Kendally (9)Ally ~Ally's POV~ I awoke the next morning to the loud, annoying beeping sound of my old alarm clock, and I sleepily reached my arm out to slap the “off” button. My body seemed to have forgotten how to wake up early, so, of course, I had to re-teach myself how to do that. I hated waking up at 60 am, but I also hated staying in this house for much longer, so of course I picked getting up over staying here. I rolled out of bed and immediately rushed to the bathroom. I had to hurry, because school started at 7:15 and it would probably take me ten minutes to walk to from my house to the high school. I didn’t usually wear makeup, except for very rare occasions, so I didn’t have to worry about that today, but I usually did straighten my hair, which I was going to do as soon as I finished brushing it. That didn’t take long, but straightening my hair took up to an hour, sometimes. Fortunately, I was able to speed through getting ready this morning, and when I finally got to the kitchen, I wasn’t surprised to see that Dad wasn’t up and around, yet. Actually, I was kind of pleased. I didn’t have to worry about getting yelled at, this morning. Realizing that the time was really beginning to creep up on me, I took a bite out of a muffin and quickly scribbled out a note for my dad. Everything else was taken care of, as far as I knew. My books were packed into my bag, I had finished my report on my winter vacation as soon as I had calmed down last night, and the only things left to do were fix up the kitchen and do the laundry. Now, I just had to leave for school. I grabbed my bag, slipped on my warm jacket, and walked out into the cold morning air. Again, there was no snow, but there were many clouds already formed in the sky high above me. They didn’t look like rain clouds…and definitely not snow clouds…but there were enough of them to block the sun from shining down; keeping the weather freezing cold. Now that I was actually experiencing the weather, I wished that I had accepted Levi’s offer to pick me up. It definitely was cold out here, even if I had my warm clothes on. The school was usually warm, so at least I had something to look forward to once I got inside. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The walk was surprisingly but fortunately shorter than I had expected. I must have been walking fast to keep warm…but whatever it was, I got there at record speed, and I was pleased with the progress I had made. It had never felt so good as to walk into the busy high school I had so often taken for granted. Teens occupied all of the halls, and I actually smiled as I walked by them. My locker was sitting right where it always had been, and I put in my combination just as I always had. As soon as it opened, I piled my books in, and suddenly, I felt something squeezing my sides. “Ahhh!” I screamed, and was even more startled when I heard the familiar, goofy laugh that could only belong to my best friend. “Levi!” I shouted, though I was laughing now. He had a huge smile on his face, and when he finally calmed down, he let out a friendly “hi!!” I took a deep breath and offered him a smile. “Hi. Why couldn’t you have just walked up and said that, after I saw you? I seriously thought that my dad came to school to creep on me.” Levi chuckled. “Sorry, Al! I just felt like scaring someone. And you’re the perfect target!” He patted my shoulder, and I rolled my eyes before turning back to my locker. His locker was located two away from mine, so we could still easily talk. He looked at me as he entered in his combo. “So…how was your first day of restriction, yesterday?” I did not look back at him, but continued to organize my locker. “Honestly, it wasn’t quite as bad as I thought it would be.” Levi placed his books into his locker and took out two of the ones he’d need for his first class. “Really? Better than it would have been if you and I would have hung out like we planned?” This time, I did look at him. “Of course not. But I did something that I haven’t done in forever.” He raised an eyebrow as he waited for me to continue. “I played,” I whispered, and smiled as I said it. “You played…” Levi repeated, but it sounded more like a question than a statement. “Played what?” I sighed and looked at him. “The piano,” I replied, almost inaudible. “Really?” he asked, his tone had a little excited-edge to it. “That’s great! Maybe this restriction will be good for you. I mean, maybe you can get back to your music.” I shrugged, though knowing that he was right. Playing yesterday had really made me feel something. I had sincerely missed playing, just for fun. Here at school, I had to play the flute…and I barely found that fun, because it felt more like one of those things that I absolutely had to do, whether it was fun or not. And I disagreed with that. Music should be something you want to do, not necessarily something you are forced to do. The loud bell shook me out of my thoughtfulness, and I shut my locker quickly. “We’d better get to class,” I said to Levi. “If I come home to my dad with news that I got detention on my first day back to school, I am dead.” Levi nodded at me understandingly. “Alright. Let’s go.” I followed him to the English classroom which was located not too far away, fortunately, and I immediately took a random seat in the middle. Levi chose the seat behind me, and I realized that even the teacher was late. I smiled as I shifted into a more comfortable position, and waited for class to start. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ That was strange. Mrs. Garcia was usually very strict about starting class on time…and she wasn’t even here, yet. There was one empty seat—the one next to me—but other than that, everyone else was here, waiting. Suddenly, we heard the sound of footsteps coming from the hall, and immediately after, Mrs. Garcia appeared. She smiled kindly at the room full of waiting teens, until she finally spoke. “I sincerely apologize for my tardiness,” she frowned, and shook her head. “I suppose I deserve a tardy slip, myself.” Only a couple people in the front of the room chuckled. “I just bumped into one of the new students this morning, and there was a bit of a…confusion. It seems that he belonged in this class first, all along. Anyway, I’d like for everyone to welcome him…Kendall Schmidt.”

