Hello, how are you?

YEHEDHEDEH I'm super duper excited to post this because I've been working on this for a while now. The plot was so good in my mind I think I cried thinking about it at some point over the holidays. AND IT'S MULTICHAPTER. So yeah. This is loosely based off of Meant To Be by Lauren Morrill!

I don't own anything at all. Like nothing. I want a Ferrari but looks like that's not happening soon.

Try authentic maple syrup!

Ally wiped the writing away with her hand. She decided against breathing onto the airplane window again. Germs.

Ally was so excited. Her debate team was heading to Vancouver in Canada for a big conference. Ally attended the same conference last year, when she was a junior. But it sucked last year since she was one of the only five juniors that got picked to go since most of the debaters were seniors. Only one of the five, excluding herself was her friend.

She didn't do anything last year since no one invited her anywhere last year.

Ally was a senior this year. She let that roll over in her mind. Senior. When she got across the border, she was technically allowed to drink, smoke, do whatever she wanted. And this time, she had more of her friends along on this trip.

Okay maybe not, whatever. She didn't want to get in trouble with the law in another country.

Everyone hops onto the debate train when they need extra credit. Everyone knew Ms. Krum only chose the best to speak. Free credit.

Ally got giddy as the plane bounced twice. She looked at the screen built into the chair in front of her displaying a little map of the plane's progress from Miami to their destination.

She was so excited! She read all about Vancouver in the brochures that came home with the consent form. Of course she read about them once last year but she didn't go see any of it while she was there. She even ranted to Trish about it for two hours straight.

"Calm down, Ally. Staring at the screen won't make this plane fly any faster." Ally glanced at Trish, her best friend, who was sitting to her left. She was engrossed in a fashion magazine, looking at the latest trends for the lowest prices.

That was literally the title of the magazine.

"I'm sorry. But I'm just so excited. I feel like I'm going to burst!" Ally exclaimed, raising her hands in the air for emphasis. That earned some snickers from the row of seats behind her. Ally ignored them.

"Excited for what? Nice people apologizing and holding doors for you?" Trish laughed. Ally frowned.

"For your information, I met a really rude Canadian on my last trip," Ally pointed out. Trish looked skeptically at her.

"Oh yeah? What did they do?"

"Not hold the door for me," Ally said triumphantly. Trish rolled her eyes and went back to having a nose-to-nose conversation with her fashion catalogue. Ally sighed as the plane still kept the Please keep your seatbelts on sign glowing bright with the voiceover that kept playing over the system every now and then. She really needed to get up and stretch her legs.

And pee.

Ally sighed as another turbulence rocked the plane from side to side. Ally tried really hard not to think about all the water she drank while at the airport back in Miami a few hours ago. They were almost landing anyway.

Suddenly something pelted Ally in the back of the head. The brunette grimaced; it didn't hurt, it was just weird not to make any face when she actually felt that. Ally turned around slowly to see a piece of balled up paper fall from the top of her head and down onto her seat.

Ally frowned, picking up the paper slowly. She uncrumpled it and found a wad of gum stuck to the inside. Ally recoiled in disgust. She knew exactly who that was from.

Ally balled up the sheet again, trying not to smell the maple scent coming from the gum— seriously who chews maple gum?— and flung it back over her shoulder. She watched as it sailed over the heads of the first and second row of seats behind her and smack onto the forehead of the person she was aiming at.

"Trash," she mumbled, sinking back down into her seat, not waiting to see their reaction. The wad of paper didn't come back, so that meant she was safe.

For now, anyway.

Ally closed her eyes as the plane jolted up and down. She began to sweat since it wasn't stopping after a bout for five seconds. She gripped the armrests until her knuckles turned white. It wasn't that she was scared of falling and crashing to her death, no— although that would be pretty bad. It was the fact that she really had to use the bathroom, and the turbulences were not helping in any way.

