Chapter Five:
"You're the best I've never had."
I knock on the locked door of Sonic Boom, nervous that I'm too early or this was just a joke to get me to wake up at six in the morning. Finally, after my third knock, I see Ally run down the stairs from the practice room. She stops in front of the door, waves, and then unlocks it.
"I'm sorry! I didn't hear you." She says.
"It's okay. I was starting to think you ditched me." I say, smirking.
"I would never! I mean, you woke up this early for me!" She says.
I laugh, "I sure did."
"Well let's get to work." She says, motioning for me to follow her.
I follow her up the stairs and into the practice room. She takes a seat at the piano and pats the spot next to her. I take my seat, and stare down at the keys, "So how does this work?" I ask.
She laughs, "Well, we sit here and brainstorm for a while." She says.
"And then we magically have a song?" I ask.
"Oh you're silly Austin. Do you really think song writing happens in a day?" She asks.
"Yes." I say.
"Well it can. But we are going to write an amazing song, in which we have no idea what it's about or anything, so I feel like this is going to take some time." She says.
"That's fine with me." I tell her.
"Okay." She says.
She starts to play a few chords. It's not a song that I've heard, I feel like it's something she just added together and it sounds really good. I watch her as she continues to do that, shutting her eyes and getting lost in the music. I study her face and smile at her. She opens them up a few moments later and catches me looking at her. I turn my head to the piano fast and clear my throat, "That's really nice. Did you write it?" I ask.
"I threw it together just now." She says.
"Wow, you're really talented." I tell her.
"Thanks." She says, smiling at me, "Well do you want a slow song, or a fast paced song?" She asks.
"Well, I think fast paced, it will match my personality better and will be easier for me to perform." I tell her.
"Good idea." She says.
She plays a few chords again, but they don't sound up beat at all, "That kind of sounds, depressing." I say.
"Oh whoops." She says.
She plays it in a higher key and then looks at me for approval. I nod, "That's better."
I suddenly yawn, being overtaken by the zero amount of energy I have. All I did last night was toss and turn, thinking about this morning. And then I woke up at five, and it's only six thirty. Ally looks at me and rolls her eyes, pressing a key, "I'm sorry I'm so boring." She says.
"Are you joking? You're not boring at all. I'm just tired." I tell her.
"Dallas thinks I'm boring." She admits.
"Well he's an idiot." I tell her.
She laughs, "Well thanks. We can go get some breakfast after we think of some ideas." She says.
"Awesome!" I say.
After about an hour and half a notebook later, we have nothing. Ally sighs with frustration. She rips out another piece of line paper, crunches it up in her hand and throws it over the piano. I just look at it, smirking. She turns to me and turns pink, "That was a cute fit you just threw." I tell her, laughing.
She punches me in the shoulder, "Shut up! Are you ready for some pancakes?" She asks.
"When aren't I? Where are we going?" I ask.
"I thought we could just go to my house and make some. It's cheaper." She says.
"That's fine with me." I tell her.
I've only been to Ally's house a few times, and it was normally with Dallas to pick her up. We get onto her front porch and she unlocks the door. Her father is already on his way to Sonic Boom so we get the house to ourselves. I follow her to the back of the house and into her kitchen. Her kitchen is one of the nicest ones I've ever seen. It's huge and full of beautiful marble counters and what looks like every kitchen appliance ever made.
"Wow." I say.
"Breathtaking, I know." She says, laughing.
"Uh, it kind of is." I tell her.
"It's my favorite room in my house." She says.
"I can see why." I tell her.
"I'll get the pancake stuff together," she says, then points, "You can grab a bowl for me in there."
"Okay." I say, walking over and grabbing it.
I set it down on the counter and watch her gather everything together. She grabs a pan and sets it on the stove, and then brings over the stuff, "How good are you at making pancakes?" She asks.
"Well, my mom usually makes them for me…" I say.
She rolls her eyes, "Okay, so I'll just put it all together and I'll let you attempt to cook one." She says.