Kendally (8)Kendall ~Kendall's POV~ Don’t get me wrong—it was great to be back, but frankly, the whole day was pretty uneventful. Logan, Carlos, James and I all spent the day either in the apartment or the lobby. Normally, we would hang at the pool, but, due to freezing weather, the pool was closed. I really didn’t mind; I didn’t feel like freezing myself. I was extremely grateful when the day finally turned to night, because the entire day I had been wishing for it to finally be over. All four of us turned in at approximately 9:30 pm, since the next day was the first day of school, and everything. All of us were equally excited about it, too. “Finally,” Logan whispered as the four of us prepared for bed. “School is here.” James reappeared in the room, suddenly. (he had been in the bathroom to brush his teeth) “It’s Minnesota all over again,” he said simply. I really saw nothing wrong with that. We had moved here two years ago to seek our future as a band, and it had been great while it had lasted. But we had all come to agree that we wanted our old lives back—but not from where we had originally come from. We had decided to continue living in LA, but live normal, teenage—guy lives. James’ comment about it “being Minnesota all over again” made perfect sense to me. Back then, we had of course gone to public school…and here we were, doing it again for the first time in a long time. “Surprisingly, I’m actually fairly excited about it,” I heard myself say aloud, and everyone in the room looked at me. “I know what you mean, buddy,” Carlos agreed. “Hey, who knows…maybe Ally will be there.” That comment made me stare off into space while I became very thoughtful. It definitely was possible. Ally did look my age…and there was only one high school in LA as far as I knew… “I don’t mean to be, you know, negative,” James whispered, looking at me. “But, don’t get your hopes up. The last thing we need is a depressed Kendall.” I looked at him and shook my head. “Don’t worry; I won’t. I was just thinking about how cool it would be if she was there.” James’ lips turned up at the corners slightly, and he went ahead and hopped into his bed. Carlos and Logan were already in their beds, so I was the only one left. I turned off the light and quickly slipped into my cool bed. “Goodnight, guys,” Carlos whispered, and the rest of us muttered our goodnight’s before drifting off into our sleep.

Kendally (7)Ally ~Ally's POV~ The first thing I realized when I woke up the next morning was that I was in big trouble. I had gotten a one-week restriction, of course, but remembering what I had said about my dad’s girlfriend probably got me in even more trouble. You know, the comment about her “skimpy clothing”. I lifted my head up from my tear-soaked pillow, and squinted at the brightness of the light shining through my window and into my room. For the next week, this would be my hideout. I threw the covers off of me and immediately walked over to the window. This action was something I did every day since winter started, because each time I came to the window, I hoped that I would see snow on the ground. Even if it was a thin layer…I wanted it. But, living in LA for your whole #life had its disadvantages. Sure, it wasn’t sunny all the time, but we got more than our fair share of rainy/cloudy days. Still, as long as I had lived here, I had never seen real snow, believe it or not. As soon as I had observed the ground for longer than necessary, I let out a deep sigh and grabbed my brush to smooth out the fly-away hairs that I had received during the long night. After I had finished, I changed out of my PJ’s and into something more presentable, I walked out into the kitchen and realized that Dad wasn’t up, yet. I wasn’t surprised; to him, it was only 90. He was so lazy that he was in his stupid bed until noon, usually. He was probably in his room with his new girlfriend, no doubt. Sighing again, I poured myself a bowl of cheerios and walked silently back to my house. If I stayed in the kitchen to eat, my dad might happen to come out with Angie, his girlfriend, and I would probably lose my appetite. Right as I was re-entering my room, I saw my phone vibrating wildly, and I rushed toward it to answer it before the caller would hang up. “Hello?” I asked quickly. “Hey, Ally,” I heard Levi’s deep voice exclaim over the phone, and I felt myself smile when I heard his voice. “Levi,” I greeted softly. “Hey. I’m just calling to see what you’d like to do, today,” he began, and I sighed frustratedly. “I’m sorry, Levi…I can’t. I showed up thirty minutes past my curfew last night, and I got it big time.” Levi groaned. “Awh, really? How did he get you this time?” I grimaced at his words. It wasn’t uncommon for me to be in trouble like this, but it still was uncomfortable to think about. “I have a one-week restriction,” I replied. “And right now, talking to you over the phone is against the rules.” I could picture Levi frowning. “One week? That isn’t quite as bad as I feared…but still, not good. You won’t be able to do anything the first week of school!” “I know. But next Sunday, I’ll be off of restriction, and then we can hang out. We just have to hope that time will pass by quickly.” “And we have school during the week, don’t forget,” Levi added, and I smiled slightly. My head flipped around, looking at the door, where I thought I had heard movement in the other room. “Sorry, I think I’d better go. I don’t wanna increase the restriction length.” I heard Levi sigh on the other line. “Sure. So, I’ll pick you up for school, tomorrow? I’ll be waiting at your driveway.” I thought about that. “You know what? School isn’t that far down the road…I’ll just leave early so that I can get out of the house sooner. The walk will do me