ALLY:
Austin opened the door to his apartment and held the door open for me. I just loved men who thought of women first. He closed the door behind me and went to his fridge. He pulled out two bottles of wine.
"White or red?"
I said,
"I like red. Good for my heart."
"But your heart's already good!"
I smiled.
"You're cute!"
He giggled.
"Thank you. What kind of cuisine do you want?"
I said,
"I've been kind of craving Panda Express lately."
"I like Panda Express."
"What would you like from Panda Express?"
"Orange chicken and mixed veggies, please."
He said,
"OK."
I saw him take out his phone and say,
"Hey, can I get some orange chicken with a side of mixed vegetables and some broccoli beef and mixed veggies? Thanks."
He picked up the remote that apparently lead to a stereo and it started playing the song Rocket Man by Elton John and he put his arm around me. I liked the way this was feeling. I just nuzzled into his well-built shoulder and felt like I was laying on a pillow. I was listening to his heartbeat and it was beating and made such a beautiful sound. I was just staring aimlessly at the pictures on his wall- one of them I was having trouble keeping a straight face at.
In it he looked like about no older than three and he was naked and covered in some orange paint. I just had to laugh at it.
"Someone wanted to paint himself?"
He chuckled.
"That's me when I was like two. My parents let me try body painting."
I looked around more at the photos at the wall. One of them was the same picture that was his cover photo with him and his family. I told him,
"I like you better than my old neighbors."
He asked,
"Yeah? What were they like?"
"They were annoying, obnoxious and inconsiderate of me. All the time, I had to go down here and ask them to turn their music, which consisted of like Jay-Z, Wiz Khalifa or Snoop Dogg most of the time, or their reruns of Loiter Squad and Jersey Shore down and one of them tried to bribe me with sex with him to let them have it as loud. It always smelled like alcohol and marijuana. They got kicked out for that."
(AUTHOR'S NOTE: For those of you who have never heard of Loiter Squad, it's an adult swim sketch comedy show. I've actually never seen the show, I just know of it. To me, it seems like an adult version of Kenan & Kel (which believe it or not, the Austin & Ally creators, Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seiffert, were part of the staff of) or All That, you know from Nickelodeon in the 1990's, and some people describe it as a more racially diverse Jackass. But I know you guys didn't come here to listen to me jabber about Loiter Squad and the history of it. I'll get back to the story now.)
Austin said,
"Do I have permission to punch those shitwits in their faces now?"
I said,
"Certainly."
Our panda express came. He said,
"You wait there for a second, gorgeous. I gotta go pay for our dinner."
I just blushed.
"OK."
He picked up his wallet and opened the door. It was a chinese guy (ironically enough) and he said,
"Thanks so much."
The delivery guy didn't have much of an accent in his voice, in fact he looked like Ken Jeong.
"No problem. That'll be nineteen ninety-five."
"OK. Here's your money."
He handed him the money and he studied the small boxes. He plopped the first container in front of me and put the second one in front of his spot and grabbed some plates, two steak knifes, two napkins and two forks.
"Thanks, Austin."
He smiled.
"You're welcome. This lighting makes you look so damn beautiful."
I just giggled.
"Oh stop."
I cut my orange chicken. My god it was tasty. I hadn't had Panda Express in a while. Austin picked up my fork and fed me my orange chicken and some of my mixed vegetables. I fed him some of his chinese food from his fork. After we were done, he picked up his phone and took a selfie of him and I just nuzzled up to him.
I just pecked him on his cheek and he pecked me back. He got a FaceTime request from Cadence, his little sister and also my former student. He answered it, and said to her,
"Hey, Cadence."
Cadence just flashed her big smile that she always had when she went to Kinloch Park. She was dressed in a white tank top with pink roses on it, medium wash distressed short shorts, pale pink rose stud earrings, and a gold C pendant. Her underarm-long blonde hair, that was normally straight, was in curls.
"Hey, Austin! I just called to let you know that Randy's home from deployment for the next six months and Mom, Dad and I are having dinner with him and Alanna here this weekend, and they wanted to know if you'd like to come, too."
Austin said,
"I feel like I hardly see Randy anymore, so of course I'd like to go. But Cadence, I got a little surprise for you! Look who I'm having dinner with!"
He turned me to the camera. Cadence flashed me her beautiful smile.
"Ms. Dawson?!"
"Cadence!"
"Oh my god! It's amazing to see you again!"
"It's great to see you again, too!"
Cadence giggled. She had always been this animated, upbeat person and I couldn't help but adore that about her. She was also very smart, artistic and very sweet.
"I wish this was face to face so I could give you a Cadence hug!"
I said,
"I do miss your hugs, miss thang."
Sometimes I called her Miss Thang because she was such a character.
"I miss you with my heart, Ms. Dawson!"
I could hear a middle aged man from off left ask,
"Cadence, who's that you're on FaceTime with?"
"Oh, hey, Dad. I'm just talking with Austin. I called him to let him know that Randy's in town and I just realized the girl he's hanging out with is my eighth grade english teacher."
Austin asked,
"Can I talk with Dad?"
Cadence smiled.
"Sure. Daddy, Austin wants to talk to you."
Austin said to me,
"She's always been my dad's little princess. She still calls him Daddy sometimes."
She handed him her phone and I could see a man in his fifties with a gray quiff hairstyle.
"Hey, son."
"Hey, Dad. Meet my new neighbor, Ally."
I just flashed Austin's dad a smile.
"Hi, Mr. Moon."
"Hi, Ally. You can call me Mike. As you may know, Austin and Cadence's brother Randy is back in town after deployment and he and his wife are having dinner here this weekend. Would you like to come along?"
"Sounds amazing! Thanks, Mr.- I mean, Mike."
"Pleasure's all mine. Anyone who's a friend of any of my kids is a friend of mine."
I liked Austin's dad already. The apple didn't fall far from the tree. If I liked Austin himself, his sister and his dad, I knew I was going to like his whole family.
Austin's family likes Ally already. And infinitedawn429 suggested I have Ally and Austin's sister Cadence meet again. Infinitedawn429, I have a feeling you're going to like this chapter :). Happy early Father's day, I hope you're all going to do something special for your dad- he was the one with your mom in the delivery room, he is your first teacher (aside from your mom) and he is the first male role model. Peace, love, hugs and kisses!