Promise

Chapter 8

"Thanks guys. I really appreciate you helping me get my mind off things." Ally said as she joined her friends at the table.

"And yet, you're still talking about it." Trish said. "We aren't gonna talk about that at all. So Ally, what kind of froyo did you get?"

"Vanilla with brownie bits." Austin and Ally said at the same time.

Ally looked at Austin, surprised. "How'd you know?"

"You're favorite." He said, winking at Ally, causing her to blush.

"You know me so well." She smiled at him, as he snaked his hand around her waist, pulling her a little closer to him.

"Well, I got strawberry with gummy bears and peanut butter." Dez said, scooping a big bite and placing it in his mouth.

"Gross." Trish said, as she took a bite of her chocolate with rainbow sprinkles and cookie dough.

"What about you Austin?"

"My usual." He said. "Chocolate with everything." He looked down at his overflowing bowl. "How do they expect you to pick just a couple toppings when they have, like, 50 different ones?" He scooped a bite with some sort of green ball on it. "I don't even know what this is! Why did I get it?" Ally placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Babe, I think you have a froyo problem..." She said, rubbing his shoulder a little bit. Austin just shrugged before popping the unknown food into his mouth.

"Hey, you guys wanna go to the movies after this?" Trish suggested. Dez's head shot up.

"Yes! The new Zailens movie just came out. We should all go see it!"

"What do you say Ally?" Austin asked. She shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know. I think I'm just gonna head home. I have a lot to think about before..."

"Ally! You need to relax!" Trish told her. "We barely seen you at all the past couple weeks. You are going to the movies with us." Ally rolled her eyes.

"Look, even if I wanted to go, I don't even like Zaliens." Ally said. Austin shrugged his shoulders.

"That's okay. We can see a different movie."

"Um, uh, y-you guys don't have to..." Ally stuttered.

"Yeah, we can see Zaliens a different day." Dez assured her. "Oh! How about the new Revenge movie! You know, the one with Johnny Depp?" 

"Dez, Ally doesn't like horror movies, remember?" Trish butted in. "How about that new Channing Tatum movie that just came out? That guy can put any girl in a good mood." She said, fanning herself with her hand at just the thought of him.

"Guys!" Ally said, grabbing their attention. "I just- I'm not in the mood for a movie. I think I just want to go home. Thank you though." She stood up from her chair.

"Ally, you can't leave." Trish said. "Besides, we're your ride."

Ally shrugged her shoulders. "My house is literally a 5 minutes walk from here. I'll be fine." She placed a hand on Austin's shoulder, leaning down so she could place a small kiss on his cheek. "I'll text you later." She whispered. "Bye guys. Thanks again!" She called to them before walking out the door.

"Wow," Dez said. "I kinda feel bad for her."

"We all do. I really don't want her to go." Trish said. "But we can't let her know that."

"Why not?"

"Because! I don't want us deciding for her. This should be her decision, not ours. If she's wants to go, she should go."