He smiles at her with his eyes as he walks her out of the coffee-smelling office. "Thank you, Miss. Dawson." he says, toothy smile in place, "We'll let you know."
She's pretty sure she nailed it this time. She might have failed that interview when she was thirteen, she might have failed that other interview when she fourteen and a half, she might've been fired from that job when she was sixteen, but now Ally Dawson is twenty-three years old with a high chance that she just landed herself a job as a teacher at one of the most precious elementary schools in all of Miami.
She's walking down the street feeling pretty high on life. So high that she hands ten dollars each to a few homeless guys on the street even though she's sure they might use the money for all the wrong reasons, so high that she smiles at that cranky elderly lady, so high that she stumbles on her two feet and falls onto the cement.
She sits there on the cool cement, aware of the chortles and chuckles around her. She tries to hide her flushing cheeks with her hair. Of course there had to be something that would steal the glory from this very good day.
"I take it that the interview went well?"
Ally slowly looks over and sees the raised eye brows greeting her. She laughed slightly, finally feeling the greatness of the day seeping back into her system. She takes the hand lent down to her and picks herself up.
"Yeah, it did. I hope so, anyways. The principle seemed keen to work with me." Ally grinned towards the one friend who has been there for every single one of Ally's job interviews, good or bad and she went by the sparkling name of Kira Starr.
"He'd be crazy not to. You're hard-working, you love kids, and you're an excellent teacher. I think you're the reason I passed math all of these years." Kira smirked, ending the sentence with a laugh. Ally smiled.
"Most likely." Ally replied, slyly. Kira pushed Ally, giggling. "How about you? How'd the photo shoot go?" Ally questioned.
"It was awkward." Kira admitted, sending Ally a smiling glance. "It was good overall. They want me to do a Covergirl photo shoot."
Ally's eyes widened and she grinned, "Do it! It'd be awesome for you!"
"I don't know," Kira shrugged, "I feel uncomfortable with the thought of seeing my face on commercials and posters in the stores."
Ally laughed slightly. "You should do it. It'd pay well."
"I do need the money." said Kira. Ally nodded her head. Kira looked forward and smirked. "Maybe I'll catch you later?" she said, nodding her head towards the figure moving towards them.
Ally looked up and felt her insides tighten. She looked over at Kira who gave her a reassuring look, dismissing herself with a jog down the other way. "Kira!" Ally called, but her voice faltered not wanting her special someone to hear - Maybe he's not special, he's not exactly her anything yet. Ally slowly looks up.
"I know that was on purpose." The handsome boy said, stuffing his hands into his pockets with a grin.
Ally laughed, hoping she wouldn't choke on it. Her throat was closing up and it was entirely his fault - in the best way possible. "Gavin," she smiled, "What are you doing here?"
"Just making my way by. How about coffee then a trip to the library?" he asked, his grin widening when he saw her face light up. There was something completely enchanting about her loving to stuff her face inside a book. He's been a lover of books, too, and he thinks it's not just a coincidence that this very attractive female, whom he met only a month and half ago, has his exact interests: Reading, writing, pickles, corny 80's movies, and poetry slams.
"Yes."
A little bit breathless, was she? He didn't mind. It made his grin widen a little bit more and he swings his arm around her shoulder playfully, without even knowing that he was stealing all the oxygen from her lungs but she stills finds enough air to laugh.
Ally and Gavin get lost in a conversation about Margaret Atwood, J.R.R. Tolkien, Tim Burton, John Lennon. Then she tells him about how her interview was fantastic and she loves it even more that he's more excited about the teaching job for her more than she is.
x
"This is stupid." Cassidy grumbled, picking at a throbbing hang nail on her thumb. "Why do we need to wait for him? You got your money."
"Doesn't matter." Austin said, turning off the heat. He really preferred his motor cycle over Dez's stupid range rover but he didn't want to be found too easily and anybody who knew about Austin Moon, which was like everybody, knew that his get up was jeans, leather jacket, and a polished motorcycle with the license plate ready to fall off.
