Austin and Ally
Posses and Poison
Austin walked into Sonic Boom, laughing obnoxiously and carrying an ice cream cone that looked like the leaning tower of Pisa. Sticky, light pink ice cream drops splattered the neat floor and Ally ran over in disgust.
"Austin! No eating in the store!" she exclaimed, her wide, brown eyes dark with annoyance. Austin smirked and ran his hand through his bleached-blonde hair smoothly.
"Ally, it's okay. This is an experiment," he replied calmly. His eyes glittered with mischief as Dez pranced in wearing a shirt with a giraffe on it, and carrying another cone.
"What experiment?" Ally squinted her eyes skeptically. Austin and messy food usually didn't result in something pretty.
"We're trying to see how many scoops of ice cream we can eat, duh," Dez stated matter-of-factly. Ally rolled her eyes as the two continued to lick their ice cream cones. Suddenly, Dez's ice cream rolled off his cone and splattered onto the floor. Ally glanced down in shock at the pink, melting mess on the floor.
"Oh Dez!" she scolded, her eyebrows furrowed angrily. She tossed her amber-highlighted hair behind her shoulders and perched her hands on her hips.
"Oops…" Dez said contritely, sucking air in through his teeth. His shoulders slumped guiltily. Ally glared at her red-headed friend and stalked away to get paper towels. The sound of her indignant footsteps echoed through the empty store. Austin wondered why nobody was in here. The bright red walls of the exuberant music store looked strange; they were bare of their usual collection of pictures and instrument advertisements. Single drums littered the floor, looking isolated and unused. Austin could see his reflection in the shiny, clean metal of them.
"You should be more careful," Austin told Dez as he turned to follow Ally. He found her standing with a distraught expression plastered to her pretty face, looking down at the stacks of boxes lining the walls. A misplaced feeling rose in Austin's throat as he tried to piece together the meaning of all this.
"I thought you were getting paper towels?" Austin inquired quietly. Ally sighed and looked at him with a sad, defeated look in her glossy eyes.
"I am," she said blandly, shoving a few pieces of soft paper into his hands. She waited for him to walk away, but he stood there awkwardly with his head cocked curiously to one side.
"What's happening?" Austin asked. "Everything has been moved in here."
"The store is shutting down," Ally explained. "My dad's getting remarried and we have to move." Austin felt a sudden burst of electricity shoot up his spine and his stomach lurched. He didn't think he could bear losing his partner.
"What?! But you can't just leave! What about school?"
"I'm moving to Georgia. There will be schools there for me to attend," she stated sharply. She shook her head and moved towards the door. Austin tossed his ice cream cone in the trash. He didn't feel like eating anymore.
"But Ally! I can't continue my career without you! And what about Trish? Are you going to leave her too?" He pleaded urgently. He stepped in front of her, blocking her from going out the door.
"It's not my decision to make. It's not like I want to leave," she defended.
"But why would your dad ever want to give up the store? I thought you liked living in Miami!"
"I do, Austin! Like I said, it's not my decision, okay? I would stay if I could, but I can't. So just leave me alone and go stuff your face with pancakes or something!" she yelled, stomping out of the store. Austin stared after her, her ombre curls spilling down her back and complimenting the orange, flowing blouse she wore. A horrible, stinging feeling rose in his chest.
"Well, at least we have this," Dez said, gesturing to the pink mess on the floor. She never cleaned it up. Austin was still holding the towels. He bent down and wiped the mess with one swift motion. "Hey!" Dez protested, folding his arms. "That could've been a great feast. Thanks, Austin!" he screamed and stomped away. Austin ignored his oblivious best friend as he stalked out of the store, feeling like someone had just stabbed him.