing what he was doing, I took another step and bent my head down. He slipped the sweater over my head, and I felt the soft wool all around me. It smelled of the ocean and the sun, and for a second before my head emerged, I felt myself engulfed in a hot summer's day. I'd stepped even closer to Austin than I realized; we were only a few inches apart now, and he had his hands on both of my shoulders. I could feel my hair pressing against my ears, pulled tight by the neck of the sweater. I lifted my arms to slip them into the sleeves, and as I pushed my hands down to the cuffs, I extended them towards Austin. Austin reached into the neck of the sweater and gently slipped my hair out, and suddenly it was all too much. It was like I'd been handed the perfect moment to do something romantic, and before I could think about it, almost before I could decide to do it, my hands were on his hips and I had leaned in to kiss him. This was so unlike me in so many ways, plus I hadn't had my first kiss yet. But, for some reason, even though I'd only known Austin for a few weeks, I wanted my first kiss to be with him.

At first, he seemed to hesitate about kissing me back. But, before I could retreat and apologize for my advance, his hands were in my hair and he was definitely kissing me back. He was an amazing kisser. At first his kisses were really gentle, almost like they were an extension of our flirtatious conversation, but then they got deeper and more intense. It was a whole mind-body experience.

I have no idea how long we'd been kissing when the fireworks started going off, but suddenly the world exploded with light. Austin pulled his lips away from mine and held my face with his hands.

"You're an amazing kisser," he said. "It's just like in the movies-I'm actually seeing fireworks."

I laughed, "Me too."

We both turned and looked out over the water, where the fireworks' dazzle was reflected so it looked like there were two displays-one above the water and one below. Austin slipped his hand into the back pocket of my jeans, and I slipped mine into the back pocket of his. A group of preteen girls walked by, and as they passed, I saw a few of them looking at me and Austin from the light of the fireworks. I realized that they had no idea we'd just kissed for the first time-that to them, we looked like The Perfect Teenage Couple. The fireworks ended in an explosion of red, white and blue, and would have been a whole lot more beautiful if it didn't end in a drizzle of rain.

I turned to Austin, "It would be really awesome if you'd brought a sweater and an umbrella."

"If only I were that cool," said Austin.

"Nobody's that cool," I assured him.

We headed back to the party. It seemed that only the under-twenty set remained on the beach because of the drizzle, but our friends weren't among them. Just when we got to the first step of the main building, Dez appeared. If he thought it was weird that Austin and I were walking alone together, and that I was wearing Austin's sweater, he didn't say anything. He led us into the main house where Jenna and Trish were talking to a few people. I wondered if they would notice I was wearing Austin's sweater. It was like if they noticed the sweater, they were noticing us as an us. Then, I got distracted by the fact that Trish had on a sweater, and Dez was sweaterless. Did something happen between them, too? How fun would the rest of the summer be if Trish and Dez became a couple and Austin and I became a couple? And, maybe Jenna's boyfriend Biff could come up from wherever he was. It could be the summer of love for everyone! Oh, my brain was so full of fairy tale girly things...but, it's okay, I've accepted that fact about myself.

Trish came over to me, "Do you want to head home now?"

"Sure."

We said goodbye to everyone. And, even though I wanted to stay a little bit longer to talk to Austin, I didn't want to seem too needy. Luckily, there was consolation in knowing I was guaranteed at least one more conversation with him. This was waaaay too nice of a sweater for him not to ask for it back.

The next day, on the way back from town I passed by the tennis courts.

"Hey, Ally," I turned to find Dez and Austin talking on the bleachers by the tennis courts. I came over to them.

"So, are you coming to the Clam Shack later?" Dez asked.

"The Clam Shack?" I responded.

"Great seafood, bad music," Dez informed me.

"Yeah, will I see you later?" asked Austin. The way he said it made me pretty sure he wanted to see me later.

I smiled, "Great seafood, bad music...who could argue with that?"

"Not to mention the company," said Austin, and he smiled at me in a way that I knew had to do with our kiss last night.

"Not to mention the company," I repeated, smiling back at him in the same way.

"I guess I'll see you later then."

"Later," I replied, waving goodbye as I walked away. Even though we didn't even kiss or touch or anything, I felt tingly as if we had.

