She scanned her room. And only then did she see her door.
The one thing that she used as a barrier to protect herself, was now broken.
She didn't know why she was doing this: walking down the streets of the Miami Mall Complex. Oh yeah, now she remembered. Her door was gone –after it was broken, her father unscrewed the hinges and completely moved the door away from its frame, talk about lack of privacy - and her parents forced her to get out of the house, refusing to leave her alone.
It was a fairly warm day. The number of customers differed depending on the area. The stores with air conditioning were usually crowded with people as they peaked in and out of the store, enjoying the cooled air. Those were the stores that normally held the best business during Miami's random heat flashes. Either that or the small restaurants that sold cool beverages. Other than the few cooled areas, the Miami Mall could almost be considered vacant, with everyone off at the beach.
She kept her head down, trying not to make any eye contact with anyone, as she shuffled through, past the stores. She knew the mall by now, and that included which sections of the mall to stay away from to avoid mall shoppers. She sees a person who gets a little too close to her. She looked up to see who would actually be heading down this usually empty passageway. What she didn't know was the new store that apparently just opened up that sold frozen yogurt and was air conditioned.
She looked at the crowd in front of her, a there were only a few people, but with the way that everyone moved about in the narrow area, she was bound to feel claustrophobic at least once. She covertly turned her head and looked over her shoulder to see if there was the possibility to go back and use a different route. Using her peripheral vision, she saw a few loud and rambunctious boys a few stores back, goofing off, jumping on each other and laughing wildly. No way was she going to try to dodge past them. She took a deep breath through her mouth as she set off in front of her.
She looked ahead, trying to keep her gaze on the white background with the orange explosion and bold black letters spelling out 'Sonic Boom'. It was only a small distance away. 200 feet. At most.
200 feet. She was nearing the crowd of people, only about one more store before she hits the skew of people.
175 feet. There are a few stragglers, most likely from other stores or heading somewhere, but they hang on the sides and are easily evadable.
150 feet. She braces herself. She can get through this, she has to. It's going to be something that she's going to have to face regularly now that her parents make her go out.
125 feet. She's in the crowd. She sees the different faces of people as she passes them and she reverts her attention back to the giant music sign attached to the stone building.
100 feet. A person comes just a bit too close for her liking, and effectively cutting off her pathway forward. Her steps falter a tiny bit and she slows down.
75 feet. She felt a person brush against her as they shouldered by, and she completely stops, starting to curl into her body. She hears a faint murmur of 'sorry'. She takes a breath, and continues to walk.
50 feet. Her steps waver slightly, but she's out of the crowd, and like before, there are only a few people scattered about.
25 feet. She's congratulating herself quietly inside of her head.
20 feet. She can hear as the rowdy boys are now at the crowd, and she shyly smiles. She definitely dodged a bullet, there.
15 feet. She is passing by the first umbrella table leading up to the store.
10 feet. She passes by a potted plant.
5 feet. She's almost there.
4 feet. Only a few more feet.
3 feet. She almost made it.
2 feet. Just one more step.
1 foot. She made it.
0 feet. And she never felt so proud.
As she pushes through the glass double doors, she lets out a sigh of relief. She made it past the crowd without a major freak out. It may have seen a bit weird to some other people with the way she stopped when someone came too close, by no one seemed to pay notice. She scans the store, and for once in a long time, she's relieved that the store has minimal air conditioning. Even though her father was originally against the idea of air conditioning, seeing as though central air cost a lot of money, he knew that he would get better business if he did.
In the end, the incentive of more business won over, but he always kept it on a low cool. But on this day, people were more interested in the stores that were in the mid 60s rather than low 70s. Either way, not wanting to take a chance, she walked up the set of metal stairs into the small practice room, she already knew that at least one of her parents was downstairs, most likely in the storage room, ready to help customers when needed. Taking a spot on one of the seats, she closed her eyes, and imagined the soft tune of violins playing in the background.
Oh, how she missed this. Even the isolation of her room could never replicate the enjoyable feeling of peace inside an empty music store. She didn't have to busy herself with retelling facts about a certain instrument to a customer, she could enjoy the silence. She closed her eyes. Even if the instruments remained mute, she could still hear their melody in her ears.
The rich fluctuation of strings, the sonorous double bass, orotund baritone and the vibrant trumpet. The woody clarinet, less edgy than the alto saxophone, but fuller than the breathy sounds of the silver flutes. She was able to distinguish each instrument from each other. She focused in, and she was able to hear the tinkling of the grand piano keys coming from the center of the room. She sighed and let the music surround her, letting all other sounds be pushed out. She could almost feel as the music staff wrapped around her waist, her legs, her arms. They twisted playfully in and out between her fingers. Note heads bumped on her skin clumsily, the stems dragged on her arms delicately and a few of the flags tickled her skin.
She allowed herself to get lost in the sound. She didn't know how long it was. She knew the music was sound in time, but right now, in her moment of complete and utter relaxation and peace, she had no concept of time. Sound was just there. And she loved it. She smiled before laughing quietly.
Her small laugh must have echoed off of the brass instruments and hard table tops, because the next thing she heard wasn't the heavy vibration of percussion, but the voice she heard only a day before.
"Hello?"
Austin stood outside of Sonic Boom, underneath the shade of the decorative palm tree. He pulled on a thread at the bottom of his t-shirt, before halting in place, releasing the thread, and smoothing his shirt back into place. He didn't know why he was so nervous. He never got nervous. Austin Moon didn't get nervous. But here he was, palms sweating, pulse quickening and nerves tingling.
