Brief A/N: Most of the A/N will be at the bottom, but I just had to say that the mini-story the gang reads in this fanfiction was purely written by me for the book I am writing (and almost finished with... Woo hoo!) so please, don't copy it or anything like that without my permission and disclaimer. Heh. Now, the story. :)
WORD COUNT: (just the story, btw) 4, 407 (Woo!)
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters of the hit and beloved Disney Channel show, Austin & Ally. I simply love and use them in this fanfiction. :D
Running upstairs into the practice room that provided her mind with a giant bag of memories-whether they were from her time as an itty-bitty child, or her more recent times with Austin and the rest of Team Austin-Ally Dawson quickly shut the door and locked it behind her, breathing heavily as she tried to absorb and make sense of what was happening.
We're actually graduating... We're done with high school; from here, we're all doing something different with our life.
And it was true; three days prior to the party that was currently occurring on the bottom level of Sonic Boom, Ally, Austin, Trish, Dez, and the rest of the students in the 2014-2015 graduating class of Marino High School (1) had all received their diplomas and officially added high school graduate to their list of achievements.
And now that they were all done with Marino High, they would be splitting away:Ally would be going to MUNY (2) because she loved school and music, Austin would not be going to college and would instead spend time working on promoting his newest album and his new found acting career, Trish would be going to a college that specialized in management-after all, she was doing fairly well, but there were always new tricks to learn in the cold, hard world of managing-and Dez would be going to a college to major in teaching-he wanted to teach and pass down his skills to the future filmmakers, after all.
Hearing three sharp knocks on the door, followed by the special whistle that was the trademark of The Hunger Games, Ally opened the door and shut the door quickly after her beach-blonde best friend-and boyfriend, as of the beginning of senior year-entered the room.
"Ally, why'd you run off like that? A lot of people are worried," Austin said, wrapping his arms around her tiny waist as he gently put his head on top of her head.
"Really? People managed to notice me, a fairly shy bookworm, leave the party amidst the exciting," and here, she just had to roll her eyes; their idea of exciting was beer pong, "events that were occurring?"
As if Fate itself wanted to laugh in Ally's face and support Austin, the unlocked door opened to reveal the tiny yet feisty Latino and the bizarre genius that they called their other best friends.
"Ally? Why did you leave; the party was just getting started!" Trish exclaimed, coming up to Ally; she quickly sobered, behavior-wise, when she noticed the solemn look on Ally's face.
"Is this because you're worried that we're all going to split up after this? Or are you secretly pregnant with Austin's child?" Dez inquired, looking straight into Ally's doe-resembling eyes.
"How did you know?" Easy to say, she was quite flabbergasted; despite this brilliant, understanding side of Dez having appeared several times, she still could not wrap her head around the fact that her redheaded friend, known for his lack of common sense and smartness in general, could be smart about anything other than technology, and even then he slipped to stupidity.
He gasped.
"I knew it! I told Trish that you and Austin had-" Amidst the excitement that was bouncing off of Dez, Trish felt no remorse in cutting that excitement short.
"Dez, you were right about the former option, not the latter."
"Oh."
Letting a chuckle slip out at Dez's pouting face-because really, it was just too child-like that it was adorable and hilarious at the same time-Ally patted his back.
"It's okay, Dez."
"Oh, I know! The face is just really, really fun to make!" He said, his contagious smile lighting up his face once more.
They all rolled their eyes, not afraid to hide the smile.
"But seriously, you really think that we're going to separate and lose all contact with each other after this very night?"
"Well, yeah... I mean, we're all going to be spread out, and I... I just have this gut feeling that we'll all get so absorbed in our new lives that we'll forget to resume the one we have now." Ally admitted, looking down at the floor.
"Well, that's not gonna happen! I mean, we're Team Austin-we've made it despite demonic managers, world tours; well, to be frank, just Austin's career in general. I mean, most of the stuff that could have torn us apart was a result of his job. No offense, though, Austin," Dez started to say.
"But if we can make it past all of that and so much more, then I think we're gonna be just fine!"
"Well, I... I don't know." Ally's tone still suggested hesitancy and uncertainty; this made Dez frown for a moment before his face lit up as he suddenly recalled one of the objects that he had in his backpack.
He dug through it and made a sound of victory when he found the battered old book that he had been seeking.