Later at The Clam Shack, I pleasantly found myself seated across from Austin. Earlier, I had debated whether or not to bring his sweater back, but decided against it since we would be with everyone and it would feel awkward to me. We'd all barely said hello when a waitress came and took our orders. We all ordered lobsters and conversation started when the worst music I had ever heard filled the room. The food better be good to make up for the music I thought. Then, I felt Austin's foot between mine and I realized I didn't actually care what the food tasted like.

I was so distracted, that I had completely zoned out of the conversation until I heard them talking about a person I had never heard before.

"Who's Ross?" I asked.

"Austin's twin brother," Dez informed me.

"Identical?"

"Yeah, you can barely tell them apart. I still can't and I've been Austin's best friend for years."

Everyone at the table laughed. Suddenly, there was a tapping on the microphone on the stage up front.

"Anyone feel like performing while our band is on a dinner break?" the hostess spoke into the microphone.

"Hey, you should go sing Austin," Trish said.

He shook his head, "Nah."

"Aw, come on, dude," Dez nudged his shoulder. Everyone at the table began pressuring him to sing until he finally stood up.

"Fine, on one condition," he looked right at me, "Ally sings with me."

"What?" I squeaked out, "I can't. You know I have stage fright."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot you could sing," Trish said, "You sang all the time when we last saw each other. What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it," I replied softly. Austin came over to my side of the table and wrapped his fingers around mine.

"C'mon," he said softly, "For me? I'll be with you the whole time. Pretend no one else is in the room, it's just you and me."

Even though I had never really sang in front of anyone before since I acquired my stage fright, this calmed me. Before this new surge of confidence disappeared, I looked up into Austin's eyes and slowly nodded. He held my hand as he led us up on stage.

"Hey," Austin spoke into the mic and looked directly at the guitarist of the awful band playing earlier, "Do you mind if I play your guitar?"

The guitarist shook his head no, and motioned for Austin to go ahead.

Austin pulled the guitar strap over his head and whispered to me, "Do you know the song 'Lucky'?"

I shyly nodded.

He noticed I was nervous and frightened, so he intertwined his fingers in mine for a second and gave my hand a squeeze, "It'll be all right, Ally."

I gave him a small smile, and he spoke into the microphone, "Hey, everybody, I'm Austin Moon, and this is Ally Dawson. We're going to be performing 'Lucky" by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat tonight."

He began strumming the guitar.

[Austin]

Do you hear me,

I'm talking to you

Across the water across the deep blue ocean

Under the open sky, oh my, baby I'm trying

[Ally]

Boy I hear you in my dreams

I feel your whisper across the sea

I keep you with me in my heart

You make it easier when life gets hard

[Both]

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend

Lucky to have been where I have been

Lucky to be coming home again

Ooohh ooooh oooh oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh

[Both]

They don't know how long it takes

Waiting for a love like this

Every time we say goodbye

I wish we had one more kiss

I'll wait for you I promise you, I will

[Both]

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend

Lucky to have been where I have been

Lucky to be coming home again

Lucky we're in love in every way

Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed

Lucky to be coming home someday

[Austin]

And so I'm sailing through the sea

To an island where we'll meet

You'll hear the music fill the air

I'll put a flower in your hair

[Ally]

Though the breezes through trees

Move so pretty you're all I see

As the world keeps spinning round

You hold me right here right now

[Both]

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend

Lucky to have been where I have been

Lucky to be coming home again

I'm lucky we're in love in every way

Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed

Lucky to be coming home someday

Ooohh ooooh oooh oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh

Ooooh ooooh oooh oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh

I felt so energized singing with Austin. It's the first time I had performed in years. I smiled at Austin, so happy I decided to push away my stage fright to sing with him. Our last notes brought loud cheers and applause, especially from the table where our friends sat. Austin put the guitar back on the rack, and we headed back down to our seats.

"You guys were amazing!" Jenna gushed.

"Yeah," Trish smiled, "so good!"

"Great job, bro," Dez held his hand out to Austin where they did a handshake and ended with "What Up!"

"Good job, Ally," Dez said to me.

"Thanks," I said softly. I couldn't stop smiling.

Later on, when Jenna suggested a walk on the beach, I turned her down, "Actually, I'm kind of beat."

"Yeah, I'm beat, too. I can bring Ally home," Austin told Trish.

"Okay, thanks," she replied, gratefully.

Austin and I climbed into his car. He started the car and we got on the road. "Wow." I said, "Look at the stars. I mean, not now." I added quickly with his driving and all.

He smiled, "I figured," he reached over and intertwined his fingers with mine, and we drove in silence just enjoying each other's company. He pulled into the driveway.

