A/N: I Do Not Own Austin & Ally

Prologue

"You nervous?"

"Kind of."

"Don't be."

"How can I not? You think after everything I've been through I'd have overcome this self confidence thing, but every time I still feel the anxiety."

"You've done so many things, this should just be a walk in the park. Just be yourself."

"Okay… I guess."

*Clapping was heard from the other side of the curtain*

"Hey."

"Yeah?"

"They called your name. You're up."

"Oh. Right. Thanks."

Ally Dawson. She was not your typical 'popular' girl. She was what they called a nice girl. In fact, Ally didn't start off as popular, nor did she ever believe she was popular at all. How, you ask, did she gain the title of 'popular' then? It happened at the end of her sophomore year of high school. It's crazy how one summer changed her, and even crazier how another summer changed her again- or rather brought her back.

Ally Dawson was never a household name. She was never on any school dance ballot for homecoming court. She was never picked first in gym class. She was never acknowledged in the hallways. She was another face in the bleachers. She was a crewmember in drama productions. She was a wasted space in the school yearbook. And yet, Ally didn't mind at all.

Since she was 7, Ally had two best friends, Trish and Dez. They weren't popular as well, though were pretty social enough to be known as regulars. Trish was in the debate team. Pick a fight with her and you'll be the one to say sorry first whether or not you were right. Dez was a tech genius. He spent most of his childhood days glued to his computer playing the latest video games so it wasn't a shocker that he was president of the A/V club since his sophomore year. And Ally? She was a wallflower. She hid behind her books, her journal and her insecurities. Ally had talent; she just never grew the confidence to show it to anyone but her circle of comfort. And what a tiny circle that was. Other than family, only Trish and Dez knew Ally wrote songs in her journal and had a lovely voice, though her passion was writing. She's read every romance novel known to man – adult, teen, fantasy, new age – you name it, she's read it. Trish claimed that Ally would write one hell of a love story if she ever considered writing a book. But Ally simply found comfort in her little drabbles, journal entries and songs, claiming a song is a story itself.

Fast forward to the end of their sophomore year. Trish participated in their school's drama production helping Dez's team out because the debate season ended early that year. Since Dez was in charge of the tech crew and Ally worked backstage in every show, she wanted to spend more time with her best friends. Trish was new to the whole drama/theater program, keep in mind, so to spare a tragic story, she accidentally sent the lead female of the play to the hospital on show night for their final production that year. In desperation and panic, the teacher begged for help. Trish, knowing Ally's OCD/geeky nature, suggested for Ally to stand in claiming Ally would memorize everyone's roles for 'fun'. Without thinking twice, the drama teacher pushed Ally to the dressing room to get her ready to play Jasmine in their school's production of Aladdin. Ally was beyond terrified, but Trish and Dez calmed her down as much as they could. She had to conquer her fears sooner or later if she wanted her voice to be heard one day.

"You nervous?" Trish asked.

"Kind of."

"Don't be," Dez said.

"Yeah, Als. Just look up at us in the lighting and sound booth. We'll be cheering you on."

"Pretend like we're in your room. Just the three of us. Sing to us. And you'll be fine," he friends reassured her.

"Ok…"

"Ally?" Trish said.

"Yeah?"

"They called your name. You're up!"

Surely it was thanks to Trish and Dez that Ally's life changed that night. To say she did well was an understatement. No, Ally Dawson stole the show. Trish and Dez knew she'd kill it, belting out the songs to absolute perfection, but the audience was not prepared for Ally to be a somebody. And that night, her name was engraved in everyone's minds.

The following Monday, the last week before summer break, a mob of people praised her performance. She was asked to sit with a large crowd at lunch, and every inch of the hallway was bombarded with people who wanted to steal a quick hello from her as she crossed paths with them. Trish and Dez were with her the whole time, up until seventh period, fifteen minutes before summer freedom. They had study hall together, along with some popular kids. One in particular was Ethan Stern. He was the captain of the baseball and rugby team. He was in a band with his friends Trent and Jackson. He was popular. He played Aladdin in the school production because of two reasons; he and his friends were on Academic Probation unless their grades went up and extra curricular activities were the fastest ways to earn credit. The second reason was that Ethan was an exceptional singer so he earned the lead role.

Ethan and his crew walked up to Ally, practically shooing everyone away so he could talk to her.

"Hey Ally," he said coolly.

"H-hey Ethan," she stuttered. No one could deny that Ethan was in fact good looking, but he was definitely not a gentleman so to speak.

"I had fun with you last Friday. Between you and me, you were a much better Jasmine than Tilly would have been."

