"Ally, please don't leave. You're... You're everything to me. You can't leave," I said, biting back tears. You just cant. She put her hand on the side of my face.
"You know I have to. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I can't pass this up. If you didn't want me to go, then why did you submit a form for me and fake my audition?" she asked me. "I mean, I thought you wanted me to go..."
"I do want you to... I mean, I would... if it weren't in New York. Don't you realize how far away that is?" I asked her. "Won't you miss me?"
"Of course I will! I love you!" She paused. "I mean, you're my best friend. How could I not miss you? I'm going to miss Trish and Dez, too. And my dad. And the mall workers... And Pickles the Goose... And everyone."
"See? You have so many people that you'll miss... and so many people that'll miss you!" I said. I took her hands in mine. "Ally..."
"Austin..." She stared into my eyes for a moment and I thought she was going to say something, but she seemed to think better of it because she shook her head, dropped my hands, and looked away. "I have to get packing," she mumbled.
"But―" I started but she cut me off.
"Don't, Austin. Just don't." She left the practice room and as soon as I knew she was out of Sonic Boom, I started bawling.
That was about two years ago... or maybe it was one... Whatever, I lost count a long time ago. She tried to video chat me every day, but it wouldn't be the same. So I just deleted my Skype and deactivated my Facebook and everything she could use to get in contact with me. I couldn't take it. It just... wouldn't be the same. I need to see her face to face to talk to her.
I stand in the middle of the practice room now, looking around. It's still the same: the large, yellow A; the fridge, the piano bench... Everything's still here... except for Ally.
Actually, it's not the same at all. Dez and Trish threw a party in Sonic Boom the night Ally left and it's pretty much trashed now. Everything's still here, like I said, it's just trashed and everything's in disarray.
Ally would've cleaned it up, even though the mess wasn't her fault. It would've been good as new the next day.
Sonic Boom closed down. With Ally's mom gone and, well, Ally gone, Lester couldn't keep up with all the customers. So now it's just an abandoned, empty store. Lester has a year-round yard sale that no one really goes to (I mean, really, who goes to yard sales anymore?) going on to sell all the instruments.
He was going to sell the store, along with the instruments, for money but I wouldn't let him. This store holds Ally's and my practice room. The place where the magic happens... happened. I still have a key, of course. Lester said if I wouldn't let him sell it, then I practically owned it. I wasn't going to run it, so I just come here every once in a while. To remember.
Trish is barely ever around anymore. She was only here because of Ally. Her family is always on vacation. The vacations always last for weeks, sometimes even months.
Dez and I don't really talk anymore. He says I'm depressed. Maybe I am. He says Ally was the only thing that kept me alive. Maybe that's true. He video chats with Ally. She talks about me for most of the time they're chatting, or so he says.
When Dez told her I was depressed, she told him to keep an eye on me. That's what Dez told me. He used to keep an eye on me, too, but that stopped a few weeks ago when he realized that I'm not dumb enough to try and kill myself over a stupid girl. Shut up, Austin. She's not stupid. She's the smartest girl you know.
I know...
But what if I do try to kill myself? If I can't be with the only thing that keeps me alive, then shouldn't I be dead by now?
…
That's enough thinking for today. I'm going in that suicidal direction again. I leave Sonic Boom and lock the front doors. I start to walk home but a girl stops me.
"Hi!" she says. "My name is Sally."
Did she just say her name was Ally? "Hi," I reply, my mind elsewhere. "I'm Austin."
"I know. Well... look, I like you a lot and my friends over there dared me to ask you out and I was really nervous. Sorry, I talk really fast and I also talk a lot when I'm nervous so... Anyway, what I wanted to ask you was... will you go out with me?" she finally asks.
"Sure," I say. She writes her number on my hand and skips away.
Wait, what just happened?
I think I missed something...
Whose number is this?
I look at the three girls scurrying away. One's blond, one's brunette, and one's redheaded.
Was it the blond one?
Was her name Sally or Ally?
I guess I'll call her when I get home.
I begin the walk home. Tired of the silence, I call Sally. "Hello?" she answers.
"Hey, it's Austin," I tell her. "I just wanted to call so that you'd have my number and stuff."
"Oh, okay, well... I got it!" she says with a nervous giggle. I laugh, too. I wonder if she could tell it was forced.
"So call me later?"
"Sure," she says and hangs up. Well, now I won't have to worry about calling her. When I get home, I see Dez sitting outside my house. "Dez," I say. "What are you doing here? I thought you just kind of... ditched me."
"Come inside," he says. I follow him inside in a daze. It feels weird to be ushered up to my own room in my own house.
