I had no idea why meeting Max's mom made me feel so nervous but it did. There was no particular reason for me to try and impress her since Max and I weren't a couple or anything like that but I just couldn't help it.
The instant he and I stepped foot in the spacious kitchen, my nose were graced with a very tantalizing smell that alone made my belly growl despite the fact that I had just eaten.
At the opposite end of the room by the cookers stood a woman stirring a pot of what I could only guess was soup but it sure smelt amazing. While I watched from the door, Max slowly snuck up on her, scaring her when she least expected it with a "Boo!"
"Max! I've told you to stop doing that!" She grabbed a ladle and hit him, obviously playfully because Max smiled and hugged her from behind. I could spot a clear smile on her face despite the offended expression she was trying hard to maintain.
After Max eventually broke the hug, her eyes fell on me. I had still barely
After a very fun weekend spent at Max's home, I found myself walking down the halls with Max by my side on a bright Monday morning. Everyone kept staring at us just like they had been since Max brought me to the dance as his date and based on the number of stares we'd gotten in the parking lot, I knew it'd probably spread around the school that I'd spent the night at Max's home.Max didn't seem to mind the stares. In fact, the only thing he seemed concerned about was making sure that I was okay walking with my cast.I met up with Nellie by my locker and after Max left us, we continued the conversation we'd had been having the day before.Well, she continued it. I wasn't particularly interested in having the conversation."I really don't get why you don't want to report what happened to you to the police. You would rather the culprit walk free instead of making sure he doesn't get the chance to do it to somebody else again?" she queried.
Hours after hitting Derris, the story had traveled around the school and I was pretty much the most popular girl in the entire school and the internet. Of course, most of it was bad popularity and I was getting glares and stares everywhere I went but I was popular at least.Recess came around and despite not having spoken to Nellie since our conversation in the morning, we both found ourselves sitting down to eat at the same table as though nothing had happened. Habit.Since I didn't know if Nellie was still mad about my outburst, I decided to stay quiet and let her start the conversation if she wanted one.Still I couldn't resist stealing looks at her, desperately hoping she would speak up and say that she wasn't offended about this morning. Unfortunately, Nellie seemed quite engrossed in devouring her Shepherd's pie.I continued to glance at her, hanging onto the possibility that she would speak to me, even if just once.After a very long silence
Hours later, Nellie and I were on our way out of the school and we ran into Max. At that moment, it suddenly occurred to me that I hadn't seen him all day. "Hey you guys. Where are you ladies off to?" he asked, fixing both of us a warm smile. "We're going over to her place. I'll be spending the night there," I informed him. His face instantly fell and he furrowed his brows. "Is that okay with you, Max?" "No no. It's okay. It's just– I was actually planning on taking you out. Like on a date," he divulged slowly while running his hand through his hair at the same time. "Oh, it's no problem then. What we have to do can wait." Nellie was already handing me over to him but I wasn't about to leave my best friend for a guy again. "Actually, it can't," I cut in with my mind made up. I turned to Max and inquired, "I'm sorry, Max but I already have plans with Nellie and I don't want to back out. Can what you have planned, like wait? Maybe till tomorrow?
The day slipped by after my chat with Derris if it could even be called that and Nellie and I were on our way home when we sighted Max approaching us.This time, Nellie whispered in my ear, "I'll leave you two to it," before turning on her heels and walking away just as Max stopped in front of me."Hey Nellie," he called after her. "Hey Max," she responded, raising her hand in acknowledgement without looking back. After Nellie had disappeared round a corner, Max grabbed my hand and ushered me toward his car. "Your chariot awaits," he announced while holding the door open for me.I chuckled and shook my head before stepping into the car. Max came around and as soon as he was seated, he turned to me and handed me a blindfold. I stared at the piece and back at him, uninterested in having to sit in the literal dark for the whole ride but he persuaded me, "Allison, please! I promise you it'll be worth it.""It better be," I mumbled as I let him blindfold me. "
Despite knowing where everything had been leading to after seeing the message, it still didn't lessen the surprise and shock I felt on hearing Max's question. My eyes widened so much, I feared they would pop out of their sockets and I could only gape at Max.Girlfriend? As in his girlfriend? But he was Derris' friend and a superstar! He could have any girl and he was choosing me?! What kind of backwards universe did I wake up in? How could Derris apologize to me after I talked back and just hours later, Max was asking me of all people to be his girlfriend— all in the span of one day?! One day!!!Holy crap! I must be dreaming, right? I had to be! None of this could be real. It just couldn't!I stepped back until I reached the barrier behind me and gripped the basket for support. It was basically the only thing keeping me from falling off the hot air balloon and from falling to my knees. I snuck a peek and even now, I could still see the message in the park
