Adelaide's Perspective

It’s now Friday afternoon and Dallas and I are seated in our usual booth at our favourite pizzeria, Pizza John’s. Dallas is drinking a diet Coke as I sip on a glass of lemonade. We are “debating” (more like arguing) over All Time Low’s new album, Don’t Panic, when the waiter brings our pizza – extra cheesy, of course – to the table.

“Here you go – four slices of pepperoni pizza.” The plates clack on the table and he gives us a smile.

Dallas and I look at each other in disbelief and confusion, and then turn to the waiter.

I speak up first, “This is not our pizza.”

“What?” He seems surprised. “Are you sure?”

Dallas slams her fist down on the table and stands up, “Of course we’re sure! We eat the same thing every time we’re here!”

I turn to her and lay my hand over her fist, “Calm yourself, Dallas. It’s not a big deal.”

“Why should I? I’m tired of this happening to me!” she cries, “I’m a vegetarian for Christ’s sake!”

“I know Dallas, I know. Just sit down and let me do the talking, capiche?”

“Capiche.” She sits and looks away from the waiter.

I check his nametag before saying, “Kevin, we ordered four slices of extra cheesy pizza, not pepperoni. I would appreciate it if you take these back and give us what we ordered.”

He nods almost frantically, “Y-Yes, ma’am! Sorry, ma’am! I-I’ll be r-right back!” He grabs the plates and spins on his heels.

“Wait. Just one more thing before you go.”

He turns back to face me.

With an icy edge to my voice, I say, “Don’t ever call me ‘ma’am’ again. Okay?” Sickeningly sweet. Perfect.

Kevin gulps and nods and nearly falls over in his rush to get back to the kitchen.

I turn my attention back to Dallas, glad to see that she has calmed slightly, but I can see that her mind is elsewhere. Her head is tipped down towards her placemat but her eyes are unfocused, as if she’s staring right through it.

I sigh and snap my fingers in front of her face, “Dallas, Dallas.”

She shakes her head and looks up, “Hm?”

I smile, “Welcome back to Earth. How was outer space?”

Through her laughter, she replies, “It wa-was great, tha – ha! – thanks fffor asking!”

She continues to laugh as I say, “Oh, come on, it wasn’t that funny, was it?” but seems distracted as her iPhone beeps loudly and annoyingly.

When her jaw drops, my curiosity sparks.

“What is it? What happened?”

She slips her phone back in her pocket and says, “Zack updated his Twitter.”

“Zack who? Merrick?”

“No, Zack Bell from chemistry. Of course it’s Zack Merrick!”

“Okay! Okay! Jeez, no need to be so sarcastic.”

She rolls her eyes, “Whatever. Just listen. Zack just tweeted that All Time Low is going to be visiting their old high school! And you know where three-fourths of them went, right?”

“Yeah. Dulaney.” Pause. Cue light bulb. “Oh my goodness, we go to Dulaney!”

“Thank you, Captain Obvious!”

“Hey.” I look at her with mock contempt, “There is no need to make fun of my slowness.”

