Star Riddled Skies

I still believe Ra the next day, as I walk to school with her, talking quietly about Zach in her ear, swinging my tote bag from side to side.

Zach had text me earlier this morning, telling me he'd fixed his phone, but he was going to be late into school so I shouldn't walk with him.

I feel a little lump in my throat and I find myself already missing him.

"I'm sure you guys will end up together," Ra murmurs back, squeezing my arm in hers and making me smile.

"I hope so Ra..." I murmur back, leaning my head on her shoulder as we walk along, but moving it again when I realise it's quite uncomfortable.

"I know." She says firmly as we walk through the school gates and into the quad. She turns and smiles at me, kissing my cheek and hurrying over to Justin. I watch as he scoops her up and smile, fiddling with the strap of my tote bag.

I look around, my eyes scanning the pandemonium for Zach, but I don’t see his DC backpack or black jumper, or his pale striking face and perfect hair, and I sigh.

Well, he said he was going to be late.

I dump my bag onto the pile on the grass, and scuff my feet a few times before sitting on the wall.

It only takes a few seconds before someone bounds up to me. It's a bleach blonde girl, who I know but I cant quite place, and she smiles down at me, "Hiya Ash!"

"Oh, my, God!" I say, reaching out and tugging a little on one of the girls pigtails, "As if you bleached your hair! It looks dead good!"

She smiles and hugs me, and I can still smell the bleach in her hair, "You got a new nickname Cathy." I say in her ear as I squeeze her ribcage a little and pull back.

"Whaaa?" She says, tugging a little on her hair, a habit she has.

"Bleach."

I can tell it's right when she smiles ear to ear and her bright blue eyes shine.

"Yayz!" She says, leaning forward and kissing my cheek before tugging on her pigtail again and lowering her voice, "You'll never guess what happened last night..."

"Carter..." She whispers, her blushing cheeks clashing with her hair, and her two front teeth nibble at her bottom lip, tugging at the silver ring through the center of it, and I know exactly what she means.

"He said it..." She says again, her voice somehow managing to squeak, but still whispering, "He asked!"

"Oh, em, gee!" I say, hopping from one foot to the other in excitement, "What did you say?"

"Yes! Obv!"

I squeal and hug her, feeling my heart well in excitement for my friend.

I see Carter over her shoulder, and smile, "OI! Carter!"

"Shush, don’t yell it." Cathy hushes, her hand over her lips, and I shake my head, I wont.

As Carter stands next to Cathy, or Bleach rather, I realise their hair clashes in the prettiest way, both bleach blonde. Carter wasn't really Carter, his real name was Matt, but thanks to his striking resemblance to Sam Carter from Architects, and another Matt in the gang, it was his pretty much permanent name.

I watch as the sun glints off his septum ring and he smiles at me, "So?"

I smile and hear someone call my name, having to cut the conversation short, so I just lean forward a little and smile, "Congratulations."

"Have you shown her the ring?" Carter asks Bleach, his lips nuzzling into her ear so he barely has to speak.

"Ring!?" I mouth, trying to yell but remembering I'm a secret keeper, and Bleach smiles, slightly shy. She holds out her left hand, the one where her fingers are linked with Carter's and her third finger holds a small, silver band, with a small but beautiful princess cut diamond in the middle. It's the type of ring you wouldn't notice if you haven’t been shown it, but when you see it properly, glinting in the March sunlight, it's beautiful.

"I'm so happy for you..." I say softly, smiling, genuinely smiling at them, and I watch as they smile back.

I hear someone yell my name again, and I murmur an apology before bouncing off in the direction of the voice. I find I don’t know who the voice was, and I end up standing in the middle of an empty space, hands at my side, blazer dragging on the floor, yelling.

"Who the fuck said my name?!" I screech, screwing up my face to the laughter.

"Me!" Someone yells from the crowds and I spin on the spot.

"Whose me?" I lodge a hand in my hair and hear a few kids from the year below laugh at me and I scowl.