"Sit down, guys. It's time for story time!" He jubilantly exclaimed as he sat on the piano bench.
The other three made faces at each other-all faces that suggested their confusion at the idea-but they all sat down.
"Now, this book is my prized possession-even more than my first camera, and that's saying something! This story gave me the hope, courage, and strength to move on in life-to believe in happy endings. And so today, I think you guys-especially you, Ally-need me to read it to you. So sit back and enjoy the story called The Life of of 7591!"
"What?" They all asked, simultaneously; it was too late for asking questions, however, for Dez was already losing himself in the all too familiar story.
Once, in a past that is vastly shrouded from the minds of many mortals today, there lived a young boy who lived with the embarrassing name of Ulysses.
Every day, he would suffer the same torture: other kids and even adults would jeer and taunt him for his name.
And truthfully, if he had not wanted the jeering to get even worse, he would have done the same to himself. To have a name with the vowel U was a burden, a striking blow to him and his ego. After all, what ego could stay unaffected, knowing that their name had been picked from the List specifically aimed for Undesirables?
But for the first ten years of his life, he managed to withstand and handle it. It never grew to be too big a burden for him, which he was extremely thankful for.
Then, the day of his eleventh birthday came up, and while it was the point of excitement for all the other children- especially for the children with a name that started with an A; their names had come from the list designed for Admirables- it was the moment of ultimate dread for him.
After all, it was on his eleventh birthday that he would, at last, figure out the qualities that he had possessed in order to have gotten such a name-
"Uh, what? Okay, so if they give names like that, just how? I mean, you don't really know how someone's going to turn out until later on…" Trish pointed out with Ally nodding her agreement, interrupting Dez's magnificent storytelling.
Dez gave her a look of extreme irritation while Austin shushed her, not wanting the story to even pause. Dez then continued on with the story as if nothing had happened.
For ten years, he had dealt with the pain and burden of having an Undesirable name, but at least it had not truly felt real. But now, all would be explained to him…. and he, truthfully, did not want to hear the explanation behind his horrendous name.
But alas, such a moment eventually had to occur, and so he approached his own home tentatively and warily after the official end of school hours.
He could feel his own hands ooze with cold sweat, he could feel the startling prickle on his spine that only occurred when he felt quite uncomfortable, he could feel and hear- and he was positive that, had his family lived closer to the other citizens of their town, others would have heard- the beating of his heart; all these unpleasant feelings and much more came to plague him as he stood right outside the door that was the only remaining barrier between him and the truth.
There's no turning back now. I've had ten years to prepare for this; I am many things, but I am not a coward, nor will I ever be. And with that last thought, he puffed out his chest as if he were braver and buffer than he truly was, and confidently knocked on the door.
It only took his mother about a millisecond to open the door; it felt as if she had been standing by, waiting for him to reach home.
"Hi Ulysses. How was school?" His mother asked in that sickly sweet tone that she always used around Ulysses.
"Same thing," he monotonously responded, slipping into the comfy little shack.
"So, today's a special day. You excited?" She once more tried to start up a conversation with her son that preferred to explore the depths of his imagination, and she once more failed.
"I guess," Ulysses said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Alright, you're clearly not in a chatty mood," she said, laughing hysterically as if her statement had been the best joke ever, and she even wiped away a tear of mirth before she sighed and continued to talk. "But please stay here with me; your father will be here in a moment, and then it will be time to start the ancient traditions!"
"Okay," he muttered, plopping down onto the floor.
He did not have to wait too long for his father; only three minutes had elapsed when his father came rushing in through the door that was wide open.
He closed the door behind him, hugged and pecked his wife with a tenderness that truly could not be matched in their village- especially when all the other arranged marriages only ended up uniting two completely incompatible people for life- and lightly patted his son's back.
"So, today's the big day. You excited?" He said with an eagerness that sounded far too fake and contrived.
Of course, seeing as his son was unlike the majority of the village children, his son saw straight through the phony act and responded with one of his most natural and predictable responses:
He silently shrugged.
His dad scowled, but he only allowed the scowl to be on his face for a mere moment before he faced his son again with a phony smile that did not quite reach the eyes.
"Well, you should be! What eleven-year-old wouldn't be excited to know about the qualities that they possessed to earn their name? I mean, even the dullest of children get excited about it."