"Thanks for the ride," I told him.

"Glad I could be of help." I thought for a second Austin was going to lean in and kiss me, but instead he traced my lips with his finger. It felt really nice, then he moved his hand to the back of my neck and gently pulled me toward him. For a second I worried that he might be thinking I was a lame kisser, but then I had my hands in his hair, and I was too busy kissing him back to worry about anything.

"Wow," he said when we finally came up for air. He leaned his forehead against mine. We were both breathing kind of fast.

"Yeah. Wow. I had a great time tonight."

"Me too," he said. He kissed me again, "I can't stop kissing you." Apparently I couldn't stop kissing him either, because we started over again.

"I should go," I said. Our lips were still touching, so it came out kind of muffled.

"Don't go," said Austin, kissing me again. "Wait, what are you doing tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow? Um...I don't know. I don't have any plans," I replied.

"Do you want to go to Provincetown?" He was kissing the side of my neck. It was extraordinarily hard to focus on what he was saying.

"What?"

He kissed his way up to my ear, then whispered, "Do you want to go to Provincetown with me tomorrow?" His lips tickled my earlobe, and I giggled, not just because of the tickling but because I couldn't believe he'd just asked me to spend the day with him. Me. Ally Dawson.

"Really?" I asked.

"No, I'm joking," he said, sarcastically. Then, he smiled, "Yes, really." And then we kissed again.

"Okay," I replied.

"Okay," he said. Our foreheads were pressed together and we were both smiling, "I'll pick you up at 10 o'clock."

"Wait a minute, don't you have to work?"

"Not till the afternoon. I'm yours until four."

I liked the idea of Austin being mine.

"So, I guess I'll see you at ten," I said.

"I guess so." I pulled myself away from him and undid my seatbelt, then stepped out of the car. As soon as I did, Austin rolled down my window.

"Hey," he called.

"Yeah," I turned back to the car.

"You're awesome, you know that?"

"I am?"

"Yes, Ally, you're awesome." I gave him one last wave and smiled giddily all the way back into the guesthouse until I fell asleep in bed.

The next morning, Austin picked me up promptly at 10 o'clock and we headed to Provincetown. As we walked the tiny streets, I couldn't believe how many houses were squeezed together in such a small space or how beautifully they were designed and decorated, with elaborate flower gardens on plots the size of postage stamps, and bright multicolored porches sporting rainbow flags.

"I love all the rainbows," I said. "They're so colorful." We were walking along Commercial Street, people watching. There were families eating ice cream and women dressed in outlandish dresses handing out flyers for nighttime shows and lots and lots of young men in great shape. A few were so muscular I wondered if there was some kind of Olympic tryout being held nearby.

"I like the rainbows, too," Austin said, "They're a good symbol."

"Yeah," I replied, too engrossed in everything to really register what he'd said. A second later, when his words sunk in, I asked, "Wait, symbol of what?"

Austin stopped walking and turned to face me, "Are you serious?"

I racked my brain for what rainbows could possibly mean. Coming up with nothing, I looked at him again, "I'm serious. Give me a hint."

He thought for a second. "Okay, Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

"The Wizard of Oz!" I shouted, glad I'd gotten it on the first try. I looked around, "Wait, the rainbow is the symbol of The Wizard of Oz?"

Austin started laughing. Seriously laughing. Like, hysterically. A few times he tried to stop, but then he'd start again. He was laughing so hard he could barely speak out the words, "Friends of Dorothy."

Austin's laughter was contagious, but I still had no idea what he was talking about. "Who is Dorothy?" I asked. "Do you mean Dorothy Gale? From The Wizard of Oz?"

"Is that her last name?" asked Austin, who'd finally calmed down enough to speak, "Gale?"

"Yes," I said. "But, why are these people friends of hers?"

I could tell Austin wanted to start laughing again, but he restrained himself. "The rainbow is a symbol of homosexuality. Like, it means a place that is friendly to gay people or that it supports a gay lifestyle. It comes from The Wizard of Oz-the idea of being happy somewhere else. You know-"

"Somewhere over the rainbow," I finished for him. So, it wasn't just that there were a bunch of hot guys running around without their wives or girlfriends. There were a lot of gay guys in Provincetown.

"Right," he said. "Somewhere over the rainbow. Judy Garland is a big part of gay culture, but I'm not exactly sure why."

"Wow," I said. "You must think that I'm about as sophisticated as a Big Mac."

