Austin grabs his phone off the counter of Melody Diner as it vibrates. Dez was supposed to meet him at the diner for some breakfast before the two of them headed out to the new arcade that recently opened up at the mall of Miami. However, the red head had just texted Austin telling him that there has been a change of plans. Dez won't be able to hang out with him today because he had mistaken his starfish for a phone (yet again), and would have to go to the emergency room to have it removed.
Austin smiles and rolls his eyes at his buddy. He'll head to the hospital right after he finishes the food he had already ordered, a tall stack of golden brown pancakes, of course.
He shoves his phone back into his pocket and drums his fingers on the counter as he waits for his order to be prepared. He watches the waitresses work busily behind the counter and his eyes catch sight of the different syrups he could use for his breakfast.
Which would he use today?
Blueberry was definitely out of the question. He had made the mistake of using it once, the rich color persuading him to pour the syrup all over his precious pancakes. A mistake he will never repeat again.
Austin is pulled out of his thoughts by the mouth watering aroma of his freshly made pancakes. He has ordered them with cut bananas on the side, not only because they tasted good but because he liked to use the cut pieces to make faces on all of his pancakes (So he was a five year old at heart, sue him.)
As soon as the waitress places the plate in front of him, Austin takes to decorating his first pancake. He uses two banana slices for the eyes and the chocolate syrup, he had finally decided, for the mouth.
Just as he sets the syrup jar down, Austin notices someone sit down in the swivel chair next to him. He looks up from his masterpiece and turns his attention to the girl sitting next to him with an open menu in her hands. She was around his age and had pretty brown curls and very pink lips.
Austin cut a big piece of his pancake, and closes his eyes as the chocolatey banana goodness dances across his taste buds. He sat there savoring the taste before going back in for more. As he continues his breakfast, Austin glances at the girl again and notices her looking intently at her menu.
"You should definitely try the pancakes here, they're to die for." Austin says to her with his mouth still full.
The girl turns to him and looks at his half eaten, smiley faced pancakes. She smiles.
"Thanks, but I'm not really a fan of pancakes. I prefer waffles if anything."
Austin's jaw drops and he spins around to look at the girl properly.
Not a fan of pancakes? Waffles?!
"How could you like waffles?!" Austin blurts out, a disgusted look on his face.
The girl raises her eyebrow.
"I just like them better, is all." She said shrugging, and turns back to the menu.
Austin wasn't having any of this. He was going to convert her to being a pancake lover, even if it took all day. Dez would have to deal with the starfish and the doctor on his own. He scarfs down the rest of his breakfast in record speed.
He turns to the girl and takes the menu out of her hands. Her mouth drops open and she turns to face Austin.
"Okay but have you ever tried pancakes?" Austin asks her.
He isn't being serious, is he? He has to be joking. The girl looks over Austin's face, but sees that there isn't even the slightest a hint of a smile, his expression is completely serious. She crosses her arms and smirks at him. She'll let him humor her a bit.
"Of course I've tried pancakes." She replies.
"Then I guess you haven't tried the awesome goodness that are the Melody Diner pancakes." He says, also crossing his arms over his chest.
She assumes he's trying to look assertive, but he looks like an angry puppy. He's cute.
"Can I have my menu back?" the girl asks, holding out her hand towards him. He pulls the menu further away from her reach.
"No way." He says, shaking his head, "I wont let you order any waffles." The girl chuckles at him. She has a cute laugh, he notices. But she has a terrible taste in breakfast foods.
"But waffles are sooooo much better." the girl says with a smirk.
"How dare you..." he drags out, and motions his hand towards her.
"Ally."
"Ally," he starts again, "How dare you Ally."
"Listen..." she mimics him, tilting her head towards him and motioning her hand.
"Its Austin."
"Listen Austin. Let me offer you a deal." Ally says. Austin shifts his body towards her. He's interested. "I'll order these so called 'amazing' pancakes, if you have a waffle." She raises an eyebrow at him and smirks. Austin raises his finger at her, ready to decline the offer, but then he stops and thinks. Although he hates waffles, accepting the deal would mean Ally would have to try the pancakes.
Austin grins a full tooth smile.
"Deal." he says, reaching out his hand for her to shake. She hadn't expected him to agree so quickly, but she's hungry, so she meets his hand half way and shakes on it.
"Hey Mindy!" he yells out to the waitress, "I'd like to order one stack of your finest pancakes, and uh, throw a waffle in there as well." Ally narrows her eyes at him.
"So I have to eat a whole stack of pancakes while you get just one waffle?" She shakes her head at him.