He could see though the clear doors the multi colored violins, the large maple double bass with the polished finish, the brass baritones and the golden trumpets. He could see the black bodied with silver metal lined clarinets, the curved alto saxophones and the silver flutes with its dainty keys. Each instrument had its own place around the store. But the one thing that really caught his attention was the elegant grand piano, situated right in the center of the room.
He couldn't stop worrying over Ally from the day before. After he left the Dawson house, he was plagued with worried thoughts.
Was she okay?
Is she okay?
Well, she was sleeping, so I guess she's going to be fine.
Should I go back?
Can they deal with her alone?
Maybe they need someone else.
What's going to happen now?
Will I ever be able to see her again?
He just needed to calm down. No, he couldn't just "calm down". He had to know if she was alright. Which is exactly what brought him back to the music store. He had to ask Mr. or Mrs. Dawson if their daughter was alright. He bounced on his feet and shook his hands, trying to shake out his nerves. He took a deep breath and pushed through the double doors.
He stopped walking a few feet in. There was no one in the store. He looked back at the double doors and realization finally came to him. The words "CLOSED" were looking right back at him, in bold orange letters. He smiled sheepishly before walking back out.
Wait.
He turned back around and the words "OPEN" faced him. He smiled giddily, and his face flushed pink. He ruffled up his hair and stepped back inside. Either way, the emptiness of the store didn't change from the ten seconds it took him to walk in, walk out, and walk right back in. He looked around; no one was in the store either way. He considered walking back out, but decided against it. He already entered twice. There was no way he was going to exit the store again, the people who might've seen him probably already thought he was crazy.
He began slowly walking around the room, around the tables and behind the giant sousaphone. He couldn't find anyone. He was about to consider his efforts fruitless before he heard a small laugh coming from up above his head. He looked up, and saw an open door on the upper level. He climbed the stairs, trying to stay quiet, not wanted to spook whoever laughed.
At the top of the stairs, not daring to take a step further, worried that upstairs was a bit forbidden, he called out.
"Hello?"
He listened for any time of movement coming from the open room. "Is anyone here?" He asked again. He waited by the edge of the steps. He heard the faint sound of leather crinkling and soft steps coming closer.
Seeing the petite girl looking back at him suddenly made him nervous, as if he was caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing. He smiled at the girl who looked at him inquisitively. She headed towards him and gestured down the stairs. He nodded and raced down the stairs, skipping the last couple of steps on the bottom. At the bottom, he looked up at her and noticed she was only a few steps down, but with a fond smile as she looked down at him, cheekily.
When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she didn't say anything, but it was okay. By now, he probably mastered how to communicate with her without talking. And right now, by her facial expression, she was saying: What are you doing?
He looked around, trying to find an answer, as the words he was about to say slipped right out of his mouth.
"I was, uh, erm, I wanted to buy, uh, this!" He randomly pointed at a large black box with a large metal pole sticking vertically from the right side and another metal loop-ish thing sticking out horizontally from the other side. It almost resembled a radio with the silver nozzles sticking out. "This-this..." he head the label situated in front of the instrument. "Theremin?"
She looked at him, with raised eyebrow, incredulous, as if to question his ability to play a Theremin and he nodded. She shook her head, still doubtful, placed it on the table, and turned it on. He stared at the object, questionably before looking back at her. She had her arms crossed over her chest, her hip popped out and a smug smirk on her face. He looked back at the Theremin, uncertain how to actually play the thing. Unsure on what to do, he thrust his hand in the center of the thing, expecting to find some sort of invisible string attached to the two metal pieces that he could start plucking at.
What he didn't expect was for an eerie screech to come out of it. He jumped and jerked his hand backwards, cradling it next to his body. He tentatively placed his hand back in the center of the object, not touching the metal pole. He waved his hand around and listened as an unearthly sound was emitted from the instrument. He tried to hold back a grimace from the shrill sound of the Theremin. He looked back at the girl, who hadn't even looked like she flinched.
She met his gaze and he nodded. "Uh, yeah. This one sounds...good."
She rolled her eyes at him, before taking the Theremin off of the table and bringing it to the front counter. He watched her fluid motions, as she typed away on the register keys. She turned the small screen to face him and his eyes nearly bugged right out of his skull.
$450.00
"What?" He squeaked as he looked, astonished, by the price of such a mediocre sounding instrument. Deciding that 450 dollars wasn't worth it, he conceded.
"Well, I didn't come in here to buy a Theremin." He admitted, lowering his head, and picking the loose thread on the bottom of his shirt, twirling it around on his pointer finger in order to evade her stare. "I was just really worried about you and I wanted to see how you were doing." He blushed and snapped the thin thread off of his t-shirt. With nothing to capture his attention, he reverted his gaze back towards the petite girl behind the counter. She gave him a look, with a sly smile and a raised eyebrow, nodding her head as if to say, I know.
He watched as she grabbed the bottom of the instrument and turned away. He stayed put, bouncing on his heels once again, he took in few deep breaths, preparing, as he saw her placing the Theremin in its original place with a great deal of care. As she began heading back, he stopped bouncing in place and cracked his knuckles underneath the counter, where she couldn't see. As she stopped on the opposite side of the counter once again, he exhaled one last time.