"Well, I'm sure all those children didn't have a name from the List for Undesirables." Ulysses continued to keep up his quiet, sheltered-from-the-world act, but he could feel it cracking on the inside as his body quavered with fear of the unknown and soon-to-be-known.
His mother returned into the room, and with that, the adult duo sat onto the floor opposite of Ulysses, ready to start the traditions that had lasted for many years.
They slowly explained their decision to him, and although they tried to be as gentle as to spare Ulysses's feelings, they failed quite miserably.
Feeling his act finally give in to his many conflicting emotions and thoughts, he allowed two tears to drip from his eyes as he softly asked, "So, you're telling me that I was a… a mistake? That I was never meant to be born?"
"No, no- we don't mean that. We… You were just a miracle that we weren't quite ready for."
Feeling his pent-up rage bubble to the very tippy-top of his mountain of emotions, he bravely stood up- thus defying one of the laws that clearly stated that children must never stand up when their parents are sitting- and yelled, "Oh, save that bull crap! We all know the real way that babies are born, so don't even bother trying to spoon-feed me that nonsense! You just can't admit that you wanted a girl or something? Or maybe," and here, he was quite theatrical, heavily dosing his words in sarcasm, "dad here just accidentally dropped his p-"
"Don't you even dare finish that sentence, young man!" Both his mother and father had stood up, and they were now pointing a shaking index finger at their son, whose body was still quivering with his anger.
"We've dealt with this for far too long! Yes, we had expected a girl, but at least we didn't send you off to The Man!" Ignoring the wide eyes and gasp that came from Ulysses- after all, being told that his parents had contemplated sending him off to the man that killed all children and babies was quite difficult to truly process- they continued, only getting angrier and crazier.
"We dealt with you and all your issues! We kept you even when you consistently asked for tree bark- one of the rarest, and thus most expensive- resources! We handled you when you still thought that the children at school were mistreating you! We managed to be loving parents to you throughout all of that, and this is how you repay us? You repay us for being the best parents that anyone could ever ask for b-by defying the law, and having the sheer nerve to scream in our faces with such foul language?!
"We may have stuck up for you, despite the numerous lows, over the past eleven years, but this ends tonight."
"W-what are you saying?!"
His father coldly smiled at Ulysses. "Why, I thought it was crystal clear- tonight will be your last night in this home, and in this life. Tomorrow morning, we will call The Man to rid you out of our sights! After all, who needs a nasty boy like you, tarnishing everything that we have built up?"
He could only stare in shock as his two parents recomposed themselves and, without a word, headed off into their private bedroom. He was left there to stand by himself and process the hateful words that had just been thrown his way.
And, as they continued to replay in his mind, he did not mentally break down and cry to the sky, nor did he raise a fist at the world, mentally cursing everything that was.
No, he had the rarest reaction of them all: He stood there with a glint of determination that would never meet its match. And this was all proven too quickly.
The next morning, both of Ulysses's parents had awoken early in the morning, more than ready to send away the boy that had been a worrisome burden to their lives.
They promptly received a sudden, unexpected jolt of surprise that lingered long after its initial attack, however, when they arrived into Ulysses's bedroom, only to find that absolutely nothing- not even a living, breathing boy- occupied the room.
"Where could he be?" They asked to each other, initial disbelief flooding into their systems.
Little did they know that by this time, he had already escaped their rather traditional town, and he had only one special request streaming through his head like a song on constant replay as he ran and ran: get as far away from the town as possible.
And for many, many years, that was the only thought that he had as he became a witness to the majestic beauties of untainted nature, as well as the many different types of human civilizations. It was the mantra that kept power within him- he was quite positive that, had he gone without it, he would not have been able to run for- and this were numbers that continuously increased- fifty seven sunrises and fifty seven sunsets.
And after the increasing pain of his overused limbs and the fatigue from a lack of a consistent rest had finally overpowered the strength of his one mantra, he, at last, allowed himself to rest and peacefully slumber on the border that separated the land.
And once he woke up, he quickly regretted having being human enough to require an adequate rest; during his little slumber, the daily patrol guards had clearly caught him, and given how wretched and miserable he looked, they had clearly mistaken him to be one of the worst creatures that lived only in the darkest parts of everyone's minds: the non morti.
He had awoken early enough to hear part of the conversation that concerned him, and he quickly focused and honed in on the words that were being spoken.
"What is this strange being?"
"A being? You call this a being? Clearly you were sheltered by your mother your entire life! This, right here, is none other than a living- technically, non living- non morti!"
The man whom had first spoken hysterically laughed, as did some of the other men. The majority of the men, much like the second speaker, retained their composure.
"Y-You must be kidding me! Surely you do not believe such myths?"
"I assure you this; this is no laughing matter. Non morti are very dangerous creatures of the dark."
"Yeah? Well, guess what? They also don't exist!"
"You see, Mister? This is exactly why you cannot be allowed to retain your position of Mayor for any longer; you have led this fair land into a deplorable slump by letting vermin such as this live."
"Oh? So what are you saying?"
"I am saying that tomorrow, when I am announced as the new Mayor, my first act of duty will be to kill this non morti before it has a chance to harm and affect us!"
And with that, the second man abruptly stood up and marched out, taking with him many of the men.
A young, slender girl then rushed into the room.
"Father? Father, is that mean old bat finally gone? Now can you play un gioco with me?" She asked, hopping up and down so much that her thick, unruly, floor-length, chestnut brown hair would fly for a mere second before it once more crashed down onto the floor.
Her father answered back, "No sweetie; I still have work to do. And don't call him a bat," and he took special care not to glance into his daughter's doe-like, hazel eyes; one glance, and he would be doing anything and everything that his daughter wished for.
She pouted, but did not argue further on the matter. Her eyes quickly focused on the body of Ulysses. "Father, can I play with him?" she asked, extending a finger out to point at him.
"No! He may not be a part of the non morti, but he is still a stranger."
"Why would he be in the non morti? He looks dreadful, but he doesn't quite have the undead look. Plus, don't the non morti have blue dots underneath their eyes?"
"Yes, yes. Why would you ask such a thing, though?"
"The only things underneath his eyes are giant bags- oooh, he must not consistently have eight hours of sleep like me- but there are no blue dots."
And with this sudden realization, the current Mayor and his only daughter were able to convince the whole town that Ulysses, indeed, was not a part of the non morti, but simply a sleep-deprived child.
With this life-saving moment, he was able to survive for many more years- and this time, without the discrimination that he had faced in his old life!
Despite having adapted to a new life, however, his official life change came when he was at the age of sixteen.
He was anxiously awaiting his number name that he would live by for the rest of his life- the number that would, quite literally, be the definition of him and who he was.
Just as he was about to move up in the line, he spotted a familiar shade of chestnut brown that could only mean one thing, and he was quickly proven right, much to his immense happiness and relief, as he was swept into the comforting arms of the Mayor's daughter- or 2468, as she was now called.
"Hey! Are you nervous?" 2468 asked once she released Ulysses from her arms.
"A little bit. Tell me, how was it like when you were in here?"
She pursed her lips together and looked to the sky as if she were asking her deceased father for the appropriate answer. After a few moments of silence, she answered, "Well, it wasn't too long ago; it was only around two months ago, so I still remember it, slightly. I mostly remember how nerve-wracking it was when I was in line, waiting for my final name. But when you get in there…
"It's like you've stepped into a zone where your emotions are, for the most part, turned off. You feel no nervousness, nor do you feel any excitement. You just feel… ready, if you get what I mean. But-"
Ulysses quickly cut her off."But, what if they give me a weird name? What if I don't like my new name? What if-"
Not wanting Ulysses to have done something that she had not, she abruptly started talking again, causing Ulysses to stop and listen to her. "Look, you'll understand and click with the numbers. They explain their decision to you, and you can request for a change if you really don't like it, but I guarantee that you will."
Ulysses once more opened his mouth to speak, but he was promptly beat to the chase by two guards.
"Ulysses," they monotonously said.
"Well, I guess it's time to find out…" Ulysses nervously stated, turning around to walk in.
"Hold on!" Ulysses listened, and turned around to once more face 2468.
She grabbed his face and gave him a chaste peck on the lips.
"For good luck," she simply said while smiling before she turned around.
With the kiss lingering in his memory, he walked to the room in a daze-like state, and he only snapped out of it when he was facing the four men that would change his life forever.