When they finally stopped, she couldn't take it anymore. Ally unbuckled her seatbelt, ignoring a confused Trish and another passenger as she raced past the two into the aisle. She didn't care if she got in trouble. She was going to explode.

Ally ran into the washroom and locked the door. She then checked again if she had really locked it. When she had finished everything, including double-checking if there was any toilet paper stuck to the bottom of her shoes, Ally confidently strolled out of the washroom.

Ally made a plan in her head. She was going to bolt from here to back to her seat. Maybe, fifteen-ish steps? She'd scoot past Carrie and Trish and back into her seat, buckling her seatbelt with both clean hands. It should take about forty-five to a minute, tops.

Ally was so confident with her plan that she didn't see where she was going. She ran smack into a wall. Or, well, it was a wall until she heard it chuckle.

"Woah, what's the rush Know-It-Ally?" Austin Moon, the person who chucked that gum-wad at her, laughed. Ally groaned. Austin Moon and his groupie friends have done nothing but torture her since freshman year. 'Know-It-Ally' was the nickname they gave her, because well, she knew everything. She'd have to admit, it was a smart nickname. But she'd rather die than admit that to them anytime soon.

"Austin, move," she sighed, making a list of comebacks and excuses in her head. She head to prepare her next move before he even made his.

"Aw come on, I asked you a question," Austin said, raising his hands up. His face had a lazy grin on it. Ally had never seen him wear a different expression in her entire life. Or a different outfit, for all she knew. He wore the same gray, long sleeve shirt. The same bomber jacket. The same ugly yellow snapback that didn't match the colour of his hair.

It made his hair look like hay.

Ally knew there was only one reason why he was even on his trip; extra credit. She wondered how a dimwit like him even did in school. Probably got other people to do his homework for him while he went to parties and smoked stuff that shouldn't be smoked.

"I just need to get back to my seat," Ally replied. Austin was standing with his hands on the headrests of the seats of the aisles, leaning into her. Ally didn't have an escape unless she went over his leg and under his arm.

"Well, why didn't you just say so?" Austin removed one of his arms and ushered her forward. Ally went into a mode of panic. Oh my god, he's touching me. Oh my god. "There you go, little know-it-all, back to your seat." Austin even grinned at her as she turned around to look at him. Ally raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything else.

Once she buckled in her seat, Ally sighed and wiped the sweat off her forehead. Ally shifted in her seat. Ally didn't want to move again, for fear that she was being too distracting. But, her body told her otherwise. Her back was itchy.

Ally reached behind her to scratch her back when her hand caught on something. Ally grasped a piece of paper attached to her back by a piece of orange-brown gum, all chewed up.

Ally stared at it in disbelief. She touched the back of her shirt. Sure enough, there was gum stuck to the back of her shirt. Ally puffed air out from her cheeks as she heard snickers from behind her.

She raised the piece of paper to her eyes, looking at what appeared to be a message on it for her. She read it.

Hey Know-It-All, ya know some places to get some good booze? I saw those brochures you were reading. Oh wait, you don't even know what booze is!

The note wasn't signed but she could tell it was from the one and only pain in the ass. Ally rolled her eyes and pried the rest of the gum off her back using the note so she wouldn't actually have to touch the gum. Ick.

She angrily turned around and chucked the balled up paper over to Austin's seat. But not before writing some very hurtful words on the other side of the sheet of paper.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity and forever, the plane landed in the airport on time. Ally thought with all those turbulences and with the little loop the plane did— as she spied on the built in progress map thing built into the seat— that the flight would be delayed. But no, it was right on time. That made Ally oddly happy.

The debate team— about a hundred people, wow!— hauled themselves out of the airport and walked to the nearby hotel that they were going to be staying at for the fourteen-day trip.

Once they got to the lobby of the hotel, Ms. Krum called for silence among the members of the debate team.