"Listen, Ally. I don't know what he did to you- no I mean, I guess I kinda know. No, not that, I um, erm, I mean – I know that something must've happened- you don't, you don't need to tell me if you don't want to or anything because that's, like, your stuff and-and stuff, so I don't – you don't have to tell me if you don't want to and stuff. But, but I, um, I need you to listen to me right now, 'cause it's really important. Well, I, um, I just wanted to tell you that you're really smart, Ally. Like, really smart. And uh, you're not just smart, ya know that? You're kind and caring and funny and sweet, and uh, and a bit sassy, -ya know because you don't like, you don't really let people boss you around and stuff, I mean, it must kinda suck then if you have work here, I mean, not here because- you must think- no, I mean, I think that it's pretty great that you work here 'cause it's pretty awesome- but uh, I think that you're fun to talk to and-and-and-"
He suddenly felt a timid hand over his. He looked down and saw her thin hand lying delicately over his, most likely in order to cease his incoherent babbling.
"Thank you." He heard her whisper. It was faint, almost hard to hear, but with the silence from the store and his attention focused on her, and only her, he was able to hear what she said, nice and clear. And it was beautiful. Fluid and melodic. By the feathery wisp of her voice, he could assume she was soft spoken, whether it was normal or a learned habit, he doesn't know.
The day before, pumped up with adrenaline, he didn't notice the little details. But now, he was able to realize how unnaturally thin she really was. Her hands were cold and chapped despite the warm Miami summer air. Her fingers were gaunt and he could see the bones on the back of her hand as her palms rested on his hand. He could feel the Band-Aids on palms on her hand and how they wrapped around her finger. He looked up to where their hands were clasped and looked into her eyes. She stared right back at his, dissuaded.
He was able to see the sadness and fear that he embedded into her soul; the insecurities and the self doubt that lurked beneath her feet. But he also able to see the joy and playfulness that made her eyes light up and sparkle as he looked into them.
He felt the small loss of weight on his two hands and her eyes cast downwards, as if suddenly embarrassed by the intimate contact. He slowly retracted his hands, awkwardly off of the counter where they were resting. Her hands were clasped together on top of the counter, close to her body. He scratched the back of his neck.
"So, uh, you wanna go get something to eat?" He offered, hoping that she would accept.
"I'm not very hungry." She told him, and his smile just dropped at the rejection. Albeit, it wasn't a complete refusal, but it still hurt.
He searched his mind for another thing to offer. He didn't want to ask her to go to a store, seeing as though it was unlikely that she would leave her workplace to have fun. And he shouldn't ask her to a place outside of the Miami Mall, seeing as though that was much too big of a stretch.
"How 'bout Mini's? The serving sizes are a lot smaller, and you could take home whatever you don't eat. I don't think you'll have extras though." He told her. He gave her a shy smile, hoping to look a bit less intimidating and maybe not so eager. He waited as she thought about it, and when he saw her head nod, it took a lot of his self control from preventing himself from fist pumping and yelling out. He saw her mouth move, and he assumed she said 'okay', but at the moment, his thoughts were too occupied with places they should go, things to do together, people for her to meet, sights for her to see. Of course, on the way to Mini's. There was nothing wrong with a little detour. Preferably around the whole mall.
She looks back to the side of the store. He follows her gaze and sees an open door, one that he must've missed when he came in the first time. He notices that Ally is looking at him once again, and he watches as her eyes dart to the room, and he nods an okay. He knows that she's not going to leave him alone in the store. He trusts her not to do that. He watches as she starts to head to the back door. He waits until she's a few feet away before turning around, leaning his back against the table top, and grinning like an idiot.
Penny wiped her brow with the back of her hand. It's times like these, when she's unpacking the latest shipment of tubas, is when she starts to hate that she even has to work, let alone unpack large metal instruments in a stuffy room in the back. Unaware of the soft footsteps as they near her while she moves boxes, she jumps when she feels a hand tapping her shoulder. The box she was holding flies out of her hands and styrofoam packing peanuts spill out from over the top.
She faced her young daughter who wears a shocked, yet partially amused, expression on her face. Ally's eyes are wide, but the corners of her mouth are upturned ever so slightly. The white packing peanuts litter the room, and Penny can't help but smile and laugh.
"Well, on a hot day like today, I guess a little snow isn't so bad." She jokes, as she looks around the room once again. She faced her daughter who was also shyly grinning. "What is it, sweetie?"
"Austin and I are going to Mini's?" She said, unsurely, glancing up at her while playing with the ends of her hair.
Penny stuck her head out and looked through the open door. She saw the blond haired boy as he waited patiently for her daughter to emerge from the room. She smiled fondly, and turned back to her young daughter who was looking down at her shoes. A chunk of her hair was wrapped around her finger, and pressed against her lips, but she didn't gnaw at it. Ally broke her bad habit of biting her hair after a comment from the hair dresser. "Of course, honey. You can go, don't worry. I can take care of-" She signaled to the room "-this."
Ally looked back up, only to see a loving smile looking back at her. She felt shoulders on her hands, gentle and light, as Penny guides her out of the room and towards Austin. She watches as Ally gives her a small smile and starts heading towards him on her own. A sigh escapes her lips and she can't help but grin. Her baby girl was growing up.
And not only that, but she was talking to other people, and actually going places with her friends. She and Lester had been trying for at least a month to have Ally eat a healthy diet, but nothing worked. The control that she desires slides through her frail fingers. They watched as their little girl got even smaller as she starved herself. They've tried to force feed her, but it only lead to screaming, tears, and Ally locking herself away as she regressed deeper into herself. She rarely came out of her room for meals, and when she actually did, she only picked at the food on her plate until it was cold and eventually excused herself from the table.
Now, it only took one boy to turn it all around to make her seem alive.
