Out of the Shadow (15 page)

***

Ally kicked at the crisp leaves that littered the sidewalk as Jamie complained about the amount of work they had to do that evening for their math class one Friday afternoon at the beginning of October. Ally just smiled, used to this sort of reaction from him. They’d all been decent students in high school – not genius material, but decent enough – and Jamie had always complained about homework or quizzes or tests.

“
Why don’t you come to my room and we can work on it together?” Ally asked.

“
Can’t,” he groaned. “Football practice.”

“
Well, come by afterwards,” she said.

“
Okay,” he said as he pressed a kiss to her temple then grinned. “You get started on it and I’ll catch up.” Waving, he dashed toward the athletic complex before she could protest.

She laughed as she watched him go, then turned toward her dorm, her head bent against the gusts of October winds that kicked up whenever they felt the urge.

She hurried, hoping she wouldn’t run in to Rosie before she reached her room. The other girl had attended the Fabulous Rivals/Out of Control concert the weekend before and had been nothing short of unbearable since. She’d shown up at breakfast Monday morning with photos and was especially proud of the picture of her with Out of Control. Ally had studied that one a little longer than the others as she drank in Cole’s features. Of course, Rosie had somehow maneuvered herself next to Cole and had wrapped an arm around his waist.

Her face had softened when her eyes fell on RJ and the laughter and merriment shining in his hazel eyes. She missed him, too, so much – especially the knack he had for brightening any room. And then there was Parker with his rugged good lucks and Ren with all his youth, trying to be a man.

“
Hey, Ally,” Rosie had said, pulling Ally from her thoughts. “Are you done with that picture yet? Shannon wants to see it.”

Ally remembered the smug, superior look in Rosie’s eyes as if she’d accomplished something Ally desperately wanted to do. It had been on the tip of Ally’s tongue to laugh at the other girl and tell her that she had a whole box full of pictures of those very guys – and she’d not only taken them but she’d been in them, too. But she’d held her tongue and had handed the picture to Shannon.

When she reached her building, she glanced cautiously down the hall, searching for signs of Rosie or even Trudy, who’d become Rosie’s shadow. When she determined the hall to be empty, she ran to her room, and closed the door. She dropped to her bed and her eyes immediately went to her nightstand where a picture of Cole usually stood. But, since she’d discovered her roommate’s obsession with Out of Control, Ally had refrained from setting out any of her pictures and when questioned by Shannon, Ally had claimed she wasn’t sure how she wanted to hang them yet and she’d get to it sooner or later.

She decided to get started on the homework and withdrew her book from her bag. She had just settled at her desk when Shannon burst into the room, her chest heaving. Ally jumped from her chair and gasped at Shannon’s appearance. The other girl’s eyes were wild with excitement and her cheeks flushed scarlet. One hand fisted a rolled up magazine while the other pressed her chest in a feeble attempt to calm her pounding heart.

“
Shannon, what is wrong?” Ally asked, alarmed. “Are you all right?”

Shannon held up a finger, took a few breaths, and then smiled. She sank to the edge of her bed and unfurled the magazine while she eyed Ally with a smirk. “Ally, Ally, Ally,” she said, her voice still a bit husky. “I was a little mad at first but then I figured you would have told me sooner or later – maybe after we got to know each other a little better.”

“
What are you talking about?” Ally asked as her eyes dropped to the magazine. Her heart stopped as her legs gave out and she fell into her chair. Her hands clawed at her throat as she stared at the cover. “What is in there?”

It was Shannon’s turn to be alarmed as she eased off her bed to kneel in front of Ally. She patted her hand. “You haven’t seen this yet?” Ally shook her head, afraid to speak. Shannon sank her teeth into her bottom lip and rolled back on her heels. “Well, there’s an article in here – an interview with…um…Out of Control.”

Ally felt the blood drain from her face and her heart seemed incapable of pumping more. “What does it say?” she asked, her voice a horrid scratchy mess.

“
It says,” Shannon said in a whisper. “Well, they say they know you. Um, maybe you should read it.”

Ally nodded and took the magazine from Shannon with trembling fingers. She set it on top of her math book and carefully flipped through the pages until she found a photo of Out of Control. Her lips twitched into a small, involuntary smile – an automatic response when exposed to photos of her favorite people – but her eyes fell to the interview.

She skimmed quickly through the introductory paragraphs about their history and their recent tour and slowed when she reached the actual interview.

Rock News Weekly: So how’s it feel to be out on the road touring?

RJ Shaw: Pretty good, even if we’re just the opening act.

Parker Milten: It’s a rush to see people who’ve actually come to see us!

RNW: Do you get a lot of fans coming out to see you just because of Tight Control, your fathers’ band?

Cole Crawford: I think at first we did, you know, out of curiosity.

Ren Shaw: But I think we’ve proved that we didn’t get a break just because of our dads.