"Since there had been an accident in booking rooms, you all get your own suite," Ms. Krum announced, although she wasn't happy. Cheers rose from every which way of the group; one escaped out of Ally's mouth, herself. This meant she didn't have to share a room with Piper Dale; strawberry blonde and the biggest gossiper ever. She was part of that Austin Moon groupie shit, and totally in love with the meathead.

Ally sighed. She honestly just hated Austin so much. One time during freshman year, Piper, Austin, Kira and Jace taped freaking pads and tampons to her locker just because she got some red paint stuck to the back of her white jeans. Art class was a hassle that day. On top of that, she had to wear Trish's gym shorts for the rest of the day since she didn't take Phys Ed anymore. Trish hadn't washed her shorts in two months.

Although, she never got to thank the four for the free hygiene things.

"So this means I'm responsible for all one hundred and twenty-two of you separately," Ms. Krum sighed. She then assigned everyone their rooms. "I'll be checking your rooms every night right at curfew, which is at ten." After everyone groaned in protest, Ms. Krum continued. "You are free to do whatever you want in between debates and curfew, except when we have group outings, which you are required to attend to get full credit of this extra-curricular. Some things that are forbidden are drinking and going to clubs." Everyone groaned again. Someone even made a dramatic moaning noise.

"Shopping and all is fine, and eating out is also fine. Just make sure you are at the debates in time and be respectful of the rules and all."

"And because of this, you're all going to get fieldtrip buddies! You and your buddy are responsible for each other and supposed to do things together. For example, if you wanted to go shopping—" Ms. Krum gave a pointed glare to a few of the girls looking longingly at a pile of fashion catalogues on the lobby desk. "—your buddy has to come with you. The buddy system prevents people from wandering off. Failure to do this will result in you sitting out "

Everyone groaned in unison again. Ally sighed as Ms. Krum began to read out the names, listing people off alphabetically.

"Trent Cavier and Cassidy Chairman."

Ally rubbed up and down her arms. They were going in alphabetical order! Which meant she was going to end up with—

"Piper Dale and Ally Dawson."

Great.

She was still stuck with Piper.

Ally looked around for her blonde buddy, scanning the heads of her taller classmates. It wasn't her fault she was short. Blame her dad! His genes were the reason she was so short.

"Piper!" Ally exclaimed once she saw the blonde standing a few feet away, hopefully looking for her as well. Piper caught her eye and actually gagged in front of her. Ally rolled her eyes before making her way over to her buddy.

This was going to be a long-ass trip.

"Know-It-Ally!" Piper exclaimed with fake enthusiasm. The blonde walked over to her in her reasonably-heighted high heels and bent over to give her an air kiss on each cheek. Ally stood still as everything happened.

Although Piper was also a pain in the ass, she was the nicest out of the four that torture her on a day-to-day basis. Since their names were beside each other on the attendance list, they did a lot of projects together and shit. Ally could tolerate Piper longer than anyone else.

"How are you? Good, good! That's great!" Piper exclaimed. Ally didn't even answer her question.

As Ms. Krum finished listing out the partners and told everyone to stand by their buddies, Ally glanced around the room. Ms. Krum gave up on the alphabetical order halfway through, as some people were too buddy-buddy already with their potential partners, which was going to result in disaster. Ms. Krum just switched everything up after the K last names.

Ally looked at all the groups of buddies. Trish was paired with Jace. Kira was paired with Austin. Dez was paired with Chuck. Gavin was paired with Dallas.

Ally let out a breath of relief as Ms. Krum dismissed the group to head up to their rooms to unpack and settle in. They were free to do whatever they wanted after that. "Just to explore the Canadian city," Ms. Krum had said.

The brunette hauled her things to the floor she was staying on. Ally looked for the room number indicating her room. She unlocked the door to the suite she was staying in and gasped. The room looked like a page out of Trish's magazine. Trish usually ripped all the furniture stuff out just because, well, she didn't care about room decor.