She peaked around the door to see Austin spinning around to face Ally, beaming. As she reached him, he bent down a bit to her level. The two were talking too softly for her to hear, but Penny sees the slight nod of her daughters head, and a bright smile to light up the boys face. He jogs over to the door, and waited for Ally to come, like an overeager puppy. When she comes closer, he opens the door wide and she tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. She observes as a pink blush reaches the apples of his cheeks and the tips of his ears as he continues to hold open the door and smile while she walks past him.
Penny watches as Austin follows right behind Ally, their steps stay in sync with one another, unaware of everything around him except for the petite girl next to him.
"So, uh, Ally? How've you been?" He asked her, in attempts at starting a conversation. There were a lot of times when he liked the silence and serenity it came with. However, the: we're-not-going-to-talk-while-walking-even-though-we're-going-to-get-something-to-eat-together silence is just plain awkward.
He looks down. He is already pretty tall for his age, and he almost towers over her; her thin frame only adds to it. But what she lacks in height, she makes up in speed. Despite his longer legs, she takes graceful steps that cause her to almost float past him. He bounces along to keep along with her.
A moment passes by before she nodded her head. He saw her mouth out the word 'fine' but the low murmur carries it off into the wind.
"Well, uh, um..." He trails off, only to see that her attention is captivated elsewhere. It's the store they are walking past. He peers over her head and through the window to see a matching set of two red funky chairs. The two chairs are tilted slightly back. The chair itself id curved to mold against the body and underneath it, holding it above ground is an object that looks like a cone with the top cut off. In one chair holds a small, decorative, shiny and dark pink amplifier, and the other holds another one identical to the first, but in a dark navy blue.
He was about to go suggest that they go in and look around, it could be nice to see what she's interested in and what kind of things she likes, but he didn't get a chance, as she had already floated away, ahead of him.
This occurrence continued for a few more shops, and in that time he saw some circular rugs, a white desk, some black and white Florida-native word art posters, and a giant pickle. There were times he wouldn't even be able to get a comment out about stopping to head inside and look around before she was gliding along air. They were still a long ways from the center of the mall where Minis was situated; part of it being his fault, as he would take turns and loops, just to extend their time together. Following the lead of the brown haired girl, he'd taken up looking at windows.
Nothing in the window displays looked too entertaining until a giant light up "A" in one of the stores captured his interest. He halted in place to get closer, and he saw as Ally, surprised by the sudden stop, also come to a standstill and follow him to the clear windows. Austin beamed, a smile that rivaled the neon yellow A. He turned to Ally who stood next to him. "What do you think?" He asked her.
"It looks..." She paused, as if thinking for the correct word to describe the 4 foot nightlight. "Ostentatious." She finished.
"Well of course it's 'Austin-tatious'. It's an A for Austin Moon." He told her. She raised a single eyebrow and placed a hand on her hip. "And Ally." He added meekly, shrugging his shoulders.
"That's not what ostentatious means" She laughed, rolling her eyes at his ridiculous interpretation. Regardless of whether her laugh was supposed to be a joke on his intellect or not, it was the first time he really heard her laugh. And it was beautiful. Maybe it was something that came with working at a music store and being surrounded by instruments and sounds all day long. It was almost like she had absorbed the sounds from those instruments; and right now, he could hear the tinkling of the triangle and the xylophone.
"What does it mean, then?" He asked her. Not waiting for a response he continued. "It means awesome, doesn't it?"
"Characterized or given to pretentious or conspicuous show in an attempt to impress others." She replied off of the top of her head, still looking at the A. Not hearing a response after a few moments time, she returned her attention from the yellow light up sign to the blond haired boy. He gave her a confused look only for her to roll her eye and chuckle lowly under her breath.
"Designed to impress or attract notice. Claiming to be overly important. Flashy. Showy. Loud. Etcetera." She explained in simpler terms.
"Oh." He said shortly, before beginning to change directions and walk away. She grabbed his forearm to prevent him from walking away, her hands barely reached halfway, but she held a strong grip.
"Hey." She consoled him quietly as the wind carried her voice only to make it seem more free-flowing. "I never said I didn't like it." She could feel a bout of heat rising to her cheeks, as she smiled up at him shyly through her lashes, only to see another smile being returned.
Turning a corner down a deserted quarter of the mall, at the sound of beeps, whistles, make believe car tire screeches and space ship blasts, Austin's head shot up. Ally looked up from the red brick to see the words "ARCADE" in large bolded Impact font located right above the open door which cool air was released. Remembering their note conversation from the day before, she knew how the arcade was one of Austin's favorite places; she motioned to the store and his face lit up light the lasers that could be seen shooting around into the dark room.
He brought her in, and she was immediately surrounded by cool central air. She sighed in relief, thankful that not many people were in the arcade in the first place. He took her hand in his and looked at her, she nodded and smiled, reassuring him of his action before being pulled throughout the room, informed of almost all of the games and how 'cool' or 'awesome' they were. She, surprisingly, recognized a few of them like "Pac-Man", "Frogger", and "Galaga", but other than that, the only way she could describe the arcade games was either 'awesome' or 'boring'.
Austin stopped in front of one of the machines with the words "POWER DRIFT" labeled on the side in orange comic letters. On the screen was a picture of a blue car as it raced around the track.
"This one is older than the other games, so not a lot of people play it, but I like this one the best." He told her. She studied the machine on closer inspection and she was able to see the prominent difference between it and the others. The Power Drift game outlining is faded from the years and she could see the bulky screen pixels, while the others had a glossy coat protecting the color from fading and a rich HD resolution.