"Oh how thoughtful of you." I say, laughing.
I take a seat at her kitchen table and watch her put everything together. She has the same focus she did when she was playing the piano. I really like that about her; everything seems so important to her and she never loses focus. She's almost; perfect.
"Okay day dreamer, come here." She says, snapping me out of my thoughts.
I walk over and stand next to her in front of the over. I stare at the bowl full of batter and notice the black lumps "Are those… Chocolate chips?" I ask; my face lighting up like a little child that just went into a candy store.
"Yes, yes they are. Now, make a pancake." She says.
I take the ladle and scoop up some batter, gently letting it pour into the pan. It makes a perfect circle, and starts to cook. I wait a little bit and then flip it over perfectly. I turn to Ally and grin, "Well would you look at that." I say.
"You've surprised me, Moon." She says.
After I cook myself about six pancakes perfectly, I watch Ally make hers. Of course, they come out just as good as mine, if not better. She turns and grins widely at me and I roll my eyes. I grab my pancakes and sit at the table. I add the syrup and butter and wait patiently for her to join me. She walks over and takes a seat next to me.
"You waited? You're such the gentlemen." She says.
"I know." I say, digging in.
We eat in silence for the most part, chatting sometimes about our failure of writing a song this morning, or about the amazing pancakes. When we're finished, she washes the dishes and I dry for her. After we're all done, it's already noon.
"We make a great team." I tell her.
"Yes, we do. I think we will get the song down, it just takes time like I said earlier." She says.
"Yes definitely." I say.
Her phone starts to ring from the table. She runs over and picks it up, "Hello?"
I walk over and lean in the doorway. She looks at me, and then at the floor, "Yeah Dallas…" She says.
"I guess…" She continues.
I walk out of the room and into the living room. I check out her big leather couch and I'm very tempted to lay down on it and sleep for forever, but then she comes back in, "I guess I'm going to meet Dallas…" She says.
I get this odd feeling in my gut, so I swallow hard, "Okay." I say.
"Thanks for coming over." She says.
"Thanks for having me, and thanks for helping me." I tell her.
She walks with me out onto her porch. I turn around and look down at her, "You're a great person Ally, and don't let anyone else tell you different." I say.
She smiles, "Thanks Austin."
And I want to hug her in this moment more than anything. I want to feel that same way that I felt when she hugged me the other day. It's all I've been thinking about since, but instead we keep our awkward distance, looking at the floor, "Well, goodbye Ally." I tell her.
"Goodbye Austin." She says.
I turn around and walk away, off of her porch and onto the sidewalk. I take a quick look back and she's still looking at me before she turns around and goes back inside. When I get home, I go down into the basement and turn on the T.V, plopping down on the couch lazily. I sigh and put my arms behind my head, thinking of the morning I just had.
What are her and Dallas doing right now? Is he making her feel like crap like he usually does, or is he actually treating her like he should be? I sure hope it's the second one. That's all I want is for Ally to start feeling better about herself, and I want Dallas to quit being the cause of it.
I really need to find something to preoccupy myself, I'm thinking about this way too much. I get up and pick up my phone, dialing Dez.
"What's up?" he answers.
"Want to hang out?" I ask him.
"Sure, I have nothing to do." He says.
"I'll pick you up in five." I tell him.
"Okay sounds great to me bro." He says, hanging up.
I drive up to his house and pick him up. I told him we're going to the skate park just outside of town. It's been a while since I've skateboarded and I remember it always being a good distraction so I think this is what I need.
"Dude, when was the last time we have been skateboarding?" Dez asks as we pull into the park.
"It has been a while." I say.
"Is there something on your mind?" He asks.
"What?" I ask as I grab my skateboard out of my back seat.
"You used to skate when you had a lot on your mind." He says.
"Oh, right. No everything is fine I just felt like skating." I say. Damn him for knowing me so well.
