Introduction:
School has been out for about a week now, and I realized that all I've done is chores while my parents work all day. It's not as exciting as I thought it would be and hopefully that's just because something exciting is about to come. Which I'm sure it will. You see, my friends never seem to disappoint when it comes to random acts of craziness, causing me to have the best summer ever. It's happened a few times already.
I have two best friends, Dez and Dallas. I've known Dez since we were seven. Our parents used to take us to the same babysitter, and I guess we would always hangout with each other, ignoring all the other kids and only sharing crayons with each other. We were inseparable.
And then Dallas, I've known him since eighth grade; we're all in eleventh now. He transferred from some school in Utah, (we're in California) he joined the baseball team and we realized how much we had in common, so we started hanging out, and have been best buds since.
And then there's Ally. She's Dallas' girlfriend. They have been going out for; I'd say a year and a half now, so that's how long I've known her. She's really awesome and fun to be around, so usually the four of us hangout. She's so easy to get along with and one of the only girls that I can be friends with and not feel awkward about being myself around them.
I'm actually kind of surprised that those two have lasted this long. Ally's quiet, and sweet and into music. Dallas is just loud, obnoxious and into video games. Ally and I have had better conversations about music than her and Dallas. Ally's the only one I can talk to about my passion for music because my father thinks it's a hopeless career, Dez doesn't seem to care, and Dallas thinks it's stupid. But Ally knows how I really feel about it.
Chapter One:
"You like mis-matched socks with Polka Dots. You like your pizza cold, I think that's hot."
I wipe the sweat off of my forehead and shove the lawn mower back into the garage. The sun is shining bright and it's extremely hot. The rays burn my bare back as I bend down and grab my shirt off of the ground. I hold onto it and walk into my empty house. It sucks being alone all day and having to take care of myself, but at least it gives me practice for when I'm out on my own in a few years.
I throw my shirt over the back of one of the dining chairs in the kitchen and walk over to the refrigerator. I open up the freezer first and stick my head in it. It feels nice, but doesn't satisfy me enough. I grab one of the freeze pops off the top shelf and shut the door. I go into my living room and sit down on the sofa. I'm about to take a bite when I hear my cell phone ringing. Now where did I put that?
I jump up, setting down my refreshment on the coffee table and jog back into the kitchen. My phone is lit up on the counter. I grab it and look at the caller I.D, its Dallas, "Hey man." I say.
"Austin my man, what's up?" He asks.
"Oh you know, just mowed the lawn. What about you?"
"Not much. Dez, Ally and I were going to go grab a bite to eat at Mel's, want to come?" He asks.
"Of course I do!" I tell him.
"Alright, meet us there in ten."
"See you." I tell him and hang up.
I run upstairs quickly and put on a red tee shirt, and throw on my black converse. I spray myself with some fresh deodorant before running back downstairs and out the door. It's about a five minute walk from my house, so I don't bother driving.
Mel's is the most popular hangout/diner in town, and they have the best cheeseburgers ever. We spend a lot of our summer there just hanging out and eating good food, what else could be better? I guess a lot of things could be better… But that's okay.
When I get there, they are already at a table on the far side near the open glass doors. Dallas waves me over and I take a seat between Ally and Dez, "What's up?" Dez asks.
I shrug, "Just got done with yard work."
"That's shocking." Ally says with a sweet smile.
"I know right." Dallas says.
"We already ordered for you." Dez says.
"Ah you guys know me so well!" I say happily.
"Yeah we do." Dez says, taking a sip of his water.
The waiter brings us our food then and we all start to eat. The conversation stays short and causal, all of us just focusing on our food. Dez got the nachos, Dallas got a hot dog and Ally got the same as me; a juicy bacon cheeseburger. It's literally the best burger I've ever had.
"Did you hear about the music contest at the beach at the end of summer Austin?" Ally asks, breaking the silence.
I set down my burger and wipe my face with one of my napkins, "No I didn't." I tell her, interested in what she has to say.
"Well it's this contest. Well more like a talent show type of thing. Anyways, you have to perform an original song and then if you win you get a thousand dollars, and I heard every year a lot of music producers hide in the crowd to scope the place out." She says. She then picks up her pickle, which I think is her favorite part of the meal, and takes a bite.
"Oh wow! That's awesome." I tell her.
"Well, you can count yourself out of that Austin." Dallas says.
"Why?" I ask him.
"You can't write songs!" he says and laughs.
"I can too!" I say in a whiny voice, even though it was true.
"Whatever you say…" Dez says.
"Stop it guys." Ally says, "You can do anything you put your mind to." She says.
"Why do you always have to talk like you're a teacher or something?" Dallas says.
"Why do you always have to be a jerk?" She asks.
Dez and I glance at each other and then go back to our food, trying not to get involved in what could escalate into a bad situation fast. Dallas just looks at her and shakes his head. He picks up his garbage and walks over to one of the bins. Ally sighs and finishes her pickle. I finish my burger and put my pickle on her plate. She looks up at me and smiles, picking it up and taking a bite.
"What are we doing now?" Dallas asks when he returns.
"I have to go back to Sonic Boom and finish my shift." Ally says.
"Of course you do." Dallas says. I really hate how he talks to her sometimes.
"Whatever. Bye Dez, bye Austin." She says as she gets up and walks away.
"So what do you guys want to do?" Dallas asks.
"We could hit up the beach and go surfing!" Dez says.
"Yeah we could!" Dallas says happily.
I shrug, "I don't know, I'm not really in the mood for surfing today, but you guys go ahead." I tell them, standing up and picking up my stuff.
"Are you sure?" Dez asks.