"Because a lot of people don't use it, to prevent it from being unplugged and sold or trashed, the owner just doubles the amount of tickets that's dispensed." He explained to her. She looked back at him inquisitively, wondering why more people didn't spend their money on the machine. He looked both ways, dripped his head down and lowered his voice, as if paranoid that someone may be listening right around the corner. "He told me because I'm a good customer, and I play this one a lot; but I don't think a lot of other people know." He whispered in her ear.
He looked at the game. "You wanna play?" He asked her. She looked at the game, it didn't look too difficult. She could probably do this. She nodded her head. Austin smiled and pulled a quarter out of his back pocket. He side stepped, allowing her to come closer to the wheel. When he pressed the Start button, the game came to life. It was no longer a constant repetition of a fake person racing on the track, it was actually her.
Her figuring was placed on a figure eight track along with eleven other "racers". A large red and white start banner and stop light began counting down. She didn't expect for the car to move so quickly. She quickly jerked the steering wheel to the left to turn, but she was easily thrown off of the course, into the digital sand and she ran through a virtual palm tree. She began to steer the wheel with spasmodic motions as she was quickly placed from fourth place to twelfth in a matter of sections.
She could feel as Austin came closer to her as he also watched her play. "Hey, hey, hey. Calm down. The key to this game is only moving the wheel a little bit. It's really sensitive, so you don't have to make big turns." He advised her. She relaxed her grip on the play wheel and let the artificial racer do its work, taking his advice and only turning the wheel slightly. By her third lap she was already in fifth place, now knowing the trick to excelling at it. She saw two other of the mini racers took first and second place, and she was able to bypass a green car to claim third place. She jumped up and down, clapping her hands at her accomplishment before seeing the amused look on the blonds face. She stopped and looked at the dark floor with multi colored neon scribbles, and played with the ends of her hair.
"You're doing great." He complimented her, and she smiled before returning her attention to the screen. The second track was a lot more difficult, seeing as though it was shaped a bit like a bobby pin, making it much harder to get the turns in without hitting the sides or going off course. In the end, she came in sixth place. At first, she felt a little sad, seeing as though her racing career ended so soon, but she was easily recompensed when she say the array of orange tickets that was released from the machine slot. She smiled widely at Austin, who chuckled back at her.
She placed a hand on his back and guided him to the driving game. "I want to see you play." She said to him. He shrugged before placing in another quarter and placing both hands on the wheel. To say he was good was an understatement. Each level he passed almost flawlessly coming in the top 3 every time, with only a few bumps in the road. She watched in awe as he passed all five race courses, beat the Extra Stage lap, where the racecar had transformed into an airplane and an abundance of tickets were expelled from the arcade game.
"Whoa!" She told him, smiled widely as tickets continued to fall out of the machine, by then, a large pile had gathered at his feet.
"Like I said, I've played this a lot." He joked. "So, you wanna play some other games?" He asked her. His rumbling stomach made him more than aware about their plans to grab something to eat, but she seemed so excited at the moment. She gave him a toothy smile as an answer and the two moved off to another game.
The two played for another half hour, going from game to game. She tried all kinds of arcade games, from racing games, to zombie games (which she tried once but walked away within the first ten seconds), to space games, to wrestling games (which ended like the zombie games), to luck games, to competing games, to the classic games, to even games like solitaire (which she loved but Austin went to a basketball game). After Austin paid for her first game, they decided to split, and in total used about twenty dollars worth of games. Even though she knew she shouldn't have been so careless with her money, she really couldn't care less. She was having so much fun playing with Austin as they flitted from game to game, occasionally competing against each other.
It had been a long time since she had so much fun. During their time playing in the arcade, she wasn't worrying about how she looked or what she did, she let her inhibitions go and just relaxed. She felt so carefree and relaxed and so... alive. There was no other way to put it. She felt alive. There were times when she lost against Austin, but there were also times when she surprised him and actually won. They were normally the chance games and one time on Pacman, but either way, whether she won or lost, it was just entertaining and amusing just to be there, as long as Austin was there to enjoy the fun with her.
After they were both worn and had tried almost every game at least once, after feeding the chain of tickets they had acquired, the total number of tickets they had won was an astounding 885 tickets. They brought their ticket over to the prize booth where a man stood.
"Hiya, Austin. Who's your lady friend?" The cheerful man asked. He looked older, in about his seventies, but he was one of those friendly older gentleman's. The ones with laugh line wrinkles, rosy cheeks and a wide smile.
"Oh, Mr. Wilson, this is Ally. Ally, this is Mr. Wilson" He introduced her. She nodded her head in greeting. As Austin looked through the lit up case, the man leaned forward, over the case. "I'm happy that Austin finally has a lady like you. You two look good together." He complimented her with a soft smile. She blushed, but didn't say anything, worried incomprehensible jabber would leave her mouth. She played with the tips of her hair as she also looked at the trifles, one butterfly temporary tattoo held her gaze for a second longer than the other before she neared Austin. The prizes were kind of crummy; glow in the dark slime, plastic silver rings with obnoxiously large fake gems, sticky hands, jacks, bouncy balls, and all other kinds of small trinkets. All of them were only a few tickets each, but at the very end of the thick glass case Austin spotted a medium sized, gray and white stuffed dolphin.
It had cute black button eyes and a black thread that represented the mouth. From his angle, looking back at him through the glass, the mouth almost looked like the dolphin was smiling back. It had a cute dorsal fin on the top of its back, two flippers on either side, and a tail fluke. It was official. He wanted that dolphin.
