It was Saturday and I was at the Art Show with Dallas. To say I was nervous was an understatement. I mean, I was going to meet his mother. I didn't even know anything about her, if she liked pink or blue, if she preferred Rock or Country, if she liked pancakes or waffles. Dallas has mentioned a detail - I've thrown in hints for him to tell me but he hasn't caught on. Typical. I smiled at the thought of Dallas.
"What are you smiling at?" Dallas wondered.
"Um, that painting," I fibbed, pointing towards the canvas with a painted horse. He nodded. He looked around. "What are you looking for?"
"My Mom," he said.
"Right," I mumbled.
"She loves you," he said. I raised an eye brow, making him chuckle. "Your music anyway. She's a huge fan." I smiled politely and nodded. Oh great. "There she is! Mom!"
A woman who didn't look relatively close to Dallas turned her head. She had blonde hair that cut just under her ears. She smiled at her son and then saw me, her eyes widening slightly but she still managed to make her way over. "Oh my Gosh, hello," she said, "I'm Anne Smith. You're Ally Dawson. You're a beautiful girl and a very talented musician. It's a pleasure to meet you." she babbled. "Not trying to be impolite, but what are you doing here?"
I felt this intense shyness but forced a brave face. I wasn't that girl anymore. I chanted to myself. I was not going to cower away because of a little bit of nervousness. Dallas jumped in and saved the day, "We're on our date. She's my girlfriend." I wasn't ever going to get used to hearing him say that. He asked me this morning and of course I said yes. I mean, it's Dallas. The cute cell phone accessory cart guy (although he doesn't work there anymore).
I watched Anne's eyes bug from her skull. "Oh! Dallas, you never mentioned you had a girlfriend!"
"I only asked her this morning," he wrapped an arm around me proudly. I tried not to sweat. "Ally wanted to see some of your artwork."
"Of course!" she exclaimed, almost too enthusiastically. She started walking away and I figured we were supposed to follow so I forced myself not to trip as I kept pace with Dallas, who occasionally commented on which artists he thought had talent and which ones didn't. I hardly noticed who didn't have talent, because I thought they were all pretty well done - better than I could ever do.
Anne led us into a hall and stretched out her arm, motioning towards the paintings and drawings hung along the wall. They were amazing. She obviously painted from the heart - some were of nature, others were hidden images inside a whole image, and the one I really liked was her painting of a piano and a random girl supposedly playing it. She had fancy words written on the painting as well, it read: Music Speaks When Words Cannot. I fell in love with it right away. I think Dallas and Anne noticed because I heard two soft laughs that sounded identical.
"Do you like that one?" she questioned. I realized how close up to the painting I was. My face flushed and I nodded.
"It's beautiful," I told her.
"It's for sale, if you want it," she grinned at me. I didn't even hesitate, not even a small contemplation crossed my mind, I was already nodding. Her grin grew wider. "Great!" she shuffled away, my guess it to grab an identical one.
I paid her in cash, she gave it to me for a discount. She assured me it was because I was with her son but a part of me knew it was because I was the famous Ally Dawson. I shook off the feeling and tried to get away from Anne but she kept hen-pecking at me to see more paintings of hers.
By the end of the night, I was sure I'd seen every piece of art in the building. Anne wouldn't stop talking. She went on and on about art - something I didn't necessarily relate to, but I still listened. Dallas was following behind, whenever I looked back, he would send me a smile and make me forget about how bored I was.
"Mom, I have to get Ally back." Dallas finally said. My cheeks were sore from smiling.
"Oh, right," Anne smiled, "it was lovely to meet you, Ally." Anne went for a hug. I hugged her back, but it was awkward. The only mother who wasn't mine that I actually enjoyed hugging was Austin's. Even Trish's mother made me feel awkward if I hugged her. Mimi never did. She was like Austin that way, plus the fact that she was too sweet and caring to not want to hug her.
I was in Dallas's car when I was scribbling down words that came to me. He glanced over. "Oh, is that a song?" he reached over and snatched the note paper from me.
"Dallas!" my eyes widened.
My cheeks turned a deep shade of crimson while he read it out loud: "Hey, now, call it a split 'cause you know that you will / Oh, you bite your friends like chocolate / you say we'll go where nobody knows / with guns hidden under our petticoats / no we're never gonna quit it, no, never gonna quit it, no." I fiddled with my fingers. I heard him laugh which caught me off guard. "What?" he said. "Ally, you must be really tired." he tossed the paper over to me.
It hurt because I thought I liked those words. I stared at him. "Yeah." I blurted. I stared down at the song and shook my head, biting the inside of my cheek. I discretely continued to write.
. . . . . .