She stares at me blankly and soon I can’t help but crack a smile and cause us both to burst out laughing.

~~~~~~~~~~

After the pizza, Dallas drove us to her place for the night. She unlocks the door and lets me inside. There are two doors in front of me. I take the one on the left, kick my shoes off, and throw my stuff down by the wall, careful not to knock down any of the band posters she's collected and tacked to the walls. I yawn and stretch sleepily and crash on a couple of bean bags I pushed together some time ago. I giggle as Dallas' papillon, Minnie, licks my cheek. I'm not usually a fan of little yappy things like yorkies and pomeranians, but I make an exception for Minnie because Dallas loves the stuffing out of her.

"What are you doing, Addy?" Dallas laughs.

I crack one eyelid to peek at her, "What does it look like? I'm going to sleep with Minnie. Night night." I say as I grab Min and pull her up to cuddle with me.

She sighs, "No you're not. This is the bedroom, not the sleeping area."

Groaning, I bury my face into Min's fur, "Then it's not a bedroom, darling, it's a sitting room."

She rolls her eyes, "Whatever. You're still not sleeping here." Suddenly, she grabs ahold of my ankles and drags me off the beanbags. Min jumps away, startled, and barks her loud, high-pitched bark at us.

Fully awake, I say, "Save me, Minnie! Let go, Dallas! I'll sleep where you want me to!"

Chuckling, she drops my feet and helps me stand. Then I follow her to a place with a comfy bed.

Dallas’ 'sleeping area' is just up the stairs. I walk in after her and close the door behind me. I always stop and look at her walls when I’m here, but this time I actually bother to absorb what I see. Every wall is completely covered with photos, band pictures, magazine articles, you name it. And at least 50% of them are all about All Time Low or Zack. She even has a giant poster of ATL on the ceiling above her bed. Creepy? Not in the slightest. It’s awesome. As I scan the room, something catches my eye. As I get closer, I notice that it’s a picture of ATL that looks like it was torn out of a magazine. One member has me transfixed, but I can’t remember his name. I decide that I need to find out who he is as soon as possible.

I turn around to see Dallas lying on her bed, talking. Not noticing, I interrupt, “Hey, Dallas…”

She sits up, “Yeah, Addy? What’s up?”

I glance at the poster, “Who is this?”

She stands up and walks over to me. “Who?” I point to him. “Oh, him?” I nod. “That’s Jack Barakat, All Time Low’s guitarist. Why?”

I bite my lip and glance again at the lanky, skunk-haired boy. I feel my cheeks flush as she says smugly, “Oh, I get it! Like what you see, eh?”

“Y-no. Yes? J-just a-a… no.” I sigh, “Yeah, I do.”

Her grin is a mile wide, “If you like him in this picture, wait til you see him all grown up!”

I’m confused as she grabs a step ladder out from behind the door and sets it up next to me. She winks at me before going up, grabbing a picture, and jumping down. Still grinning, she hands me the picture. I think it’s also from a magazine. “What’s this?”

She just shakes her head, “Flip it over.”

I sigh, “Fine. Whatever you say, Princess.” I do as she says and my eyes widen at the sight. It’s a full-body photo of Jack, with an interview stapled to the back of it. I look up at Dallas in awe.

She chuckles, probably at my face, “That’s from this year. He got rid of the skunk hair years ago.”

I look at him again, then up, and back down again.

“You can keep that, if you want.”

My head snaps up, “What? Are you serious?”

She chuckles again and nods, “Absolutely! It’s obvious you’re gonna fangirl over him, so consider this as your introduction to the world of fandom.”

I hug the papers to my chest and stare into Dallas’s eyes, going into full-on creeper mode, “You know I love you, right?”

She laughs, “The feeling’s mutual. Now, let’s get down to business; tonight’s agenda.”

I gulp. I had forgotten what she planned for tonight… Until now. “Must we?”

“We must!” She grabs my elbow and pulls me back down the stairs towards the vanity next to Minnie's bed.

I try to pull away, but she yanks me back. “No! I’m too young to die!”

“Settle the fuck down, you’re going to hurt yourself. You promised me last week that I could do this, so man up! I’ve been waiting to do this for like ever and I’m not letting you out of it again!”

I sigh in defeat and let her lead me to the vanity. She pushes me into the chair, which is way more comfortable than I had imagined it would be. I see that she already had her supplies set out on the table top.

I sigh and settle myself in the chair, “Alright, let’s get this over with.”

She laughs, “I’m glad you’re surrendering, Adelaide. I was prepared to strap you to the chair.”

I roll my eyes, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. Just do it.”

“Nike!” She chirps as she picks up a dish of redish pinkish powder (Blush?) and a thick brush with lots of soft looking bristles. I close my eyes and prepare myself for the worst.

~~~~~~~~~~

After much debate and Dallas snapping at me when I try to turn around and peek in the mirror, she finally finished.

“Can I look now?” I ask as she tries to apply some sort of scented gooey substance to my lips.

“Not yet! Just stop jabbering and let me work!”

I sigh, “Fine. Have it your way.”

“Subway!” she chimes then giggles.

I shake my head, “Sometimes I wonder…” I trail off.

“Stop it!” She grabs my jaw in her surprisingly tight grip and smears the icky gooey stuff on my lips.

I ask her what it is and she says, “It’s called lip gloss!”

“It’s so gross feeling!”

“Oh well, you’re just going to have to deal for now. Anyway, want to see my masterpiece?” She claps excitedly.

“Yes! Let me see!” I wail and flail my limbs.

Dallas laughs at my childishness and spins the chair so I can see what she did to my face. Though I never expected what I saw…

At first I don’t recognize myself. My eyes widen in shock and I hop off the chair to inspect closer to the mirror. I gasp, “Is that really me?” Yes, yes it is. “I’m pretty. Dallas made me look pretty.” With blush, eye shadow, eye liner, mascara, and lip gloss… (After realizing that the gloss was still there, I immediately grab a tissue and wipe off as much of the awful stuff as I can.)

Ecstatic, I turn around and attack Dallas with a huge bear hug. When I pull away, I am smiling.

“I knew you’d like it,” she laughs.

I grin, “I’m pretty.”

“No, sunshine, you’re hot.”

I laugh, “What?”

“You heard me! You are H-O-T hot!”

“No way!” I argue.

“Yes way! I’ll prove it! Let me do your make-up for school next week. Please?”

I sigh, “Does it really matter what I say? You’re probably just going to do it whether I agree or not, so… Sure. Why not?” I shrug.

She squeals, “Yay! Don’t worry; you’ll see.”

I just smile and roll my eyes. I feel lucky to have met Dallas and so glad to have her as my best friend.

Notes

Thanks goes to gamble with desire. for all her help and support! Thanks hun! <3

Title credit: Movin' Out (Anthony's Song) by Billy Joel

(chapter edited: 2/17/13)