The Pick Page 8

  Every once in a while, she would get a whiff of the cologne he was wearing and he smelled good. Tyson definitely didn’t smell like that. Not that he smelled bad, he was just more of an Old Spice than an Axe kind of guy. Justin squeezed her hand bringing Ally back to the present and sending a tingling up her arm. She looked up to see him smiling at her out of the corner of his eye and Ally smiled back. She had to stop thinking about Tyson. He was just a friend over a thousand miles away and Justin was right here.

  “I’ve been meaning to tell you that you look amazing tonight,” Justin whispered in Ally’s ear.

  Ally blushed as she tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “Thanks. You too,” Ally responded as Justin’s closeness seemed to take her breath away. She tried to focus on the movie but before she knew it the movie was over.

  When the lights rose in the theatre, Ally turned around to see Kylie a few rows behind her. Ally smiled and waved at Kylie.

  “Hey Justin, Kylie, my roommate, is here and she wants to meet you,” Ally said.

  “Of course,” Justin said as he reached for her hand and they began to work their way toward the aisle. But their progress toward Kylie’s seat stopped when they ran into a group of Justin’s friends. After a couple of minutes, Ally looked over to see Kylie gathering her stuff to leave.

  “Justin?” Ally whispered. After a couple seconds, she repeated herself a little louder.

  “What?” Justin said in a tone that Ally couldn’t decide whether he was annoyed or just forgot that they were going to meet Kylie.

  Ally tried to give him the benefit of the doubt and went with he forgot. “You were going to meet my roommate.”

  “Just a minute,” Justin replied as he jumped back into the conversation.

  The next time Ally turned around, Kylie was already gone.

  Kylie couldn’t believe it was Justin Hawthorne. It all made sense why Ally was hiding Justin from her. How could Ally go around dating the one person that Tyson couldn’t stand? Ally had to know how much this was going to drive Tyson crazy and probably hurt him too. Why? That’s all that she wanted an answer to tonight.

  Kylie had to make sure that Tyson didn’t find out about this from someone else. That is IF he found out. Kylie was mad. Plus, Ally didn’t even bring Justin over to meet her. His friends were apparently more important. Kylie spent the rest of the night stewing until she heard the door open.

  “Kylie? Are you here?” Ally called out.

  Kylie stormed into the room ready to rip into Ally. That is until she saw Justin standing next to Ally in the doorway. No matter how much Kylie hated this guy, she had to admit that he was attractive. He could make any girl weak in the knees.

  “Kylie, this Justin. Justin this is my roommate and best friend, Kylie,” Ally said.

  “It is nice to meet you finally meet you,” Justin said as he stuck his hand out toward Kylie. Kylie shook his hand. Why was he being so nice to her? Then Kylie realized that he didn’t recognize her.

  After a moment of awkward silence, Ally said, “Well now that you guys have met, Justin should probably get home. He has somewhere he has to be early in the morning.”

  “Ya. Have a good night ladies,” Justin said to both of them. Then turned to Ally and said with a wink, “I’ll talk to you soon.”

  Ally closed the door behind Justin and turned around to face Kylie. “So, what do you think? Isn’t he sooo attractive?” Ally asked with a huge grin on her face.

  Kylie frowned, “Really? Justin Hawthorne. Of all the guys you could date you chose him? Are you serious?”

  “Wait. What? How do you know his last name?” Ally asked slightly confused.

  “Are you really that mad at Tyson for not giving you a definite answer to wait or move on? Have you told Tyson you are dating someone else? You better not tell him it is Justin. It will break his heart. He needs to stay focused on his mission. He is enjoying it and if you tell him you are dating Justin Hawthorne, he is going to be devastated,” Kylie rambled on.

  “Slow down. I’m lost. I thought you wanted me to get out and date people?”

  “I wanted you to get up off the couch and stop sulking around. And yes, I do want you to date people. Multiple people. Not exclusively the Justin Hawthorne. I can’t believe you would do this. I guess I finally know why you have been sneaking around with him,” Kylie said as she paced back and forth.

