Chapter 10
Music Store
I'm sorry for not updating earlier today, but here I am now :D
Today's day at school was pretty boring. I was hoping Austin would talk to me even if it's to insult me or to threaten me about yesterday, but he just ignored me. I tried to talk to him once, but he gave me a lame excuse and he walked away. It wasn't like he did not want to talk to me; it was like he was afraid to talk to me.
He actually didn't look like his normal cold self. He looked a bit more relaxed. I'm not saying he was nice to people, because he just ignored everyone, but that was an improvement.
I really wanted to meet him after school, but he turned me down. He said he was busy and that he didn't have time. He did not say he did not want to. Although, that might have been an excuse because he didn't want to see me.
It's so frustrating though. One moment he's being completely honest and nice to me and the next moment he ignores me.
I want to know who he really is. I want him to open up, but it's not easy.
He won't let me in.
Right now, I'm at the music store covering my parents' shift. I don't really mind though. The only thing I mind is that I can't properly communicate with the costumers. I can if they just buy stuff and I have to give them their change and etc., but I can't if they ask me questions.
I've been able to get myself understood so far, but I was now dealing with a rather angry looking costumer.
« C'est quoi cette marde? J'ai acheté cette corde pour ma guitare hier et elle est déjà brisée. Je veux me faire rembourser. » (What's that shit? I bought this string yesterday for my guitar and it's already broken. I want a refund. ) The costumer said showing me a broken guitar string.
I guess he's angry because the string is broken
« Je suis désolée. » ( I am sorry. ) I said to the costumer in a really broken French.
« Être désolée ne me donnera pas une nouvelle corde. Je veux parler au gérant. » (Being sorry won't get me a new string. I want to talk to the manager. ) The customer told me.
« Je ne comprends pas. Je suis désolée. » (I don't understand. I am sorry. ) I said to him hoping he would have some sympathy for me.
« Apprends donc à parler Français. T'es au Québec tabarnak. » ( Learn to speak French. You're in Québec fuck! » The costumer angrily said to me.
« Excusez-moi monsieur, la pauvre caissière fait son possible pour vous comprendre et pour parler en Français. Que voulez-vous qu'elle fasse de plus? » (Excuse me sir, the poor cashier is doing her best to understand you and to speak French. What else do you want her to do? »A masculine voice said from behind the man.
The costumer looked stunned.
« Elle pourrait avoir la décence de remplacer ma corde de guitare. » (She could have the decency to replace my guitar string.) The costumer said to the boy behind him. I can't see him, but his voice is strangely familiar.
« C'est contre la politique de la boutique. C'est écrit là. » (It's against the store's policy. It's written right there.) The boy said. The costumer grumbled and walked away.
I finally saw who was the boy.
« Oh, hey Ally. » He said.
« Hey Elliot. » I responded. « What did you tell him? » I asked.
« He wanted you to give him a refund for the guitar string he broke, so I told him it was against the store's policy and he walked out. » He said smiling like it was the best accomplishment in the world. It was kinda cute.
There was an awkward silence.
« So… What can I help you with? » I asked.
« Nothing really. » He responded shyly.
« Why are you here then? » I asked.
« I wanted to see you. » He said and I blushed a bit.
« Here I am. » I awkwardly responded.
« So… » He said shyly.
« So… » I said.
« I think you look like a really nice girl and I was wondering if I could have your number. » Elliot shyly said. He is nowhere as cute as Austin when he's shy. Wait. Damn brain. Why do I compare him to Austin?
« Sure. » I said a bit unsure of myself. He does look like a nice guy and I'm pretty sure I have zero chances with Austin.
« Great. » He said smiling.
« Give me your phone, I'll put my number in it. » I said smiling.
He gave it to me and I entered my number in the contact list.
I find it weird that he's actually interested in me. He could have talked to me before.
« I don't mean to be rude, but why did you come to me now? » I asked him.
« Well I noticed that we are in some classes together and I think you look like a really interesting person. I really wanted to talk to you at school, but I was too nervous to do it. » He said shyly. Well, I think it was shyness; I couldn't exactly decipher his facial expression. It was kind of weird.