He draped his arm around me, "Don't sweat it."

We walked along for a few minutes before he said, "Weren't all the transvestites we passed kind of a clue?"

"What transvestites?" I asked.

"Oh my God," he said, squeezing me to him and kissing the top of my head. "We'd better get some lunch."

We were eating lunch at a bistro overlooking the water. And, when we were almost done eating. Austin looked at me and smiled, "I have some good news."

"Good news? What is it?"

"The good news is that we're less that a hundred yards away from the best ice cream on God's green earth, and I'm about to buy you a cone."

I leaned toward him, "That is good news."

And, like I'd known he would, he met me halfway with a kiss.

The ice cream was amazing, but wasn't as amazing as the used bookstore, where we ended the afternoon. There must have been ten thousand books piled everywhere, the system of organization vague enough that Austin assured me that I shouldn't even try to find something specific. "Just let yourself get lost," he said, which is exactly what I did. I was sitting on a pile of books, reading a novel about a crazy apartment building where all of the people know each other when Austin tapped me on the shoulder. He was holding a book in his hand, but I couldn't read the title.

"I'm just gonna go pay for this. I'll meet you outside."

"Sure," I said, starting to stand up.

"It's okay," he said, gently pushing me back down to my sitting position, "Take your time; I don't mind. I'll be on the porch."

Even though he said he didn't mind, I felt weird sitting here while Austin waited for me. So, I finished the page I was on and decided I'd buy it. On the way out, a slightly used copy of The Wizard of Oz caught my eye, and on a whim, I decided to buy it. I paid for both and went outside. Austin was sitting on the porch outside, and turned when he looked at me.

"Hey."

"Hey," I held out the copy of The Wizard of Oz to him, "I figured since you didn't know her last name, you never read the book."

"Oh, this is great," he said, taking the book from me, "I've seen the movie. But, you're right, I never read it." He was smiling, and I could tell that he was happy about me getting him the book. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Then he reached out into his paper bag, and handed a copy of a book to me, too. "You mentioned that you liked The Sun Also Rises. It's by the same author, Hemingway? It's a nonfiction account of the time he spent in Paris."

The book was called A Moveable Feast, and the cover had a line drawing of a window looking out over the Parisian skyline.

"Oh wow," I said. "Thank you so much. I've never even heard of this book."

"Kind of like with the rainbows."

I hit him in the head with my gift, "Watch it, Moon. I like you and all, but really."

"So," he said, raising an eyebrow at me, "You like me, do you?"

For a second everything got really still, "Maybe I do."

"Huh," he said, smiling down at me, "Maybe I like you, too." We stood there looking at each other, letting what we just said sink in a little. Then, he took my hand and we walked down the street and headed to his car.

It was a little bit before nine the next morning, and I found Jenna and Trish sitting at the table eating breakfast.

"So, how would you feel about a girl's day?" Jenna asked, offering me a piece of toast.

"Sounds fun," I replied.

"That's good. We're going whale watching!" Trish informed me, scarfing down her eggs.

Jenna brought us upstairs on the open-air deck of the boat. It was an incredible feeling, the spray on my face, the slight bump bump bump as the boat skimmed over the water on its way out to sea.

I turned to Jenna, "I feel like I'm in a movie...or in a music video."

She laughed, "Totally." Then she quickly turned her head and gave a yelp of excitement, pointing her finger outwards, "Look! Whales!"

Trish and I turned to where she was pointing, I was instantly speechless as one pushed out of the water high into the air. I gasped as water sprayed off its gigantic body; it seemed to hover in the air for an impossibly long time before it dipped down below the water, its tail still waving against the horizon.

Jenna was standing next to me, and she bumped my shoulder with hers, "I know, isn't it incredible?"

"Yeah, it is," I agreed earnestly.

Trish who was watching the whales on the other side of the deck came over, "Remember last summer when we came with Biff and Cassidy, and Cassidy puked the whole time and missed the whales?"

"Oh God," Jenna said. "I completely forgot about that. But, I thought she ended up getting to see a whale at the end."

Trish shook her head, "That was another trip...when she took the Dramamine."

"Poor Cassidy," said Jenna.

"Who's Cassidy?" I asked.

"Austin's girlfriend," Trish explained.

Still under the spell of the whales, I wasn't quite following the conversation with my whole brain, "Austin who?"

"Austin Moon." Jenna lightly punched me on the arm, "Austin Austin. Our Austin."