  “Kylie, what exactly is wrong with Justin? How do you know him? And what does this have to do with Tyson?”

  “You seriously don’t recognize who Justin is?”

  “No,” Ally said a little irritated. “Should I know who Justin is?”

  “Yes!” Kylie exclaimed. “Your new boyfriend is the Justin that broke Tyson’s hand in 4th grade right before tryouts as quarterback for the competitive football team. The Justin that made Tyson have to sit out the entire season because of that broken hand. The Justin that ruined Tyson’s dream of being the starting quarterback because Justin had the starting quarterback position from then on that year. The Justin who is the only person on planet earth that Tyson might actually hate. THE Justin who is the only person who might actually hate Tyson. And out of all the guys you chose to date that Justin!”

  “Ohhhh… I remember hearing about that. I moved in 4th grade during Christmas break, remember? All of that happened before I even knew you or Tyson,” Ally answered flabbergasted.

  “Tyson has played against him multiple times. You have been to most of Tyson’s games. How did you not recognize him?”

  “When Justin said that he played quarterback for ‘the school that must not be named’, I knew that I had seen him play before. Tyson hasn’t mentioned that story in years. I just thought that the reason you got so excited about Tyson sacking their quarterback was because they were our rivals, not because the quarterback was the kid that broke Tyson’s hand. Plus, how many football players can you recognize from 70 feet away? I think I have only ever seen him with a helmet on. I honestly wouldn’t have known what he looked like.”

  Kylie took a deep breath. “Oh. Huh. You really didn’t know who Justin was?”

  “No. I didn’t,” Ally shook her head. Her phone vibrated indicating she had a text. She glanced down to see it was Justin.

  Kylie noticed and asked, “Is that Justin?”

  “Yep,” Ally said.

  “So, when are you going to tell him?”

  “Tell him what?”

  “That you’re breaking up with him?”

  “What? Why would I break up with him? I’m not going to break up with him just because Tyson and Justin got into a fight when they were 10 years old.”

  “No, break up with him because deep down he is probably still a jerk.”

  “You really think that Justin is the same 10-year-old kid?”

  Kylie shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t think he has changed. He still looks like a spoiled kid to me.”

  “Well maybe he has changed, Kylie. He acts like he really likes me. So, can you please just give him a chance? You wanted to me to get out and date other people and stop thinking about Tyson. I’m sorry that you don’t like 10-year-old Justin, but can you please give 19-year-old Justin a chance?”

  Kylie sighed. “I guess…. I just don’t want to see you get hurt. Or Tyson.”

  “Tyson, Tyson, Tyson. You just don’t like him because he isn’t Tyson, right?! If you are so worried about whatever I do hurting Tyson, you should have made sure he told me he wanted me to be here when he got back or maybe that he hoped I would still be available when he got back. I don’t believe that he cares who I date while he is gone because he seems to have just forgotten about me,” Ally paused as tears started to well up in her eyes. “I have written him every week, sometimes multiple times a week when he first left and guess what? I have only gotten two letters from him. Two. And they were just spiritual thoughts.”

  “Well what do you expect? He is on a mission, Ally. He is supposed to be focusing on that. Not on you. And you should have asked h
im what he wanted you to do, because you’ve always known that I wasn’t going to be the middle man for you two.”

  “How many emails and letters have you gotten?”

  “Well, I guess I usually get one every week. But that’s different because...”

  Ally cut Kylie off, “Because you are family? And if you went on a mission how many times you do think you would email me?”

  “Probably every week.”

  “But I’m not your sibling, so why would you email me that often.”

  “Because you are my best friend,” Kylie answered wondering where Ally was going with this.

  “Exactly. I may not be his sister, but Tyson was one of my best friends, just like you are, and I’m lucky to get an email once every other month,” Ally said quietly as she tried to hold back tears. “If you are so worried about me getting hurt, well I already have. I don’t feel like Tyson cares at all about me anymore. That I’m just some high school acquaintance who he writes back just to be nice. Until he convinces me otherwise, I’m going to try to move on.”

  Kylie didn’t know what to say. Although she didn’t necessarily agree with Ally’s reasoning, she could see where she was coming from. Kylie would be hurt if her best friend only wrote her once a month.

  After a couple of seconds, Ally broke the silence as she wiped away a tear, “Well I’m going to go to bed. I’m sorry that Justin is the first guy I have seriously dated other than Tyson and I’m sure is it different. But please just give him a shot. I really do like him.”

  As Kylie laid in bed that night, she thought about what Ally had said. She could see where Ally’s train of thought was going but she had to come up with a plan to fix it. Kylie had a gut feeling that Justin hadn’t changed. He was just a spoiled kid and he always got what he wanted. She just had to fix all of this before Justin hurt Ally.

  Chapter Seventeen

  It was P-Day and Tyson couldn’t wait to go to the Internet Cafe down the street from his tiny apartment to read the emails from home. If he was lucky, one of his family members would be able to email back and forth with him while he was there.

  Tyson sat down next to his companion, Elder Fenton, at a computer. He unlocked the computer and the timer started. After he sent the mandatory email to his mission president, he glanced at the emails in his inbox. He felt a twinge of disappointment that there wasn’t an email from Ally. He hadn't received an email from her last week either.

  It seemed like every P-day he had to remind himself of his first day in Mexico, when his mission president had sat down with him, he mentioned that Tyson looked like a handsome man and asked if he had a girl back home. Tyson told him that he did indeed have a girl that he hoped would still available when he got back, but that he hadn’t asked her to wait for him. Tyson had felt nervous as his mission president pondered in silence. He had then advised Tyson to only write Ally once a month. He promised him that if his focus was on his mission, then he would have success.

  Tyson had followed his mission president’s advice and he had had many promising investigators. But he still wanted to talk to Ally. He missed talking to her. Tyson checked his sent mail hoping it had been a month since he had emailed her, but instead it had only been two weeks. He shook his head and turned his focus to his mom’s email.

  After he had sent an email to his mom and dad, Kylie, and a general update to everyone on his email list, he waited to see if any replies came in. As he stared at the computer screen, he had to fight off the urge to compose a message to Ally. Gratefully, his companion asked if he was ready to go.

  The Elders paid as the headed out the door back onto the sunny streets. Tyson took a deep breath and immersed himself in the work he was there to do.

  As Ally sat in the library, she checked her email one last time. She clicked refresh a couple of times, willing an email from Tyson to show up. She had received the group email only 20 minutes before. She had hoped that he would send her an email this week. But nothing.

  Ally sighed and closed the browser. She didn’t know why she was disappointed. She had come to terms with the fact that she wasn’t important to Tyson. But some part of her held onto some hope that he would have emailed her this week. She stopped herself and remembered that Justin was her boyfriend and he didn’t deserve to have Ally thinking about Tyson all the time. She shoved Tyson out of her mind as she turned her focus to the economics paper she was supposed to be writing.

  Another ten minutes passed and the words still weren’t coming. Ally shut her laptop and packed up to head back to her apartment.

  Her mood was lightened as she ran into Justin walking into the library as she was walking out. Justin wrapped her up in a tight hug and Ally already felt better. In this moment, it seemed like she had it all, the perfect school, great friends, and to top it all off, a fantastic boyfriend, but at the end of the day she always felt like she was waiting, maybe even hoping for something different, and still hadn’t figured out why.

  “I’ll be by to pick you up at 5.”

  “Okay, but I thought that the party wasn’t until 7:30?” Ally asked.

  “I thought we could go out for a nice dinner beforehand.”

  “Oooo. Okay. I like food.”

  Justin laughed. “Yes, you do. Sometimes I think you could eat more than me.”

  “Ain’t that true!”

