Just for a Moment

My eyes flutter open at the sound of the alarm clock. I sit up and stretch, yawning while I do so. It's December 3rd; only two weeks away from winter break! I'm so excited that I get to stay on campus to spend more time with Jack…than I usually do. I’m planning to buy him a new guitar with the money that I’ll earn for working overtime, to replace the one that those jerks broke. He’ll be like, ‘oh my gosh Ally, thank you. You’re the best girlfriend in the world, I love you!’ and I’ll be like ‘yeah I know, no problem baby.’ It’ll be perfect.

I jump out of bed and walk over to the bathroom to take a shower and everything else that I do before getting dressed in the morning. Then I tuck a white long sleeve button down into a red knee-length skirt, rolling up a pair of thick black stockings and slipping my feet into my red ankle booties. I pull a black beret on, wrap a scarf around my neck and zip my peacoat on. I grab my backpack and make my way to Menu's, ready to stuff my face before a long day of school. When I walk in I’m attacked by the smell of fresh baked muffins. I quicken my pace to the table so I can get my share of the breakfast. I take my seat, say a quick good morning then help myself to a blueberry muffin from the platter in the middle of the table. As I chew I look up at Lizzy and Kellin who were talking about how excited they were for winter break.

When she told me that she wanted him to meet our parents I was shocked; Lizzy’s thing was not to bring a boy home to mami and papi unless it was serious. I guess those two decided to take the next step. I swallow my last bite and reach for another, grabbing a chocolate chip one this time. These muffins are amazing. I tap Jesse who was sitting beside me and ask him if he already had a muffin, pointing to mine. He smiles and nods, paying my inner-fatty no mind. I finish up and wipe my hands onto a napkin, then take a sip of my already served soy-milk. When the bell rings for the students to head off to class, I grab my bag and snatch another muffin before leaving the cafeteria. I say bye to Lizzy before walking to music hand in hand with Jack. He raises my hand with the muffin and takes a bite of it.

“Hey!” I giggle, nudging him in the side.

“I love banana-nut muffins,” he says before taking another bite.

I roll my eyes and hand it to him, after taking a bite myself of course. We walk in to class and I take my seat next to Vic. He had his song notebook and was scribbling lyrics into it. Oh boy.

“Hi,” I say tapping his shoulder.

“Hey,” he said in a monotone voice, not looking up from his book.

I cross my arms and clear my throat, waiting for him to finish so he can actually acknowledge me. He sighs and puts his pen down, closing his book. He combs his fingers through his hair then glances over to me.

“Oh hey Ally,” he smiles and gets up to give me a hug.

I stay in my seat while I embrace him and pout as we let go.

“I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever, I miss my best friend.”

“I know, I’m sorry. I've just been really busy with school work and the band. You've been spending a lot of time with your boyfriend too, so even if I wasn't busy, I wouldn't get a chance to spend time with you anyway,” he said as he sat back down and took his music folder out of his backpack.

“Ehem,” Jack cuts in, “I have all rights to hogging up my girlfriend, thank you very much.”

I roll my eyes and wave my hand, as if swatting away his comment.

“Don’t mind him; let’s hang out today after classes.”

“What? What about me babe?”

I turned back to look at Jack, who was pouting. I gave him a small sympathetic smile and turned back to Vic.

“I’ll talk to him about it,” I whisper, “but definitely today after dinner.”

He nods and faces forward as the teacher walks in. I pull my notebook and folder out of my bag, along with my pen and start to tap it on the desk. I wonder what this new song is about. I guess I’ll just ask him later.

At the end of the school day, I walk with Naomi to the cafeteria, complimenting her on her fine baking skills after I discover that the muffins this morning were from the culinary majors.

“They were so good,” I groan happily.

“Really? Thanks!” She smiled ear to ear, wanting to hear more.

“Yeah, they were warm and soft but a little crispy around the edges, just the way I like it,” I practically drool, reminiscing the moment.

“I figured you’d like them. Hey! I was thinking about trying out a new soufflé recipe, want to help me-”

“Yes,” I say, cutting in, “say no more.”

She gives me a satisfactory nod as we enter the cafeteria. We hug and say goodnight, parting ways; her running off to see Reggie and me going to sit at the group table. I take the seat next to Jack since I didn't plan on hanging out with him tonight. I sit and look at tonight’s menu while he talks to Gabe and Justin about an upcoming song they were working on. Everyone’s just working on new music, huh? Maybe I should get to writing too. Jack turns to face me, raising his eyebrow.

“Hey.”

