Ally's POV

Talking with Houston was great. He was really nice and understood what I was going through with Dallas because he too had recently gone through a breakup. As we walked into Sonic Boom I gave his hand a squeeze.

"Thanks so much Houston, I had fun today."

"Me too."

Neither of us was really ready for a relationship, but it was always nice having someone to talk to.

A flash of blonde and tears ran past us. But that couldn't be Austin. He never cried. Something was seriously wrong with him. If that was him. But what would he even be crying about?

"Austin?" I called unsure. The blur kept running.

"Bye Ally see you later," Houston called.

"Bye!"

There was something I needed to do. Hmm... Crap! The song! I had totally forgotten about it! We needed to work on it. Friday was getting closer and closer.

Austin's POV

I hid outside the store until Houston left. Then I walked into Sonic Boom hoping Ally didn't notice my slightly reddened face.

" Hey Austin. Were you crying?" she asked concerned.

" Um, yeah. Dez dared me to eat a whole spoonful of wasabi and it was really burning," I lied lamely.

"But Dez isn't even here..."

" We should really work on the song," I said trying to change the subject.

"Ok then..."

I could tell she wasn't convinced.

Trish's POV

"Guess who got a job at Shirley's shoe store," I said, announcing my arrival at Sonic Boom.

Austin and Ally looked up from the piano. Their hands were touching and they were sitting shoulder to shoulder.

"So did you tell her yet?" I asked.

Austin jumped away from Ally and fell off the piano bench onto a heap on the floor.

"I'm guessing no. Hey Ally can I talk to you a sec," Austin looked at me with pleading eyes wanting me to tell Ally so he wouldn't have to. I lead Ally out of earshot from Austin. How to be subtle...

" Have you noticed Austin acting strangely lately?" I asked her.

"Now that you mention it, yeah. Do you think he sick?" she asked with real worry in voice. An urge came over me to either shake her or bang my head on the counter. How could she not see it? It was so obvious! Even Dez picked up on it! I tried again.

"Can you think of anything else it could be?"

Ally looked over toward Austin who was dreamily staring in our direction. When he noticed us watching him he quickly turned back to the music. Ally shook her head. I sighed.

" So... How'd your date go?..." I asked anxious to hear the details. Apparently so was Austin because he moved closer.

"Well it wasn't really a date, we just talked about our breakups,"

"Oh, that's good," I said a little disappointed.

The news however had an opposite effect on Austin. He fist pumped the air when Ally had her back to him.

"Neither of us is really ready for a new relationship"

Austin stopped fist pumping and his face fell.

" Well I'm glad you got to talk things through. Now I won't interrupt you anymore because you really need to work on that song,"

"Right. Back to work Austin."

Ally's POV

After we had exhausted ourselves practicing our song. I tried to get Austin to tell me what Trish had been talking about earlier. He grabbed my hand and kneeled down jokingly, making my stomach flutter.

"Only that your the best songwriter in the world," he said.

"Thanks, but I can tell you're lying,"

He dropped my hand suddenly and began sweating. Was the great Austin Moon nervous?

I took his hand back.

"Hey you okay?"

He shrugged off my hand.

"Yeah, probably just a side effect of the wasabi."

I got angry then.

"Really Austin? What's with all the lies? When did we start lying to each other! What are you keeping from me?"

Austin's POV

Uh oh it looks like I really pissed Ally off. She can tell when I'm lying so maybe I'll just tell her the partial truth.

"Well I've been acting strange because there's this umm cheerleader... I like and she just broke up with someone and isn't ready for a relationship but I want to ask her out anyways,"

"Really Austin? I'm sure she'll go out with you. You are the great Austin Moon. Who wouldn't want to go out with you?"

If only she meant it. I swallowed.

"But it's different this time. I think... I think I love her."

Author's note: Ooo cliffhanger! I know how you guys love those :)

Will Ally discover who the "cheerleader" is? Will Dez finally get to say something in the story? TBH I haven't given Dez a big part because it's hard to capture Dez's essence. Did you notice Houston's name?

I decided to use one of my reviewer's ideas for the name: iloveanimals11396 And thanks to all of the other reviewers for their ideas.

I have to admit this isn't my favorite chapter. My writing seems a bit off or something. Anyways hope to get the next chapter up soon.

Peace Out.