The first thing Ally noticed was the colour scheme of the entire thing. Beige and crème. Gentle colours to soothe her eyes as she opened the door. The carpets were a light magenta, as well as any soft furniture in the room. There were some gold complementing the mellow colours of the room as well. The lights were rimmed with gold, as well as the lamp beside the bed.

The room had a big, queen sized bed with golden brass posts to accommodate the luxury. There was a vanity set with a big mirror to the right of the bed, right up against the wall. There was a bathroom next to the vanity set, the door frame was outline in gold.

The carpets were lush under her now shoeless and sockless feet. There was a big drawer right across from the bed, placed right up against the opposite wall. Ally wondered if all the rooms looked like this. All cute and girly. Probably not, as not all the guests were girls.

Ally unpacked her things into the wooden drawer across from the bed. There was even a little chest at the front foot of the bed to put some stuff in. This place was already turning out better than her room last year.

Last year, she had to share a room with Trish. It wasn't so bad until Trish started to unpack her things. The Latina had a gazillion articles of clothing. It took up most of the dresser, most of the floor and most of everywhere else in the room too. Not to mention Trish's hair supplies and makeup products took up the bathroom cabinet and the table. All Ally had left was her bed and the drawer beside it.

Once she had finished with her clothes, Ally moved into the bathroom to unpack her hygiene things. That was when she noticed the big bathtub sitting right in the middle of the washroom. It had gold legs and a basket at the foot of it with free soaps, conditioners and a towel that smelled like lavender.

Ally quickly unpacked the rest of her stuff into the bathroom. She was going to hop into that bathtub quicker than Trish could buy three dresses.

Ally was just about to grab her things for a nice, soothing bath when her phone beeped. She ran over to check the message. It was from Trish.

all you talked about on the plane was VANCOUVER
are you freaking out now that we're in the city that your CRUSH moved to?

Ally blushed. Trish obviously was listening when she told her that Elliot moved to Vancouver last spring. Elliot was her crush since they went to Arts & Crafts Camp when they were little. They were the best out of all the little girls and boys there. He even said her baskets were unbelievable! They used to be best friends too. Sadly, they grew apart, but Ally never stopped liking him. She didn't have the courage to go up and talk to him whenever she saw him.

now that you brought it up yes
and you just interrupted my plans to take a nice hot bath thank you very much

you have a bathtub in your room?

Ally smiled. She must have gotten lucky with her room.

i guess i just got lucky

keep that up and i'm sure you will ;)

Ally gasped. Trish was being cheeky with her! Ally was just about to reply when she heard a knock on the door. Ally closed her phone and walked over to her door. She flung it open without looking through the peephole at who it was.

"Hi Ally!" It was Piper. Ally looked at her. She looked like she was wearing a completely different outfit from on the plane. Completely. Even her hair and makeup were done differently. "Ready to go shopping? I heard there was this really great mall nearby here!"

"Shopping?" Ally asked. They literally just got here. Her muscles were sore from the ten hour flight and all she wanted to do with soothe them in her holy bathtub. Maybe play some classical tunes in the background while she read a good book as well.

"You heard what Ms. Krum said, where one buddy goes, both buddies go!" Piper said. Her facade was irritating Ally a lot. Ally smiled at Piper as she grabbed her jacket and purse, putting on her shoes. Her feet were killing her from the walk from the airport to the hotel, but looks like she was going to be walking for another three hours.

"Thanks for checking in with me before going off to the mall," Ally said as she saw some stray debate team members walking around by themselves. Looks like the buddy system was already falling apart.

"Huh?" Piper looked up from her phone. Ally just gave her a slight shake of the head, indicating it meant nothing. She rolled her eyes when Piper looked away. Only when they got to the mall that Ally realized that there was a debate tomorrow. The first day of the competition and she still hadn't gone over her pros and cons chart yet.

