"Ally, I didn't get to say good bye to you on our date," a curious Dallas asked. Trish stifled a laugh by shoving nacho chips into her mouth. My eyes grew larger as I slowly turned around a met the kind-eyed not-so-stranger.
"Uh," I grinned up at him, facing my humiliation. "I know it was sudden. I wasn't feeling well and...and I didn't want you to see me, ya know, all sweaty and pale," I grimaced at my excuse.
"I wouldn't of minded," he assured me, "I could've driven you home."
"I needed the fresh air," I blurted.
"Whatever you say," he invites himself at the table, pulling out the chair and taking a seat. "I watched you and Austin on the Helen Show," he told me.
"Oh, did you?" I tried to fight of the monotone in my voice, but it didn't work so well. "That's awesome."
"You did great. How is Austin anyway? I don't see him much." Dallas said.
"He's good?" I guessed. Trish nodded in approval of my answer, munching silently on her snack.
"You two seem very supportive and friendly with each other," I think I saw a muscle in his jaw tick. I raised my eye brows.
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah."
"What makes you say that?" I quizzed, snatching a nacho from Trish and ignoring the greedy glare she cast at me.
"Well, the interview, I guess. But before that you two were really close, weren't you?" he looked at me seriously.
My voice changed in pitch, "You could say that."
Trish snorted, "The were way more than just 'close'."
"Oh, really?" Dallas looked at me, his eye brows raised high. I felt my face flush.
"Well, yeah. I mean, the only dated for a week but it counts as something. After that they just remained friends with strong feelings for each other but bound by the rusty chain of We-Don't-Want-To-Ruin-Our-Friendship." she rolls her eyes, "whatever."
"Trish!" I growled, shaking my head. I looked back at Dallas who's eyes are blazing with jealousy. "It was nothing. Just a silly old crush."
"No, your crush on Dallas," she nods at him, "was a silly old crush, you're relationship with Austin was a whole other story. You two were like...like...in love." I wanted to throttle her right about now.
"Trish," I scowled. She glanced over at Dallas and shrugged slightly, sinking in her seat.
"You have a crush on me?" Dallas grinned, looking at me expectantly. Silly, OLD crush.
I didn't know what else to say. "Yeah," I coughed out, glaring at Trish who gawked.
"You do?!" she howled before I sent her a look that read for her to be nice, she cleared her throat, "I mean, yeah, she does."
"But you're in love with Austin?" he questioned.
My eyes bulged from my skull, "No! I never have been and I never will be!"
"Denial," coughed Trish, but I kicked her. Dallas hadn't seemed to hear her because he kept smiling at me.
"How about I take you to a movie tonight? Good? Good!" Again he didn't allow me to reply. "I heard that new movie 'NOAH' was pretty good! I'll pick you up at 7:30!" He bolted.
"It's like he knows you don't want to go," Trish said as we both watch his figure disappear. I groaned and dropped my head into my arms.
. . . . . .
"I was thinking tonight we could write a new song. I've worked on a melody already and...I sort of wrote a few lyrics. Maybe they're not so good, but I'm confident with the melody," Austin told me when he'd caught up with me in the mall.
"Yeah, sure," I agreed, "but it'd have to be after my date with Dallas."
Austin stopped all movement. "Your date with Dallas?" he questioned, before letting out a laugh, "Didn't that totally bomb?"
I hesitated, "Yes it did."
"And you said yes to another one?" he quizzed, a humored grin on his face.
"It didn't happen quite like that," I sang, reminiscing earlier today at the beach. Austin's bushy brow quirked. "Let's just say Trish said a couple things that he took the wrong way thinking I still liked him and I didn't have the heart to tell him that I don't," I glanced over at Austin who laughed half-heartedly.
"Did the guy not take a hint when you ditched on him?" he questioned, still cackling about the whole thing.
"That's the thing," I sighed, "I lied and told him it was because I didn't want him to see me sick. He thinks I left under horrible circumstances."
"Still playing people behind their backs, huh? It's like you don't learn," Austin suddenly spat. I looked at him, caught off guard.
"I don't play people behind their backs," I snapped, "That's something you do." I shook my head. "What is wrong with you? It's like you have an on/off switch and I never know when it's going to be flipped!"