"Oh," I said, suddenly interested. I didn't know anything about Austin's dating history-here was clearly a chance to find out. "Austin went out with a girl named Cassidy?"

"Not went," Jenna corrected, "Goes. She spends the summer in New Hampshire with her family. But, I think she's coming up in August like she normally does."

"Far as I know," Trish added.

My heart dropped. It was as if they were speaking from a million miles away. I could barely hear them.

"Are you okay?" asked Jenna. "Are you feeling sick?"

My knees were soft, and I wondered how much longer they were going to be able to put up my weight. Austin had a girlfriend? A girlfriend? "I'm fine." I lied.

"That's what Cassidy said," said Trish, slipping her arm under my elbow.

"Let's get you to a seat," Jenna said, taking my other arm. The three of us slowly made our way downstairs to a seat.

"I'll get you a ginger ale," Jenna said, "You're looking pretty green."

As she walked away, Trish said, "Don't worry, you'll feel better once we get back on land."

"Sure," I said, wishing that the thing that was making me sick was as temporary as a whale watch.

The next two days, I stayed locked up in my room in the guesthouse with my songbook, running through my moments with Austin in my head. Why had I kissed him that day on the beach? Had he even wanted to kiss me back or was he just doing it to be polite? But, if he'd just wanted to be polite, what about our day in Provincetown? What about I like you too? He certainly hadn't acted like he was just trying to be polite. I remember his hands on my face in the car that night. I can't stop kissing you. Why not, Austin? Because as long as your tongue's in someone's mouth, you can't talk about your girlfriend? I tried to think about what Lady Brett Ashley would do if she was in this situation, but it was impossible. She was never a victim. I couldn't handle just sitting in silence with my thoughts anymore, they were slowly consuming me. I grabbed Casablanca off the shelf and put it into the DVD player. Suddenly, a shadow filled the doorway of my room. It was Trish. I put the movie on pause.

"Hey," she greeted. She didn't make any move to come any closer to me. We stayed staring at each other for a few moments before she suddenly blurt out, "I'm really sorry about how I acted when you first got here."

"Oh, it's okay," I had been so consumed with Austin that I had completely forgotten how Trish had treated me those first few days.

She made a face, "Not really. I'm kind of embarrassed. It's just that my mom was so set on us being friends that there was all this pressure and...I don't know. It's not an excuse or anything. I should have just given you a chance, not made you prove how cool you are, you know?"

"Don't feel bad. Seriously. If the situation was reversed, I probably would have acted worse," I said, trying to make her feel better.

"That's nice of you to say. But, I'm still sorry." Trish came over and sat down next to me on the bed. "So what're we watching?"

"Casablanca," I replied.

"Oh, I love this movie."

When it ended, Trish stretched her legs out in front of her and sighed contentedly, "So, can I ask you something?"

"Sure," I said.

"The thing is, you seemed kind of shaken up when we brought up Cassidy and my mom mentioned that she saw you leaving with Austin on Friday...and, that she saw you talking in the car with Austin on Thursday night.

I felt my cheeks burn a little, it's kind of awkward that Maria had seen all those exchanges between me and Austin. I hope she hadn't seen anything other than us...talking. My stomach clenched.

When I didn't respond, Trish continued, "Is there something going on with you guys?"

"Not anymore," I replied, facing away from her, not wanting to hear her response.

"Are you okay?"

"I"m fine," but even as I spoke, I felt my chin quiver, and a tear run from my cheek down into my mouth. "Um, I'm not crying about Austin. I'm just having a really bad day."

"Sure. I totally understand."

"Thanks."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really...but, do you think there's any ice cream?"

Trish laughed, "My dad always has ice cream in the house. It's, like, a holy law with him."

"I feel like I need some ice cream," I said.

"If you don't need ice cream, who does?"

I laughed for the first time in days, "Exactly."

It was Monday the next day, so Trish was at work. I called her, "Hey, do you want to have lunch or something?"

"That would be so much fun, but I have something I need to finish first. But, do you want to go swimming later? Like at three?"

"Sure," I replied, "Maybe I'll go to the library."

"Perfect. I'll call you when I'm done, and we can go swimming."

After hanging up, I headed to the library. I opened my songbook to reread all of the thoughts I had written the past few days because of all this Austin business. I was just about to start to convert them into song lyrics when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and there was Austin. All my songs hadn't been that great recently, and I realized that I had only been writing them with half of my brain.

