"Austin, stop drooling over, blabbermouth!" Dez screeched into his ear, as his best blonde buddy ogled the brunette, sitting in the front, stating her opinions as always. For some unknown reason, the red-head wasn't very fond of the brunette.
"Dez, do you think her hair is as soft as it looks?" the stunned blonde asked, with his cheeks, resting in his palm and smiling goofily.
"Dude, you're so whipped!" the curly haired brunette boy teased.
"Dallas, do you think she'll ever talk to me?" he asked, completely overlooking the teasing.
Dallas was shocked, to say the least. Never before did his friend have a crush so bad that he didn't even deny it.
"Austin, quit staring!" the boy beside him stated, "She's not even that great. I think she is just as conceited as her sister."
This broke him from his trance, "She is not conceited!" Austin defended, gritting his teeth.
"Well, do you know her?" Elliot questioned and Austin looked down sheepishly.
"Well, do you?" he asked venomously.
"As a matter of fact, I do," he stated with a smirk, "My brother dated her sister and he says that they're both brats."
Austin grip on his pen tightened. He could relate to the situation. Just because he denied to join the popular crowd, they termed him as a bad boy and hence, his reputation.
And nobody- NOBODY- knew about his insecurity. Nobody knew how much he hated reputations, except Dez, of course. He seemed to wear his sadness in his eyes, but no one bothered to notice.
The rest of the backbenchers including Dez, Dallas and Elliot looked at him in confusion. Anyone could see he was overreacting. He hardly knew the girl, yet here he was defending her.
They still had no idea how the teacher hadn't given them detention yet. Mr. Starr was a strict teacher, who had the observation of a hawk. It's a surprise how he didn't notice the clash at the back of the class.
Then again, there was a brunette, eating his ear off and probably messing with his head, through her valid points and arguments.
He had simply asked one question. He asked the class to state their opinion on the concept of Feminism and Stereotypes. And right now, he seemed to regret it deeply.
And she being the eristic person she is, kept on talking and talking and talking.
"What do you mean by brats, Elliot?" he asked, his eyes flashing murderously.
Elliot gulped, before answering,"Well, Elon says that she used to argue about everything and when he asked her to stay for the night, she broke up with him."
"How much of that did you exaggerate?" Austin asked rhetorically, standing up in frustration, "A girl who states her perspective is independent and opinionated, not a brat," he stated, raising his voice slightly.
At this, all heads turned to the back.
"Mr. Moon, wait for your turn to speak," Mr. Starr spoke, "Let's just hope that Miss Dawson finishes her speech, by this period," he said glaring at the brunette, as she blushed slightly, but held the stare.
"Sir, with all due respect, I would like to agree with Austin on what he said," she firmly mentioned, "Any woman should be able to talk freely and have a say in everything, without being considered a nuisance," she said, turning to Austin and smiling slightly.
Austin stood wide-eyed like a deer in headlights. All that was running through his head was She knows my name!
"Mr. Moon," a voice interrupted, breaking him from his trance,"What is your opinion on the topic of stereotyped women of society?"
"Huh?" he asked, then quickly regaining his composure started to voice his anger towards Elliot, "Well, some people think that just because a girl is willing to make her perspective known or is unwilling to do things they are expected to do by society, that she is a brat," not forgetting to glare at Elliot as he spoke, "People get so judgemental that they associate a woman with her past or upbringing. Apparently she is supposed to dress modestly, keep quiet to malpractices and be inferior to males. But, I believe that the moment people start to look at girls as an equal, the concept of feminism would have reached its success," Austin concluded and then ran his hand through his hair in anticipation.
His rant was followed by silence, until the sound of applause filled the room. The brunette herself had stood up and with tears in her eyes, smiled at Austin and applauded, while the rest of the class was stunned.
Austin was Marano High's stereotypical bad boy after all, even though he hated his image with a passion. He hated how it restricted him from opening up and doing what he liked. People expected things from him, but he never gave them that satisfaction, hence how he remains unpopular, yet a bad boy. The rest of the class wondered from when did he start to take interest in his classes, especially Political Science? No one except the backbenchers knew, but no one reacted to his speech except Ally, of course. Even Mr. Starr stared at him wide-eyed.
"That was a beautiful point of view!" Ally exclaimed.
"Why aren't any of you applauding," she asked the rest of the class.
Austin smiled at her, loving the adoring look in her pretty brown eyes.
And her hair and her smile and her cute nose and… well pretty much everything about her intrigued Austin.
"Austin Moon isn't supposed to pay attention in class!" A red-haired girl in the room, stated.
"Ya!" a boy with glasses agreed, "He is supposed to bunk classes and all, considering how much of a slacker he is!" he exclaimed and the rest of the class broke out into sounds of agreements.
Austin's smile wavered and he sat down wordlessly. Now, he couldn't even state an opinion in class.
"Silence!" A curly haired Latina yelled, effectively silencing the class.
"Thanks Trish," Ally stated, "Mr. Starr, can I take over the class? This is really important."
Mr. Starr nodded, "It better be, Miss Dawson, you are taking away precious class time."
She politely thanked him and walked over to the backseat towards Austin.
He was looking down, the weight of shame and oppression on his shoulders. He felt a hand on his shoulder, with a quick bolt of electric shock through his shoulders, he looked up, staring at the brunette.
Gripping his hands, she effectively pulled him to the front of the class.
"Now, we all know Austin Moon, right?" she asked the class,"Tell me what you think of him."
Austin watched as his classmates threw harsh words at the mention of his name, considering that he hardly even held conversations with more than half of them.
"Badboy", "Sheltered", "Annoying", "Horrible", "Jerk", "Slacker" and many other hurtful words.
Austin looked away as words came pouring out.
To him, highschool was horrible and what is happening now, is proof of this.