"Uh, thanks I guess."

"So listen," he got straight to his point. Ethan wasted no time with anything. "After school my friends and I are having a bonfire at the beach. You should come. We could hangout and stuff."

"Well…"

Ethan was not going to leave without a yes from her. So he gave her an offer. "You could bring your friends too. Trish and Dez."

Ally was a bit hesitant, but knowing that Trish and Dez would be around, she figured it shouldn't be that bad. "Ok."

Before she could say anything else, Ethan interrupted her. "Great. See you tonight," he winked at her and walked off.

"What did Ethan want?" Trish asked Ally once the trio drove home in Ally's car after the final bell. Trish and Ally were sitting in the back while Dez sat in the passenger seat next to Ally's driver. Yes, you read it right, Ally's driver. Ally's father was a pretty rich man, giving Ally anything she wanted, but she never dared to take advantage of that right.

"He invited us to a bonfire tonight at the beach."

"Wow Ally, look at you making your way into the popular crowd!" Dez commented from the front seat.

"Me? Popular? Yeah right," Ally scoffed playfully.

"No, Dez is right. Ever since your performance, you've been the talk of the town. Now hot bod Ethan wants to see you at his bonfire. You know he doesn't talk to just any girl unless he likes her. Girl, tonight if all goes well, Ethan Stern will be your boyfriend!"

And all went well… or maybe not. Ally did in fact share a first kiss with Ethan and became his girlfriend that night. She spent most of her summer hanging out with his friends, slowly having less time with Trish and Dez – not to her liking though. Without knowing, Ethan was changing Ally; the way she looked, who she hung out with, and what her priorities were. She became… popular. Trish and Dez saw that. But they didn't complain. They knew Ally deserved for once in her life to be noticed, and they wouldn't ruin this 'phase' of hers for a chance to be in the spotlight.

Little did they know Ally would be with Ethan for the remainder of her high school days, eventually leaving behind Trish, Dez, and her shy life. Ally Dawson became a household name. She became a contender for homecoming and prom queen, she was greeted by everyone in the hallways (sometimes by new students who didn't even know who she was), she was a cheerleader at basketball games for Ethan, and she was female lead for the rest of the spring productions at school. She was the golden girl.

Ally was happy to finally be noticed. But that didn't mean she forgot about everything. Sure she was popular, and her friends weren't the nicest people around, but Ally was never a bully. The only thing really different about Ally was her wardrobe and confidence. She was a bit high maintenance but she was pretty secure with the way she presented herself. She didn't dress like a baby prostitute, but her wardrobe was glamorous. After all, her dad was rich remember? It was a field day when Ethan and his friends learned of Ally's wealth. In short, they took advantage of that and Ally basically 'bought' her way into popular without even knowing she was being taken advantage of. Ethan would have Ally buy things for him and if he wanted her to dress or have certain things, she would buy them to please him.

But old Ally was still there. At least, when no one was watching. When she was alone at home she never knocked the habit of writing in her journal. She kept a few of her 'dorky' clothes as Trish would call it and wore them at home. Speaking of her friends, Ally never talked to them in the hallway, but she would steal a few glances from time to time, exchanging subtle nods and faint smiles. Ally wanted so desperately to talk to them, but seeing as the two moved on and she had Ethan, Ally didn't want to risk being a nobody again.

All was going well for Ally. There seemed to be nothing that could possibly mess things up. At least, that's what she thought.

It was June of Ally's senior year in high school. It was crazy how time flew by so quickly. Summer vacation was two weeks away, not to mention her high school graduation. Ally maintained her grade point average, though she was a tenth of a point short of valedictorian. So she settled for salutatorian, being the second highest person in her senior class. Ally was accepted to with a full scholarship to the University of Florida, a good 5 hours from her beloved Miami. It was what she wanted, knowing if she was far enough from her father that she could major in journalism instead of engineering or business, and she could be on her own, start fresh, and become somebody more than Ally Dawson, the popular girl.

Speaking of popular, Ally was still going strong with Ethan. Not to say that they didn't have any bumps in the road. They had plenty. Ethan would pick fights with her and it would almost always end up with him guilting her and Ally saying sorry. Their fights? Ally would be stealing the spotlight from him and he would claim to not be jealous (though really he was). But he treated her right and he was popular, so she couldn't complain.

Trish and Dez, they were still their wacky selves. Dez hadn't changed a bit, but he was indeed accepted to the University of Florida as well with a film scholarship. Trish got accepted to St Leo University, in the same city as U of F, so she'd be close to Dez. It was no coincidence that the three would move to the same area because when they were in middle school, they decided on their dream schools already. This just went to show that they were all still fighting for their dreams, despite that Ally was no longer in the group, or vice versa.