"I don't have an on/off switch! But even if I did the only thing that triggers it is you!" he spat.
"You were fine literally two seconds ago!" I exclaimed, exasperated with his attitude.
"I didn't even change! I just made a comment and you blew it out of proportion as if I was attacking you," he glowered at me. I rolled my eyes.
"You didn't have to make the comment," I bit out. Now it was his turn to roll his eyes. "Whatever, Austin, I'm not interested in this conversation anymore. I'll see you later tonight." I walked away swiftly.
. . . . . .
"Wasn't that great?" Dallas exclaimed as we walked out of the cinema and emerged into the cold air. He still had his drink in hand and he was slurping the remaining's of his Pepsi. As I looked around at my surroundings, I tried to ignore the people around taking pictures of me.
"Yeah, definitely!" I lied through my teeth. To be honest, I didn't like the movie at all. It didn't make very much sense, but I didn't tell him that.
"You totally didn't like it," Dallas replied. I glanced at him, shocked. He laughed. "Whenever I looked at you in the theatre you looked bored and confused."
"Oh," I mumbled.
"Let's do something else," Dallas decided. I looked at him, unsure.
"No, I should get going. Austin and I need to write a song tonight-"
"The songwriting can wait until you have a good time," Dallas grinned crookedly at me. It wasn't as handsome as Austin's but it did make my stomach flip unexpectedly. He grabbed my hand. "Come here."
Dallas had ushered me through a back alley and into a parking lot. That's when I heard a low thrum of music. Music? He pulled me along further until the music started to get louder and I started to casually see people dancing and laughing.
The music grew louder and louder until finally I couldn't even hear myself think. "Come on!" he laughs again and pulls me in with the ground. We were accepted into the crowd right away and nobody seemed to notice that Ally Dawson was here - or maybe they did but I was already laughing with Dallas to notice any eyes or camera's on me.
"Let it all go, Ally!" he demanded, cackling with a grin on his face. I forced my arms to my sides and shook my head. He gave me a pointed look and grabbed my hand, spinning me around. I rolled my eyes and tried to tug my arms from his grip but he wouldn't let me go. "I told you to let it go!" I ignored Elsa's voice singing out 'Let it Go' in my mind as it always did when someone spoke the key words, instead I laughed and found my heart fluttering every time I looked at Dallas, just as it used to when I was sixteen.
Dallas pulled me in, grabbing my waist and forcing me to dance. I decided I would, just for him. This time I didn't feel intimidated because Dallas's dancing was half as bad as mine and so we danced horribly together. I didn't mind the judgmental looks of others, because I was having too much fun. Dallas spun me once again and the room flew in fast circles, the only thing I could make of it was Dallas's face.
Suddenly the words twisted in my head: Love's got me cornered in the back of the room / I'm spinning around, I'm spinning around/ and all I see is someone I don't know / Love's got me tangled, tired me too / no sign of a wall, sign of a wall / spinning me around/ and baby all I see is you /.
I didn't know how long we'd been dancing, but finally Dallas dragged me away and I leaned up against a random car. He ran his fingers through his hair and I was trying to recover from giggling. "That was quite the dance-off," he winked. I blushed.
"That was fun," I breathed out, grinning at me. He smiled down at me.
"I'm glad you had fun. What time is it?" he questioned. I took out my phone and my eyes bulged. It was nearly 11:30. How long had we even been here? "Oh, wow. We really got lost in the moment."
"Definitely," I murmured. I wondered what Austin was going to say. I promised him for some songwriting. Then I felt something bitter twist in my gut; he deserved this, he was so rude to me earlier.
"I better get you home," he grinned at me. I nodded. I didn't know what Austin was going to say to me not showing up like I promised, but one thing I did know was that I was falling for Dallas again.
. . . . . . .
I crept into Trish's house, not wanting to disrupt her if she was sleeping. "Austin was looking for you."
I jumped, gasping and placing my palm over my racing heart. "Geez, Trish."
She grew more impatient, "I said: Austin was looking for you."
I sighed, "Figured he would've. I'm going to call him and tell him that the night just got away from me."
"Don't make promises you can't keep," Trish suddenly snapped. I was surprised that she was angry with me.
"I didn't promise him," I barked at her, "I might've said I would, but he knew I had a date."