He felt a presence by him and he saw Ally also admiring the stuffed animal, with an equally radiant smile and a sparkle in her eyes. He saw a pair of tan khakis behind the clear box and he straightened up and showed him the single ticket which showed the number of total tickets they had from the games.
"We have 885 tickets. How much is the dolphin?" Austin asked. He knew that it was futile to ask, when he already knew that the prize was most likely going to be a thousand tickets worth. He watched as the older man looked at him, and then at Ally who was still cooing at the dolphin, before smiling tenderly.
"880 tickets." Mr. Wilson told him. Austin smiled brightly, knowing that the older man purposefully lowered the price. He excitedly handed over the slip of paper to Mr. Wilson and viewed as the glass case was unlocked and the plush was removed from underneath the spotlight. The dolphin was given to Austin and he hugged the dolphin tight against him. The soft fur squished against his cheeks.
As he cuddled the soft toy against him, he saw as Ally was looking at him, with a kind smile. He contemplated whether he should keep the dolphin to add to his stuffed animal- uh, action figures- or give it to her. Looking down into her wide and joyful eyes, he looks at the dolphin one last time. He really wanted that dolphin. It was cute and small and fluffy, but he just couldn't do it. He wanted that spark to stay in her eyes even more.
He reluctantly gave her the dolphin, telling her that she could have it. He was expecting to feel more depressed at the loss of the fuzzy animal, but looking down at her delighted smile, it didn't bother him at all.
He was taken out of his blissful trance when he heard Mr. Wilsons voice behind him. "So, what'd ya wanna do with the other five tickets?"
Oh yeah. He had actually forgotten that there was another five tickets he was able to use. He inspected the prize booth. The only thing that could be won with his left over five tickets was a temporary tattoo. He pointed to the basket filled with white sealed paper. He ruffled through them, but only finding tattoos of flowers or butterflies or rainbows or hearts. Seeing as though this was probably more suited to Ally's sense of style, he called her over asking her to pick one.
She riffled through the stacks of temporary tattoos, he noted over her shoulder that the tattoos she pondered over the longest were the butterfly tattoos. He saw a monarch, a purple one with an orange border and orange spots, and a tan, yellow and brown one but with its bottom wings all curvy.
"I like this one." He pointed over her shoulder to the tan and brown butterfly tattoo.
"It's called a gold drop helicopis." She informed him. On closer inspection, he saw that it had brown forewing tips, golden bottom wings with hints of silver and multiple curved tails on the bottom wings. It seemed almost dull and plain compared to the other brightly colored butterflies. But once he actually was able to get a closer look, he saw the rarity of it. How the gold and metallic colorings and unique shape almost made it look like a piece of his mothers' jewelry; the ones that she always kept close and treasured.
Soon enough, the two were out of the store and off to Mini's after hearing Austin's gurgling stomach. They said thank you and goodbye to Mr. Wilson before exiting with a gold drop butterfly temporary tattoo and plush grey and white dolphin in tow.
Reaching Mini's Ally sat down on one of the neon chairs, reserving their spot. He grabbed a few dollar bills from his back pocket, and asked what she wanted.
"Can I have a small burger with extra pickles and water?" She asked him quietly.
"Oh, it'll be small all right." He told her but turned around before she was able to question him on his comment. As she waited for her food to arrive, she started to play with the fins of the stuffed sea critter that Austin gave her. She saw how much he wanted it, but he still gave it to her. He seemed really sweet natured and caring. She continued to pet the back of the dolphin, enjoying the softness of it.
She moved the dolphin off of the table onto her lap (she wasn't going to put it on the ground, that'd be grotesque), when she heard Austin announcing his arrival with food. When he set their tray down, she saw three burgers about an inch in diameter and a centimeter tall on one plate. On another plate, she could see five tacos, leaning on the side with what seemed to be ground beef, lettuce and tomato in the hard corn shell. There were ten tiny cups with a plastic lid and a straw and four red boxes containing what looked to be fries of equal size to the rest of food in them in the middle of the tray. They almost looked fake, like the little burgers and tacos and drinks that young girls' doll house food looks like.
Her eyes widened. When he said Mini's, he wasn't kidding. The large-well, normal sized- plates and napkins made the food look that much smaller.
"I know what you're thinking, but they're actually really tasty." He reassured her. She pointed at the cups, unsure about which ones were hers or his.
"Oh, they're all water. You get about three or four sips out of them, so, if you're thirsty again, just take one. She nodded before taking a burger off of their plate.
The two took a comfortable time eating, only stopping to talk about the arcade, which ones she liked and which ones were easy and which ones she wants to play again. Power Drift was easily one of the ones she had to try again, especially since she now knew the trick.
The burgers were surprisingly filling. She knew after not eating as recommended for the past while, her stomach wouldn't be able to hold much food in the first place, but the mini burgers were just right, she even took one of the small box of fries and munched on that.
As they came close to finishing, she grabbed one of the cups, removing the lid and straw. She took one of the napkins and dripped an end into the open cup, effectively soaking up some of the water. Placing the wet napkin off to the side, onto her plate, she fished out something from her pockets. Reaching what she was looking for, Ally took out the white paper square, her butterfly tattoo. She peeled off the clear film, and placed her butterfly on the inside of her left wrist, adjusting it so it was straight and the antennas were facing her fingers. She grabbed the napkin and placed the wet side onto the paper. She blotted the damp napkin around it, pressing down gently. When her napkin became too dry or ineffective, Ally redipped it into the open cup of water rewetting it to complete her tattoo. After a few times of dabbing, she removed the napkin and checked to make sure that the tattoo paper was dampened all over before slowly sliding off the paper. In its wake lay the gold, silver and metallic butterfly.