That Thursday was a big day for seniors. It was the day before they commenced their senior prank. Regardless of social status, every year ALL seniors would have a blast pulling their prank to the school. It was really the only time a class would defy the status quo and bond over a common interest. But of course, there had to be some hierarchy and the popular crowd usually picked the prank to pull. That year, they would fill the halls with dead trout and hang the principal's station wagon on the flagpole. Their principal, Mr. Tolken, had this motto, "Hooked on Education." He was a fisherman, if it wasn't obvious. And the seniors thought it would be a laugh to put dead fish everywhere and 'hook' the principal's car to a pole. This of course was the plan that Ethan and his not so smart friends thought of.

Ethan and his friends spent seventh period study hall to finalize their plans for that night. Ally knew when Ethan was in his 'mode' and not to bother him. This was an advantage to her. Sometimes everyone in the popular crowd would get sucked into this strange vortex of being in that zone, yet Ally never gave in to it. These times were rare, but when they happened, she was able to drift away from the crowd even for just twenty minutes to do whatever she wanted. That particular day, Ally knew she would have a good amount of time to herself since Ethan wanted to really finalize the prank. So she got lost in the fiction section of the library.

"Hm, what book should I read next?" She asked herself. Ally grabbed the latest Young Adult novel by one of her favorite author's and picked at the first chapter. Yeah. She's that fast in reading.

"This is really good," Ally said to herself. She made a note of the title to purchase the book during the weekend to read the rest of it. As she stood up to place the book back on the shelf, she was startled to see a face on the other side of the shelf as the person was pulling out the book directly behind the novel she pulled out, or was going to place back on the shelf.

"Ally?"

"Trish! You scared me for a second," Ally touched her hand to her chest.

Trish was in a mixture of shock and relief. That was the first time Ally had spoken to her since two summers back. And it didn't matter what Ally said, Trish was just overwhelmed that she was even talking to her.

"Hello? Trish? Are you ok?"

By this time, Ally had walked over to Trish's aisle.

"Oh sorry. I was just thinking about something," Trish said coolly. "So what brings you to the library?" she attempted to make a conversation with her, even though she didn't know if it would last at all.

"Well Ethan's talking about the senior prank to everyone and I've heard it a million times so I snuck off for a bit to find a good book to read.

Trish glanced at the novel that was still in Ally's hands. A young adult romance. "Of course you'd pick that book," Trish said. "It's her newest one, huh?"

"Sure is. And you know I'll be done with it by the end of the week," Ally smirked.

"Of course!" Trish giggled.

Ally missed her best friend's laugh. She missed her best friend in general.

"Ally? Babe, where'd you go?" a voice in the distance yelled, despite that it was the library.

"Boyfriend," Ally said to Trish, not knowing why.

But before Trish could say some form of goodbye, Ally awkwardly walked back to her crowd.

Trish was left at the same spot, and before she was about to take in the moment, her redheaded friend jumped in.

"Boo!" he jumped in front of her.

"Dez!" Trish smacked his arm. "You totally ruined my thoughts."

"Sorry?" he said not really meaning it. "So, Trish, who was that you were talking to?" he asked absentmindedly picking up a textbook pretending to flip through pages and read.

"Ally," she simply stated.

"Yeah right," he chuckled. "Seriously, who?"

"Ally Dawson," she said again.

This time Dez believed her. He believed her so much that he turned to face Trish and accidentally dropped the textbook on her feet.

"OWW! YOU DOOF!" Trish exclaimed a little too loudly.

Ally and a few people around, including the librarian, heard and turned their direction. Ally noticed Trish smacking the life out of Dez's right arm and him constantly apologizing and begging for her to stop. She couldn't help but smile to herself at the same goofiness between her two former friends.

"Losers," one of the girls in the group, Brooke, scoffed.

Ally immediately turned away from them and brought her attention back to Ethan and the others. She wouldn't admit this to anyone, but the two minutes she spent talking to Trish that day was the most alive she'd ever felt in years. It was a feeling she missed.

That night, all 300 students in the senior class met at the front of the school.

"Alright people," Ethan said through a blow horn. "My boys and I are going to take care of the principal's car. Just grab a bucket of fish and toss it anywhere on campus. Then come back here and we'll have that car 'hooked' to the flag pole!" Everyone cheered and started work on the 200 pounds of dead trout.

After about an hour, the entire school was covered in fish. Half the class went home, not caring for the car prank, and others went home because Ethan and his friends were taking too long with their part of the prank. About fifty students were left standing in front of the school, watching as Ethan's friends were having trouble hooking the car to the pole.