"What are you going to do then?" Dallas asks.
"I'm sure, and I don't know, I'll find something." I tell them.
We say our goodbyes and I head towards my house. I decide to take the boardwalk home, it's quicker that way. One of the many different stores there happens to be Sonic Boom, right at the end of it. As I walk by, I hear some noise coming from the upstairs window. I stop and listen as hard as I can through the crowds of people. It's music, definitely… maybe a piano? Either way I suddenly become very interested.
I've been in Sonic Boom plenty of times, but with Dallas while we were getting Ally or annoying her on her lunch break. But I've never been in there by myself and I've never got a chance to just look around and see what it's like. I decide that this is a fine time to do just that.
I walk in, causing the door to ring its tiny bell above it. There are a couple of people here and there, looking at different instruments they probably don't even plan on buying. I notice Ally's father working at the counter, which I find odd because when he's working that usually means Ally doesn't have to be here, and she told us she had to finish her shift.
He notices me and waves at me with a smile. I wave back and walk over, "Hey Austin, what brings you here without Dallas?" He asks.
"I wanted to change it up a bit, seeing as how I've never really looked around." I tell him.
"That is true. Well there is a lot to see! Just got a nice new shipment of guitars yesterday, they are in the back corner." He says happily.
"Awesome! But where's Ally?" I ask him.
"Oh, it's her afternoon off so she's up in the practice room." He says.
"Practice room?" I ask him.
"Oh, it's just upstairs. We call it the practice room because we have a woman that comes and gives different lessons up there. Ally just loves to hang out up there and play piano." He says, but then his face drops, "Actually… I don't think I was supposed to share that with anyone."
"You're secrets safe with me Mr. Dawson." I tell him.
"Thanks Austin!" He says.
"Could I go talk to her?" I ask him.
"I don't see why not. But just tell her you found that room on your own!" He says with a smile.
"No problem." I say, giving him thumbs up.
I walk over to the stairway and jog up it. The door is slightly ajar and I hear the music that I heard outside. I walk over to the door and peek in. Ally is sitting at a grand piano, softly pressing the keys, playing and singing a very soft and slow song. I didn't know she played the piano, or sang. And she's perfect at both. The way she moves her hands on those keys makes it look so easy, and it's like she was born to play, and then her voice; wow.
I lean against the door a little too far and it opens up, causing me to crash onto the floor, catching myself on my hands. I startle Ally so much that she jumps up off the piano bench and covers her mouth so she won't scream. I push myself up in a push up position and stand up. I put my arms up in protest, "God Ally I am so sorry." I tell her.
She crosses her arms and puts on one of her faces I've only seen her use against Dallas, "Were you listening?"
I push my hand through my messy hair and rub my neck, "Uh… Maybe…" I tell her.
"Ugh!" She groans loudly and sits back down on the bench.
I shut the door behind me and walk over to her, leaning against the side of the piano, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you, or upset you, or anything." I say.
"How did you know I was up here?" She asks.
"I heard you from outside, and I just kind of went snooping."
"No one knows I like to sing or play the piano, not even Dallas." She says.
"Seriously, not even Dallas?" I ask, shocked. She shakes her head and then puts a lose curl behind her ear before she makes eye contact with me. She frowns.
"Why doesn't he know? You guys have been dating a while." I say.
"Because you know how he is about music." She says.
I sit down next to her on the bench, and she seems startled by my closeness, but I don't care, "Ally, I know how he is about my music, picking on me about wanting to make it big and all that because that's just how he is, but I doubt he would do that to you!" I tell her.
"I showed him a song I wrote once and he completely brushed me off. If it's not about him, he really doesn't seem to care." She says, turning to face the piano.
"Well that's the stupidest thing ever, because after what I just heard, he's really missing out on a really amazing part of you." I tell her, still facing her.
I can see a slight smile appear on her lips, and then vanish quick, "Thanks Austin, but promise me you won't tell anyone, and I mean anyone."
"Ally, I" – "Austin, please." She interrupts.
"I promise." I tell her.
"Thank you." She says, pressing a few random keys.
"I do have one more question though." I say, facing the piano like she is.
"What's that?"
"Why did you tell us you had to work when you really didn't? Was it because you wanted to do this or is there more to it?" I ask her.
"It doesn't matter." She says.
"I think it does." I say, pressing one of the keys. She stays silent, and I know that means that conversation is over.
I stand up and rub my neck again, "I guess I'll leave you alone now. I hope everything's okay." I tell her.
"Thanks." She says with a kind smile.
I turn around and leave her there, walking down the stairs back into the store and I go look at the guitars that her father told me about. I don't know why it bothers me so much that she won't tell me what's going on. I thought we were good friends. Maybe it's just something she really doesn't want to share.
I check out the yellow and white electric guitar; it's amazing. I pick it up and start to strum it lightly, humming the song to myself. I wish I could buy something like this, but its way too expensive. I'll just have to stick with my electric guitar.
"Nice isn't it?"
I jump back, startled. I turn around and see a grinning Ally, "I got you back!" She says.
"Ha ha how funny." I say, setting down the guitar.
"You like it?" She asks.
"I love it." I tell her, "Too bad I can't afford it."
"You could if you enter that contest and win the thousand bucks." She says.
"Yeah, in my dreams I could. I can't write songs to save my life." I tell her.
"That's too bad." She says. She then turns around and walks away, back up to her practice room. I can't help but wonder why she even came back down.
Author's Note: Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. I'm pumped to be writing again and not have writers block on this story. I think it's going to be a good one! At the beginning of each chapter i'm going to post a random song lyric from R5 or Austin and Ally, just cuz (: