Star Riddled Skies

Shock.

That's what most people would feel after a revelation like that. But I don't.

I'm confused.

I can't quite get my head round what Zach's just whispered to me. I can't quite comprehend his dad hitting him, I can't quite comprehend the reasons, the actions, the consequences, so I just stutter helplessly.

"Yo-your- what? How?" I manage to choke out, shuffling closer still to Zach in the cold air.

"He hit me," Zach says softly, his voice shaking more than either of us is comfortable with.

I run my fingertips down his pale cheek and the ghost of a smile graces his lips, but not mine. Now I'm not confused, I'm plain scared.

"B-but why Z-Zachy?" I say helplessly and feel the tears spring to my own eyes.

"Promise you won't freak?"

I reach out and hold his hand for a second, before dropping it again when I feel a rush of something coursing through me, "I promise,"

Zach nods weakly and I see his hands shaking a little, "Remember that test we had in Algebra a while ago?"

I nod, and smile, running my fingertips under his chin so he looks up, "You got highest marks,"

Zach flinches and his eyes snap shut as he shakes his head wildly, "No, no see that's problem! I didn't according to him."

"H-ow can you not? You got an A," I say, glancing at the darkness surrounding us, knowing I should be home, but hell knows I'm not caring about that right now.

Zach shakes his head again, more softly this time, "A+ remember Ash. That's higher than A."

It's my turn to shake my head, and blink away a few tears, "But everyone knows Mr. Trafalgar doesn't give A+'s, it's impossible."

There's silence, where our breathing's the only sound, and I'm desperate for Zach to answer. When he does, his voice is shaking so much it's hard to hear him, "Then I've got to do the impossible haven't I? …He's not happy unless I've got A+ Ash."

Not sure what else to say, I shakily reach up and brush the hair back over his face, hiding the bruise, "No one's going to know unless you want them to."

Zach smiles, "Thanks Ash, I mean it."

I smile back at him and he reaches up, brushing his fingertips down the side of my face, pulling me towards him a little more. I lose myself in his eyes, their deep brown pulling me into a warm safe place. I barely realise how close we are until there's a yell from behind us, and a hell of a lot of water is poured over us.

I leap back and off the bench, shaking my sopping wet hair, swearing very, very loudly, "What the fuck motherfuckers!?"

Matt and Ollie dodge behind the bench out of my reach and giggle madly. They're drunk, again.

Ra comes up next to me, talking softly so only I can hear, "I tried to stop them Ash, you and Zach..."

I murmur somewhere between a thanks and a yeah under my breath, still staring at Zach, before turning to glare at Matt and Ollie, who are still giggling, "Don't run away you two misfit motherfuckers!" I chase them up the street, almost laughing along with them. I've almost forgotten the fact they ruined whatever I thought was going to happen with Zach, and poured water all over us. I've almost forgotten until Matt stops and turns round and smirks. Ollie stands next to him, just a pace behind, and they both smile evilly at me.

I know these two boys too well to know they're up to something, and I take a few steps back, raising one eyebrow at them. They glance at each other and smile a little wider. Suddenly they both start skipping towards me and round me in a circle.

"Ash and Zach sitting on a bench, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" I put my hands over my ears and start singing Score 22 by Enter Shikari but they both raise their voices and start dancing in front of me, making kissy faces.

"Ash and Za-ach! Ash and Za-ach!" They say in a singsong voice and something inside me snaps.

"Shut up motherfuckers! Shut up!" I spin on my heel and start storming down the street away from them. I hear an 'Ooo!' from either Matt or Ollie and a murmur of 'PMT,' from the other. I raise my hand up to them and stick my first two fingers up. There’s another 'Ooo!' from them, and a hissed 'Shut up guys!' from Ra.

"Should I go after her?" I barely hear Zach ask over Ra, Matt and Ollie now arguing.

"Leave her, its okay," I hear Ra say softly and there're no footsteps after me, so I guess Zach has taken her advice. I carry on storming down the street, until I’m back home. It turns out my parents have gone down the pub, so I get a drink and some food, get dry and into my pyjamas, crawling under the covers with Squiggle on my stomach.

I turn on the TV and find some weird cookery channel Mum must have been watching, picking up the remote and quickly turning to Rockworld, where it’s live and unsigned night. So I watch a few bands I make a mental note to Myspace, and almost jump three foot when my phone swears at me from my bedside table. I snatch it from beside me and flip it open.

Since I didn't have chance to say it before – night night Ashy, sleep tight. Thanks again for listening... xxxx

A dizzy smile forces itself onto my lips and I sink back into the covers, my fingers rapidly tapping to reply.

No problem Zachy, thanks for telling me. Night night sweet dreams. Xxxx

I place the phone open at his message on my stomach and Squiggle looks up from his place in my duvet. He meows softly, something I find stupidly comforting, and sniffs warily at my phone, then starts rubbing the side of his face against it. It's a sign a cat likes something, because they're trying to spread their scent and 'claim' it.

I smile and stroke the top of his head, and Squiggle purrs loudly and stretches closer, "So you like Zach too then Squig?"



I fall asleep far quicker than I usually do, with a contented feeling in my stomach, Squiggle purring happily next to my phone, which I left on my bed.

It wakes me the next morning though, as it swears loudly, signalling I've just got a message. I curse under my breath and snatch it up so it doesn't wake the parents, who most likely have a hangover from last night. I flip it open, wondering who the bloody hell would text me at seven in the morning, and laugh a little when I see it's Ra.

Fuck school today loves. Eight at Tesco bus stop – bring your annual passes – we're off to the theme park. X

I realise she's probably sent it to most of the gang, and smile to myself – these days were always fun. I throw my legs off the side of the bed, making Squiggle meow a little. I tiptoe into the bathroom, not bothering to turn on the hall light and quietly close the door behind me. I brush my hair to stop it sticking up everywhere, and have a wash and brush my teeth. I drop my toothbrush back into the holder and pull open the door again, shutting it behind me quietly again.

I pull my favourite bright yellow Enter Shikari shirt from a drawer, find my favourite electric blue jeans and a black hoodie with pink stars. I shrug them on, along with my favourite pink starry boxers.

I put the straighteners on and do my makeup – a thick black line round my eyes, like usual, with the orange glittery eye shadow I thought I'd lost. I grab the straighteners and a rogue comb, quickly styling my hair so it looks like my head's exploded – but in a stylish way. I shove my phone, keys, spare eyeliner and money into the little black Jack Skellington bag at the foot of my bed and sling that onto one shoulder, slipping my black and pink Vans on.

I pull open my bedroom door, whispering a goodbye to Squiggle, who purrs a little less as the door closes behind me. I don't dare glance towards my parent's door and hurry past, tiptoeing down the stairs and jumping the last one since it creaks horribly.

I dodge into the kitchen and put down some food for Squiggle – since I know no one else will. I cast another look round to make sure Mum's not in the shadows, arms folded ready to ask why I'm down here, not in my school uniform.

I see a ten pound note on the table and smile, casting another glance to make sure I'm alone, then snatch it off the table and shove it into my back pocket. I hurry up a little more now, glancing at the kitchen clock, almost quarter to eight, and open the front door, quietly locking it behind me.

I pull my hoodie tighter round me and hurry up the road, only breaking into a run at the top so I don't wake the neighbours up. My feet pound on the pavement as I run, skidding through the residential area. As I turn the corner onto the main road I pull out my phone to check the time and ten minutes have passed since I left the house. I try to speed up, the breath tearing at my lungs, and I breathe a sigh of relief when I can see the bus stop.

As I skid round the corner and see almost the whole gang sat on the pavement by the stop, I stop running and compose myself.

I quickly spot Zach from where's he's seated on the edge of the pavement next to Justin, his phone out, casting his face in a blue glow. As I approach he looks up and smiles widely.

"I was just about to ring you! Didn't want you to miss the bus!" He says happily as he clambers up and wraps his arms round me. I hug him back, taking a deep breath of his smell, one I can't quite figure out, but I know it smells fantastic.

Over Zach's shoulder I see Ra and Justin waggle their eyebrows towards us, already sat entwined on the pavement. I stick my tongue out at Ra, and when I pull back Zach's smiling as much as me.

"What time's the bus?" I ask Ra as I settle on the pavement in front of Zach, so I'm sitting between his legs, leaning on his chest.

To anyone looking we'd be a couple.

"Five past I think." Ra says, moving to sit in Justin's lap.

I nod in acknowledgment and watch the commotion unfolding before us. Oli and Matt already have alcohol, from where I don’t know, and I'm about to go over until I remember I'm still horribly annoyed with them. Kikii and Tom are trying to skate again on Tom's board, and keep failing miserably, ending in a pile of limbs on the floor.

I realise Zach is messing with my hair, running his fingers through the backcombed mess at the back, "Your hair's always so... poof-y," He says softly, ruffling my hair and leaning forward to rest his chin on my shoulder.

I laugh a little, "Take that as a compliment shall I?"

"Mmm." I can feel his soft breath on my neck, making me shiver just a little, "Please do."

I let out a long breath to control myself and move closer to him. We sit like that until the bus comes, screeching to a stop as Kikii and Tom run from it's path. We all clamber on, taking over the back half of the bus, disgruntling the driver as Kikii runs to the back seats and dives on. Zach pulls on my wrist and leads us to a seat two rows from the back. He pulls me onto his lap and I oblige, smiling as I wrap my arms round his neck.

I breathe in his sweet smell again as I rest my head against his neck. I stay like that for what feels like eternity, comfy against him, just listening to the raucous sounds of my friends as they do god knows what.

The bus rolls to a stop and Ra runs forward first, pulling my arm so I trip out of Zach's arms with a scowl. I wrap my arms round my best friends waist so I don't trip over as she drags me off the bus and up the road so we're by the ticket booths.

My lungs tear for breath and I swear a little under my breath a little. When I look up Ra's smiling.

She hits me lightly round the neck and hugs me again for a split second, "Fucking hell you and Zach! Oh my fuck are you telling me you two aren't together!? Are you keeping a secret from me? Is it a secret little joke? Jesus Christ if you're not together I'll throw myself off the top of that fucking ticket booth!" She grabs the shoulders of my shirt and shakes me, "Fucking do something already Ashton! Kiss him or something! Bloody hell!"

She kisses my forehead and I hug her back, smiling widely, "I can’t do anything, he might not like me alright? See what happens!"

We both look up at the sound of footsteps, and see the rest of the gang rounding the corner.

As Zach walks towards me I feel my heart slam madly. He looks perfect – black skinny jeans, grey Bring Me The Horizon shirt, pinstripe Converse, Annotations of an Autopsy hoodie. His hair is perfect, as usual, just hanging into his eyes Oli Sykes style.

Justin hurries to wrap his arms round Ra, and swing her round a little. I watch them for a second, smiling, until I notice Zach out the corner of my eye.

"Where did you go off to then?" He asks with that smile.

"I just had to talk with Ra.. well Ra had to talk to me." I say, smiling back as he walks close to me. I watch Justin and Ra ahead of us, Justin curling his arm round Ra's waist.

I watch enviously as he holds her waist so she doesn't fall, as she walks backwards to
address the rest of the group.

"Where first?" She says loudly, and well over half of us, including me, reply with,

"Nemesis!" – the hardest, fastest, scariest, most intense ride here.

But Zach groans next to me, and my head snaps to stare at him, "What? You don't like Nemesis?"

He shakes his head, his cheeks flushing a light pink as he glances down, then looks back up at me again, "Not really, I don't like rides very much," He drops his voice to a whisper, "Kinda terrified."

I laugh a little under my breath and hug him briefly, "I'll make sure you're okay," I say in his ear, and as I pull away I notice our hands lingering on each other a little longer than usual.

"Good, I'll do it then." He goes to start walking, but I see Matt and Ollie out the corner of my eye and immediately want to make up with them.

"Hang on," I say, my finger's slipping from his wrist where I'd stopped Zach walking. I give him smile, "Back in a second." I run at Matt and jump on his back, where he catches me out of habit. I bite his head, and he yelps, but smiles.

I pull a face at the taste of his hair and lean down to his shoulder, "Sorry Matty." I say softly, looking up to see Ollie watching us with curiosity, "You too Ollie."

Matt puts me down and turns to hug me, pulling his brother in by the neck and it's a mass of tangled limbs and yelps. I pull away with a giggle and I look up to see Zach with his arms awkwardly holding his middle, looking away as soon as I look at him.

I skip back over and link our arms, walking along close as I smile at him, hunching my shoulders in my 'cute' pose.

"You okay?" I ask softly, and he fixes a smile and meets my eyes.

"Yeah, fine."

"Ready for Nemesis Zachy?" I say with a little giggle, and Zach shakes his head, biting his lip and pulling a worried face.

"Nope, shit scared."

I laugh and hug his middle briefly, "You'll be fine."

"Yeah, I will... Come on, let's catch up." He says, his fingers slipping down my arm to my wrist, where he pulls me along until we break into a run and catch up with the gang just before the queue for Nemesis.

The queue is barely non existent, thanks to the fact we're supposed to be in school right now, and as we join the queue, mine and Zach's arms linking again, me giving him a reassuring smile, we get a few glares from smart people who figure we're supposed to be in school.

As we reach the end of the queue, and I can see the loading bays from our position, I notice Zach's knuckles whiten on the metal barriers.

"You okay?" I say softly, so no one else can hear.

"Yeah, just feeling a bit... sick, to be honest."

I hug him again, reassuring him with another smile, "You want to do this?"

He nods his head, adamant, "Yeah, hell yeah, I don't want to be scared."

I keep our arms linked until we're in the loading bays, and I break our link to slip off my Vans, and take them and my bag to the cages, hurrying back since my feet are cold and sliding into the seat next to Zach, watching as he pulled his harness down and his hands shake around the metallic handles. I pull my own harness down and smile at him through the gap.

"You okay?" I say, loud enough for him to hear and he nods back. The cart's start moving and he visibly jumps.

I hear Ra yell, "What's in the bucket?" from the Avenged Sevenfold DVD at the top of her voice and I laugh, along with most of the people in the cart.

"But a bucket of shit!" I yell right back, and she laughs.

As the cart starts it's ascent Zach reaches over and holds my hand tightly, squeezing my fingers. I smile at him through the gap and his own smile is weak.

I ignore my heart slamming against my ribcage at his fingers in mine, and the pure rush of adrenaline takes over as the cart twists, going down a huge slope that quickly turns into a 360 corkscrew.

I hear Zach yell "Holy fuck!" very clearly, and a few people snigger. I try to identify who they are and make a mental note to hit them later. His fingers squeeze mine and I can hear him yelling. Personally, I find this ride a little boring and Oblivion, the first vertical drop rollercoaster, is my favourite, so I spend the time trying to figure out whether Zach's yells are from fear or pleasure.

Before I realise the cart swings into the station and Zach's still holding my hand. He grins widely and I squeeze his fingers back. The harness's unlock and I push mine upwards, hopping over to the cages and slipping my feet back into my Vans and slinging my bag over my shoulder. I smile at Zach as we both join the rest of the group.

Ra smiles at Zach, "Like that huh?" Her smile turns into a smirk and she's obviously heard him yelling.

"Aha, yeah, it was amaze'!" He says, smirking back, "And stop smirking."

Ra hugs him, and I feel an inexplicable rush of jealousy, "Nah, I'm only kidding love."

As soon as they pull away I link my arm with his, to somehow calm my jealousy, and just the feeling of his skin on mine makes my heart race a little.



A few hours later we've been on every ride, Zach's getting over his fear, though he insisted on trying to break my fingers from holding my hand so tight when we went on Oblivion. I'm still smiling from his hand in mine.

I survey the gang, the air filled with giggles as we've taken over the children's playground in the corner of one of the sectors. Ra sits next to me, leaning against each other as we watch the others. I sip on my latte as I watch Zach, Ollie, Justin and Matt have a fight. They're each stood on a small podium that spins round. They're holding on with one hand and are trying to hit each other with the other. I laugh as Zach gets a good shot at Ollie, knocking him off his spinny thing, where he lands with a shriek, legs and arms flailing.

"Oh, my God! Zach!?" I hear a girl screech, and two seconds later a black haired girl runs into my eyeline. Her hair's obviously dyed, and her roots are clearly visible. From here I can see her eyeliner's awful, and I scowl at her Black Parade shirt, and black skinnies.

But I can't help feeling jealous.

She runs right up to Zach and he suddenly stops spinning round and hops off in front of her, straightening out his face and clothes.

But as soon as she hugs him as tight as I do, and her lips peck his for a split second, I clench my eyes shut and look away, burying my head in Ra's shoulders.

She sees it too and her arm tightens around my shoulder.

"Justin!" I hear her hiss and I don’t look up, but hear Justin reply and see him just sit next to Ra.

"Who's that?" Ra hisses, her arms still tight around me, my head still buried in her shoulder.

Justin makes a noise, avoiding the question and Ra's other hand bunches his shirt against his chest.

"Tell me." She spits through her teeth and Justin shifts.

"Ex-girlfriend." He says darkly, and they both glance over at the two. I resist looking and
whimper a little. Ra shushes me and kisses the top of my head, "Split up before Zach moved." Justin continues and my heart seemed to constrict my breathing.

"Seems too friendly to be ex to me." I mutter darkly, and Ra murmurs an agreement.

I look up from her shoulder and wince when I see Zach and the girl. She's almost as tall as him, standing coolly and calmly, blatantly flirting with him, her long hair floating around, her legs skinny under her jeans, effortlessly pretty as she ruffles his hair.

"It's all growing!" She says, running her fingers through it. Zach scowls a little as she causes a gap in his Oli Sykes style fringe, and he shakes his hair, removing the gap, "It looks so hot."

She's everything I'm not, and I find as I'm staring at them, I can just see tears welling in my eyes, threatening to spill down my cheeks and betray my emotions.

Ra notices and moves my face to look at her. She kisses my forehead and smiles at me, "Come on love, let's me and you fuck off, best friends."

I smile up at my best friend and hug her hard, "Yeah. Thanks Ra."

We both stand up, trying to walk along hugging, and Justin watches us, almost getting up to follow until Ra turns to him, "Justin, I love you and all, but fuck off for a bit yeah?"

He smiles and nods, no offence taken, and settles back watching the gang, "I'll talk to Zach." He mouths at us, and I smile back, mouthing a thank you.

"Bitch." Ra murmurs, and I know she's talking about the girl.

I smile up at her and hug her closer, feeling a warm rush of love for the girl I'm tangled with.

"How about the haunted house duel thing?" Ra says, already pulling me down the forest path leading to 'Duel', the haunted house where you have to shoot the zombies and monsters than leap out at you as you move through the house.

"Yeah!" I say, trying to fake enthusiasm, but failing miserably, Zach and the girl still etched in my mind.

Ra senses, like the best friend she is to me, just from my body language and pulls me
close, stopping in the middle of the path to hug me tight and lift my petit frame off the ground, "Don't worry love," She says softly, ignoring the complaints of the people trying to pass us, "I'm sure it's nothing."

"Mm." I say, hugging my best friends middle, and then dragging her towards the queue for Duel, which is always short.

As we climb into our cart, an uncomfy plastic thing covered 'blood' and 'sludge' I lean over to my best friend, picking up my gun with one hand, and whispering in her ear, "But I really like him."

She hugs me, forgetting all about her gun and the fact I'm shooting with my spare hand, already 1000 points ahead of her.

"And he likes you, it's obvious."

"Nah." I say, twisting in my seat to shoot a mad scientist type figure shooting laser beams at me.

"Obviously!" She says, pointing her glow in the dark blaster at a spider from the ceiling, "And that girl? Nah. She's a cunt, he loves you."

I just shrug and I'm thankful for the dark so that Ra doesn't see my blush.

We spend at least an hour just walking around, talking, and as we're walking back up to the children's playground we're sure the gang are still taking over, Ra pulls her cigarette packet out her bag, ignoring the dirty looks.

I don’t mind her smoking, especially when I can cadge one off her in stressful times such as now.

"Ere', give us one love?" I say out the corner of my mouth as round the corner towards the children's playground, my eyes immediately scanning for Zach.

She passes me one, a menthol I think, and I light it up with the lighter she passed me too. I take a drag and exhale, watching the smoke curl up, and feel the nicotine spread through me. I feel a little calmer at least.

Justin comes up to Ra, kissing her hard on the mouth, so she giggles and stumbles back. I cast an enviously glance then spot Matt stood at the side of the slide. I take another drag then run up to him, onto his back again, where he catches me. I blow smoke in his ear with a giggle and he yells, "Oh Ash you cunt." But he doesn't drop me, jerking me up a little so I jump and giggle.