"You should have stuck to your word," she said. "It's really late, Ally. It's almost midnight."
I sighed, "I know and I'm exhausted. But tonight was a lot of fun."
"Wait, What?" she questioned, looking shocked that I'd said anything.
I raised an eye brow, "I said that tonight was a lot of fun." Trish stared at me expectantly, wanting more than what was just said. "We went to a movie but he figured I didn't have fun so he took me to some place behind some back alley. It was sort of like a concert. I've never really done that before, I never usually enjoy that stuff, but man," I breathed out, contently, "I had the best time ever."
"You did?" Trish looked mildly disappointed. Why?
"Yeah," I said, staring at her with confusion. A grin suddenly curled onto my lips and I dropped my confusion and replaced it with giddiness, "Aaaaand I think I might like Dallas again. We're going on another date Saturday. He said he wants to take me to his mom's Art Show."
Trish made a movement that looked like the air was just knocked from her lungs. "Trish, Are you okay?" I asked, worriedly. It was a long moment before she nodded.
"Yeah...I'm fine.." she replied but I felt unconvinced. "I just...I'm shocked, that's all. I thought you didn't like Dallas anymore. I'm really surprised that you agreed to another date with him."
"I know, I thought I'd get tonight over with and never want to see him again but no, in fact, I think I already miss him!" I laughed giddily.
[Trish]
"In fact, I think I already miss him!" my best friend exclaimed, giggling and giddy. My heart was breaking at this. Dallas was not the one for her and I was sure of it. Austin was. Austin would always be. Why is she acting like an idiot? She even said so herself; Dallas never paid any attention to her until she came back famous. He doesn't really care about her, she knows that, doesn't she?
But as I watched her dismiss herself and skip away to her room, giggling and happy, my questioned was answered: No, no she did not know that. I was faking laughter with her. I turned my head and saw my reflection in a mirror that hung on the wall. I looked horrified and disappointed.
I texted Dez:
We have a problem -T
What's wrong? :( -D
Ally. - T
What's wrong with her? did she come home yet? -D
She. likes. dallas. -T
D: -D
I stared at his horrified emoji. That basically summed up my feelings in a nut shell. I heard the sound of her angelic, talented voice sing out: "Love's got me cornered in the back of the room, I'm spinning around, I'm spinning around!" It was good and I liked it, what I didn't like: It was obviously about Dallas. I sighed.
[Ally]
I finally crawled into bed, pajama's on, teeth brushed, make up off, and I pulled the quilt over my head. I grabbed my phones and texted Austin real quick:
Sorry for not showing up tonight. My date went better than expected. -Ally.
I didn't even bother to wait for a reply because I was so exhausted from all that dancing that I fell asleep quickly and with a smile on my face.
. . . . .
"Hey, Austin. Did you get my text?" I questioned.
"Yeah, I got it," he said, tuning his guitar.
"Wanna write now?" I quizzed, nervously. He nodded.
"Sure."
Well, that went better than I thought. I figured he'd insult me for breaking promises and not sticking into my word because I'm so evil and deceitful. I nodded my head and walked towards the piano. "You had a melody?"
"Oh, not that one," Austin said suddenly, "I already wrote that song by myself."
I looked at him alarmed. "You...You what?"
"The song. I wrote it." he told me, "Well, actually Craig wrote it, but I helped."
"You got somebody else to write our song?" I questioned him, angrily.
"Well, you were busy figured I'd get it done and out of the way," he said, not bothering to look at me. I grabbed his guitar and tossed it onto the ground. He looked at me, his mouth gapped open. "Ally!"
"I can't believe you," I growled, "You couldn't of waited until today?"
"I wasn't sure if you'd get it done," he said, glaring.
"When haven't I gotten a song done?" I glowered at him and he didn't respond. "Exactly. Now that song won't be on the album." I crossed my arms.
"You can't do that!"
"You did it to me," I shot back, "I'm only singing songs that I write. I don't sing for other people. That one can go on your own album."
"No, it's going on this one. I wrote the melody for it." Austin snapped.
"I wrote those other two songs and you didn't allow them to go on the album," I said.
"At least listen to them first," He said.
