Hanging By A Thread
Chapter Ten:
Ally clutches onto the guitar like it's a parachute and she's about to jump from an airplane.
She guesses that scenario could be used to mirror this one.
Although this is less of a life-or-death situation, but it still gives her the effects that she figures jumping out of an airplane would give a person.
Sweaty palms.
Shaky breath.
Tenseness.
Yeah, it's all there.
Austin glances up from the soundboard and shoots her a reassuring smile.
It seems to melt away some of the tension, not nearly enough of it though.
"You ready for this?" He asks with a raised eyebrow and an unsure smile.
She takes in a breathe and tries to calm her rigid heartbeat.
Why is this so hard?
She remembers back in third grade when her and Austin were the stars of music class.
The dynamic duo always seemed to knock them dead.
She's not really sure when she became so shy and insecure.
Maybe that was just part of growing up. You lost all confidence in yourself.
Or maybe it was the fact that her dad had left her and that made her feel like she wasn't worth anything.
She could pin a lot of her current day problems on that one event, but the excuse seems to be worn out, especially now that he's come back.
"Austin," she says in a voice that's barely a whisper, "I don't think I can do this."
He pulls a stool up next to Ally and places himself on it.
"I know you can. It'll be just like third grade."
She finally pulls her gaze away from the floor and looks into his eyes.
"This is definitely not like third grade. Everything's different now," Ally's grip on the guitar loosens sub-consciously as she falls into that relaxed state that only talking to Austin can put her in.
"Granted, we aren't kids anymore -even though I still act like one sometimes- but not that much has changed. I'm still here."
He takes her hand and squeezes it reassuringly.
"Girl, put your records on
Tell me your favorite song,"
An eight-year Ally looks up from her reading material to see the familiar redhead from down the street.
He's holding up a digital camera that's pointed at a slightly shorter blond boy.
"You go ahead
Let your hair down
Sapphire and faded jeans
I hope you get your dreams
Just go ahead
Let your hair down"
His voice carries melodically through the Miami suburb.
She finds herself fixated on it. Like a snake to a snake charmer.
Austin stops mid-note when he spots a girl of his age watching him.
He waves enthusiastically and she quickly blushes at being caught staring at him.
Ally hides behind the pages of her paperback copy of 'The Fellowship of the Ring', but to her dismay, she hears padded footsteps on the concrete floor of her porch.
"Ah, I see we have an audience member," Dez says, still recording.
"Oh, hey Ally," he greets after realizing it was her.
She sets the book down in her lap.
"Er.. hi Dez," she rubs her arm uncomfortably. "What are you guys doing?"
"This is Austin," Dez jerks his thumb in Austin's direction, "he's gonna be an overnight Internet sensation and I'm gonna be his video director. We're filming a music video right now."
Ally quirks an eyebrow at his explanation and goes back to reading. "Okay, well you two have fun with that."
Dez nods and turns on his heels to walk down the stairs.
"Come on Austin," he hollers over his shoulder, but Austin acts as if he can't hear him.
Ally tries really hard to focus on her story, but she finds herself reading the same sentence countless amounts of time.
Austin clears his throat and Ally looks up slowly, giving him her attention.
"Hi, I'm Austin," he tells her.
"So I've heard," she replies wishing that hadn't sounded as rude as it did, "I'm Ally."
"You wanna come hang out with us?" He offers because honestly (and he doesn't know why) he finds himself not wanting to leave this girl.
"Uh, that's okay," she says sweetly, " I don't think Dez likes me very much."
Austin laughs. "That's okay."
"Thanks for the offer."
He nods and turns around, but stops and turns back toward her as something crosses his mind.
"If it helps, I like you."
She smiles, kind of shocked. "T-thanks. I, uh, like you too."
"Maybe we can hang out sometime," he says.
"Yeah," she nods, "maybe."
Thus began a beautiful friendship between the two.
He was Austin.
She was Ally.
They were Austin and Ally.
And, at the end of the day, that's all she really needed to know.
"You ready?" He asks again and slips away to the soundboard.
She smiles, letting go of all her doubts and getting ready to jump into the unknown.
"Let's do this thing."
…
This time for real
Tired of playing it safe
Inside I feel
I've got what it takes
To prove, show the world
Who I really can be
I know for sure
There's no stopping me
No time to wait on the sides
Watching it all pass me by
I'm gonna be in the game
Watch me play it
I'm coming with ya know
Lets get to starting the show
Turn up the lights, hit the stage
No more waiting
It's my turn now and ya know that I'm ready
It's my turn now, said I'm strong and I'm steady
Break down the walls, gonna go for it all
It's my time, gonna shine
Show you how
Because its my turn now
Ally chews on the inside of her cheek nervously as the Moons listen to the track of her singing.