Ally watched as her boyfriend was going nuts that his plan was failing. Brooke and the other popular girls were sitting around yawning, wanting to go home already, but the boys insisted they all stayed until the prank was over. This was another moment where Ally was able to drift off for a second because it was dark and Ethan was too busy to notice what she was doing.

"Ethan, please be careful!" Ally said to him as he tried pulling on the rope to lift the car.

"I'm fine babe, we go this!" He grunted while he and four other guys continued to pull.

Ally rubbed her temples and took a few steps backwards next to a few people standing to the side.

"He's never going to get that car up in time," she told no one in particular.

"Tell me about it," a voice from behind said.

Ally whipped her head around and saw Dez eating a stick of jerky and Trish standing next to him.

"Oh hey guys," Ally said.

"Sup," Dez said, not as shocked as he was when Trish told him about her encounter with Ally earlier that day. He continued snacking on his food while facing Ally.

"Hey, Ally," Trish greeted.

A moment of silence passed through them. The only noise coming from the commotion of the prank attempting to be pulled.

"So…" Ally and Trish said in unison.

"Wow. You go two years without talking and 'so' is the only thing you two can muster? Psh, women. I'll never understand your 'language'," he air quoted.

"And that's why you don't have a girlfriend, freckles! Because you ruin moments and drop textbooks on their feet!" Trish once again smacked his shoulder.

"Ow! You know, you have increasingly abused me more today than you do in a normal week!" he protested.

"Well, Trish is right though," Ally giggled from the interaction.

"See! Thank you," Trish high fived her.

"Gosh, some things never change! Why haven't we found another guy to hangout with? That way I would never be out-voted all the time," Dez complained.

Some things never change.

That phrase stuck. Things have changed. That was the problem.

"Yes! Victory!" came a voice over everyone. Ethan and his friends were finally able to pull the car up to the flag pole and have it stick out like it was being hooked. Only a single rope balanced the car and it was tied to a bike rack next to the pole.

"This is the best senior prank that Marino High School seniors have ever pulled. We will go down in history!" Ethan cheered along with the crowd. Things were getting a bit too loud and the ground was shaking due to the celebration that people were jumping for joy. In an instant, two things happened before anyone could really think.

First, the rope had loosened from the bike rack, moving the car a bit, now basically hanging with little support from the pole. Everyone gasped at the sight. But before anyone could do anything about it, the second thing happened. A police siren was heard from afar, getting louder by the second.

"Oh no, cops!" one of Ethan's friends, Trent, shouted.

Everyone started to make a run for it. Ethan grabbed a hold of Ally's hand and pulled her away from Trish, Dez and everyone else.

"Ethan!" she yelled.

"Babe, I don't want to get caught, come on!"

"But you can't just let principal Tolken's car fall!"

"Listen, Ally, I don't have time for your stupid thoughtfulness right now. We have to go!"

Lights were now in sight, and the sirens were getting louder. Ethan did not wait for Ally to decide and instead ran off with Trent, Brooke and everyone else. Ally honestly did not want the principal's car to be ruined, so she ran back to the flagpole. At this point, Dez and Trish were about to make the dash, but Dez caught sight of Ally running against the crowd back to the direction of the school.

"What is she doing?" Dez told Trish. They both saw as she ran towards the bike rack, desperately untying it as fast as she could to try to not break the car. Without thinking, Dez dragged Trish to the direction of the car and got there just in time before Ally almost lost grip of the rope. Non-verbal glances were exchanged and Ally was grateful that Trish and Dez came to help. The three of them used all their might to pull and hang on to that rope so the car would not fall. Ignoring everything around them, they managed to retie the rope to the pole, this time more securely, and panted, clearly out of breath. But before anything else, someone spoke up.

"Freeze!"

A/N: Hey Auslly peeps, I'm back! I received an overwhelming number of reviews, PM's & favorites on Takeoffs & Landings and I just want to say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for the love :) I didn't expect to get that kind of response for my first Auslly fic. That story was a favorite to write. I wrote it in 3 days lol It's my most popular fic so I made it a priority to finish this and publish as soon as I can. I wrote this about 2 months ago though I set it aside to write Takeoffs & Landings. But now I'm back and I couldn't wait to publish this one. I'm a busy person but this story is almost complete so updates may vary. Thanks again for the love!

Happy Independence Day! I'm proud to be an America and even more excited for the fireworks. Have fun and be safe if you're going out tonight :) And if you're in California and going to the hillside tonight I'll see you there. I'm the one wearing red, white and blue ;p