“Hi,” I say, putting down the menu.

“What’s up; couldn't wait till after dinner to see me?” He flashes a cocky smile.

“Well…not exactly,” I say, biting my lip. “I want to hang out with Vic tonight, remember? So I came to spend time with you now before then.”

“Okay.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, why not?” He grabs my hand from under the table. “If you want to spend time with him, go ahead. I get it; I’m not the only person who exists. I’ll just have to deal with having to share you.” He closes in on me, leaning his forehead against mine. “But don’t get any wrong ideas; you’re still my girl.” He gives me a quick kiss then picks up the menu.

I lean my head on his shoulder, smiling to myself. Is this guy great or what? I sit quietly as he talks to the other guys, occasionally laughing at their dumb jokes and chomping down on a veggie burger that I had ordered. After dinner, I peck Jack on the cheek then run off with Vic. We decided that we would hang out at the student lounge, maybe play a couple of video games or something.

We ended up playing Little Big Planet since he’s not a big fan of violent video games. Weird, huh? I felt like a big kid as we zoomed through about 15 levels, chatting as time passed by. Then we sketched each other, horribly might I add. We even started brainstorming ideas for a song together. Lastly, I asked him about the song I noticed him working on in music class, but he said that it was nothing to worry about; just making some improvements to a song is all. I let it slide this once, but overall, we had a good time.

“Best-Bud time, much needed,” Vic commented as we left the lounge.

“Agreed. This needs to happen more often.”

“Mhm.”

He stops midway to the dorm building.

“What’s wrong Vic?” I shove my hands into my pocket, regretting not picking up my gloves before I left my room this morning.

“Nothing, I just thought we should part ways here, so your boyfriend doesn't get any wrong ideas.”

“Oh,” I say confused, but agree. “Goodnight.”

He hugs me and returns the goodnight, then walks towards the dorm. I sigh and take my phone out, calling Jack to come hang out with me for a little bit. He gets here instantly, causing me to have a double-take.

“That was fast,” I snort.

“I was hoping you’d call me,” he says with a lopsided smile.

I wrap my arms around his neck, leaning my head against his and smile. I start to softly sing The Way by Ariana Grande. That’s my Jam.

Suddenly I'm yanked off of him and dragged a couple of feet away.

"You're such a jerk," Tally yells. "You got my husband arrested, I can't believe you!"

She slaps me, tears running down her face. I push her hard, causing her to fall onto her back.

"You should be thanking me, I did you a favor."

“Well you didn't. Why don’t you and your whore of a sister just leave this school to make everyone’s lives better,” she smirks, looking up at me.

No way did she just call Lizzy a whore. This student-hopping slut has really got the nerve to be calling my sister names. I couldn't hold it in anymore. I crawl on top of her and punch her in the eye, making her yelp.

"Ally, stop!" Jack pulls me off of Tally and holds my arms back. "You're going to get yourself another strike."

"I’m tired of her pushing me and my sister around. If this is what it takes to get her to stop harassing us, then so be it," I say, struggling to get out of his grasp. He’s too strong, it’ll never work.

“Wait till the headmaster hears about this,” she cries, covering her eye. “That’s another strike for you-”

“And another for you. You’re the one who attacked me first,” I retort, glaring at her. “There’s newly installed surveillance cameras outside of each building, remember?”

She gasps, looking up at one before running off to who knows where. When Jack sees that she’s nowhere in sight, he lets go, making sure that I wouldn't chase after her. He lets out a big sigh, as if he were holding in his breath or something.

“Jeez, I didn't know you had it in you,” he smirks.

“Yeah well, what can I say? The girl went too far.” I take my hat off and run my fingers through my hair. “Let’s get inside, I’m exhausted.”

We walk to my room in silence, fully taking in the blow of another strike possibly being added to my name. Why does this chick have to ruin everything? When we get to my room I unlock my door and walk in, Jack trailing behind me.

“It’s a school night, you should probably get some sleep,” I say, unintentionally sounding cold.

“Alright,” he says, pulling me in for a kiss. “By the way, I found it oddly hot when you punched her in the face.”

I smile and roll my eyes, pushing him out of my room. “Goodnight Jack.”

“I love you,” he whispers, stopping me at the door.

“I love you too, butthead.”

I watch him walk down the hall before coming back into my room and shutting the door. Ugh, what a long day, which was going well before Tally stepped into the picture. What a jerk. I pull my clothes off and hop into the bed and pull the covers over myself. I sigh, turning onto my side. I really hope that JT looks past our little rough-up back there, otherwise, I’m screwed.