« That's really sweet of you Elliot. » I responded. He seems like a really nice guy.
« I'll talk to you later? » He stated and asked at the same time.
« Yeah, sure. » I responded and he exited the store.
Should I really have given him my number?
Now, he's going to use it.
Do I really want to talk to him?
I don't know.
He seems really sweet.
But he's not the one I want to be with.
Wait.
What?
Who do I want to be with?
Fucking brain.
Why do I keep having those thoughts?
Why is he the only thing I think about?
Because you're in love with him. My brain keeps telling me.
I'm not in love with him.
Maybe I am.
I don't know.
This is all so confusing.
I closed the store at exactly nine like my dad wants me too. He wants to make sure I won't lose a sale before nine o'clock. I love him, but he's kind of cheap sometimes.
I climbed the stairs leading to the practice room above the store and took my purse. I took my phone out of it
I had a message from an unknown number.
Must be Elliot.
I clicked on the small icon to listen to the message.
Hey Ally, if you have time, I'd like to see you after your shift. Your mom told me earlier that you were working tonight. I'll be in the backyard. Oh, it's Austin .Bye.
My eyes widened when he said his name. How did he get my number and more importantly why does he want to talk to me?
I walked home because I don't live that far from the store and kept thinking about the whole mess I'm in right now.
I reached my house twenty minutes later and went directly inside. I put my purse in my room and headed outside. I did want to see Austin.
I walked outside the back door and saw Austin standing right in front of me with a rose in his hand.
« This is for you. » He said giving me the rose.
« Thank you Austin. » I said whilst flustering.
« My pleasure. » He said and he stood closer to me.
« You know, you are the prettiest girl I've ever seen. » He said and I blushed even more.
« Thank you Austin. » I repeated.
« Now, would you mind if I did this? » He asked.
He got closer to me and he slowly started to lean in.
He put his hands on my back and pulled me closer.
I leaned in too.
Our lips were about to touch.
I felt butterflies in my stomach.
Then, a voice startled me.
« Ally? Are you okay? » Austin asked looking concerned.
« I'm fine, why? » I asked.
« You were blankly staring at me. » He responded.
I got lost in my thoughts. I daydreamed about Austin. This can't be happening. I can't fall for him.
« Are you sure you're okay? » I asked.
« Yes. I am completely fine. » I lied.
« So, I wanted to apologize for ignoring you. » He said.
« A second apology from Austin Moon? It's probably the marijuana talking. » I said.
« Nope. I did not use it today. » He said.
« Really? » I asked hopeful.
« Yes, really. » He said.
« Well, I accept your apology. » I said.
« Thanks. » He said.
Things were a bit awkward now.
« Sorry, I'm not good at being friends with people. » He said.
« Is Austin Moon saying I'm his friend? I thought he never wanted to be my friend. » I said exaggerating. « How will I celebrate? »
« Oh shut it. » He said.
« You're not kidding? » I asked.
« No. I'm not. » He said.
« What changed your mind? » I asked.
« Nothing. I never changed my mind. » He responded.
« What? » I asked confused. What does he mean?
« I kind of always wanted to get to know you. » He said shyly. Why is he so cute when he's shy? « But I was too scared to get attached and then to get hurt. You're the only one who kept trying to talk to me. Everyone just eventually gave up. » He explained.
« Why didn't you say so earlier? » I asked.
« I told you. I was scared to get attached and that's why I stayed away from people and especially you. It didn't mean I did not want people to try and talk to me. I was secretly happy when you talked to me. I acted that way to make sure I couldn't get hurt anymore. I put a mask on. It doesn't mean I was happy about it. I secretly wanted for someone to come up to me and actually try to take that mask off me. » He said.
We walked towards the patio stairs and sat on them.
« What do you mean? » I asked.
« I pushed people away, because I was afraid to get attached and to lose them. I never made any friends. I thought it was because I was scaring people away and none of them tried to know me better because I wasn't worth it. My mind kept telling me to stay away from people, but my subconscious actually wanted to find someone who cares for me and sees beneath the mask I gave myself. » He explained.