Her face pinkened when she realized she had a single person audience, watching her as she put on her temporary tattoo.
"Why did you want a butterfly?" He asked her. She flushed even more pink at her question.
"Oh, my first song was about a butterfly. I really wanted to become a song writer after that." She told him bashfully.
"You right songs?" He asked her animatedly, sitting on the edge of his seat.
"Not anymore." She told him shortly. She was hesitant to start talking about it. Even in the comfort of his presence and the warmth of the sun on her body, it was still a sensitive subject.
"Listen, Ally." He started. He remembered all too well where it was heading, but he had to try. She was no longer shying away from small contact with other people and was actually talking past the standard yes or no. "I know that something happened..." She broke his eye contact. "...with you and your boyfriend or your ex boyfriend..." Her palms became clammy as her temperature rose. "...and it doesn't seem like it ended well..." She really wanted to chew on her hair right about now. "...and maybe something really bad happened with him..." His words became muddled. "...and maybe he did something..." Her vision began to blur. "...but he shouldn't have done that..." No, no, no. Not here. Not in public. "...because..." She couldn't stay any longer. She had to go. She had to leave. She had to escape.
She stood up quickly, the chair legs squeaking as they slid across the floor and the dolphin now on the ground, forgotten. She felt a firm hand on her wrist and she tried to yank her arm out of its grasp as if the touch itself scorched her flesh. Escape. Escape. Escape. Adrenaline pumped through her veins. It wasn't fight. It was flight. She felt like crying. But she couldn't see. The rest of the world was shadowed and fuzzy around the edges. She couldn't hear. Everything was muted and jumbled in her head. She couldn't speak. Her throat felt tight and her airway felt swollen as she tried to take deep breaths.
The grip loosened, but she was still able to feel the hand around her small wrist as it pulled her back and into a sitting position. The hand released its grip on her wrist, but a heavy but gentle weight was placed over her two hands. She felt a small tingle as warmth dispersed throughout her hands. She looked down at the source of warmth, seeing another pair of hands covering hers, copying what she did with him while in Sonic Boom. The pair of hands over hers was acting as a lens, clearing and brightening her eyesight.
Her tunnel vision effect began to widen the world around her. Their hands were on a tangerine orange, rounded table. They were sitting in two chairs opposite each other. She could see the stand up sign for glow in the dark laser tag on her left side. She saw a small stage and surfboards propped up on a stand to the right. She saw the entryway where people entered in an out. She saw the palm trees and flowers that were strategically placed to provide shade and still look beautiful. She saw small puffs of clouds grazing in the blue sky.
"Ally, it's me. You're safe." Words and sounds were re-articulated and she looked up, focusing the person who talked.
Her eyes followed the hands, two pairs of arms, slightly tanned and strong forearms. She saw two short sleeves, gray with brick red stripes that covered two broad shoulders. She moved up and saw a thin silver chain, most likely holding a necklace. She saw pink lips and a nose, and then she saw two brown eyes, meeting her gaze, looking worriedly at her. She knew those eyes.
"What did he do?" Austin asked her, whispering.
"He hurt me." She whispered back.
He stood up, coming around to the back of her chair. He placed a careful hold on her upper arms and nudged her into a standing position. As she stood up gradually, he bent down, still keeping one hand on her, and picked up the stuffed dolphin. He wrapped his arm around her back, and she huddled into his body. She shivered and shook, he tightened his grip slightly, bringing her closer to him, and she clings onto him, reveling in the body heat he emits. Her senses are still on overdrive and the cuts on her hands start to throb just a little bit, but she ignores it. She had a protector.
"Here, let's go back to Sonic Boom." He tells her, and heads back to the music store while she snuggles the dolphin with her left hand, the golden butterfly pressing firm up against it.
Austin, not wanting to cause any other problems brings her through the back parts of the mall, where it's unlikely for people to be around, hence no interruptions. As they enter the store, Austin brings her up the stairs to the room to where he first found her in hopes for some privacy. She had stopped shaking, but he didn't want to take a chance. Opening the door, he tries not to grimace at the blandness of it.
The walls were a yellow beige coloring. He saw one two person couch and seat. The armrests were a dark cherry wood, the back was black leather with tic-tac-toe stitching, the seat cushions were a deep purple. The couch held the bottom half of a matte black music stand, whereas the other seat was cleared off and empty. He lead her to the empty chair and allowed her to sit down.
There was a large black chest sitting in the middle of the floor, decorated with stickers, and acted as a table. Most of the light was filtering in through the tall windows space, however there were two lights that hung above from the ceiling. The windows were covered with two giant keyboards, cases of music instruments of various shapes and sizes, two white stands that he normally saw in tourist shops holding post cards, and other stuff he didn't even know what it was, as it was packed away in boxes. Some of the boxes seemed empty, but just tossed on top of the pile to make the windows hard to reach.
Or hard to break. He thought silently. Instead of voicing that, he asked her show she was doing and received a nod in return. She looked much better, a healthy flush returning to her cheeks and her eyes seemed much more alive.
He saw a blue rolling chair tucked in between two small, tan, metal filing cabinets with a piece of wood on top of it, doubling as a desk with a computer, keyboard, manila folders, cordless phone and lamp resting on top of it. Above the desk was a bulletin board holding sticky notes and other pieces of paper tacked onto it. Another lamp was suspended right above the desk for extra light. He saw another makeshift with only a few pieces of paper. His attention was then caught by a large red metal box, one of the only things that wasn't a muted color.