I spot Zach out the corner of my eye, staring at me and Matt, almost enviously, almost. I move my legs so Matt drops me and murmur something to him, something I'm not even sure of. I walk slowly towards Zach, almost tripping until I'm face to face with him.

"Hey," He says, his voice soft and quiet, reminding me inexplicably of silk.

"Hey..." I say quietly, feeling, for the first time, uncomfortable with him.

"Walk with me?" He says softly, moving forward before I had time to answer, even though my answer would be positive. He links his arm through mine and leads me away from the playground and onto the field beside the lake.

I take a drag from my cigarette, just to stop me either crying, screaming, or kissing the boy next to me.

"I didn't know you smoked Ash?" He says softly, stopping us by a huge tree, leaning against it.

"Kinda, I'm a passive smoker... I'll have one if I'm passed it." I smile at a little at my lame joke and notice our arms still linked. I move a little closer.

"Me too I guess." He says softly, "Used to be twenty a day, cut down now." I raise my eyebrows and gesture with the smouldering cigarette in my other hand.

He smiles, "Thanks," His fingers slip against mine as he takes the cigarette from me and takes a drag, blowing the smoke across towards the lake.

"Are you okay?" He says quietly, handing me back the cigarette that I take a drag on to avoid answering.

"Whose that girl?"

He shrugs, "Charl," He says softly, barely moving his lips, "My ex girlfriend."

Maybe I'm just imagining the stress he puts on 'ex', but I still feel jealousy welling in my throat.

"Oh..." I look down at the grass, and kick at the soil beneath it.

"Why?" He says, tilting my chin up to look at him, and the breath stops in my throat, as always when he looks at me like this.

I lean up, standing on my tiptoes so I can whisper in his ear, "I was jealous."

I feel him inhale sharply and he hugs me, picking me clean off the floor, so he stumbles back against the tree.

"You want to know a secret?" He says in my ear, setting me down but still hugging me.

To anyone looking we'd be a couple.

"I'm jealous of you and Matt," He leans back, and there's a little sparkle in his eyes, almost a smirk, but beneath it I can see the uncertainty.

"Don't be," Both our voices are barely whispers now, "Matt and me are just friends."

"Are you sure?" Zach asks, as I take a drag off my cigarette, blowing the smoke to the side of us.

"Sure."

I just stare up at him, just staring, until a loud crack sounds from above, and as I look up, water starting pouring from the branches, the sudden torrent of rain soaking us through.

"Fuck! No!" I screech, scraping at my hood until it's up over my head and hiding in Zach's chest. The water seems to find every crevice and suddenly I'm wet through.

"Come on," Zach says, laughing a little, "We'll have to make a run for it. To that coffee shop!"

I pull away and Zach's fingers close round my wrist as we run, tripping across the sodden grass, towards the coffee shop the other side of the lawn. Suddenly I find I'm laughing, and so is Zach, the same sweet laugh I'd heard the first day I met him, and when we reach the coffee shop, and stand under the awning, we're both in hysterics and breathless.

I lean on his arm, trying to catch my breath and stop laughing when I notice the cigarette in my hand is, somehow, still alight.

"How did that stay lit?" I ask, bringing the cigarette between us, and I notice Zach's not really looking at it, but past the smoke and right into my eyes. He reaches up and winds his fingers round mine before taking the cigarette from me and taking a drag, smiling as he blows smoke rings up into the air.

I smile, my size 4 feet shuffling closer to him, almost too close. I stare at him again, now we're out of the rain, and somehow the screams of people looking for shelter seem dull and distant, as if we're in a different world.

We stay in that world, just staring at each other right up until Justin sticks his head between us, with his trademark grin.

"Dya know," He says loudly, breaking Zach and I from our trance, "That you guys have technically made out if both your mouths have touched that filter."

I raise my eyebrows and whatever witty comeback I was going to spit just chokes my throat. It's silent, my eyes flickering between Zach and Justin, and Zach's between mine and Justin, until Ra hits Justin on the back of the head with a book, magazine, or leaflet or something.

"Way to go you cunt."