RNW: You four are still pretty young and I understand Ren would have been a senior in high school. How do you cope?

RJS: It can be tough. All our friends and family are back home.

RyS: I still have to do school work, which really sucks, but my mom insisted on it.

CC: But our families are really supportive, especially since they’ve all been there. Parker’s dad used to manage a band in the 90’s.

RNW: I know that you four went to the same boarding school and that’s where you met Parker. It seems to be common knowledge around Redden Records that Cole and RJ have been best friends since birth. Any truth to that?

RJS: (Laughs) Yeah. We’ve been friends since the cradle, all four of us.

RNW: All four of you? I thought you didn’t know Parker until boarding school?

CC: He means James Winston and Ally Jones – they’re close friends of ours, too. The four of us grew up together and have been best friends since.

RNW: Mark Winston’s son and Jay Jones’s daughter? Where are they and how come they’re not part of this band?

RJS: (Laughs again) Are you kidding? They’re more into sports. They’re off at college.

CC: We still talk to them all the time and get together whenever we can.

RW: I’m glad you’ve brought up Ally Jones because I’ve heard a rumor that Cole and Ally are actually romantically involved. Is that true, Cole?

CC: (He actually blushes) Yeah, it’s true. We’ve been dating for more than a year now.

Ally closed her eyes and dropped her head to the desk, not bothering with the rest of the article. She covered her head with her arms and concentrated on keeping her tears at bay.

“
Ally?” Shannon’s frightened voice said. “Are you going to be okay?”

“
How could he do this?” she muttered, her heart breaking. “Oh, how could he do this?”

“
Do you need me to get the RA?” Shannon asked.

Her question spurred Ally into action. She lifted her head, shut the magazine, and handed it absently to Shannon. She stood and started to pace, her eyes glazing over as she mumbled to herself. “How could he do this to me and Jamie? How?”

“
Are you mad at…me?” Shannon asked.

Ally paused to gape at Shannon. “Not at all. You should be mad at me.” Ally sighed and dropped to her bed. She folded her hands in her lap and stared at them. “I wanted to tell you the first day but I thought I’d wait, you know, to make sure that we could get along and that you wouldn’t hate me or anything. But then it got harder and harder to tell you – especially when I found out that you are a big fan of Out of Control.”

“
Why don’t you want anyone to know?” Shannon asked. “What’s the big deal?”

A loud knock startled them both and Shannon jumped to her feet, eyes wide. She opened the door and was immediately pushed out of the way as Rosie, Trudy, and Sami strode into the room.

“
Ally Jones,” Rosie said, her lips twisting into a satisfied sneer. “You sly thing, you! How could you not tell us, huh?”

“
It’s not your business,” Ally muttered as she stood and grabbed her jacket. She cast a regretful look at Shannon and shrugged as if to tell her ‘this is way I didn’t say a word.’ Her phone rang and she dug it out of her bag, surprised to see Robby’s name on the screen. “Hey.”

“
Is that Cole?” Trudy asked eagerly.

Ally stormed out the door, slamming it behind her.

“
I’ve been trying to call you all day,” Robby said. “But your phone kept going to voice mail. I guess I could have left a message but I thought it would be better if I talked to you in person.”

“
I’ve been in class and if you’re calling about the magazine interview, I just saw it,” she said as she shoved the dorm building door open and stepped out into the cool October air. She heaved a huge sigh as tears burned her eyes. “Now I have a bunch of girls in my room giggling like a bunch of idiots.”

“
I’m sorry, Ally,” Robby said.

“
It’s not your fault,” she said. “And do you mind if I call you back later? I’d like to call Cole now and give him a piece of my mind.”

“
Sure,” Robby said, concern lingering in his voice. “But don’t give him too big of a piece - you might need it someday.”

She managed a tiny smile as she ended the conversation and immediately called Cole. She gulped at air as if it was water and she was dying in the desert and when he answered, her anger flared again.

“
Hey, princess,” he said, his voice weary. “How are you?”

“
Terrible, Cole,” she snarled. “Terrible! How could you?”

“
How could I what?” he asked, anxiety dripping in his voice. “What did I do?”

She paused near the English building and leaned against the bricks, surveying the area but luckily it was void of students. “Your interview in
Rock News Weekly
. It came out today. You said we’re dating.”

“
We are,” he said firmly. “What’s the problem with that?”

“
I didn’t want anyone to know,” she whined, stamping her foot.

“
Are you ashamed of me?” he asked angrily.

“
No,” she snapped. “You know better than that. I just thought we were keeping this low profile. I thought you understood how important it is to me to try to blend in and live a normal life.”

“
Al,” he groaned. “You’ve never lived a normal life and you should have known that the truth would come out sooner or later. What happens if the band attends some awards show or something, huh? Would you not go with me for fear someone might see you on TV?”