"Sam!"

I feel disappointment drop through me, and wish Sam would just get the idea I don’t like him like that, and fuck off, but, of course, he wont.

I wonder over to him and try to fix my smile when he greets me with a hug I return half-heartedly.

"How're you?" He's one of those boys who knows I don’t like him back, but he thinks if he tries hard enough I might just.

I wont.

I fiddle with my tie absentmindedly as we talk, and I find myself wishing Zach was here for more than the simple reason than wanting to see him.

He said he was going to be late, but this is taking the piss.

The bell rings and for once I rush off to grab my bag, to get away from Sam, but instead of rushing to form room, I wander towards the school gates, where, if anywhere, Zach would be.

I tap my feet and fluff my hair and chew my lip and check my phone and I wait and I wait, but Zach doesn't come.

A teacher comes along though, clicking her heels on the tarmac and telling my sternly to get to my form room. I sigh and give the gates and the road outside a last glance before sloping off, my flats scuffing the floor as I enter our form room and Ra gives me a quizzical stare.

I apologise to our teacher for being late, and take my seat next to Ra, where she asks where I've been in hushed tones.

"Waiting for Zach, said he'd be late, wanted to talk to him..." I say back, leaning on her shoulder.

"Wanted to just stare at him more like..." She whispers back, and I see her bite her lip to show she's joking.

I just smile and don’t deny it.

As the bell rings Ra and I saunter to our first lesson, talking about everything and anything and as we turned the corner into the Maths block Ra nudges her elbow into my ribcage, and I smile.

I see Zach's DC backpack, his black skinny jumper, DC shoes, hidden under his horrible regulation school trousers. His head bobs to music, no doubt BMTH or Architects, and I see his face in perfect profile, perfect nose, pale face, slightly blushed cheeks, those gorgeous chocolate eyes and perfect hair and fringe.

I smile and smile and smile as I walk up to him. He sees me from the corner of his eyes and his face splits into a smile.

Justin says something I don’t hear and Zach nods, almost running towards me and picking me off the ground in a tight hug.

"Heyys." I say softly as he puts me down and his smile makes my heart beat a million times a second. I breathe in and out slowly as he answers back, and I follow him into the Maths room since we've already filed in. I take my seat next to him and pull out my book.

"Where've you been?" I ask softly as our teacher is in a good mood and just sets us revision work for the upcoming test.

I shuffle closer to him under the two-person desk and he smiles uncertainly.

"Dad wanted to talk to me..." He says, looking down and flicking through the textbook to a page on angles, just so it looks like we're working.

"Want to talk about it?" I ask softly, getting into his eyeline and making him smile.

He smiles and I find myself blushing horribly so I look down and flick through my book.

"Maybe later..." He says softly, "But thanks Ash... means a lot."

I just smile.

The bell rings and I realise I've done no work but I don’t care, I'd been talking to Zach all lesson about everything we could.

We have Art together next, and I link my arm with his as we wander to the art department, ten or so rooms all joined together by weaving corridors, artwork covering the white walls of the newest part of school, the smell of paint in the air.

I smile as I push the door open into our art room. Our teacher is sat on his desk, chewing a pencil, and he greets us as we walk in.

Usually we're made to line up, but Mr Robinson just let us in, and he acts like a teenager himself. I throw my art book on the table and get a few sticks of charcoal for Zach and I as I watch the rest of the class filter in.

"Alright kids," Mr Robinson says from his seat on his desk, legs crossed with a sketchpad in his lap, "We know what we're doing right?" We all nod and agree and Mr Robinson sticks his thumb up at us, "Let's do this."

I settle down on my stool, slipping my shoes off, and, somehow, crossing my legs up beneath me on the stool. Zach stares at me for a second, eyebrows furrowed, before smiling and shaking his head.

"What?" I ask as I pick up a stick of black charcoal and start filling in the tone on a sweet wrapper, in the bottom right hand corner of the large sheet I'm currently drawing.

I always got a bit too over involved with my art.

He smiles and picks up the white charcoal between us and starts highlighting a drinks can, "I'm sure joints aren't meant to go that way." He says, meeting my eyes and we share a smile and a small laugh.

We draw and shade and highlight away the best part of half an hour, and we're sat so close our elbows are touching but every time our elbows knock and sometimes it smudges my work, I don’t care.

"Fucks sake!" I hear Zach hiss from next to me and a few seconds later a piece of chalk is thrown across the table.

"What?" I ask softly, my hand still drawing of its own accord. I stop it and look up at Zach as his mouth sets in a tight line and I see he's pissed off.

"Can't get the angle of this fucking, fucking, fucking safety pin right." He says, pointing to a safety pin embedded in the resource we're drawing from.

"Let me try..." I say as I set down my own chalk, and lean across the table to retrieve Zach's charcoal and shuffle in front of him so I'm seeing the safety pin from the right view.

I find myself sitting in Zach's lap a little as I reach to the top corner of his sheet and sketch out a few hazy lines. I can feel his breath in my ear and the way his chest rises and falls against me as he watches. My hands start shaking a little bit round the chalk and I take a deep breath to keep calm.

Suddenly I feel three or four fingers on the bare skin of my hips, touching the jutting bone before jumping back the tiniest bit. I realise my shirt has ridden up a little from reaching across, and I feel Zach breath in and out before replacing his fingers where they were, tentatively but surely on the skin of my hip. I feel all the nerves in my body jump alive and it makes me smile, more than I ever thought I could.

His hand stays firmly on my hip, his fingers washing warmth through me and I smile a little as I finish sketching the outline of whatever I'm drawing for him, but I'm reluctant to move and I feel disturbingly happy when its just his hand on my hip. I start sketching something else just to stay there.

"Thanks..." He whisper, and I feel his breath wash over the back of my neck, it makes me shiver for all the right reasons.

"Ash love, do your own work." Mr Robinsons voice pushes into my mind and I feel all the blood rush to my face. I slide off Zach's lap and his hand stays on my hips for as long as possible. He bends his head to stare at his work, but I see him smile widely under his hair and I smile too.

I mess up the rest of my drawing, too happy to concentrate, and I end up throwing my chalk back into the pot and putting my work away. I sit and cross my legs under me, scratching at some glue on the table and smiling to myself.

The bell rings, making me jump and I watch Zach for a moment as he smiles at me, then rises from his seat and packs away his things. I leave my book on the desk for Mr Robinson and swing my bag onto my shoulder.

As we file out the room I slip next to Zach and push my fringe back, "I'll see you in a minute, I've got to go do something..."

I go to push forward through the crowd and just as I do I feel Zach's hand on my bare forearm and I hear him say over the yells, "Alright, I'll be waiting..."

I smile and feel myself blush as I push my way through to the quad, checking it, dumping my bag and hurrying over to the music rooms, where I hear the crash of cymbals and general noise.

I pull open the door the slightest bit and see Ra, purple red hair glinting in the light as she packs her clarinet away and Justin taps her shoulder, pointing to me. She glances at the teacher to see her busy then slips out of the door and follows me down the three or four steps.

"We're supposed to be in detention but Shh."

I just look up at her with a stupid goofy grin and she backs away a little, wary.

"What?"

I screech and latch myself round my best friends neck, not caring I looked like a freak as she stumbled back against the music room wall.

"What?"

"Zach, me, art, Zach, AW!" I screech as she puts me down and holds my upper arms.

"What?!"

"Okay, okay." I say, chest heaving, still smiling, "We were in Art yeah, yeah?" She nods, "Yeah. And he couldn't draw this safety pin right and got all 'Grr!' so I was like 'Let me try yeah?' yeah?" She nods again, smiling, "And so I end up, like, like sat in his, like, lap, drawing this thing yeah, yeah? And then so I was reaching?" I pause in hopping from one foot to the other to show me reaching, and Ra giggles, rolling her eyes a little, "And so my shirt rode up a little yeah, and he like, like, put his hand on my like, hip. On like actual skin!" I say, placing my own hand on my hip to illustrate.

There's a few second pause where I smile manically.

Ra just laughs, "Is that it?"

"What?! It's like Oh. My. God!" I screech, hitting her across the arm then hugging her to show I'm sorry.

"I said I had to go do something," I murmur, "And he was like I'll be waiting, yeah? And I was like Oh, My GOD! All inside and blushing and stuff."

"Baba!" She says, placing her hand on my cheek and grinning, "You've really fallen for him haven't you?"

I nod and blush again, fiddling with my blazer in my left hand, "Can I go now? Want to find him.."

Ra laughs and ruffles my hair a little, "Yeah, let me grab my bag and Justin and I'll come with you love."

I wait, tapping my feet and thirty seconds later Ra emerges with Justin's hand in hers and her bag on her shoulder. I follow them, feeling a bit like a third wheel as I hang behind and watch them. My feeling left out suddenly disappears when I see Zach, stood next to Carter and Bleach. I go and stand with them, Bleach smiling at me widely, and I notice her engagement ring glistening in the sun along with hers and Carter's hair.

Zach smiles at me and finishes his conversation with Carter about some new 'hxc' band. He looks down, at his DCs, scuffs them, then looks up at me. His head whips round and looks at Justin, who I note looks back, and my eyebrows furrow.

Justin waggles his eyebrows and I take a small step back, confused. Zach leans forward and his fingers slide round my wrist, pulling me a little away. I follow him, wildly looking round and I meet Ra's eyes, and she winks.

Zach leads us away to a wall a little further away from where we usually sit, the deserted area of the quad. I sit on the wall and Zach stands in front of my legs. He's nervous, jumpy almost and his fingers fiddle with mine between us like they do whenever we talk.

"Ashy, Ashy, Ashy..." His voice is whispery soft and his fingers fiddle with mine, placing the pads together, linking them and unlinking them, and I smile.

My heart lodges in my throat when I try to talk back, "Zachy, Zachy, Zachy..."

"Ashy..." He says, looking down momentarily before looking up at me and fixing me with a stare that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and goose bumps rise all over my skin.

"Zachy, Zac-"

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

Everything stops.

The world just freezes, the cold air choking my throat and making my eyes almost water.

What?

It takes me thirty seconds or so to actually figure out what he's asked.

I think he's said something else, why would he ask me out? I go through all the things he could've said. I don’t want to mishear just incase I reply and he said something completely different.

"I'm supposed to say Zachy, Zachy, Zachy, and you're supposed to..." I trail off and his hands loosen from mine a little.

"I guess that's a, a no..." His face falls and his posture shows complete despair.

I reach out and pull on his shoulder, panic blocking my throat instead, "Zachy..."

He turns back round and my knees rest against his thighs, "It's a yes," I say softly, "It's a thank God you asked, what took you so long, oh my God yes."

Zachs lips split into a smile so bright I almost have to squint against it. He wraps his arms round my ribcage and lifts me off the wall. I wrap my arms round his neck and squeal, kicking my legs in excitement. I smile and smile into his ear and he squeezes me so tight I feel like I cant breathe.

I don’t care because if I ran out of oxygen then I would die happy, pure bliss.

I smile and smile and smile and he squeezes me one more time before he sets me down and leaves his hands on my waist, smiling down at me.

He moves his hands to mine and brings them up between us. He places them so they mirror mine, finger over finger, tips pressed together. He looks at our hands, then smiles, moving them so his fingers and tightly linked with mine, and I see the contrast of my bright nails and his chipped black ones.

It's perfect.

I squeeze our hands together and Zach lets them fall between us. My heart feels like its going to burst as we walk away from the wall and I see Ra and Justin watching us, arms round each other.

Ra just smiles at me and I smile back so wide. We stand next to them and for once, both of them are lost for words, just smiling at us.

"I knew it..." Ra says to Justin, softly, almost a whisper and I shuffle closer to Zach, our hands between us.

"What?" Zach asks, his confusion not dimming his smile and I look up at him, grinning.

"Just, you two..." Justin says, glancing at Ra again and back at us, "Just, knew it."

"Ash..." Zach murmurs and my head snaps to look up at him. I watch as he jerks his head and smiles at me, a smile that lifts one corner of his lips and makes one eye wink a little.

I oblige and slip into his arms. He wraps them round my shoulders and I rest my head on his chest, seeing the strange way his tie flushes a darker colour in the shadow and I can see through his school shirt and to the BMTH shirt underneath it. I tap my fingers on his chest, pressing my fingers onto the button.

Zach rests his cheek on the top of my head and I feel myself blush again, smiling.

I try to find words to say to Zach, to say thanks or something, but nothing comes to mind and all I can do is smile.

I stay in his arms, just happy, and I hear everyone come on say Congratulations, or tell us they won the bet on how long it would take for us to get together, and I keep smiling and smiling.

The bells rings but I don’t move and neither does Zach, his cheek still pressed against my head. I breathe in his perfect smell and slide my hands round his waist fully, clasping them together at the base of his spine and hugging him as hard as I can.

"I don’t want to leave." I murmur, and Zach moves his head, placing his chin on top of my head.

"Me neither..." He breathes and he squeezes me in his arms again before pulling away, "But we better..."

I make some noise of agreement and stare up at him, smiling. He smiles back and runs a hand through my hair, "You're mine aren't you..."

I nod and rest my head on his chest, blushing again, "Of course."

He squeezes me tight again and takes his hand in mine. We walk over to the grass and pick up our bags and I realise I haven't got next lesson with him. I pull a sad face and Zach notices, tugging on my hand to get my attention, "Whats up sweetheart?"

I blush horribly at the name and look down, shuffling a little closer, "Not got next two lessons with you..."

"I'll see you at lunch, meet you here." He says, squeezing our hands, "Where've you got next lesson?"

I have to think about for a second before I answer, "Tech block." I say, tugging him along towards the far side of school, a group of buildings used for the textiles and woodwork lessons. My class has already gone in, but I don’t care, losing myself in Zach's arms again and it feels so good.

"You'll be late." I murmur into his shirt, but he shakes his head and tells me he doesn’t care. I just smile.

We pull apart, reluctant, and I stare up at him and he stares at me. I hear someone yell my name and tell me to get into the classroom, and Zach smiles, leaning down and brushing his lips against my cheek for a second or two before walking away.

I watch him walk for a second, then have a little spazz, squeaking and burying my head in my hands, feeling the spot on my left cheek where he kissed me burn.

I run into the classroom, dodge in and out of the blocks of tables in the textiles room, and hop up onto the desk, sliding across it and landing in my seat perfectly, smiling widely as I dump my bag on the floor.

"What?" Ra says, looking up from the piece of work she's trying to embroider.

"I'm going out with Zach Deaton. Zachary fucking Deaton!" I grin and do the victory dance sat down, jigging my feet and tugging at my hair.

"He kissed me!" I squeal, earning a few strange looks from other people in the room as I dig my fabric from my bag, along with a needle and try to start sewing.

"Awr!" Ra squeals, throwing her fabric down, "Tell me all, tongues, open mouths, what?"

I blush and accidentally prick myself with my needle. I hiss and suck my finger for a minute before I answer, "Just on the cheek..."

Ra squeaks and wraps her arms round my neck, "You two are the cutest thing in the whole entire complete universe!"

I squeak and scrunch my fabric into my fist, "I know!"

"Girls," Our teacher warns, "No more squeaking please."

I giggle quietly and slip my shoes off, curling up again in my chair and leaning against Ra.

"I'm so happy..."