The other half had been waiting for him.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi," my throat felt dry and my heart was racing.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"I'm kind of busy right now," I gestured to my songbook in front of me.

"Trish told me...and she told me you were here," his voice was tight.

"I see."

"Can I please just talk to you for a minute?"

"It's no big deal. Really."

"Two minutes. Just give me two minutes. Please."

I silently gathered my things and followed him out to the little gazebo on the library lawn. I sat down on one of the iron benches, and Adam leaned against the railing.

"So," he began, "What did Trish and Jenna tell you?"

"Just that...you know, you have a girlfriend...I hadn't known."

"Right," Austin said, "So, basically you're thinking I'm a jerk."

I almost smiled at how accurate his assessment was, "Well, I'm not exactly fond of you right now."

"Look, just for the record, I'm not a complete jerk okay?" He ran his fingers through his hair, "Cassidy and I are on a break this summer."

"On a break?" I echoed.

"Yeah, we were having some problems and...we agreed to see other people. You probably don't want to hear the whole saga. But, the point is, I wasn't cheating on her or anything."

"I see."

"Do you? Because I really like hanging out with you, and I got the feeling that you liked hanging out with me, too."

"Sure."

"I mean, I should've told you. I'm really sorry I didn't. But, I didn't think you were the type of girl who wanted a boyfriend, or, you know, some big serious relationship."

What did he mean? What type of girl didn't want a boyfriend? ...oh right, a girl who said her role model was Lady Brett Ashley, the queen of one night stands and no commitment...at least in the love department. I realized I hadn't been a victim from Austin's point of view the whole time, I was a good-time girl. From what I said about wanting to be Lady Brett Ashley, was there really a problem?

"I think...I mean, I don't need to be serious." I said.

"Really?" he took my hand, "I mean, you know, were you imagining this going beyond summer?"

"God, no!" I lied.

"Look, I don't want to influence your decision. The ball's in your court."

It was? How could the ball be in my court if he was the one with the girlfriend? But, he didn't have a girlfriend; he had a girl he was on a break with. Either way, he obviously wasn't on the market. But, it wasn't like I was in the market for a boyfriend. Was I? What I was right at that particular moment, was a little scared that I might be losing my mind.

Austin reached over and slipped his arms under my legs, then swung my legs over his. He put his hands around my waist, "Okay, I'm influencing your decision."

In spite of myself, I laughed. I put my hands on his face and pulled his face towards me and we kissed. Kissing him was perfect. Who cares that he might be kissing a different girl come September?

That night, everyone went out. So I stayed in my room, writing in my songbook. After doing it for awhile, I decided to go to bed even though it was only 9 o'clock. But, there was a knock at my door. I freaked out a bit. Was there some kind of serial killer on the loose? I made myself a little smaller on the bed, trying to remember if I left the front door unlocked or not. I was so dead.

"Ally? It's me."

It was Austin. My heart started beating even harder than it had when I'd thought he was a serial killer.

"Just a sec." I opened the front door.

"Hey," he said. He was smiling our secret smile.

I smiled back, "Hey."

"Why didn't you come by the Clam Shack? I told Trish and Jenna and told them to pass the message."

"They've been out all day. I haven't seen them," I explained.

"Oh, I wanted you to meet my brother. He came in this afternoon." Austin looked really happy about his brother's arrival. All I could think of was how there was a time I'd been shocked to have kissed a guy who had a brother I didn't know about. If only a brother had been the only thing that Austin had that I didn't know about.

"Come with me," he said, blissfully unaware of my thoughts.

"Um," I hesitated.

"Come on," he said, tugging at my hand gently. "I want to show you something."

I sighed, but then smiled at him, "Okay." I slipped on some flip flops, and followed him out the door, our fingers still loosely intertwined.

"Stay close. There's poison ivy." Less than a minute after his warning, we were in a little clearing and I realized we were by the side of a large pond.

"Oh wow," I said. The moon was reflected in the perfectly smooth surface of the water. Looking up I saw the sky, impossibly busy with stars made pale by the brightness of the moon's light.

"I know." Austin said, "It's my most favorite place on Cape Cod."

He pulled me in front of him, put his arms around my waist, and nuzzled chin into my head, "My house is right over there," he said, pointing across the lake. "If it were day, you could see it."

"Really?"

"Well, if it were day and there weren't any trees," he thought for a second, "And if you had a telescope." He laughed, "And, X-Ray vision."

This is so romantic, I thought. This is the most romantic thing that has ever happened to me.

