Chapter 12 – Austin's POV

It was the night.

The. Night.

Yes, that night.

The big night.

The night I'd been waiting for forever.

Wait… what?!

No-no-no, not my date or wedding with Ally! What's wrong with you?!

It's the concert. With Ally's song.

I dunno how Trish did it, but somehow, she booked our band a performance at the school gym tonight. Strange, huh?

Anyway, let me actually get to the story.

I peeked out of the curtain. The gym was stuffed with people. Seriously, it's amazing how many people wanted to see Ally. Especially with how uncool she was.

"Wow, thanks Austin," I heard an angry voice behind me. I whirled around, shocked. Ally was staring at me, tapping her foot.

"…I was thinking out loud again, wasn't I?" I said, embarrassed.

"Yup," she said and started to walk off. "Besides, they're not here to see me, they're here to see you," she added as she walked away.

"What? What are you talking about? I'm just the guitar. You're the lead singer," I argued. She turned around again.

"Like you said, I'm uncool," she explained. "You're the cool one. Take another look. Half of the people here are girls who want to date you." I peeked out the curtain again. Ally was right. "There's not one person here who really wanted to see 'Ally Dawson' sing," she finished and walked off. Suddenly I felt bad for her. But why wasn't she cool? Why DID no one want to see her? What made the dorky Ally Dawson dorky?

"I can still hear you," Ally called from a little bit away. I really need to work on thinking out loud.

"Yes. Yes you do."

"Leave me alone!" I yelled back at her. A couple of minutes later, we were out on stage, ready to sing. I saw Ally's eyes land on someone in the audience's eyes. Following her gaze, I saw Dallas. I smirked.

(Italics = Ally, Bold = Trish, Elliot, and Austin, Bold Italics = All)

Insecure
In her skin
Like a puppet
A girl on a string
Broke away
Learned to fly
If you want her back gotta let her shine
Well it looks like the joke's on you
Cuz the girl that you thought you knew

Ally pointed to Dallas, who shrunk back.

She's so gone
She's so gone
That's all over now
She's so gone
She's so gone
You won't find her around
You can look but you won't see
The girl I used to be
Cuz she
She's so gone

Here I am
This is me
And I'm stronger than you ever thought I'd be
Are you shocked?
Are you mad?
That you're missing out on who I really am
Well it looks like the joke's on you
Cuz the girl that you thought you knew

She's so gone
She's so gone
That's all over now
She's so gone
She's so gone
You won't find her around
You can look but you won't see
The girl I used to be
Cuz she
She's so gone

Away
Like history
She's so gone
Baby this is me
Yeah!

I saw Dallas leave and Ally smiled, satisfied. Not that anyone else noticed. The rest of the audience was made up of a couple of guys falling- hard- for Ally, and like, fifty girls falling- harder- for me. Yeah. Not easy to play when the only thing you can hear is: "AUSTIN I LOVE YOU MARRY MEEEEEEE! WE WERE MEANT TO BE!"

She's so gone
She's so gone
That's all over now
She's so gone
Oh yeah
You won't find her around
Oh no
You can look but you won't see

Ally smiled, looking down.

The girl I used to be
Cuz she

Short instrumental break and Ally jumped back up

She's so gone
So long
She's so gone
She's so gone
Gone
Gone
Gone

Ally, satisfied, left the stage, followed by Trish and Elliot. I hung back for just a second. "THANK YOU MIAMI!" I yelled out loudly before running away from the even louder cheers of: "AUSTINNNNNNNNNN I LOVE YOU SO MUCHHHHHH!"

Ally and Trish high-fived and she and Elliot hugged and shared a short kiss. (What no I wasn't jealous.) After an unheard (by me anyway) conversation between Ally and Trish, Ally walked over to me.

"Thanks for taking over for Cassidy," she said quietly.

"Oh uh… it was nothing," I said, flustered. She smiled shortly and walked away. I sighed and followed, joining her, Trish, and Elliot. Trish gave me a high-five and Elliot gave me a small smile. Before we went our separate ways, we were approached by a tall guy in a suit.

"Excuse me, are you Ally Dawson? The leader of the band?" he asked in his deep, professional voice. Ally looked at his nametag and gasped.

"Um yes, that's me," she said nervously. I looked at the nametag. Jimmy Starr. Biggest name in the music biz. Ally must've been really excited.

"I'd like to speak to your guitarist, Austin," he said. Ally's face fell. Fast. She pointed to me and Jimmy walked over to me, then started talking. But I didn't hear one bit of it. I was watching Ally, broken hearted, leaving with Trish and Elliot.

"Austin, are you listening to me?" Jimmy said, slightly annoyed.

"What? Oh, um, sorry," I quickly apologized. "What were you saying?"

"I want you to sign with Starr Records," he repeated, still annoyed. My jaw dropped.

"Really?! That's awesome!" I said, excited. But then my eyes fell on Ally, who was looking back. I thought for a second. "I'm sorry but… I can't accept this," I said.

"Hm? Why not?" Jimmy asked, crossing his arms.

"This was Ally's concert. I was just her guitar. She deserves the cheers and the offers and everything. Not me. Thank you Mr. Starr, but I'll have to pass." Jimmy smiled at me.

"Ally come here," he said loudly. Ally, confused, walked up and stood next to me.

"I was just testing your character," he explained. "I want you both to sign with Starr Records." Ally shrieked excitedly. I started grinning like an idiot. "Is that a yes?" Jimmy asked with a smile.

"Yes!" we both yelled at the same time. Jimmy smiled. "I'll see you at the studio tomorrow. You better have a new song."

"On it, Mr. Starr," Ally said with a big smile. She turned to me.

"Ally this is great!" I told her, excited.

"I know!" she agreed, still smiling. Suddenly her smile faded and she looked down. "Uh, thanks for what… for what you said to Jimmy," she said slowly and quietly. I blushed a little.

"It's ok, it needed to be said," I smiled. Ally looked up at me again and, before I knew it, wrapped me in a hug. At first shocked, I hugged her back before she pulled away.

"I better get to work on that song," she said, flustered.

"Uh, yeah," I replied. "Um, seeya," I then said before leaving.