Austin and Dez were hanging out at the Sonic Boom, where Ally worked. They were trying all the instruments sold in the shop, while Ally was serving a long line of customers. The noise the boys were making was annoying Ally – she couldn't even hear herself think! She had to mentally tell herself to calm down and to not yell at them, or it would give her customers a bad impression.
"Hey, what's this?" Dez picked up a long black instrument with a wooden stick attached at the top of it. Austin looked at it and shrugged. It looked like a clarinet, but it was skinnier and more compact than a clarinet.
"HEY ALLY! WHAT'S THIS INSTRUMENT CALLED?" Austin shouted over to Ally. Ally cringed at the volume of Austin's shouting. "Excuse me for a second," she told her customer with a polite smile before turning over to the boys – or as she liked to call them, the humanzees (a chimpanzee and human hybrid).
She turned herself 90 degrees to face Austin and Dez. "I'M RIGHT NEXT TO YOU, I'M NOT DEAF!" she shouted at them the same way Austin shouted at her.
"Of course you're not deaf. You're Ally!" Dez said with a lazy smile. Ally rolled her eyes.
"What's this instrument called?" Austin pointed to the mystery instrument Dez was holding in his hands.
Taking a quick glance at it, Ally replied, "It's an oboe!" She should know, because she was an oboist in the school band.
Dez cried out, "EWW!" and dropped the oboe like it was dirt. The oboe made contact with a ground with a crashing sound, earning him the attention of everyone in the store.
"DESMOND CALUM WORTHY! WHAT THE HECK DID YOU JUST DO?" Ally said, freaking out. She didn't know whether to yell at him, slap him, or kick his butt out of the shop.
"Yeah man, why'd you drop it?" Austin asked Dez, half-panicking and half-worrying. AKA full-worrying.
"Don't you know what an oboe is? An oboe is a homeless penniless tramp! I was just holding an oboe! Ugh!" Dez explained, crying out and rubbing his hands on his shirt, as if trying to get rid of something filthy.
"That's a HOBO!" Ally cried out. It was a F. Loree Paris Royal oboe – the most expensive oboe in the world! It had cost her and her father $10,000 to import it all the way from France, and they were selling it for $12,000. Ally was saving up to buy one, but with the loss she had just incurred thanks to Dez, her dreams of ever having a F. Loree Paris Royal oboe to her name were dashed.
"No," Dez explained as if he were speaking to a three year-old child, "A hobo is a woodwind instrument with a slender, tubular body, and is played with a double-reed mouthpiece. Duh."
"That's an oboe! URGH! Both of you, get out!" Ally yelled exasperatedly, turning back to the customers. She apologised to her customer, and started checking out his purchases.
Dez's mouth formed an O shape as he realised his mistake. Austin noticed this, and slapped him on the shoulder.
"Let me get this straight. So that," Dez pointed to the oboe on the ground, "is an oboe, while this," he placed his hand on the shoulder of the customer Ally was serving, "is a hobo?"
The customer looked shocked by Dez's "discovery". He muttered something about never shopping in this wet market ever again, and stormed out of the shop, snatching his credit card from Ally's hand. The entire line of customers shook their heads and followed him out of the shop.
Austin stood there, dumbfounded by what his best friend had done to his other best friend.
"Get. Out," Ally said with gritted teeth, pointing them to the door. The two boys walked out with their heads down, knowing they had really upset Ally this time. Ally buried her head in her hands, not knowing what to do and how to deal with her father.
"Guess who got a job at the... OH MY GOSH WHAT HAPPENED HERE?" Ally's one and only best friend announced as she walked into the Sonic Boom.
Ally gave a weak smile to her best friend. "Let me give you a recap of this morning. Austin & Dez were being total idiots, Dez broke a ten-thousand dollar oboe, and made me lose all my customers! Yay!" she explained with fake enthusiasm.
"Woaahh… That stinks, girl," Trish said with sympathy. "Tell me about it," Ally muttered before placing her head back where they belonged – her hands.
"My new job? It's great! I'm a matchmaker at Romance Wonderland! I get to help desperate guys and girls find their perfect partner. I think I might actually stay at this job for more than five hours this time!" Raini explained excitedly.
Ally clapped for her Latina friend in encouragement. Trish had never worked at a job for more than five hours before, due to her poor work attitude and irresponsible behaviour.
"And I know just the girl who needs some help in the romance department!" Trish said excitedly, wriggling her eyebrows at the brunette. Ally noticed her hint, and started shaking her head vigorously. "No no no no no no!" she said, blood rushing up to her cheeks.
"Oh yes," Trish said in a manipulative voice, nodding her head slowly.
Ally stood in front of her full-length mirror, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She was wearing a puffy dress similar to the old one Trish almost wore to her Quinceañera, which made her look plain ridiculous.
"How on Earth am I supposed to impress Dallas looking like THIS?" Ally whined, turning to her best friend. Dallas was her crush, or at least, she wanted everyone to believe that he was her crush. Because the truth was far more humiliating than when Dallas turned down her offer to dance at Trish's Quinceañera. The truth? It had pained Ally so much to even think about it, but it was true, and she could not deny it.
The truth: Ally Dawson was in lov – like – with Austin Moon. In like, not in love. How could anyone love that egoistic maniac with cute blonde hair, deep hazel brown eyes with golden sparks dancing around his iris, a mellow voice, incredibly hot dance moves, and a huge heart (sometimes)? Alright, fine, Ally loved him. So what? He would never like her that way. Austin only thought of her as his number one (and only) song-writer, partner, and at the most, a friend. Ugh, the word friend sounded so disgusting for the first time ever. They had known each other for 1 year 3 months and 16 days, and Ally had known about her feelings for 11 months, when he had comforted her when Dallas rejected her at Trish's Quinceañera.
"Who said anything about Dallas? It's for…" Don't you dare say it, Trish, don't you dare!, Ally screamed in her head. "Austin!"
"WHAT?" Ally screamed. Her heart was pounding at a thousand miles per hour. She had no idea whether to be happy or embarrassed. She was supposed to impress Austin looking like THAT? She'd rather eat glass.
"Don't even try to deny it, Alison Laura Dawson! Your lips may say you don't like him, but your eyes say you DO like him!" Trish accused, pointing a finger at Ally.
Ally knew she was caught. She raised her hands up in defeat, sighing. Trish had the biggest mouths in all of Miami, and right now, she knew her biggest secret. She was doomed. D-O-O-M-E-D with a capital D! Trish saw how upset her best friend looked, and placed her hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "It's alright, I won't tell anyone. My lips are sealed," Trish promised, pressing her thumb and index finger together, moving them across her lips swiftly, implying that she would zip her mouth about Ally's little crush.
Trish totally knew about Ally's crush on Austin way before Ally herself had realised it. She was good at these kinds of things, that's why she applied for a job at Romance Wonderland. She finally had the tools she needed to help her best friend out, and she was definitely going to do her best in helping Ally. Until she gets fired, that is. But she had approximately five hours left. That should be sufficient for Operation Get-Austin-And-Ally-Together-Before-The-Boss-Finds-Out-That-I've-Been-Slacking-Off-And-Fires-Me. AKA Operation Austin & Ally, for short.