And that's when he saw the piano resting in the very center of the room. Granted, it was small and old, but it was a piano. Austin remembered that told him, or, wrote to him, that she played the piano. He knew he shouldn't ask her. He knew music was a touchy subject, especially because it was easily related to her ex boyfriend. But he knew that she was stronger than this.
"Ally?" He asked her like someone might approach an animal, trying not to spook her. She glanced up, acknowledging him. "Would you- would you play the piano for me?"
She looked hesitant. It was understandable; it was probably something she never did before, something that she did in the confines of her room, alone. Still seeing her reluctance, he didn't ask her again, not wanting to rush her. Instead he shuffled through the papers on the old piano top. There was an expanse of different types of music on it. Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2, Vivaldi's Four Seasons transposed into piano, other ones which he didn't even recognize and even a few Beatles songs.
On the piano top he saw an old notebook. The cover was brown and worn, it had white stencil of feathers and leaves, and a pink uppercase "A" glued onto it. There was a thick, sparkly, silver, star sticker that was stuck to the upper corner and a thin rope that closed it. He reached out to pick it up, but out of his peripheral, he saw as Ally tensed up, biting her bottom lip as his hand was hovering right above the notebook.
She pulled on her hair ends; she never let anyone touch her book. It wasn't only a songbook, but a diary and journal. It was very precious to her, as it held most, if not all of her emotions. She watched as his hand continued to hover over the book, waiting for her to either allow or veto him from touching her book. She didn't want him to look through her pages which she spent hours pouring out lyrics and feelings. She didn't want him to judge her. She didn't want him to read what he did to her. She wanted to tell him no, like she did with everyone else.
But Austin wasn't everyone else.
He was Austin. Carefree and kind and nice and gentle and loyal, Austin.
And she could trust Austin.
She nodded, giving him the 'okay' for him to pick up the book. He stared at her for a moment more, looking for any last minute hesitation, but she didn't move or say anything. He nodded back, cautiously taking the book and removing the strap which sealed the book closed. He opened to a random page with a few stanzas, and read.
They've clipped my wings again
Tore them apart and then
Left me
No use to fly away to
My yesterday
Of freedom
My eyes died back that day
Seeing the hurt I may have done
Beat me instead of them
Pain is my only zen
Of fun
He skipped a page, going towards the end of the book.
Because of you
I never stray too far from the sidewalk
Because of you
I learned to play on the safe side so I don't get hurt
Because of you
I try my hardest just to forget everything
Because of you
I don't know how to let anyone else in
Because of you
I'm ashamed of my life because it's empty
Because of you
I am afraid
Because of you
He turned to another page closer towards the middle of the page, not sure if he wanted to continue. There were numerous lines that were crossed out and other scribbles, but one verse stood out among the rest.
Black, black, black and blue
Beat me 'til I'm numb
Tell the devil I said "Hey" when you get back to where you're from
He had to clench his teeth together and make his lips a thin line to prevent himself from saying anything or shedding a tear. He closed the book and placed it back where he originally found it. He sat down on the piano bench, facing the keys. He mentally chastised himself. He shouldn't be the one on the verge of tears, he should be comforting her. She was the one who was going through all of this. She poured her heart out and let him read it. He should stay strong.
Even with that in mind, he couldn't help but sniffle quietly and wipe a stray tear from his eyes. He heard the squeak of leather and he assumed Ally moved from her spot, but he didn't turn around, not wanting her to see the clears that were building up in his eyes. He felt her presence next to him on the piano bench. He saw her frail fingers as they rested on top of the keyboards, hovering over the piano keys. He and Ally stayed on the piano bench, the only sound between them being their breaths. It wasn't tense though, as if there was a time limit to when Ally could and couldn't play. He would give her all the time she needed.
He saw a few of her fingers twitch and a press down on a few notes, as if to test out whether it was in tune or not. A few notes and keys quickly harmonized into her playing a tune that he didn't recognize. He looked up at the music rack, but it held no sheets of paper. The song was melodic and elegant, yet velvety and mysterious. He eyed her fingers. Although they looked so small, as she played the piano, they looked so strong and healthy. He watched her play; she looked so alive and upbeat. The sheer and utter joy on her face as she did what she loved doing the most in the entire world. Making music. He closed his eyes, relishing in the tranquil song, as the notes fluttered throughout the room.
As the music came to a close, he let his eyes open lazily. He turned his head to see the brown haired girl looking down at the hands on her lap, her cheeks were pink.
"Your music is amazing, Ally." He told her, smiling brightly.
She smiled back. The words that he used to say, that were lies, suddenly had a new connotation. They became partially true in her eyes.
This was actually written by my friend, "Red Compassion, Red Love, Red Hate" on the Austin & Ally Wiki... So... Go check them out. Unlike the other previous chapters, the songs were embedded into the story.
A lot of the songs somewhat relate to Ally's case during/after her past "relationship". The different songs were used to get different emotions from parts of Ally's life. For example, Because of You by Kelly Clarkson, shows a bit of progression after Ally was out of her relationship with him. Grenade by Bruno Mars was at the very height of Ally's abusive relationship, because that is when the abuse was on/already on a physical level, and Lemon by Katy Rose is sort of the in between stage of Grenade and Because of You. So that being said, only certain lyrics from a song to apply it to Ally's situation. Like, for example, the single verse from Bruno Mars' Grenade or Katy Rose's Lemon. Obviously, the whole song didn't exactly, but that verse did.
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