A/N: I'm sorry! I meant to update way sooner than this. My summer has been super crazy so far though. It's like midnight here, and I need to be asleep, but I finally had an idea with this, and I had to write it. I will try to get the next update out soon. Hopefully some time next week. Anyway…

Constructive criticism is welcome. I want to improve, so any suggestions would be awesome. I don't own anything you recognize. Hope you enjoy!

"Crap!" Ally stared at the screen in front of her wide-eyed. The email displayed on her laptop proclaimed that the city bus schedules were changing. In Marino High, the district no longer paid for the school buses. Instead the supplied the students with city bus passes. Normally, Ally preferred this. City buses were less cramped, and smelled better. Plus, the ride was quieter.

Right now, though, was a perfect example of a time she was less than pleased with this system. Her bus she normally took to and from school every day was being canceled. The only other option in her neighborhood was a bus that would come to her stop a full hour earlier.

This sucks. No way in hell am I getting up at 5:00 to catch a 6 o'clock bus. Maybe I can just walk the two miles to school instead. Ally was still in a bad mood when she descended the stairs at dinnertime fifteen minutes later.

"So!" The whole family was seated around their dining room table. Ally's family seemed to always enjoy a full-family dinner. Her mother claimed it was the only time she got to talk to everyone at once. Ally usually spent the time trying to match her mother's overly cheerful attitude, and usually failing, as she was doing now. "Anybody have any news from their day?"

"Well, I think Sonic Boom might get that new grant!" Lester Dawson looked up from his plate of pasta and beamed around at his family. Lester owned a music store in the local mall, called Sonic Boom. It was fairly popular, and Ally had always enjoyed being there. In fact, when she began to profess a passion in music, her father had given her the upstairs storage room to transform into a practice room. Ally had spent hours upon hours in that room, and in exchange she worked at the register once or twice a week, and had gotten pulled into teaching a few music lessons, which she enjoyed immensely.

"That's awesome honey!" Her mother looked back at her husband with an equally bright smile. "When will you know for sure?"

"I should hear back by next week for sure. But our only competition is that new music store across town. We've got it in the bag."

"I'm glad. We could use a little bit of extra cash. The holidays are coming up, and Jackson just dropped out of lessons. The grant would be nice. How about you Ally? Any news?"

Ally hesitated. She didn't want to be a downer, but she needed to mention the bus situation, seeing as it would be enacted the next morning.

"Well, I got an email from the city this afternoon. They say they're cancelling my bus. I'm not exactly sure how to get to school tomorrow."

"Oh, honey, did I forget to tell you?" Ally's mother looked at her expectantly. When Ally returned her gaze with a confused look, she continued. "Mimi Moon from next door- you know, Austin's mother- heard about the bus changes, and said that Austin would be happy to give you a ride to and from school for a while."

"Oh." Ally felt much better. This meant that she wouldn't have to wake at an ungodly hour in the morning the next day. "Yeah, that would be great!"

"Good! I'll call Mimi and have her tell Austin." Her mother nodded at her. "He'll be here around 7:15 tomorrow morning. And- No, Alec, don't play with your food! The spoon goes into your mouth, not the ground!" Ally's younger brother had begun to throw his spoon around, obviously decided he had finished his dinner. Ally quietly excused herself from the table, still having homework that needed to be done that night.

The next morning, Ally was already outside when Austin pulled up. He drove a really nice car. Obviously used, but still nice for a highschooler.

"Hey", Ally greeted as she slid into the front seat.

"Hey. How's it going?" Austin glanced over at her and grinned as he pulled out of her driveway.

"Good. I have a stupid test in Pre-Calc today though that I'm not ready for. Ally had been up late last night trying to study until she finally decided that sleep would do her more good than her futile attempts to cram her information into her brain.

"I'm sure you'll be fine. You're smart. I mean, you are in Pre-Calc, right? Just to be even in that class, you have to be really good."

"Yeah, well, I was studying last night, and couldn't even remember even the basic stuff. We'll see though. There's nothing else I can do at this point."

"That's a good philosophy." Austin pressed his lips together thoughtfully as he concentrated on the road in front of him. "Useful for a lot of things, actually."

"Right. I see everyone at school so stressed out and complaining about things they can't control. I get kind of sick of it actually. Everyone's so negative some times. I don't see the point."

"Very true."

As Austin said this, he pulled into the parking lot. Austin parked the car. He grabbed his bag and was out and around the car to Ally's side before she could move. He opened the door for me and motioned for her to step out. "Milady…"

Ally rolled her eyes at him, laughing, and she stepped out and slung her bag over her shoulder. "You're such a dork."

"Guilty as charged." Austin grinned good-naturedly as he caught up to her and slung his arm around her shoulders.

Ally almost stopped walking at the contact. She wasn't used to this kind of forwardness. Austin acted as if they had been friends forever, though it had been barely a week. The strangest part was that it wasn't awkward at all. It felt completely normal, and just seemed to come as part of his open nature. She definitely wasn't complaining either. She loved the lighthearted nature that his cheery attitude seemed to bring to their friendship. It felt so… drama free. A feeling that she desperately needed. After everything that had happened last year…

Ally was torn from her thoughts by the sound of Austin's voice.

"So. That project. I did some research last night, and I think we should include the scene with Jim and – aww… who's that?"

The two had stopped at Ally's locker and she was pulling her Chemistry book out when Austin abruptly changed the subject. She glanced up at him and followed his gaze to the pictures she had taped the inside door of her locker. The one he was staring at was of her and her younger brother Alec. Ally was sitting on the floor of her living room across from Alec, playing a board game. Or at least they were trying to. Ally was trying to teach the boy Candy Land, but Alec had been more interested in trying to eat the cards than actually play the game.

Ally smiled at the memory before answering Austin. "That's my younger brother, Alec. He's three years old."

"That's awesome!"

Ally looked at Austin's face curiously. "You really like kids, don't you?"

He glanced at her sheepishly. "Yeah. There's just something so irresistible about them, you know? They're just so happy all the time, and it's kinda infectious."

Ally smiled at him. "That's really sweet." She shut her locker door and turned to him. "Not many guys would admit to that. It's cool that you can."

Austin grinned at her. "I'm just that cool. Now come on, I'll race you to class." With that, he took off down the hall as the warning bell rang above them.

Ally laughed and sprinted off after him, dodging the other students clogging the hallways. When they arrived at their first class (Austin beating her there), he held the door open for her to enter. Smiling in thanks, she walked past him and sat down in her seat. As he plopped down beside her and began pulling out his materials, Ally realized she had no idea how her opinion had changed so drastically about this boy, but she knew that she was really glad that it had.