« And that's me. » I realized.
« It is. » He said. « Thank you Alls, for giving me hope, for making me feel like I'm not invisible and a complete jerk. »
« You are very welcomed. » I said with a wide smile.
We kept smiling at each other. It wasn't awkward, but it wasn't in a romantic way.
« You're still my annoying neighbor who won't shut up though. » He said and he winked.
« And you are still that jerk who hates people and cusses way too much. » I said to him and he chuckled. « Well, I better go back inside. I have homework to do and we have school tomorrow. » I said to him.
« Yeah, I guess you should. » He said and I turned around.
« Wait. » He said.
« What? » I asked as I turned around.
Then, I felt two strong arms making their way around my petite frame.
I wrapped my arms around his torso.
Wait, is he really hugging me?
I felt him tighten his grip around me.
He moved his head and whispered something in my ear.
« Thank you. »
With that, he let go and we both walked away.
I walked back inside and leaned on the door.
Did that really happen?
Wait, it really did.
I can still feel his strong arms around me.
It felt so good.
I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy this or didn't feel butterflies in my stomach.
It was the most amazing feeling ever.
« And then, he hugged me. » I told Piper through the computer.
« O-M-G, you're blushing. You're so in love with him. » Piper told me.
« Shut it. » I said.
« You cannot deny the truth. » She said.
« I know. I know I'm falling for him, but I shouldn't. » I said to her.
« Why? » She asked me.
« Because he's probably afraid of getting in a relationship. Therefore, he would probably reject me. » I said to her.
« Well, by the way you talk about him, I can say he likes you. Maybe he's not in love with you, but you're important to him. Why would he open up to you if he didn't like you? » She asked.
« I don't know. Maybe he felt forced. » I said.
« I'm pretty sure he didn't. If you forced him, he would've pushed you away even more. » She said.
« Maybe you're right. » I said to her.
« Now, there is something else I wanted to talk to you about. » I told Piper.
« What? » She asked.
« So, I was working at the store and a guy from my school walked up to me. » I explained.
« Continue. » She said.
« He asked for my number and I gave it to him. » I told her.
« You did? What about Austin? » She asked.
« That's my problem. Elliot seems like a really nice guy, but I don't want to break his heart. » I explained to her.
« It's not like your dating him. » She said. « Just turn him down gently. »
« I guess I should do that. » I responded.
« You should. Ally, you can't go on a date with someone when you're in love with somebody else. » She said to me.
« Wait? Who said I was in love with Austin? I just have a tiny crush on him. » I responded to her.
« Right. » She said sarcastically. « When you realize it. I'll be able to say I told you so. »
« Whatever. » I responded. Crap. I'm talking like Austin now.
« I'll talk to you later. » She said.
« Yeah. » I responded.
Okay, I rewatched the finale of Austin and Ally and I noticed something at the very end. When you see them in the future with their kids you see a frame at some point. On the frame, it says something like « Songwriter of the year award goes to Ally Edgar Dawson ». I can't believe I missed this the first time I watched the finale. I thought it was great that we finally got to know Ally's middle name.
Thank you guys so much for the amazing reviews. I still want to thank Auslly0731, xxSmileYourBeautifulxx, Pigletkate, Musicgirl15, ZoeyLovesAuslly and the two guests for the amazing reviews. I love reading them and you guys are so kind. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that you are still enjoying this story. I love writing it and I can't wait for you guy to react to everything I planned. Next chapter will probably be up on Wednesday. I need to write as much as I can before school starts so I can still update often. ;)
Here is next chapter's sneek peak:
« No. I'm tired of this. If he wants to explain, then he'll have to come to me. » I (Ally) said. « I don't even know if I can believe what he told me. Maybe he was just playing me, but here's a newsflash, I don't want to be a part of the game anymore. » I said to her feeling tears prickling my eyes again. « I'm going home. »
« But there's one period left. » Trish said.
« I don't give a shit. » I (Ally) responded and I walked away. I need to think things through and to talk to Mimi.