Ally's pov:

"YOU WHAT?!" Claire shrieks, jumping off her bed in shock, causing a loud BANG to echo across the room. 

I'm sure our downstairs neighbors didn't appreciate that very much. 

I was barely in the room when she started bombarding me with questions about last night after taking one look at me and my attire. 

Axel let me borrow his clothes so that I wouldn't have had to put my dirty dress back on from last night. I was grateful for the offer, considering that my dress smelled like alcohol and sweat. 

What I didn't consider though is the impression it would give to my awaiting roommate, who seems to have been waiting for my appearance for these past couple of hours, considering how fast she was to fire off her questions.

And so, I answered, and when it came to the part where she asked me if we kissed yet, I couldn't keep back my grin, letting my expression answer for itself.

Hence, my current predicament. 

"We kissed," I confirm, watching as she dances around the room with a goofy grin on her face. 

My best friend, everyone. 

"I KNEW it was going to happen. I felt it in my bones. The guy could barely keep his eyes off of you the entire night, it was bound to happen." She says, briefly stopping in front of me to pull me in a hug. 

I laugh, before hugging her back, "You were right, the dress did wonders." 

She pulls back and rolls her eyes dramatically, "It wasn't the dress, silly, it was the person in the dress. You. You could have been out there in a garbage bag and I'm sure the same sequence of events would have occurred."

I almost laugh out loud at the way she's so confident in that answer. 

As if I would even go out in anything less than perfect...

I'm no fashion major for no reason. 

"You seem fairly certain of that," I say, giving her a look. 

"Because I am certain." She says, putting her hands on her hips to get the point across. 

I nod my head, letting her believe she's right. 

Even though I understand the point she is trying to get across, I have some serious doubts about her ridiculous claim. 

I begin to move around the room, gathering my items for a shower as Claire sends out a text to Zoe to meet us in our room when she's done with work.

I check my phone once before heading into the shower, becoming a little disappointed by the lack of notification. 

I had texted Sophia to ask about how her weekend went on the way over. I haven't heard from her since she left for her boyfriend's apartment on Friday morning, and now it's already Sunday afternoon. 

I guess that is really only two days, but going from the four of us spending nearly every second of the weekdays together, to nearly radio silence on the weekend, is a pretty weird feeling. 

I try not to think about it too much though as I decide to use the rest of my shower time to clear my mind.

I didn't think about school, Sophia, or even Axel.

With so much going on so quickly, I haven't had the chance to just take a second to stop my brain from spiraling. 

It helped, because by the time I get back to my room, I feel completely refreshed, physically and mentally. 

That is until I check my phone once again and see three missed calls from my mother. 

I nearly groaned out loud as I get dressed quickly to take the call out in the study room.

Claire has never once said anything about me leaving the room to take calls. Sometimes, it makes me feel bad, considering that Claire portrays herself as an open book, and will let anyone overhear her conversations with her family. 

I do try my best to be the same as her, I really do. 

And normally, when it is my sister or one of my friends, I do answer in the room. 

Just not my mother. 

"Hey Mom," I say as soon as I hear her pick up. 

"Hi sweetie, I haven't heard from you in a couple of days, just checking in." She says, and by the sounds of it, I can hear her shuffling around on her end of the phone. 

I haven't talked much with my mother since I moved here all those weeks ago. And I know I'm entirely the one to blame. 

Sure, I kept in touch a bit, especially when my dad had taken that trip to the emergency room, but that was about it. 

I thought that when I moved here, feeling homesick would be the worst part about college. 

And it almost makes me feel like an awful person to say that it has not. 

I really haven't been missing much about home these past few weeks. 

Sure, I miss my sister and my friends, but it helps to know that most of them are in college too, so there is almost no point in making a random trip back.

"I'm doing good," I mentally cringe at my short response, knowing how my mom hates short answers. 

"Just good?" Her voice raises slightly, and I could almost see the way her eyebrow lifts, the way it always does when she's trying to pick up on our unusual behaviors. 

"N-no, it's also been a bit of a busy week, with school and all." I almost hit my hand against my forehead at my stutter, knowing that my mother hates when Ella or I stutter as well. 

She has always expressed, since Ella and I were little girls, the importance of a confident woman. 