A week. It's been exactly a week since I officially became the girlfriend of one of the biggest superstars around and let's just say, it's been one heck of a week.I didn't seem to realize exactly what I was getting into when I said yes to Max's proposal that fateful day while on the hot air balloon ride.It has been anything but a cakewalk. I went from having the school talking about me to the whole public talking about me. After all, this was Max Crest. The anti social one, the one who seemed to have no interest in girls and was even rumored to be gay one time. And for someone like that to suddenly go public with a girlfriend, much less a nobody like me...well, let's just say you didn't see that everyday.The fact that we also happened to be living together in his family home didn't particularly help issues.It seemed like everywhere I looked, the cameras were flashing and I was suddenly public enemy number one. Not a pretty experience and according to
As I watch Derris slowly begin to advance towards me, I tightened my grip on the wash hand basin and stared at my reflection in the mirror determined not to show any sign of fear.I felt his presence beside me long before I felt his touch and when he began trailing a finger from up my arm, it was as though he was leaving a trail of fire and my core tingled with pleasure even though he was barely touching me."I don't think I ever got the chance to tell you...just how sexy you look in this dress," he whispered in a low husky voice into my ear. Then he proceeded to place a kiss on my neck that caused a low gasp to escape from my lips. He seemed satisfied with the response and smirked as he continued to kiss my neck with his hand firmly placed on my waist.While this was going on, I got the familiar feeling in my gut when my eyes fell on the locket around on my neck. This was wrong. I should stop it. I should–At that moment, Derris suddenly twirled me
Have you felt guilty about something? Like deep nerve wracking guilt about something you did that you know you can't tell anybody about even though it kills you having to stay silent about it?Up until the night of the the award show, that had never been the case for me but afterwards, after having Derris kiss and touch me the way he did, nothing ever really felt the same ever again.Max. He was the main reason for my guilt, the reason why I now found it hard to sleep at night. He'd done so much and after betraying him the way I did and then having to go back to pretend like nothing happened, well, it was killing me. Slowly until I was sure I would go crazy.I could have just broken up with him and ended things but I couldn't be sure which would hurt more: breaking up with him or telling him I cheated. And the absolute last thing I wanted to do was hurt Max.And then there was Derris. The very person who started this whole thing. To the surprise of no one
"Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" I inquired, looking at his stitched-up wound with concern. "I'm sure. You heard the medic. It wasn't really serious. The bullet just grazed me. I'll be fine," he assured me but it did nothing to abate my worry. "But still... You could have been seriously injured. Why did you have to rush in like that?" "It was all worth it to make sure you didn't leave here in a body bag. I'd do anything to protect you," he stated, staring seriously at me. "How about you try not to die while you're at it?" He chuckled. "I'll do my best." I nodded to show that I was satisfied and continued to look at his wound. "Allison?" he called. I looked up from the wound. "Yes?" "About what Aria said—" he started. I raised my hand to stop him. "I don't want to hear it. Be it the truth or not," I told him. "I still want you to know. I've kept it to myself for so long but I didn't know how I w
I had several hours before my flight to England which was taking off early tomorrow morning. Nellie being Nellie, she'd organized a get-together for all of us. A farewell party for me.At the party, she'd decided to embarrass me by unexpectedly showing up with an album containing pictures from my childhood that had somehow ended up at her place.Baby photos, bath photos, birthday photos, embarrassing pictures; it was there and Nellie was taking great delight in my embarrassment."I hate you!" I whispered to her while Max and Derris were laughing over a picture taken of me trying to steal a piece of my birthday cake before the birthday and ending it with it all over."Aww! I love you too, boo," she replied, blowing a kiss at me. I rolled my eyes at her before attempting to snatch the album from them."Hey! What gives?" Max whined. "I think that's enough pictures for one day, don't you think? Besides, aren't you guys supposed to be sad that I'm leavi
Neither Derris nor I spoke about the situation with his mom again. Things were a little tense because of it so ignoring it was probably for the best. The next day, Derris got discharged from the hospital so he could finally go home which was enough cause for celebration. But I was also reminded of the fact that that meant I would be leaving soon. I had told my dad to book another flight, guaranteeing him that nothing was going to stop us from leaving this time. The flight was booked to go in three days. Three days to say goodbye to everything and everyone I'd ever known and loved. It was a little depressing but I tried my best not to focus on my nearing departure and just live in the moment and at the moment, I was happy that Derris was doing okay and out of the hospital. After he was released to us, we — consisting of Max, Caleb, Jeremy, Nellie, Derris and I — piled into Max's car and drove to Derris' house. The atmosphere was filled with excitement
Derris made a quick recovery afterwards. It was probably because of his phobia for hospitals after his experience when he was younger but either way, I was happy about that. But despite all my pleas, he'd still refused to see his mom and even when she tried to speak to him, he'd either ignore her or coldly tell her to leave because she wasn't wanted. It was clear he'd made us his mind and that was what worried me. I knew that if he continued to hold on to his resentment for his parents, it would only come back to harm him later on. In a way, it already had. I just had to make him see that. A day to his discharge, I was with him in his ward, reading a book to him like he'd asked me to. When I looked up from the book though, he wasn't looking at me like he always did. Instead, he was staring into space thoughtfully. I dropped the book on my lap and tapped him. "Hey. What are you thinking about?" "Everything and nothing, I guess. Why'd you stop?"