"If it weren't freezing, I would say we should go skinny dipping. As it is, I'm too much of a wimp."

He turned me around gently, and we started kissing. It felt so great to be kissing Austin. Who cared that I was never going to be his girlfriend?

But then he slid his hands up my back and hugged me close to him, and instead of feeling great, I felt like bawling. Apparently this good-time girl wasn't having that good of a time.

"I'm sorry," I said, pulling away, "I can't do this."

"Can't do what?" he whispered. His hands were in my hair, so our heads were still really close together. I didn't say anything for a second, just put my hands over his and pulled them out of my hair.

"This," I said. "I want us to stop...hanging out."

"Oh." he said. Then he said it again, "Oh. Did I do something?"

"No," I said, "It's just...I think...I mean...I don't think..."

He didn't wait for me to finish my sentence. "Why?" he asked.

"No reason," I said, hoping my voice didn't betray the fact that I was about ten seconds away from crying.

He looked up at the sky for a moment, "Not having fun anymore, huh?"

"Right," I said, nearly choking on the word.

"Well, I can't argue with that."

Please argue with that, I begged in my head.

"I'll take you home then." The way back was silent. When we reached the front door of the guesthouse he said, "Here you are, safe and sound."

"Thanks. I..." What was I going to say?

He stood there for a moment, looking at me, "Good night."

I watched him leave, "Good night."

I woke up the next morning, thinking What have I done? I jumped into the shower, brushed my teeth, ran a comb through my hair, and got dressed. Then, I ran down the driveway, thoughts consumed with just Austin. I needed to tell him how I felt. I couldn't keep it inside me anymore. I cut through the way Austin had showed me the night before and kept going past the pond until I ended up in a small neighborhood. I looked at the signs marking each family's house until I found his...Moon. I stood there, paralyzed. I was about to ring the doorbell, when I heard a voice on the phone...outside. I followed the voice until it led me to someone whose back was toward me. Austin. When he hung up the phone, I turned around, drew up all the courage in me and spoke, "Listen...I'm not going to turn around because I just want to say this really fast without looking at you."

"Are you-" he interrupted.

"Don't interrupt me, okay? I only want to say this one thing, and then I'll go if you want me to." I took a deep breath and continued, "The thing is, I really like you. I liked you the entire time, only I was trying to be...I don't know, cool about the whole Cassidy thing."

"Wait a minute," he said.

"No! Look, if I don't say this now, I'm never going to say it. And I really want to say it because the answer to your question yesterday morning at the library is yes. I do think that this can be some big serious thing, even if it couldn't go beyond the summer, and...well...So, that's why I broke up with you last night. I know it sounds completely perverse, but I broke up with you because I like you so much. I wanted to be the type of girl who's too cool to admit that, but I guess I'm not. I don't know what kind of girl I am, but I'm not her." I took a deep breath, bracing myself for his response, "Okay, you can talk now."

There was a pause, and then he said, "I'm sorry...are you looking for Austin?"

I spun around, and there was a boy that looked completely identical to Austin.

He gave me a small smile, "Hi, I'm Ross."

"Oh my God."

"I'm Austin's brother."

"Oh my God," I said again.

"I'm really sorry. I tried to-"

"Oh my God," I said a third time.

"Austin left for New Hampshire early this morning. He got up at six."

New Hampshire? New Hampshire? That's where Trish and Jenna had said that Cassidy was for the summer. In other words, last night, while I'd been lying on my bed, brokenhearted, Austin had been planning a reunion with his girlfriend. While I'd been confessing my love for Austin to his brother, he was confessing his to Cassidy.

"I have to go," I said.

"I'm really sorry," Ross said.

I shot of the deck and down the driveway as if I was being chased. I didn't stop until I was back at the guesthouse. Maybe if I'd been less embarrassed, I would have cried or maybe screamed. But, all I could do was repeat Oh My God Oh My God Oh My God in my head as if it was a chant.

"Hey, hey, hey," said Trish, stimultaneously knocking and pushing on the door.

"Hi."

"Hi, can I come in?"

"Sure."

"Do you want to watch a movie at Jenna's later?"

"Who's going?"

"Well, not Austin, because according to Dez, he's skipped town. And, not his brother Ross."

At the mention of both brothers' names, I slammed my face into a nearby pillow and groaned, "Oh my God."

"What?"

I recounted the whole story of that morning to Trish who listened intently till I finished.

"All right. I'm calling Jenna to come over here instead. We're having emergency girl's night."