good.” “Alright. I guess I’ll see you by our lockers, then. I sighed before responding. “Ok. I’ll see you, Levi.” I frowned as I hung up. Today, I had no idea what to do. My father had taken away my phone, TV, and other privileges. But then, I realized, I hadn’t played my keyboard in the longest time. I used to be pretty good…but I had somehow stopped playing. Probably because I had gotten much busier this year… I lifted a few things off of my keyboard, which had been on its stand this whole time. I had apparently been using it as a place for my school books and such. I plugged its cord in and switched it on. For some reason, I was almost surprised that it was still working, though I wasn’t quite positive why. I had written many piano pieces in the past, but my best were definitely the ones I had composed most recently. Like I had practiced so many times before, I began to play one of my latest songs, entitled “Signs”. I was so astonished with the fact that I remembered every little note, without any sheet music in front of me. I closed my eyes gently as I finished my song and let it ring through my ears. I had forgotten how much I sincerely enjoyed playing, and with that came the feeling of regret, for not realizing this sooner. So, I sat there on my cushioned keyboard bench, playing all of my old songs. I had even found the sheet music to some songs I enjoyed but hadn’t written, such as I’m Yours by Jason Mraz, Next 2 You by Chris Brown and Justin Bieber, and When I look At You by Miley Cyrus. But, in the middle of my practicing, I was startled by loud knocking on my door. “Angie and I are going out,” my father’s gruff, annoyed voice yelled, louder than necessary. “I’ll be back later. Stay out of trouble.” I sighed and turned off my keyboard. It was time for a break, I decided. I went over to my window and stared out at the cloudy sky. Just one snowfall, my thoughts pleaded, and I sat back on my bed to think of something else to do.

Kendally (6)Kendall ~Kendall's POV~ "Should we wake him?" a familiar, young, female voice asked quietly, and immediately after, someone responded. "Nah…yesterday was a long day for him. It was almost two in the morning before he finally fell asleep, I think." Even though I was listening to the conversation between my little sister, Katie, and my best buds around me, I kept my eyes shut. I knew that they were talking about me. "My poor big brother," Katie frowned. "He hasn't gone crazy over a girl since Jo, has he?" I heard someone sigh deeply, and it sounded like it was Logan. "Not that we know of…" I began to bite the inside of my lip as I processed that through my mind. They were right. Ever since my old girlfriend, Jo Taylor, left to New Zealand for a movie…I had been alone. I hadn't even pictured myself with any girl. But all that changed when I laid my eyes on Ally. I began to move slightly, pretending to stir from my slumber. As soon as I opened my eyes, I realized that no one was even in my room. Rolling my eyes, I quickly threw off the covers and tiptoed over to open the door of our bedroom. I peeked out, and saw everyone in the kitchen area. I quickly but quietly walked into the bathroom to make myself more presentable. Everyone greeted me when I finally made my appearance, and my mom came up to give me a big hug. "Hey, honey. I didn't see you last night…Katie and I were on a day-trip and we got in late. We've missed you!" I smiled at my mom, sincerely glad to see her again. "That's ok, and I've missed you too!" I snitched a freshly-baked blueberry muffin from the counter and bit into it, closing my eyes as I let it dance across my taste buds. "And I've missed your home-cooking." Mom grinned hugely, and as I looked around at everyone else, I realized how happy they looked. It was great to be reunited with them again, and I was sure that everyone in this room could say the same. "So, what are you planning on doing on your first day back?" Katie asked, talking mostly to James and me. "We are going girl-hunting," Carlos said, answering for us. "Not for us…but for Kendall, I mean. We're looking for the airport-girl." "Ally," I corrected immediately, and took another bite of the muffin as everyone shot me amused looks. "Ooh, can I help?" Katie asked excitedly. "I don't have anything to do today." I sighed. "You know what, guys? It's James' and my first day back…let's just relax. We can just hang out at the pool like we used to, or something." Five faces stared at me in complete shock. "Are you serious?" James asked for everyone. "You were so depressed about not seeing her yesterday," Logan added. I threw the wrapper to the muffin into the trash and then held my hands up in front of me. "Guys—it's ok. We'd just be wasting time. It's highly unlikely that I'll ever see her again…and honestly, I think we need a day to just relax." I watched as Carlos, Logan, and James exchanged confused looks. "Well…alright," Logan said quietly. "So, looks like we're laying low today," James confirmed. "Sorry, Katie." Katie shrugged. "No problem. I'll just go find Tyler and hang out in the park or something." Everyone else just kind of shrugged it off, and we all went to our separate areas of the apartment. James and Carlos switched on the TV to play some video games, Logan brought out a book to read, and I re-entered the bathroom. Sighing, I stared at the face looking back at me in the mirror. Did I do the right thing? I thought, and felt nothing but regret. I guess that means 'no', I continued, and took a deep breath. But like I had said before, it was highly unlikely that I'd ever see Ally again…so I guess that I had better try to begin to forget about her. It wasn't going to be easy; letting a girl like her go. But I was killing myself just thinking of what could never be.