Sitting down, he, oddly enough, felt only a strange coolness and calmness where nervousness had previously resided. He patiently waited, and it was not long before the first man spoke.
"As you know, this is the fateful time when your true name is revealed to you. We do not waste time with silly introductions, so I will immediately start. The first digit in your new name will be a 7- you are an enigma, a mystery to us, and so it is only right that 7 be in your name."
Picking right up where the first man stopped, the second man began to speak. "The second digit will be a 5; you are quite unpredictable, especially concerning how well you, a stranger, have integrated yourself into our society. Also, concerning how you managed to come all the way from your previous land to this land, despite the geographical barriers, is quite unpredictable and impressive."
"The third digit will be a 9; you truly accomplished making it here alive, and you also managed to integrate yourself into society in a positive way."
"The fourth digit will be a 1; this truly is your new beginning, more so than the others. With this name, you officially rid yourself of the life as an Undesirable, and join us as 7591."
"So, are you willing to be 7591?" All four men spoke in unison as they turned to face Ulysses.
He swallowed before answering with a brief, "Yes," and he felt quite elated at having officially shed his life as Ulysses the Undesirable and grown into the new life as 7591.
He quietly thanked each of the four men before he stepped up, and as he walked out, he felt self-confidence blossom in him, and this feeling of confidence stayed with him for the rest of his life.
He gently closed the book-after all, it was a delicate possession; he was very fond of it, and he was planning to keep the book in good shape for as long as possible-and asked them, "So, how did you like the story?" with a toothy grin.
Austin blinked-the story had stripped him of words-and it took him a minute to be able to reply, That was the best story I've ever heard!"
Trish grudgingly nodded; she added her own opinion.
"Wow. You definitely have a good taste in stories-wish I could say the same about your clothes, though." Dez rolled his eyes; Trish was still fond of insulting him, but now, she managed to make it friendly.
He gazed at Ally; she had been the sole reason for him reading the story in the first place!
"So Ally, do you still think that we'll separate?"
She shook her head to snap back to reality; Dez could not help but smirk at this.
"That was the greatest story I've ever heard! I-It just filled me up with this deep, soothing, reassuring feeling that I've been feeling!" She exclaimed with a wide grin.
"That's called self-confidence."
"Well, I like this self-confidence! It makes me feel like everything's going to be okay-like I can do anything!" Turning to her boyfriend, she simply relied on the supporting feeling within her as she planted her lips on his-or, the first time that they had kissed since getting back together as seniors in high school.
Both Trish and Dez grinned at this; Dez even took off the elephant jacket that he had buttoned up to proudly reveal a Team Ally shirt that he had been wearing underneath his clothes ever since the return of Auslly.
He motioned to Trish.
"Should we go back downstairs to the party and give these two lovebirds some privacy and space?" He asked.
She nodded with a smile.
"I believe we should." And with that, they both headed towards the door and went back to the party.
Of course, Dez could not help but poke his head in the doorway and exclaim, "Alright, kids. Have fun, but not too much fun, if you know what I mean!" with a wink.
Author's Note: Well, that was fun! :) Ohmigosh, I really have missed FanFiction; I was just so busy, what with school and writing my book, and now summer-still as busy with book writing, lessons, the A&A wiki (I'm an admin on there; nuff said), and just laziness! But I really hope you guys liked it; I know I had a blast with writing in the awesome Team Austin for this mini-story of my book! :) Alright, now to the numbers!
(1) Marino High School is the name of the school that they go to, starting from the Season 2 episode Backups & Breakups.
(2) MUNY (Music University of New York) was mentioned in two Season 1 episodes, Filmmaking & Fear Breaking and Albums & Auditions.
(3) The Hunger Games is a very popular franchise that was brought to us by the mind of Suzanne Collins, not me.
Well, I don't have too much to say (for once...) so I'll just ask you guys to read, favorite, follow, and most importantly, REVIEWWW! After all, I'm a sucker for compliments and constructive criticism. :) And let me know on what you thought of the 10 page excerpt from my book, now titled The Amethyst Eyes. (and make sure to buy it when I eventually publish it!)
Alright, I can't think of any thing else to say, so just thanks for reading! And until next time! :)
Yours Sincerely,
Dream-to-reality123