The next day, I woke up to no one being home once again. I headed down to the beach and sat on the warm sand. I tried to empty my mind of anything and just let the beach calm me. There was nothing I could do about Austin anyways. Ross was going to tell Austin what happened, Austin would think I was a loser, and we'd avoid each other until we left, end of story. Only Lady Brett Ashley gets to be Lady Brett Ashley. There was one problem, though. If Austin and I weren't going to see each other for the rest of the summer, what was he doing standing on the de la Rosa's deck? I went up the stairs, and he met me halfway.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi," I said.

"So, can I tell you the weirdest thing?" he asked, as we sat up on the top step.

"Um, sure," I replied, confused.

"Okay, I went up to New Hampshire to-"

"I know why you went to New Hampshire," I interrupted.

"You do?" he asked, surprised.

"More or less. When did you get home?"

"I haven't been home yet. I came straight here."

"Oh. Well it's...it's great to see you."

"Why am I not believing you?"

I sighed, "What do you want, Austin? Why are you here? I know you went to New Hampshire to get back together with Cassidy."

Austin suddenly burst out laughing, but I didn't exactly see what was so funny, and I didn't feel like talking to him anymore. I turned to go inside the house.

"Wait, please wait."

In spite of myself, I stopped.

"Look. I don't know what you think you know. But, I did go to New Hampshire to see Cassidy."

I turned to face him, "And...you're telling me this because?"

"Because I thought you'd like to know that the reason I drove to New Hampshire to see Cassidy was because I thought it wouldn't be nice to break up with her on the phone."

"You-" I began, shocked.

"And, then last night, I got a call from my brother saying that there was this random girl that was saying she was really into him, except for he had the feeling that she meant that she was really into me."

We looked at each other.

"You broke up with Cassidy?" I asked.

"I broke up with Cassidy."

I squinted at him suspiciously, "Why did you break up with Cassidy?"

"Because I knew I really liked you. And, I figured even if you didn't like me back, I couldn't get back together with Cassidy when I knew there was someone I liked as much as I liked you."

Was this really happening? This couldn't be happening. "Wait, why didn't you tell me you liked me so much? I mean, why didn't you tell me before?"

Austin looked down for a moment, "Why didn't you tell me you liked me if you liked me so much?"

"I did." I said, "Or at least, I tried to. I just told the wrong person."

He looked back up at me, "I was embarrassed, okay? It's hard to say how you feel. Especially if the other person says they don't want to hang out anymore."

"Hang out?" I smiled, "That's pretty lame, Moon."

He ran his fingers through his hair and groaned, "Are you gonna cut me some slack here or what?"

"Oh, I don't know," I said, folding my arms and cocking my head at him. "I mean, do I really want a boyfriend that wants me to cut him some slack?"

Austin crossed his arms and looked at me, "I have other qualities."

"Such as?"

"I'm a decent kisser."

"Oh really?" I pretended to think, "I can't recall."

"Might I be as bold as to refresh your memory?"

"Oh, I suppose."

He closed the distance between us in a matter of seconds, and our arms were around each other and we were kissing. Each time one of us went to pull away, the other would pull the person back. The kiss seemed to last forever. Finally, we came up for air.

"Not bad," I smiled. "Not bad at all."

"Hey, why'd you think I'd come here?" he kissed his way up my jaw.

"I thought you were...I don't know, paying a courtesy call or something," I said, distracted, as I felt his lips on my ear.

Keeping his arms around my waist, he pulled away, "A courtesy call? What are we, in a Jane Austen novel?"

I shrugged.

"I don't know, Dawson," he shook his head, "Do I need a girlfriend who's certifiably crazy?"

I pulled him to me, and we kissed again, melting into each other. "You're right," I said into his lips. "Maybe we should just, you know, hang out. You're not looking for some big serious thing, are you?"

"You're hilarious," he said, running his hand up my back. "I hope you're prepared for me to come visit you in Miami this Christmas."

"Oh Austin," I said, laughing, "Isn't it pretty to think so?"

As I said the words, Austin's lips met mine again, and I realized for the first time ever, I didn't wish I could feel the way Lady Brett Ashley did.

I wished, for her sake, that she could feel like me.

Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it, sorry it was super long, I didn't feel like splitting it. Anyways, I'm going to try to update all my other stories that I haven't updated in like forever and post my other A&A stories that are in the works. Please review and favorite and stuff!

XOXOXO Bubblelina15