They all wear expressionless looks on their faces and it's killing her, but she knows they'll all hold their poker faces until the song is over.
I'm in my groove
Now I'm having some fun
I know what to do
And how to get it done
Do my thing, double time
And there's no holding back
Make it good, make it right
Hear the crowd react
No time to wait on the sides
Watching it all pass me by
I'm gonna be in the game
Watch me play it
I'm coming with it ya know
Lets get to starting the show
Turn up the lights, hit the stage
No more waiting
It's my turn now and ya know that I'm ready
It's my turn now, said I'm strong and I'm steady
Break down the walls, gonna go for it all
It's my time, gonna shine
Show you how
Because its my turn now
It's my turn now
In my heart I'm believing
And I can see how
I can live what I'm dreaming
I understand
Now I know who I am
Here's my chance, gonna dance
Play it loud
Because its my turn now
One, two
Now we'll do
Just what I've always wanted to
Three, four
Do some more
Everything you ever wanted and been waiting for.
It's my turn now and ya know that I'm ready
It's my turn now, said I'm strong and I'm steady
Break down the walls, gonna go for it all
It's my time, gonna shine
Show you how
Because its my turn now
It's my turn now
In my heart I'm believing
And I can see how
I can live what I'm dreaming
I understand
Now I know who I am
Here's my chance, gonna dance
Play it loud
Because its my turn now
Ally's heart pounds in her ears as she waits for the reaction.
They all turn their attention to her and before she can say anything, they tackle her in a group hug.
"That was amazing!"
"You rocked it!"
"You're singing was phenomenal!"
She laughs at the showering of compliments.
"You guys really liked it?" She asks and bites her lips nervously.
"Are you kidding? You were kick-ass!" Alex yells enthusiastically.
"I can't wait for Jimmy to hear this!" Austin tells her.
"Calm down guys," she says. "We still have a few more songs to write before this album can be released."
They all sigh, as they had been caught up in the excitement of the moment.
"Well, then," Austin replies with a shining smile, "lets get a move on. Those songs aren't gonna write themselves."
This sends all the kids upstairs to tackle the last remaining additions to the album.
…
{Skip ahead a month}
Austin drives his Mercedes down the highway in the direction of the recording studio.
Today's the day that Jimmy hears the final list of songs and either declines or approves. Hopefully the latter.
Austin taps his fingers against the steering wheel feeling mildly anxious.
When he sees his exit, he takes it and soon enough he's at the large black gate in front of Starr Records.
He pushes in the correct pass code and drives in once the gates allow him entrance.
Inside, it's nice and cool. A perfect temperature to match the hot and humid Miami weather outside.
The office lady (he thinks maybe her name is Angela) lets him proceed without any sort of protest.
She's become recently affiliated with all the Moons. Their blond hair and tall statures are quite unmistakeable.
Austin knocks cautiously on the door to Jimmy's office.
"Come in," he hears Jimmy say from behind the mahogany door.
He steps inside and lays the demo on Jimmy's desk.
"There it is, in all it's glory," Austin says.
Jimmy chuckles. "Alright. If you wouldn't mind staying back while I listen to the songs. I'm fairly certain I'll approve of them all. Your songwriter has quite a knack for this kind of stuff."
"Not a problem. And yep, she's the best," Austin nods and takes a seat in one of the chairs.
Group Message To: Ally & 6 others
Just gave Jimmy the demo. Waiting for approval.
He sends the text to his band, songwriter, manager, and director and they all send back replies that say about the same things.
After close to twenty minutes of listening, Jimmy gets a confused look on his face.
He takes the headphones off and turns his attention to the blond.
"Austin, this last song, who is that singing? Is that your sister?"
"Uh, no," Austin says and cautiously stands up. "Actually, it's Ally."
"Your songwriter?"
He nods.
"What is she doing on your demo?"
Austin sighs and runs his fingers through his hair.
"It's kind of a long story..." Austin trails off.
"Explain."
"Okay, well Ally was tired of having stage fright, so I told her that if we put her on the album without people knowing it was her she would see all the great things people have to say about her and then she'd be able to break free of her fear.
"I know I should have said something to you first, but I was afraid you would say 'no'."
Jimmy sighs. "You're right. I probably would have."
Austin cringes, not wanting to hear what he had feared he might.