"Is something wrong?" I ask. My mind assumes the worst. "Did something happen to Ally?" His laptop is sitting on my desk and he opens it to reveal Ally's hopeful face.
"Is he here this time?" she asks and my heart breaks at the sound of it. She sounds like she's on the brink of hope. Like they've been doing this for days, and she's just about to give up.
Maybe they have been doing this for days. I've stayed at Sonic Boom for the past couple of days. Maybe Dez waited for me every night and I just didn't come home.
"Yes," Dez says. I shake my head.
"I don't wanna talk to her," I whisper to where I hope his laptop's microphone won't catch it. He clicks something on his laptop and I see a red slash on the microphone picture.
"Why not?" Dez asks.
"She... She left" is all I can say. "She left me, us, all of us."
"She left so that she could 'become a better person,' as she says. You do know that she practically did this for you, right?"
"What are you talking about?" I ask with a roll of my eyes.
"Yeah. She left so that she could get better at every instrument you can play. She left so that she would be less shy, like you are. She left so she could be like you and how you want her to be. She left because you always teased her about only being able to play a few instruments and about not wanting to get onstage," he tells me.
I close my eyes, taking it all in, then I sit down in front of the laptop. "Hey, Ally," I say after turning the microphone back on.
Her eyes light up. "Hey, Austin." She smiles brightly.
"How's MUNY?" I ask and instantly regret it. I realize that I hate that place. I hate it.
"It's okay. I've learned how to play six new instruments," she tells me excitedly. "And there's an Open Mic this Friday after school. I'm thinking about going up... What do you think?"
"I think that's a great idea," I say. "You'll do great, I know it."
"Bring my laptop to me later," Dez says before leaving my room.
"I wish I could be there to see you," I say to Ally. "What's it like in New York City?"
"It's pretty much just lights and cars," she tells me. "But it's big. And loud. Times Square is so bright, I literally have to shield my eyes at night. It's crazy. This place makes Miami look like a small, unknown town." She frowns. "I miss you though. I miss everyone. I might come home. It's not just that I miss everyone. It's the bills.
"MUNY doesn't have dorm rooms so I had to use most of the money my dad gave me to get an apartment. It's far away from the school and I have to take a bus in the morning and in the afternoon. And bus fare is really expensive here. I had to take up a job. I work six nights a week after school and..." she trails off, glancing at her watch. "Ooh, that reminds me. I have to get to work. Make a new Skype account and send me a friend request please. I'll call you later. Okay?"
I hesitate. She looks at me with the large eyes she likes to use when she pleads with me. "Okay," I finally agree.
"Thanks, Austin," she says. She smiles sadly. "I really do miss you."
I shake my head, smiling. "Don't miss me. Just two more years and you'll be done with school," I tell her.
Her sad smile turns into a lopsided happy grin. "You're right. I'll see you later, right?" she asks.
"Right," I say. "Bye, Als."
"Bye, Austin," she says and she hangs up. As soon as she does, I close Dez's laptop and tear my room apart, searching for mine. I have to make a new Skype account.
Just one video call sent me head over heels back in love with her. I had almost picked myself up but she just tripped me again. And I fell right on my face. I wish I could've hugged her, caressed her face, something. Something to let me know she was real. I'm just glad she wasn't mad at me for dropping off the face of the earth. She talked to me like she used to. Like we're still best friends. I hope we are.
It hits me how much she's changed. Her hair. It's darker, longer, and wavier. And she was wearing more makeup than she used to; her lips were the perfect shade of red, they seemed much fuller than usual. She was showing a lot more skin than she did a couple of years ago; she was wearing a low-cut V-neck, short-sleeve shirt that said SHORT GIRLS HAVE MORE FUN with a winky face emoticon on the front. I didn't like that. I didn't like that at all.
Where is my goddamned laptop‽
Hey, guys! No one has voted on the poll but I figured that was because I've lost a crapload of readers due to disappearing. So I went ahead and uploaded this, to see if I can gain some readers back. I hope all my frequent reviewers aren't gone for good... I'll really miss you if you are... But, if you come back, I'll give you a virtual cupcake! And if I gain some new readers, you'll get a virtual cupcake, too!
Here's the first chapter of Hey There, Allyson! It's, like, a variation of the song Hey There, Delilah by the Plain White T's! Anyhoodles, sorry it's so short! It's less than two thousand words. I'm really disappointed in myself. But not to worry. I think I know why it was so short. Most of it was just the flashback and Austin thinking and telling about what's been going on since she left. Only a little of it was the actual story, so... yeah, the next chapter should be longer. Review! :D
LoVe, KeNzIe
P.S. Remember to vote on the poll for the next story while I write this one!