Ally panicked for a bit before she remembered that she took photos of her chart on her phone. She pulled that out whenever Piper stopped to look at clothes. She felt like a kid getting dragged around by her mom when she'd rather be doing something else.

What was even worse was that Piper had met up with Kira and Austin. Apparently Austin got dragged along on the trip with Kira too. Ally walked beside Piper who was beside Kira who was in front of Austin a few steps.

It was too late when she realized that she caught Austin's eye by accident. And now he was strolling over to her casually.

"Know-It-Ally! How's it going?" He asked, grinning. She rolled her eyes before taking a few steps back and away from him. He smelled like maple gum. Hey, maybe that was normal here now that they were in Canada.

Maple syrup, aye?

"Great, until you talked to me," she answered honestly. Austin pouted at her, tipping his head to the side. The blond hair under his snapback fanned out behind his head near his neck. He didn't even change out of his airplane attire.

"Aw, don't be like that. Just trying to see how you were!" He said, throwing an arm over her shoulder. Ally shrieked a little before flicking his arm back over her head and back over to him. The noise was loud enough to make Piper and Kira look back at them.

"Woah, calm down there you two. Know-It-Ally, this guy just joined the mile-high club, wouldn't want to be seconds now would you?" Kira laughed. Piper whispered something to Kira which Ally could faintly make out was a question if she even knew what the mile-high club was.

She did.

And she was blushing bright red. Not from embarrassment but from anger. She was no one's second. And definitely not Austin Moon's.

"Don't listen to them. They're just jealous they weren't the one to join the club with me," Austin laughed in her face. He was still walking right beside her. Ally took a deep breath. "Although, I wouldn't mind seconds."

"Leave me alone, Austin. Go brag about your dirty little deed somewhere else," Ally rolled her eyes at him before walking ahead just beside Piper. She opened her phone and resumed looking at her list on public transportation.

A while passed before Ally was swimming in words. Ally bit her lip as she read the pros and cons off the screen of her phone. She was sitting on a bench outside one of the clothing shops Piper and Kira had disappeared into. Austin was nowhere in sight too, and honestly, she couldn't care less.

The first two or three days of the debate competition they give you the topic. But after that they tell you right before you go up as well as which side you'll be debating on. Ally loved debate. It let her speak while making it sound like she knew what she was talking about. Also, it gave her a sense of power talking while everyone listened.

Ally hadn't realize that the mall as actually about to close when she looked up from her phone. She was so busy in her own little world she had no idea what time it was. Ally panicked. She didn't know how to get out or get back to the hotel at all. Ally quickly searched up the directions back to the hotel and sighed with relief.

Once Ally got back to the hotel, it was just about to be curfew. She hoped that being out just before curfew was fine.

She took a taxi back to the hotel. Great, wasted emergency money and they've only been in the city for four hours.

As she approached the front doors of the lobby, she saw Ms. Krum and Piper and Kira inside. Ms. Krum did not look happy. Ally wondered what was going on.

"But Ms. Krum, honestly it was all a big mistake, we got dragged in there," Piper was saying. Her words sounded a little funny. She held the word honestly longer than she needed to, and she looked like she was having trouble focusing on where Ms. Krum was. Suddenly, she turned and spotted Ally. Her eyes widened.

"L-look, there's Ally, she'll tell you," Piper said, pointing at her with a shaky finger. Ally looked up in surprise. "She was there too."

"Oh yeah," Kira interjected. "She was the one who dragged us in there. And then she just left! She just left us there!"

"Ally, dear," Ms. Krum said. She called her dear, which made her feel special but at the same time she got teased about it.

Ally looked at Ms. Krum, then back to Piper and Kira who were supporting each other. It looked like if you poked one of them lightly, both would topple over in a laughing fit. They looked a little hysterical.

"Yes, Ms. Krum?" Ally answered, genuinely confused. Ms. Krum took a deep breath.

"Did you happen to take these two to a bar? I found them coming out of a bar just down the street without their buddies and they claimed you brought them there."