"You want me to just put her on here with no explanation as to who she is or what she's doing on the album?"
"Can't you just put her in as a bonus track or something?" He suggests.
The older man doesn't speak for awhile, he's too busy thinking all this through.
"She was really good," he concludes after a long while of thinking.
Austin can only nod at this statement.
"I will put her on the album-"
"Jimmy! That's great! Thank you!"
"But," he yells, cutting off Austin's words, "I will not sign her to my record label. After she reveals it was her, she's gonna have to find her own means of support. You can't have her piggybacking off of your success."
"She's not piggybacking," Austin mutters lowly.
"Austin, I understand you and her are an item now."
Austin shoots him a look like he wonders how he knew that.
"What? You think I don't keep tabs on all my clients?" He answers with a question of his own.
"So, what I'm hearing is your putting her on the album?" Austin asks just to clarify.
"Yeah, I'm putting her on the album."
"Yes!" Austin shouts. "This is so awesome! Thank you so much!"
And with that, Austin races out of the room to share the good news with everyone else.
Jimmy shakes his head and puts the demo back in the case.
"Well, this should be interesting."
…
Kira Starr never did anything out of spite.
And if she did, it was something only semi- harmful.
Like taking her dad's credit card and buying a five hundred dollar dress.
Because lets face it.
You can't walk down the red carpet in just anything.
In all honesty, she was a sweet girl.
But even the most perfect of angels get jealous once in awhile.
And that's what she felt when she saw an issue of Cheetah Beat talking about the latest relationship between Austin and Ally.
The same Austin who happened to be her ex-boyfriend mind you.
Who broke up with her for no apparent reason, other than the half-assed excuse that they just weren't right for each other.
She had thought very damn well they'd been more than right for each other.
This was a boy she'd dated for four months.
The longest relationship she'd ever had.
This was a boy she'd had real feelings for. Only to be crushed to find out they had not been returned.
This was a boy she'd let get the farthest along with when it came to the physical side of their relationship. Second base, and even dangerously close to third.
And maybe in the midst of her "getting over him" stage (a stage that was still in progress) she'd thought there had been another reason that he'd broken her heart.
Maybe her dad had told him not to date her. That seemed like a logical explanation. Her dad was very protective of his only daughter.
Or maybe it was the actual reason.
He was in love with someone else.
Someone short, with ombré hair who shared the same first initial as him.
Now, she had confirmation that he was over her (and probably not even all that into her when they were dating) and she knew their was nothing she could do to tear them apart.
Even if she could, what pleasure would that bring her?
She knew Austin well enough to know he wouldn't go crawling back to her.
But, there was one thing she could do.
It was obvious that 'the girl with the golden voice', as all the magazines had put it, was Ally.
Even though she had been put on the album anonymously, Kira knew it was Ally practically as soon as she heard the song.
Seriously though, who else would it be?
Like previously mentioned before, Kira Starr never did anything out of spite.
Until the day she made possibly the biggest mistake of her life.
One she couldn't take back.
That's why her latest tweet read this;
Greetings from Kira Starr! The girl with golden voice! That's right I'm the girl on Austin Moon's album, looks like you can put all those rumors to rest. Quit searching cause you've found your mystery girl.
XOXO,
Kira Starr
A/N
I'm back!
Ha ha, bet none of you saw that one coming.
Honestly, I didn't either. I just got the idea yesterday while taking a shower (I do some of my best thinking in there) and thought, 'Eh, why not? It's been a while since anything too dramatic has happened.'
Seriously though, this story has gotten farther and farther away from how it started. Which doesn't surprise me really. I get off-topic very easily. But I'd just like to thank you guys who have stuck with through this story. You guys rock!
Also thanks to XxBrittlexX, ReAdErSfEvEr, toritwilight504, kristinabenoit1, jamesmaslow4evz, SwiftStar1, jarlcarriers, MusicLuver3, xXWritingGoddessXx, xX-T Luv-Xx
ausllylover2345, BAD1027, mono5709, duckiemomo123, and the guest for reviewing. Yay! That was the most reviews on one chapter I've had.
You guys think I could get 100 before the story's over with cause I'd really like that?
Speaking of the end of the story. I don't know about you, but I'm thinking sequel. Your thoughts?
Okay songs used in this chapter: 'Put Your Records On' by Corinne Bailey Rae and 'It's My Turn Now' by Keke Palmer. I know that song is kinda old, but I was searching for music and when I heard it I thought "that would be a perfect song for Ally to sing" so yeah.
Um, I think that's it.
Hope you guys enjoyed it.
Kthanxbai!