Long story short, I missed my flight the next day. It was a little hard to explain why I couldn't leave town just yet to my dad but being the caring person he was, he understood. Since the family who bought our house didn't have plans to move in just yet, we didn't have to move out yet so our accommodation was settled, at least for now. The next few days after Derris' accident though, were anything but. As it turned out, his injuries were a lot severe and he had to be rushed into surgery two times while still being in a coma. Every moment he spent in surgery was a moment I spent wondering if he would come out alive. And when he did, I was torn between being happy that he made it out and devastated that he was still in a coma. But after seeing his car and the accident scene, it really was a wonder he hadn't died on the spot. Supposedly, Derris had crashed into a parked car from behind and then had his car run into by another car. The police rep
Things progressed smoothly for a while. My dad got a few offers for the house and eventually decided on one. With the down payment, we were able to find a little flat abroad which we paid for upfront.The plan was to move to England about a month before I was to resume at Sunnyside which would give us the time to settle in at our new place.To get rid of the stuff we couldn't bring with us, my dad insisted we had a yard sale which turned out to be a little harder than I thought.We kept only the things that were important to us and our family as a whole and put the more trivial things on sale but even then, seeing other kids touch my little sister's old dolls, the twin's colouring sets and other things like that...It was a lot harder than I thought it would be.But after the yard sale ended, it felt as though a load had been lifted off my shoulders and I could finally breathe. We'd kept those items around for so long and now that they were g
After my conversation with my dad, I got back to Mr Raymond as soon as possible and told him that I had accepted his offer. He was ecstatic, to say the least. He told me to inform him whenever I planned to come to England so my accommodation could be made available.I did, however, have a few months before the dance academy came back into session.My dad and I planned to move to England though as soon as the house sold so we were working towards that.The thought of moving filled me with fear and excitement. I would be leaving Nellie and the life I had known for years to an entirely different environment. Then again, after the year I had had, the prospect of moving was pretty exciting.It was a mix of emotions. Nellie had been pretty sad when I told her my plans."You know I'm always going to have your back no matter what. I'm so happy for you— and also sad. I'm going to miss you, Allison," she sniffled. I rolled my eyes at her dramatics.
Later that night, I was in my room, browsing through my computer for information about Sunnyside. Turns out it was a pretty big establishment and a highly respected one at that.I had no idea how I never knew about them but the more stuff I learnt about, the more my desire to attend the school was piqued.There was just one problem. The school was far away in England and would require me to stay there. Was I ready to uproot my life and that of my dad's? Would my dad even agree to it?I sighed as I turned off my laptop and walked over to my bed, sighing heavily as I flopped on the bed.I still hadn't told my dad about the leaked video and now there was this. The offer was literally godsent but what would my dad think of it?At that moment, there was a knock at my door before it was opened and my dad popped his head in. I sat upright and smiled as my dad walked in, bearing a tray."Hey Dad," I mumbled."Hey, sweetheart. Just thoug
The next few days after my return to school were tumultuous, to say the least. After what Derris did to the guy who assaulted me, no one approached me directly again.Instead, their attacks were more discreet. I got messages instead. Notes, private anonymous messages from people telling me all the nasty things that they couldn't say to my face for fear of upsetting Derris.Every day, I walked into school, looking at the faces around me, wondering who sent the last messages.Nellie told me to just ignore it and not read them but sometimes I just couldn't help it and I got hurt.Some were even accompanied by pictures from the clip and lewd messages. The video had been taken down but pictures couldn't exactly be erased.I tried to ignore it and not let all the whispers, murmurs and messages get to me like Nellie advised but it was easier said than done.I felt trapped at school like my every move was being watched and at home too. I knew that s