"What?" Ally exclaimed. "I didn't bring them to a bar? I was dragged to the mall to go shopping with Piper and Kira! And then they left me there without telling me where they were going!" Ally didn't mention Austin because he probably was off bragging about joining the mile-high club with Jace or some other shit.

"Is this true?" Ms. Krum asked Piper and Kira who were still stumbling and giggling in their matching miniskirts. Kira shook her head no but Piper gave in and grumbled.

"Maybe," she replied, her vowel sounds being slurred. Ms. Krum sighed angrily before marching over to the two girls.

"Going to a bar was not part of doing whatever you wanted while being respectful of the rules!"

"It's part of doing whatever we wanted," Kira mumbled. Ms. Krum blew off the steam coming out of her ears.

"I'm sorry you two, but I'm going to have to send you two back to Miami. I didn't realize I brought two immature young girls on this trip. This was supposed to be a debate trip. Not a debate on which drink I should buy first trip!" Ms. Krum sighed angrily.

"But—"

"No buts! You two are going back, and that's that," Ms. Krum snapped. She rarely got mad at students but since this was her first time leading the debate team out, Ally guessed she wanted to do a good job. Ally knew there were always about two to ten students sent home each year on this trip. Couldn't handle the Canadian rules.

Bummer.

As Piper and Kira mumbled curses and stumbled into the elevator Ms. Krum turned to Ally. She smiled apologetically at her. "I'm sorry you had to witness that. And get left behind at the mall. Although I hear it's nice and there's lots of sales this time of year," she tried sympathizing.

Ally laughed lightly. She shook her head. "No worries, Ms. Krum. I actually was going over the pros and cons of public transportation during that time," Ally said. Ms. Krum smiled. She sighed afterwards.

"I'm sorry again that Piper won't be your buddy for this trip after all. I know you two are friends." Ally started sweating at this point. Friends wasn't quite the word to describe their relationship, but she'll take it. "And it looks like Kira wasn't going to get to spend time with her buddy either. It's a shame I thought those two needed some bonding time."

Ally almost choked. Like Kira and Austin needed bonding time.

"Wait, so the order wasn't alphabetical?"

"No, actually. I just paired people who I thought needed to spend some more time together and to get to know each other better." Ally nodded her head but was secretly questioning that. Kira and Austin knew each other very well if rumours were true.

"And now looks like two of those bonding moments won't happen." Ms. Krum sighed. "Ally, since Piper was your partner and Kira is—" Ms. Krum found her notebook in her bag, searching for what Ally believed to be is Kira's name. "—Austin's buddy. I say the best thing to do now is to pair you two up to be buddies for the remainder of the trip."

Ally blinked a few times. No no no no no! She cannot be buddies with Austin. All she wanted to do was to get Austin to leave her alone, forever. All he's done since she ever set foot into high school is call her a know-it-all and torture her until she had to set up a dartboard with the only picture of him that she hasn't gagged at yet. It was a school photo, which explained that. It was also a gift from Trish, which also explained why she had it.

All Ally wanted to do on this trip was enjoy Vancouver but with Austin as her buddy all she was going to do was get in trouble and go looking at girls with the last person she ever wanted to be stuck with her in an elevator.

She really hoped she didn't get stuck in an elevator with Austin Moon.

"Sorry again, dear," Ms. Krum smiled apologetically.

Ally smiled back, grinding her teeth together. "No worries."

Wowowowow. What's going to happen?

It was actually really fun to write all those stereotypical Canadian jokes because well, I'm Canadian. There's actually even more in upcoming chapters so... It's gonna be great. Now that I'm scrolling back up, the paragraphs seem so long and condensed. I'm sorry you had to read all of that. You don't mind if you secretly skipped some of that. I would've too. Just kidding, it's too good to skip! Just kidding again.

I hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review and tell me what you think. Yeet.

damn it