"Hey, in my defense, I just finished my breakfast, I'm very full." he says rubbing his belly. Austin pushes his plate away from him.
They sit in a somewhat awkward silence for a few minutes as they wait for the order. Austin observes Ally a little bit more intently. He swears he knows her from somewhere. He notices that she seems short, her brown boots not even touching the floor as she sits on the chair. He also notices her legs, surprisingly long and smooth for someone so short. She's wearing a pretty white shirt that is tucked into a tight floral skirt. There's a brown book laying on the counter top in front of her, marked with a big pink 'A', probably a journal or something. His eyes travel to her plump lips, a very pretty, deep shade of pink. His eyes then meet her's and he realizes that she knows he's been practically checking her out.
He clears his throat and breaks the stare they've been holding.
Her cheeks now match her lips.
Mindy comes not even a few seconds later, dropping off the plate of pancakes. And waffle.
Austin impales the waffle with his fork and plops it onto his own plate. He looks over at Ally and sees her about to cut into her pancake.
"Woah, woah, woah." Austin yells out, grabbing her wrist in mid air. Ally furrows her eyebrows at him.
"I thought you wanted me to try these?" she asks.
"You're not just gonna eat them like that, are you?" he asks, very very seriously.
Ally just stares at him.
"You gotta decorate them Ally, bring them to life." He reaches over for the plate of syrups and places them next to her pancake.
"Go ahead, choose." he motions over to the syrups. Ally snorts.
"Austin -" she starts out, but the look he's giving her makes her shut her mouth and reach over for a syrup, while she shakes her head.
"Ugh, maple syrup? Out of all the syrups there, you choose the most boring one?"
"I'm not telling you how to eat your stupid waffle." she snaps at him, threatening to poke him with her fork.
"Fine, choose the boring one, I don't care. But you don't even have any fruits. Luckily, I have some bananas left over from my breakfast." He uses his fork to dump the slices on her plate. Then he plops two of them on her pancake, right above the melting butter.
"See, those are the eyes. The butter is the nose. Now you get to draw the mouth with the syrup."
Ally can't believe it. He's literally a child.
"How old are you?" she asks, carefully creating a smiling mouth with the syrup.
"Im fifteen." he replies, looking over her creation intently.
"Are you sure?" She asks, setting the syrup jar down.
"Very funny."
"Can I eat now? Im starving." she picks up her knife and fork and looks over at him. He nods his head in approval. She begins to work away at her pancake.
Austin turns his attention to the waffle in front of him. Maybe if he holds his nose as he chews, he won't taste it.
"I can't live like this!" Ally exclaims, setting her utensils down next to the pancake. This time it's Austin who raises an eyebrow at her.
"The syrup is getting everywhere, this wouldn't have happened with the waffle."
"Who's the little kid now?" Austin smirks at her.
"Shut up. The waffle has those glorious little square boxes, they're perfect for holding the syrup in place. Now the pancakes all soggy and I'm all sticky."
"Here's a napkin." Austin says as he hands one to her. "But you gotta eat the pancake. We made a deal."
"Yeah, we did" she motions a finger between the both of them, "You haven't even taken a bite of your waffle."
"I'm getting there." he assures her, and cuts a piece off the waffle.
Here goes nothing.
He bites down on the fork, taking the waffle into his mouth. He had his eyes shut, but now he opens them. The waffle wasn't too bad. It was like a pancake, but crispier.
"So how's the waffle?"
"Eh, it's alright." he replies, "I'm still alive."
Ally smiles at him.
"Well, you were right about the pancakes. They're delicious." she takes another bite of the pancake and licks her lips. Austin is beaming.
"I still think waffles are a bit better though."
Now he's rolling his eyes at her.
They continue eating their breakfast and talking, their knees knocking under the counter. She finds out that Austin loves music just as much as she does and that he can even play a trumpet through another trumpet. She's impressed. His dream is performing in Time's Square on New Years Eve. He has a whole plan figured out, his only problem being that he can't write songs for his life.
Austin find's out that that book of her's is actually full of song lyrics. He's very intrigued. He also find's out that her dad is the owner of Sonic Boom, the amazing music store in the mall. So he has seen her before.
Ally notices that Austin hasn't really touched his waffle.
"I think I have a way to make that waffle taste better." she tells him. Ally calls Mindy and asks her for something. She returns in a little bit with a tall, white can.
"Whipped cream!" she exclaims, taking the top off the can. She shakes it a while before leaning over Austin's half eaten waffle and draws a heart with the cream.
Austin laughed.
"You're adorable."
Ally smiled and looked down at her boots. The blush came back to her cheeks.
Austin grinned at her.
Maybe waffles weren't that bad after all.