Allison walked the short distance home and went right upstairs to look in the mirror. Her medium, golden hair now had some streaks of bright blond running through. It looked like she had just returned from a summer down at Lake Powell. Perfect. She smiled at her reflection and sighed. Somehow, having your hair look good just made life better.
She ran back downstairs and grabbed the keys to her old Ford Truck. It had gotten them here all the way from Texas with their meager belongings. She just hoped it held out a couple more years until she could afford something better. She hopped up into the cab and drove down to Kohlers. She was suddenly in the mood for Almond M&M's. Forget the budget. She needed to celebrate. Not only did her hair look good, but miracles of miracles, she had mended one very broken fence. Of course she had about a thousand more to go, but one fence was still one fence.
She parked her truck away from all the BMW's and Escalades and walked into the store. She headed right for the candy aisle and noticed a man standing right where she wanted to be. She stared for a minute at the bags of Snickers and Twix and tried to wait patiently. She scooted closer to the man, since he obviously didn't even really know what he wanted. There was only one bag of the Almond kind left. Tons of the peanut kind, tons of the plain, but only one of her kind. No way would he want it. She could just sneak her arm over and grab it and he probably wouldn't even notice.
She scooted even closer, sensing that she was probably invading his personal space, but almost desperate now with the uncontrollable desire for chocolate and almonds. She paused as she sensed him stiffen and inched away quickly, pretending like she wasn't even looking at the Almond M&M's. The man leaned over and grabbed her bag and then turned and smiled at her.
She glared crossly up at him, since he was kind of tall and then paused in surprise. Will Carson. He was taller and more solid now and a lot better dressed too. He had always worn faded blue jeans and old work shirts to school. Not because it was cool, but because his family was one of the last farming families in Alpine and that was all he had. She stared up into his deep brown eyes and felt something click into place. She'd always liked Will. She used to be madly in love with him, if she was being honest.
"Will. Wow, it's been a long time. How have you been doing?" she asked, shaking her head in wonder. "You look amazing. Really really amazing." she said, noting it was true. He was dressed in an expensive dress shirt, with a fancy watch on his wrist and dark blue pinstripe dress pants. He didn't look like he was ready for a day at the apple orchard, that was for sure.
Will looked down at her, still holding her bag of candy with a big smile on his face. "Allison Vaughn. I must be dreaming. What are you doing here?"
Allison shrugged and looked away. "I just moved back to town. I'm taking care of my younger brother and sister now. They just started at Lone Peak."
Will looked at her quietly for a few moments and then glanced casually at her left hand. "That's good. Really good. Well, I'll see you around Allison." he said, and then smiled politely at her before moving to walk away.
Allison frowned. He still had her M&M's in his hand. "Um, Will? Hold up there. I hope you don't mind, but I was actually getting ready to grab that bag of M&M's. You wouldn't mind letting me have them would you? For old time's sake?" she asked as sweetly as she could, even going so far as to look up at him through her eyelashes.
Will walked the few steps back towards her and grinned. "Yeah, actually. I would. Now you'll know what it's like to want something and end up incredibly, horribly, utterly dissapointed." he said with raised eyebrows and then turned away again.
Allison frowned and stomped towards him, grabbing his shirt to make him stop. "Hey, wait just a second. What exactly does that mean? Are you mad at me? I've never done anything to you." she said in outrage.
Will turned around and stared at her hand, still on his arm. "I'm not mad Allison. What I am, is even." he said holding the bag of candy just out of her reach. "Don't you remember a few days before prom, I asked you if you'd to to the dance with me. And what did you say Allison? Hmmm? Forgot? Let me refresh. You told me that you were dating a college guy, but that he wouldn't mind if you went to the dance by yourself, since he was at Harvard and couldn't make it. You told me that you'd save me a few dances though. Well, guess who rented a tux and showed up for his three dances? Me. I did. Every time I walked up to you to ask for a dance, your coven blocked me. You danced the whole night with Gage Dulaney and your friends while I stood in the corner waiting for you to notice me and keep your word."
Will no longer looked relaxed and cool. He looked a little ruffled around the edges now. He looked like he was seriously ticked. Five years later and still ticked. Intriguing.
Allison bit her lip before answering. "I'm sorry Will. I don't really have an excuse. I honestly don't remember even seeing you at the dance. If my friends were blocking you, it wasn't because I told them to. I do remember dancing a couple times with Gage that night. But I don't remember enjoying it very much. I would have much rather danced with you." she said in quiet sincerity.
Will's eyes softened and his shoulders relaxed fractionally. "And yet, you still don't get your M&M's Allie. Life is just so unfair sometimes." he said and then walked away without glancing backwards.
Allison was left to stare at his back in surprise. She had just been told off by Will Carson. Ticked, gorgeous, Will Carson. Maybe just maybe her moratorium on dating should come to an end. She walked back out of the store without buying anything and didn't even notice the shocked and slightly horrified gaze of a cute blond standing by the balloon counter.