Kendally (5)Ally ~Ally's POV~ As I was pulling into the driveway of my house, I realized how so very dark it had become. It was after all going on 9:30, so I didn’t know why I had seemed to be so surprised…but the darkness had fallen rather quickly. I shut the engine off, and the headlights that had shone through the pitch black drifted off, leaving the night to surround me. There was one light shining through the living room window in the house, and I automatically figured it was Dad. Who else would it be? After Mom had passed away, all that was left was Dad and me. I locked the car and grabbed my bag, then began to walk up the icy steps leading to the house. There were still a lot of things I had to do before turning in, tonight. There was the laundry that I kept putting off, I had to clean up the kitchen, finish up a paper on what I did during winter break, and a few other chores. “Ally?” a voice that could only belong to my dad called. “Yeah, it’s me, Dad,” I said, shivering as I walked into the warm living room. I kicked my boots off and set them on a mat by the door. “Do you know what time it is?” he asked, sounding slightly frustrated. “Yeah Dad…it’s 9:30,” I said, nodding at him, not sure where he was getting at. He stared me down, as if I were forgetting something. It was then that I realized what he had been fishing at. “Oh no! 9:30! You told me to be home by my curfew, 90!” I slapped my forehead. “Yup…” he said. “What were you thinking, Ally? You could have at least called. I was worried sick about you.” “I know! I’m really sorry, I lost complete track of time!” I said, frowning. “I had to take Levi home, and then help him bring his things inside—“That’s no excuse!” Dad interrupted. “You are 16 now, Ally! You need to learn to start acting your age!” I looked down at the ground, not saying anything more. Lately, Dad had become much more…strict. I don’t know why, but I had to listen to him; he was my dad. “To make sure that you really see how irresponsible your actions were, as of right now, you’re on restriction,” he continued, and immediately as he said this, I looked right at his overly-angry face. “Restriction?!” I asked in protest. “For being thirty minutes late?” “Ally,” my father said angrily. “If I let you get away with this, you’ll think that it’s ok to do this every time. So, you are grounded for a week. No friends, television or phone use, nothing.” I stared at him in complete shock. My father had definitely dished out some pretty harsh punishments…but really? A week of restriction for showing up thirty minutes past my curfew? Before I could say anything else, a tall, slender woman was striding toward us, making her way from the hall. “Mark…?” she asked quietly. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw me. Who was this stranger? I had never seen her in my #life…but she obviously seemed to know my father. She was very beautiful. Her wavy, long, light brown hair fell to the middle section of her back. She had gorgeous green eyes with thin eyebrows above them. But as I thought about, it seemed to me that she looked almost too beautiful. My dad looked very uncomfortable with me seeing this woman. But what he was feeling could not compare with what I felt. “Who is his?” I asked angrily. “Ally…this is Angie,” Dad said with hardly any breath. “We’re…seeing each other.” I stared at her, almost forgetting to breathe. “That explains the skimpy clothing,” I finally blurted out, to all of our surprise. Dad looked very upset, now. “What did you just say?!” I shook my head, and rushed past his stupid girlfriend, trying to get to my room as quickly as I could. I didn’t even try to stop the tears. I slammed my bedroom door shut and fell in a heap onto my bed. I couldn’t believe this. It had only been a couple of months since Mom had passed…and Dad was already dating? Today had been a good day for me…until I got home, that is. Both Dad and I had been dealing with Mom’s death differently…and it seemed to have especially changed him. I noticed how much more angry he had gotten lately…so every little mistake that I made…I would get it big time. I guess I had always been more close to my mother than to Dad…but it seemed like, after she had died from that stupid lung cancer…I lost both of my parents. I pushed my face into my pillow and just let the tears come, not trying at all to stop them.