Trish was seated in the back, exchanging glances between Austin and Cassidy before she shook her head. She agreed with Cass: this was stupid. Austin got the money, the man took only what he'd paid for, what else could Austin want?
But then again, Austin was a tricky man and any deal Austin made sometimes came with a price. Sometimes you go free, sometimes you don't. It was just how his mind worked. He just loved the thrill that came with this lifestyle, this stupid lifestyle that Trish often sometimes told herself wasn't worth it because these people sucked most of the time and nobody really listened to anything she had to say, but who'd want to? she asked herself, she's just the big chick with a snarky attitude.
After a moment of Austin's silence, Cassidy's huffs, and Trish's eyes shifting from left to right, the man Austin had been waiting for left the parlor. Trish felt like sighing with a weight on her breath because his probably smelt like cheese pizza and Trish hates pizza. It seemed to be the only thing the gang ever wanted to eat. As of last year, she just started buying herself her own food, something like McDonalds, Chinese Food, gross mall food, or even boiling herself an egg.
"There he is." Austin growled and jumped out of the range rover. Cassidy let her head lull back on the seat as she let out a loud, audible grunt of annoyance. Austin lets out a string of profanities and the girls watch with flat expressions as the man's face drains of color. The look of guilt.
Cassidy laughed to herself. Perhaps Austin was smarter than he seemed. He was the leader of this gang and his plans always played off well and made sense by the end. They may not understand how his brain connects from one thing to another, but it definitely always made puzzle pieces fit.
Austin throws a bone-crunching punch to the man's jaw, dragging him towards a dark alley. It entertained them really, how people knew about Austin and still did him wrong. It was like a death wish. Cassidy hums a pretty tune and Trish destroys the door with her pocket knife to pass time.
Austin returns some time later, his forehead in knots. He opens the door and slams it shut. He tosses some stolen Cocaine into the glove box. Both Trish and Cassidy see the sore man stumbling out of the alleyway with both bloody hands and mouth. "Bullshit. Absolute bullshit." he grumbles to himself, throwing the vehicle into reverse, ignoring the honking vehicles behind him as he speeds off.
"All of that for Coke?" Trish questioned, flatly, a smirk on her lips. Austin gave her a hard look in the mirror. She knew how he felt towards people taking things without permission. Trish shook her head and looked out the window. "Hold up, stop at the library."
"No." Austin said, his grip tight on the wheel.
"Yes, now stop, Jackass. I need a newspaper and the library is the only place you get them for free." Trish snarled. Austin grumbled something inaudible under his breath and turned around for the library. Trish jumps out of the Range Rover and Cassidy complains of leg cramps and follows her inside. He's perfectly fine with getting some alone time.
He takes a deep breath and lets it out. He stares inside the library after running his fingers through his hair. He sees Trish combing for a good newspaper and Cassidy scrunching her nose in distaste as she reads some cheesy romance novel.
His eyes dart inside the library, peering at everyone until he finally sees her. She's dragging her thumb along the spine's of books. Her hair is long, stopping at the estimation of her mid-back, thick and wavy, and she's propped up in high heels and Austin is so utterly disgusted.
He feels the rage burn a fire within his gut and his teeth grit. He clenches the wheel and takes slow breaths, his heart is pounding. He can't go in the air and shoot her, he won't risk his gang like that. Everything from four years ago hits him like a train, the way his father was laying there on that office room floor, piled in his own blood. Austin's stomach twisted painfully. His father may not have been the most respected or respectful man, but he was always still Austin's father and Austin was going to get revenge on the woman who killed him.
The woman who is standing in the library reveling over two books. She almost seems to innocence but Austin thinks no. She is a murderer who messed with the wrong family. He clenches the wheel tighter.
"Payback is going to be a bitch for you." he mutters lowly, sinking in his seat but not taking his eyes off of her.