"You didn't-"
"Please," he begged. I rolled my eyes and motioned for him to go. He grabbed his guitar that I'd thrown on the ground. He began playing and he stared into my eyes the entire time he sang it. I felt my knees get wobbly but I held my ground.
I don't wanna be famous
I don't wanna if I can't be with you
everything I eat is tasteless
everything I see don't compare to you
Paris, Monaco, and Vegas,
I'd rather stay with you if I had to choose
Baby, you're the greatest
and I've got everything to lose
I just want to be with you
and I just can't get enough!
Baby, I'd give it all up, up
I'd give it all up
If I can't be with you
All of this stuff sucks,
Yeah, all of it sucks
If I can't be with you
No Oscar,
No Grammy,
No mansion in Miami!
The sun don't shine,
the sky ain't blue,
If I can't be with you.
I could sail around the whole world,
still won't find a place as beautiful as you girl
and really, who's got time to waste?
I can't even see a future
without you in it, colors start to fade
Ain't no way I'm gonna lose ya
No one in the world could ever take your place
You're the kind I can't replace
and I can't ever get enough
Baby, I'd give it all, up, I'd give it all up,
If I can't be with you!
All of this stuff sucks, yeah all of this sucks
If I can't be with you!
And,
No Oscar,
No Grammy,
No mansion in Miami
The sun don't shine the sky ain't blue ,
If I can't be with you!
Oh oh oh, oh oh oh,
If I can't be with you!
Oh oh oh, oh oh oh,
If I can't be with you!
If I can't be with you!
Oh if I can't be with you!
If I can't be with you!
Oh, all of this sucks, if I can't be with you!
All of this stuff sucks, yeah, all of this sucks!
If I can't be with you!
And,
No Oscar,
No Grammy,
No mansion in Miami
The sun don't shine the sky ain't blue
If I can't be with you!
Oh oh oh, oh oh oh,
If I can't be with you!
Oh oh oh, oh oh oh,
If I can't be with you!
With you
I stared at him for the longest time, digesting the song because I couldn't ignore that it was the best I've ever heard him play. And it just has to be on the album. I wanted to say no, only because I didn't write it and I felt useless when I wasn't writing songs, not only any song, I felt useless when I was writing his songs.
"Well?" he pressed, nervously.
"Fine," I sighed, caving. There was no way I could say no to that song. I just started to wonder why I could never think of that. Why didn't those words ever come to me?
He grinned, "I told you!"
"Yeah, yeah," I frowned, sitting at the piano. "Let's write another one."
"You're not happy," he deadpanned, setting his guitar down and sitting next to me on the bench. "I'm sorry I wrote the song without you. I just wanted it done. I was feeling the song and you weren't available. What were you doing anyways?"
"I was on my date, you know that," I hissed.
"For nearly four hours?" he questioned. I nodded, not looking at him. I was so annoyed of the fact I didn't write that song and it was going on the album. "You said the date went better than expected?" he pressed, his voice casually getting softer.
"Yup." I added monotone in my voice. I could feel him giving me a look, so I continued on gently, "We have another date on Saturday. I'm meeting his Mom."
I glanced up at him to see him gawked at me, "You're already meeting his parents?!"
"Just his mother," I retorted.
"Ally, don't you think you need to slow down? Just yesterday you were going on about how you didn't have feelings for him." Austin said.
"That was before I had fun with him and realized my feelings were still there," I replied, a smile tugging on my lips as I remembered last night.
"What did you guys do?" he questioned.
"He took me to a movie and then he took me behind a back alley where a band was playing their small gig and we just danced and had fun." I told him.
"But, Ally, you hate that stuff," he said, confused.
Then I said, "People change." I shook my head, "And we're not going too fast. He wanted to take me to an art show and his mom just so happens to be presenting her art there."
"I see," he said, but he sounded slightly distracted.
"Let's work on the song," I mumbled.
"I'm. Sorry. Ally." he said, spacing out his words. I looked at him and I found a smile curling onto my lips.
"Thank you," I said. He shook his head, a small grin finding his lips in return.
"Better now?" he questioned.
"Better," I nodded. We laughed slightly and I tapped a few notes. Austin tapped a few notes as well and it sounded completely off-key. I glanced at him once before grumbling random words under my breath and grabbing my book, writing lyrics instead.