Ally noted down all the words on the board.
Then she turned to the class, "Great, we have a whole lot of words here," she stated eyeing the class.
"How many of you believe this?" she asked the class.
The entire class, except Dez, Elliot and Dallas raised their hands. Austin was hurt at how everyone thought of him that way.
Then again, he never spoke to them about how he felt.
"Wow!" she exclaimed, "Now, how many of you have spoken to him or at least observed him, not stalker-type, but just looked at how he acts as opposed to his reputation?" she asked.
And at this question, every single hand was lowered.
Only three hands were up. And the class grew silent.
"You know what I think?" Ally started speaking, "I think that Austin is a wonderful person, by the looks of it, he seems to be someone who enjoys wearing leather, but not because he is bad. I have a feeling that he is into music. If none of you dimwits noticed, he is a topper, look at the result chart sometimes guys! And about him being a jerk and annoying, how are you supposed to know if you haven't even spoken a word to him, huh?" she stated.
Austin looked at her in awe. He was planning to woo her, now he was wooed. She was standing up for him. She was trying to get people to see the real him.
"Miss Dawson, is there a point to your rant?" Mr. Starr asked, exasperated.
"Yes, sir!" she pointed out, "Our topic of discussion was Feminism and Stereotypes. I'm trying to make them see reason. High school is the best place to be put down and judged and I believe that we should start by abolishing stereotypes at the roots and establish equal rights!" she ended, panting heavily.
"Do you know why I chose to discuss Austin rather than myself?" she asked the class.
"You're incredible judgements and stares seem to be bothering him a lot more than it does to me and I wouldn't be surprised if he hates all this unnecessary attention," she continued.
"Yes, he does," came the voice beside her, "I hate that everytime I try to make an effort in class, people shut me out. I hate that I can't walk around in black clothes without being called a names. And most importantly, I hate that I can't talk to the girl I like, without fear that rumours would be spread about us!" he exclaimed, finally done with his classmates.
A thick layer of silence enveloped the class.
"How do you know so much about Austin, without actually talking to him?" Dez had broken the silence with a smirk on his face, sending a wink to Austin.
Austin was almost sure that she would blush like anyone else in her position, but he seemed to forget that she was Ally.
For a second she did appear flustered, but recovered almost immediately, "Dez, I am an observant person," she stated.
But on seeing the look of disbelief in his eyes, she continued, "I like to read people beyond their labels. For example, Dez you are labelled as Austin's best friend or head band leader or a snob but in reality, you have a colourful and creative personality. You seem to love colours and you are humble, kind and love exotic animals."
Dez's eyes widened and so did Austin's. No one had ever made such an accurate hypothesis on him. And within a second, his dislike for the 'blabbermouth' seemed to dissolve.
She finally smiled at the class, "All this while, I've been rambling on and on about this topic, what is the point? Well what I'm saying is, he is a bad boy," she pointed to Austin.
"He is a snobbish sidekick," she pointed to Dez.
"She is a rude and obnoxious slacker," she pointed to Trish,
"And me an incurable blabbermouth," she pointed to herself, "What I am saying is, don't let a label define you. Let's just be who we truly are and let others be the same," she concluded and bowed.
As she walked to take her seat, a single clap made her turn around.
Mr. Starr was cheering for her and slowly the whole class gave her a standing ovation.
She politely smiled as the bell rang and every student left the classroom with a renewed perspective on high school labels.
Austin was slightly disappointed at how he couldn't talk to her personally. But the fact that she influenced a whole class of teenagers with her powerful words, made Austin fall for her a little more.
As he walked down the hallway for lunch, the usual hatred and glares he received on a daily basis was replaced by casual smiles and waves, which he returned, enthusiastically.
He was finally happy. But not completely.
But, as his thoughts grew deeper, he came to a realization that it was NOW or NEVER.
Suddenly, he ran to the lunchroom, bumping and apologizing to a few people.
In the room, at the corner table, stood Ally, laughing with her best friend. He ran to her and engulfed her into a huge hug.
She turned to face him.
"Thank you," he whispered, as he buried his face into the crook of her neck and ran his hands through her hair. Man it was soft!
She on the other hand, rubbed his back in smooth circles.
Slowly she pulled away and broke out into a grin, "No problem!"
"So is my hair as soft as you fantasized?" she asked him in a teasing tone.
His eyes grew wide and he started to blush furiously.
"You heard?" he asked.
"Well, I have observation skills. I know you like me," she smiled, "I just don't know why."
Austin looked at the humble beauty in front of him and tucked a strand of her hair, behind her ear.
"Did you observe me, just because you thought I was troubled?" he asked, slightly disappointed.
Her gaze fell to the ground, "Ya, uh huh, why else would I?" She didn't meet his eyes.
"I don't know, maybe you like me too?" he suggested, at which she blushed a deep red.
"Yes, she does," Trish's voice startled the two.
Hearing this Austin smirked and Ally glared at her best friend, "Trish! Wait till I do the same with Dez." she bellowed and suddenly Trish's eyes widened in fear and she yelled a "Sorry!" before running out.
"So, that's how you knew about Dez," Austin smiled.
She looked at her feet sheepishly, "I didn't want to sound like a stalker," her usually confident voice was now feeble.
"Oh please! I've been bugging my friends about the beautiful rambler in the front row since school started," he stated.
"So," she trailed off, grinning, "Want to hang out? I mean you like music right and my dad owns a music store so," she smiled.
"Sure, it's a date," he smiled and they hugged once more, this time more tightly.
Meanwhile, Dez and Dallas were watching the exchange between the two.
"Do you think they'll last?" Dallas voiced out.
"Well, he finally built the nerve to ask her out," Dez stated, "That's a Start! I know this'll last."