"Confident women don't stutter," is what she would say before taking us out in public. 

As the wife of a now billionaire, my mother is and always was a very hot topic back in California. 

She's the typical, picture-perfect wife to a T. Always dressed to the occasion, well-mannered, and beautiful. 

Growing up, I wanted to be just like her...

Until I didn't. 

"As expected, college isn't for everyone," she says, seeming to ignore my stutter for the time being. 

I can't help but let out a sigh of relief, not wanting to hear another one of her lectures. I am still hoping to crawl into bed for a few more hours until having to do a repeat of an explanation for Zoe, and I knew I would need the energy from a power nap to do so. 

"You're right, speaking of it, I should probably get some work done-..." I begin to come up with an excuse to hang up, but she doesn't let me do so that easily. 

"There was actually another reason I called you," She says, the sound of her surroundings getting louder as she seems to be flipping through some sort of papers on her side of the line. 

"Oh, what for?" I ask, crossing my fingers, hoping that it'd be quick. 

Don't get me wrong, I love my mother, I really do, but sometimes talking to her can be more stressful than a lot of my school assignments combined. 

"I had a scout call me today, asking when you'd be available to model again. It truly pains me to keep denying such fantastic offers." She says. 

And there it is, the thing my mother and I have been going back and forth on for what seems like a decade. 

"Mom, I already told you; I've decided to put school first. I don't have time to be caught up in that world again." I say, exhaustedly. 

I had hoped that this back-and-forth would have ended when I left for school, but apparently, nothing stops my mom from trying to get her way. 

It's frustrating. 

"And I understand that, but I just want you to understand all the opportunities you are missing here back in California. I have agencies lined up at my front door to have you, and if you just say the word, I can get you the career that women dream of." She says, repeating the same points that she's said over and over again. 

"I can't go back to California," I say, letting a lot of the frustration seep through my voice.

"Why not?"

"Because I have a life here, mom. I have friends and a..." I bite my lip at my almost slip up, almost mentioning Axel, "...a great school. I love my classes and who I am here. You have to stop asking me to come back."

There was a long pause, and for a moment, I think she is going to keep trying to convince me to move back. 

"Okay, I understand." She finally says a heartbeat later. 

I wish I could say that this would be the end of the argument, but I know better than that. 

After a few exchanges of goodbyes later, I finally hang up the phone. 

Well, it could have been worse, at least. 

I give myself a few minutes to get myself together before heading back into my room. 

But I still must have appeared flustered, because Claire asks as soon as I walk in, "Is everything alright?"

I nod, forcing a smile onto my face, "It's just my mom, being a typical mom."

Claire laughs, "I feel that, my mom can be unbearable sometimes." 

And at that moment, I wanted nothing more than just to confess everything right there. 

Actually, my dad's a billionaire, and my mother has exceedingly high expectations because she wants us to look like the picture-perfect family for everyone to see. 

The reason why I was homeschooled up until my senior year of high school was because my grandfather was murdered, and my parents were afraid that something would happen to us too. 

 Also, I have multi-million-dollar contracts waiting for me back in California, but I turned them down so that I could pack up my life and move here for a college degree. 

Oh, why you didn't know? Because I am a coward and even created fake socials to make myself appear normal. 

If I would have just flat-out admitted everything in the beginning, I'm sure I would have saved myself much stress in the future. 

Instead, I am now weeks into my first semester and have my closest friends in the dark.  

I know they'd be upset; they'd have to be. 

I would be too if I found out that one of my closest friends lied to my face relentlessly about who they were. 

So, I should just do it now and get it over with before more time passes, and they find out themselves...

"Actually, I have something to tell you..." I draw out, returning Claire's attention back to me, which was previously back on her phone. 

"Oh, is this something juicy? Did something else go down between you and Axel? I'm all ears." She says excitedly, but once she sees my serious expression, she frowns. 

"Is everything alright?" She asks instead, for already the second time today. 

I nod, "Yes, but you're going to have to sit down for this one."

Hey guys!!

How is everyone?? I can't say much has happened since the last time I updated. 

My birthday was a few days ago though, I got a cookie cake, and it was literally so good!! 

Here's a question, cookie cake vs ice-cream cake? 

I hope you liked this chapter!!

~juls