  “Well I need to go finish up some homework,” Justin said as he gave Ally a goodbye hug. He lingered just a little bit longer as if he was going to kiss Ally. She held her breath thinking he just might. Instead he winked and said, “I’ll see you later.” Justin walked off toward the library doors.

  Maybe tonight would finally be the night that it wouldn’t be so hard to stop thinking about Tyson after all.

  Just before five, Ally walked into the living room in their apartment.

  “Wow, you look good. Are you going somewhere special with Justin tonight?” Kylie asked. “Is he proposing or something?”

  “No way!” Ally exclaimed. “But we are going to dinner and a party and Justin likes it when I dress up when we go out.”

  Tyson wouldn’t have cared what Ally wore as long as Ally was with him, and he would probably want her to be comfortable, Kylie thought to herself. At some point, wouldn’t dressing up get kind of old?

  There was a knock on the door. “Well, have fun,” Kylie said.

  “Thanks,” Ally said with sincere gratitude. “Kylie, I know that it is hard for you to like someone as much as Tyson, but I really do appreciate it.”

  “You're welcome,” Kylie said.

  After Ally walked out the door, Kylie went to the window see if Justin treated her like a lady by opening the car door for Ally. Even though she was going to put up with Ally dating Justin on the outside, in the inside she was bound and determined to find something wrong. It was only a matter of time before Justin let his guard down.

  But much to Kylie’s disappointment, Justin opened the door for Ally and Ally did seem happy. The only thing she found wrong with Justin was that he was a spoiled, snobby, rich kid. All claims that were solidified by the fact that he drove a sporty convertible that was definitely paid for by his parents and his clothes were a little too expensive.

  The night was fancier than anything Ally had ever experienced. First, Justin pulled right up to the front of the Brio Tuscan Grill at City Creek. She had never had a car valet parked. Nor had she ever eaten at the Brio. Ally was shocked to see how much the items on the menu cost. She even offered to share a dish with Justin, but he insisted that Ally pick anything on the menu. It took some time, but she finally found something that didn’t seem to have weird ingredients and didn’t cost too much, at least compared to Justin’s choice.

  Ally was a little disappointed when the food actually arrived. It was too fancy for her taste, and for as much as it cost, she was expecting there to be more on the plate. But Justin was paying for her dinner, so she was determined to enjoy the meal. The best part was the delicious chocolate cake afterwards. />
  Once they were back in the car, Ally noticed they were heading up the canyon instead of toward campus.

  “Is the party up here somewhere?” Ally said, curious as to where they were going.

  “No, but I thought we could just take a drive up here. I know that the leaves aren’t changing and the flowers aren’t blooming yet, but there is a little spot I wanted you to see,” Justin explained as he pulled off on a dirt road.

  After a couple of yards, Justin put the car into park and ran around to the other side of the car to open Ally’s door. He helped her out and lead her a couple of feet in front of the car.

  “Wow,” Ally said as she took in the beautiful view that was before her. She could see the lights of the Salt Lake Valley. “It’s beautiful. I could look at this all night.”

  “It is pretty amazing,” Justin said as he put his arm around Ally’s shoulders. They stood there in silence for a minute until a shiver ran through Ally’s body. Justin wrapped both of his arms around Ally and she rested her head on his chest. Although Justin was warm, it didn’t take too long for the cold to seep back in.

  “We should probably head back down, so we can make it to the party before it’s over,” Ally said, finding an excuse to get back into the car and turn the heater up.

  “Good idea,” Justin said loosening their embrace. “But first…”

  Justin closed the gap between them and kissed Ally. His lips were soft and Ally’s heart fluttered as he pulled away. Ally leaned in to kiss him again and she stood on her tippy toes to shorten the distance. She had been wanting Justin to kiss her but somewhere in the middle, she missed the way Tyson used to kiss her. Frustrated that the thought had crossed her mind and trying to push it away, she deepened her kiss and Justin responded without hesitation.

  A couple of minutes later, they pulled apart. Ally smiled up at Justin with no spec of Tyson on her mind, “Well shall we go?”

  Justin nodded his head as he led her back to the car.