Chapter Text
Ally sat in her new room, a guitar hugging her body tightly. She was playing random chords in an attempt to form a new song. After the move, though, she had found herself struggling to find the right words to put in a song, and today was no different.
Ally’s family had just finished moving in time for school due to her father’s job. It wasn’t an interstate move, but it did leave Ally disappointed. The move was going to cause Ally the trouble of having to be the new girl at a school during her junior year. Frankly, she was heartbroken. She had made close friends, friends that she could trust and almost open up completely with, and all she hoped was that this distance wouldn’t cause them to drift apart. In fact, they were friends in whom she had almost confided in with her biggest secret: she was gay.
There was nothing else she wanted to do but tell those closest to her, but every time she tried, the words stayed stuck in her throat. She was scared, she wasn’t sure how any of them would react, and she had no reason to yet. Once she did find someone, though… she already made her mind. That’s when she would tell them.
“Allison!” Ally’s mom called from downstairs, breaking her concentration from her music block.
Allison Hills. Yep. That was her full name—a name that wasn’t dislikeable, but Allison sure didn’t like it, either. Instead, she strictly went by Ally and playfully ignored or glared at those who called her Allison as a joke.
“What?” she called out in reply, and gently placed her guitar to her side and walking down to meet her mom.
“We’re in a new town. You should go out for a drive and explore the area,” her mom explained in the midst of filling the refrigerator with groceries.
Ally complied, grabbing the car keys and swinging them around her finger. This was going to be her new home now, and she might as well make the most of it.
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Before she knew it, Ally had found her way to a nearby theatre. The new Hunger Games movie was finally out, and after hearing such great things about the book, she had high hopes for the movie. The reason being, she had never read the books. Truth be told, Ally had no interest for books and only read the novels written by Carlyn Greenwald, a friend of hers who had already started publishing books as a high-schooler.
She quickly bought a ticket for one and made her way in, not at all anxious about watching a movie alone. It was something that she did quite often. Her eyes did take a quick glance at her surroundings, though, as she took in the fact that she was no longer standing in the theatre that she had always been so familiar with. Lost in thought, Ally was suddenly interrupted by a body slamming into her. Popcorn sprayed into the air around her, some landing on her head, and she watched as butter stained into her shirt.
Who is this idio-, she thought, and her heart pounded in her chest in irritation before her eyes glanced up to see a stunning face in distress. In a heartbeat, that irritation turned to shock and shock to nervousness, and Ally found her heart pounding throughout her body harder than before.
“Oh my god, I am so sorry!” the girl sputtered. “I wasn’t watching where I was going. Let me go get some napkins.” She made her way to the condiments table and furiously grabbed at the flimsy, brown paper.
Ally stood in place and couldn’t help but stare at the girl who had just run into her. She was gorgeous, and she was definitely Ally’s type. Her facial features well matched her long, wavy hair, and she had the curves to match. Ally caught herself staring and looked away shyly. But she wanted to keep looking. Of course she did. The girl was gorgeous. And allowed herself to sneak another glance at her. The girl caught her eyes this time, and Ally could feel her cheeks heating up, but couldn’t look away. She gave Ally a slight smile, and began dabbing napkins at stains and brushing popcorn off Ally’s head.
“I am so sorry,” she repeated. “I don’t think the stain will come off like this. Do you have time before your movie? Let me get you cleaned off in the bathroom.” She grabbed Ally’s hand before waiting for a response, dragging her in the direction of the bathrooms. Ally stumbled a little to follow her, and she felt her heart skip a beat as this girl touched her hand. She smiled to herself, feeling the heat of the girl’s hand against hers. She wasn’t even mad, yet she was glad that this girl was making it such a big deal because it meant that they could spend some time together.
Ally. What are you thinking? Pull yourself together, she thought. She was gay, yes, so these sudden feelings weren’t a surprise, but to get a girlfriend was unthinkable. That would mean she would be out of the closet, or, she would have to lie and use the “just a really close friend” excuse. Girlfriend? Ally stopped in her thoughts. We just met for the first time, who said anything about going out? I need to pull myself together… I’m just getting to know her because she dumped popcorn on me.
“Hey.” Ally found herself speaking for the first time since the incident. She didn’t know what she was going to say, but she did feel bad that she hadn’t said anything yet. Pulling back on the girl’s hand to stop her, the girl turned to meet Ally’s face. Realizing that they were still holding hands, the girl dropped it, muttering a small ‘sorry’ when she did. “It’s totally okay. It’s just an old shirt, and I can just as easily wash it. Don’t worry about it.” Ally gave her a smile to reassure her, to which she smiled back. Seeing that smile made Ally smile even more.
“Okay…” she replied, “well if you’re sure… at least let me run back to my car. I have an extra shirt so that you don’t have to smell like butter for your movie.”
“That’d be great, actually. Let me go with you.” All Ally wanted to do was spend more time getting to know this girl. “There’s still some time left before my movie,” she reassured.
On the way to and back from her car, she had found out that this girl’s name was Stevie Boebi. She was a year older than Ally and had also decided to come to the movies by herself to watch The Hunger Games. Unlike Ally, though, she loved to read and came because she was a fan of the books. Stevie escorted Ally back to the restrooms so that she could change into the shirt, and Ally consciously breathed a little longer and deeper to take in Stevie’s scent. Ally liked this girl and enjoyed talking to her, and she definitely found her attractive. Time passed quickly when Ally was with Stevie. They had watched the movie together, as they both went alone, and Ally walked Stevie back to her car after.
Ally fidgeted a little nervously as Stevie unlocked her car. She wanted to see Stevie again and wondered if she should ask for her number. Would that be weird? Would that count as me hitting on her? Does she even bat for my team? We got along really well though…
“It was nice meeting you, Ally. I’m so sorry about the shirt, once again.”
“It’s really no problem. Thanks for lending me your shirt,” Ally replied, before realizing that she still had to return the shirt. She jumped a little inside and smirked to herself. “Speaking of which, I still have to return your shirt. Let’s exchange numbers so that I can make sure that this gets back to you.”
“I would love that.” Ally handed Stevie her phone, and she put her number in. “Here,” she handed it back to Ally. “Text me so I can save your number.”
“I’ll definitely text you,” Ally replied and felt herself blushing in embarrassment. She had dragged out “definitely” for a bit too long, making herself sound desperate. “Y-y-you know, j-just so that I can get this”—she pointed to her shirt, or, Stevie’s shirt—“back to you.” Of course, she knew it didn’t work. Her excuses always sounded like what they were—excuses, and the shakiness of her voice gave her intentions away.
Stevie laughed and played along. “I’ll be expecting a text then. I had fun tonight.”
Ally felt her heart rate increasing for the millionth time tonight and hoped that Stevie felt the connection that she had felt, too. “Me too,” she smirked, and before she knew it, Stevie had pulled her in for a hug. She inhaled and took in Stevie’s scent, the scent that was now lingering on her own body, and wished that this moment could last even a second longer before Stevie pulled away, got into her car, and drove off.
Meeting Stevie had lifted her spirits, bringing her to believe that there was something great coming from what Ally had once believed to be a disappointment. This would be good for her; she just knew that it would.