"Hey, Ally!"
Ally jumped at the sound of the familiar voice. "Oh, uhm, hi Dallas", she managed to say through a mouthful of hair she was chewing. "W-what's up?"
"I just noticed you looking so I came over to see if you needed anything." he replied.
Crap. How long have I been staring? Ally thought.
"Oh, uh…I was just…umm… admiring your collection of…. Bluetooth headsets….."
Bluetooth headsets? Really?
"Uhhh huh….. Well I should get back to work…" Dallas said as he turned and headed back towards the cell phone accessory cart.
Ally rushed off to her Dad's music store, Sonic Boom, where she was late returning from her break. Gosh, I'm such an idiot….. Why can't I talk to him like I do in my fantasies? Now I sound creepy…
She entered the store and checked her secret hiding place under the counter for her precious diary/journal/songbook. If she lost it, surely someone would read it, and then she'd surely die! Finding it there safely she began tending to the customers. Just as the end of her shift approached, a familiar voice rang through the store.
"Guess who got a job at the bakery!" announced Trish, sporting a pink apron with the words "Kate's Bakery" tattooed across them in flashy white text.
"Hmmm….. Ryan Seacrest?" guessed Ally sarcastically as she removed her name tag and went to grab her book.
"No, it's me!" replied Trish. "They give us so many free samples. I think I'll work harder to keep this job."
Ally chuckled as the headed for the stairs, clutching her sacred book to her chest. "When you see Austin, send him up to the practice room!" she yelled to Trish.
"Got it." Trish yelled back.
Not five minutes later, Austin entered alongside his red-headed sidekick, Dez.
"Could you she at least have a moment of silence with me to honor Benjamin's death?" Dez asked.
"Ugh, fine, if it'll make you quit bugging me." Austin replied as he and Dez bowed their heads in respect for the dearly departed.
"Austin, Ally's waiting for you upstairs."
"Oh, ok. Sorry, Dez! I'll help you pick the color scheme for Benjamin's memorial later." Austin said as he headed to the practice room. Inside, he found Ally at the piano, singing an unheard song with her book open. Ah, Ally. Hard at work as always.
"Austin! I'm almost done with this week's song. Take a look." Austin peered onto the page at the new lyrics, and Ally new right away what he was thinking. "You hate it", she said.
"Naww, I don't hate it…. it's good, it's just… not me." Austin replied.
"It isn't? I thought for sure I'd nailed it this time." Ally said, disappointed.
"Wow, Ally, you must not know me at all. This song is all about you. And you know we have nothing in common."
"Yes we do! There's…uh…hmmm…." Ally's thoughts drifted away as she tried to think of a response. Austin made his was to the fridge for a soda. "Come on, you know we don't. You like clouds, I like zombies. You like geese, I like coloring. You like pickles, I like pancakes."
"Well… we both like music. And we both want to prove our dad's wrong about making it in the music business. And we both like stuffed animals."
"Pfft, whaaatt? I don't like stuffed animals."
"Ri-i-ight… well there's got to be more stuff than that. I don't suppose you have a crush on Dallas too?"
"No. Not really." Austin smirked.
Ally giggled. "Well, back to the song. Maybe we should change it up a little. Ya know, surprise the audience. Let's write a love song!"
"Aw, come on, Ally. We just had the whole 'who-likes-what discussion'. Besides, we've been over this before. I'm not in to all that sensitive junk."
"But Austin, you've got to broaden your horizons. Your audience is gonna get bored."
"Nah, that won't happen. How could anyone get bored of me?"
Ally ignored that cocky remark and turned back to the piano. She played a few notes of one of her favorite Taylor Swift songs.
Take a deep breath as you walk through the doors, it's the morning of your very first day…
"Well, we've got to get a new song up on the website by this weekend. Don't you have any other ideas?" Austin asked.
Ally sighed. "Yeah, I got a couple."
They worked diligently for hours at the piano, not wanting to have to pull another all-nighter. Finally, their song was finished.
Turn it up .. Turn It Up.. Mash it up
We gonna party like
Party like it's the end of the world
We gonna party like, like it's 2012
You know that it doesn't matter as long as we got each other
Turn it up.. Turn it up .. Mash it up
It ain't the end of the world
Oh
Gonna live like it's the end of the world
Gonna party like
Oh
Turn it up... Turn it up... Mash it up
It ain't the end of the world
"I love it!" Austin exclaimed. "This is so me."
"I'm glad you like it. I'm gonna head home… goodnight, Austin."
"'Night, Ally."