I start to skate around the side and the middle, not doing anything crazy just yet. I'm afraid my skills will be rusty so I don't feel like face planting just yet. After about an hour of skating, Dez goes right for the tall ramp and drops it, rolling off of the skateboard.
"Good one!" I yell to him.
He shakes his head at me as he gets up, "I'd like to see you try." He says.
"Don't tempt me!" I tell him.
"I'll pay you ten bucks if you make it on your first try." Dez says.
"Only ten bucks?" I ask.
"It's all I have!" He moans.
"That is true." I say, laughing.
I get up to the top of the ramp and look down. I don't even remember ever going down one this high, but I never say no to a bet, and Dez knows that. A bunch of guys those were skating around, stop to watch. "Are you going to chicken out?" Dez asks from below.
"No man, I'm just scoping it out." I lie. This is a bad idea, and I know it. But everyone's watching now, what am I supposed to do?
"Come on!" Dez says, making chicken noises.
I roll my eyes, and take a deep breath. Here goes nothing I say to myself. I drop down onto the ramp, but half way down I lose my balance, and everything goes black…
I open my eyes, and everything's blurry. I blink over and over, finally getting my focus. And Ally appears in my vision. Either I'm dead, dreaming, or this is real, "Ally?" I whisper.
"Hey man." I hear Dallas's voice.
I turn and see Dallas and Dez on my other side, "Where am I?" I ask.
I look down at myself and I'm lying down, and that's when I realize I'm in the hospital, "You're in the hospital, you fell off your skateboard." Dallas says.
"You're okay, though, thank god. You have a concussion. It could have been a lot worse, but it's not." Dez says.
"So I don't get my ten dollars?" I say.
Dez laughs, "Yeah, I think you deserve it."
I look at Ally and her face is full of concern, she hasn't taken her eyes off me. But she hasn't said anything to me either. Dallas walks over and stands behind her, "Dez and I are going to go get the doctor, we we're supposed to tell her when you wake up." He says. He pats Ally on the shoulder and they both leave.
"Are you okay?" I ask Ally.
Her face turns into a twisted smile and she laughs, "You're asking me if I'mokay?" She says.
"Well yeah, you looked upset." I say.
"I was so worried about you. And seeing you like that, laying there unconscious scared the shit out of me." She says; hold her head in her hands.
"I'm sorry." I say, touching her hand with me. She looks into my eyes and smiles. I hear the door open up and take my hand back quickly.
"How are you feeling buddy?" My doctor asks, checking my chart.
"Okay, my head hurts a little." I say.
"That's normal. Everything seems to be okay, we're going to keep you tonight and you can go home in the morning." He says.
"But you said everything was fine."
"It is but since we have no idea why you were out so long, we have to be extra careful." He says.
"Okay, fine." I say.
After he leaves, Dez and Dallas sit down at the end of my bed, "Party in the hospital tonight!" Dallas says.
"I'm pretty sure visiting hours will end at like nine." Ally says.
"Then we party until nine!" Dez says.
"You guys are stupid." Ally says.
"Whatever." They both say.
"Or you can let me rest, because I doubt partying is good for a concussion." I say, laughing.
"True that." Dallas says.
Just then, my parents come in. My mother has tears in her eyes as she stands by my side, "Are you okay? You had us worried sick!" She says.
"I'm fine mom." I tell her.
"You have to always wear a helmet Austin!" My father says.
"I'll remember that next time." I say.
"Well no more skateboarding for a while." My mother says.
"Okay." I tell them, not in the mood to get a speech from them in front of my friends.
After a while of talking, my parents go down to the cafeteria for some food. Dallas, Dez and Ally went to Mel's to get me a burger. I wait patiently; I mean what else am I supposed to do? Finally my parents come back, "Are you okay if we go home? We have to be up early in the morning." My mother says.
"That's fine. Dez, Dallas and Ally are coming back soon anyways." I say.
"Okay, make sure they don't stay too late, you need your rest." My father says.
"Okay will do." I tell them.
My mother kisses me on the forehead and my father pats me on the shoulder and they leave.