Dallas had dropped me off at Sonic Boom, where I told him to bring me, about thirty minutes ago. I was strumming Austin's guitar that he left here and writing out more lyrics. I kept hearing Dallas laughing at me but I ignored it when the sound of music drowned out my thoughts.
I suddenly saw a figure walk through the Practice Room door. I stopped playing immediately and looked up and saw my familiar blonde sort-of-friend. "Austin, what are you doing here?" I questioned, alarmed by his presence.
"I came to get my guitar," he pointed at it. "But it looks like it's in use," he laughed slightly. I smiled softly. "How was the Art Show?" he questioned.
"It was pretty good," I said, not wanting to flatter him by telling him I didn't have fun with Dallas's mother. "Bought that from his Mom." I pointed at the canvas. Austin looked at it. He liked it, too.
"That's awesome," he said. He looked back at me. "You're writing a song."
"Yeah. It's sort of a normal thing for me," I replied. He laughed at my response.
"Can you play it?" he questioned.
"Uh, I don't - you want me to? I'm not sure if I should - I mean, you might-"
Austin looked at me weirdly, "Ally, why are you being so shy all of a sudden?"
I looked back at him, "I'm not."
"You are. You never have a problem showing me a song," he pointed out. I took a deep breath, nodding.
"Uh, okay. I just...I don't know about the lyrics." I told him. He shrugged, taking a seat. I started playing the song.
"Hey now call it a split 'cause you know that you will
Oh you bite your friends like chocolate
You say, we'll go where nobody knows, with guns hidden under our petticoats
No we're never gunna' quit it, no we're never gunna' quit it no
Now we run run away from the boys in the blue, and my car smells like chocolate
Hey now think about what you do, think about what they say, think about how to think
Pause it play it, pause it play it, pause it
Oh we go where nobody knows, with guns hidden under our petticoats
No we're never gunna' quit it, no we're never gunna' quit it no
Yeah we're dressed in black from head to toe, we've got guns hidden under our petticoats
No we're never gunna' quit it. no we're never gunna' quit it no
Now you're never gunna' quit it, now you're never gunna' quit it, now you're never gunna' quit it
If you don't start smoking it, that's what she said
She said we're dressed in black, head to toe, with guns hidden under our petticoats
No we're never gunna' quit it, no we're never gunna' quit it no
Hey now we're building up speed as we're approaching the hill
Oh my hair smells like chocolate
Hey now you say you're gunna' quit it but you're never gunna' quit it
Gotta get it, gotta get it, gotta get it, gotta get it, go!
And play it cool
Oh and you said we go where nobody knows, with guns hidden under our petticoats
No we're never gunna' quit it, no we're never gunna' quit it no
Yeah we're dressed in black, from head to toe, we've got guns hidden under our petticoats
We're never gunna' quit it, no we're never gunna' quit it no
Well I think we better go, seriously better go
Said the feds are here you know
Seriously better go, oh oh, well I think we better go
Said the feds are here you know
Said Rebecca better know
Seriously better go
We go where nobody knows, with guns hidden under our petticoats
No we're never gunna' quit it, no we're never gunna' quit it no
Yeah we're dressed in black, head to toe, with guns hidden under our petticoats
No we're never gunna' quit it. no we're never gunna' quit it no
No no no
Well I think we better go, seriously better go
Said the feds are here you know
Seriously better go, oh oh, well I think we better go
Said the feds are here you know
Said Rebecca better know
Seriously better go."
"See, I mean, I don't know-"
"Ally, I loved it!" he exclaimed. I stopped babbling immediately and stared at him.
"What?" I let out dumbly.
"Ally, that was awesome! That sounded like something that we...that we used to write. I love it. I think that should definitely be on the album." I found myself smiling up at him. "What made you think I wouldn't like it?" he asked.
"I just...I..." I met his eyes and said, "I actually don't know." Because that was when I realized one thing: The lyrics weren't stupid like Dallas made them out to be, he just didn't understand music, and if he didn't understand music, he didn't understand me.
Austin laughed slightly, "Well, that's definitely one of my favorite's you have ever written," he assured me with a boyish grin. The grin that I loved. I smiled back at him and held out his guitar. He chuckled and took it. He said good night to me and started walking away.
"Hey, Austin," I blurted. He turned around and lifted his eye brows at me. "Do you, I don't know, maybe want to hang out tomorrow? Just me and you?" I questioned.
He stared at me for a long moment, before the corner of his mouth twitched, he seemingly fought off a smile as he nodded, "Yeah, sure." I grinned and waved at him as he walked out. I heard him leave Sonic Boom. I dropped my head back on the chair. It's been a long day.
...
Sorry for the shortness of this chapter, but I've gotta get to bed.
It was a filler, too. I'm thinking about naming the chapters now. woot.
So...Thanks for reeeeaaaadddiiiinnnngggg