Episode 7 - Ashley - My Family

Zale offered his hand. I took it and he stretched his hand to the right while putting his other hand gently on my waist. I then put my hand on his shoulder. And we started dancing. He was looking so dashing in his black tuxedo and his red tie. Looking at my own clothes, I was wearing a bright red dress with a black expensive-looking high heels.

Zale was efficient in dancing. He didn't have any doubts with his footing. My dad often sent me to dancing classes before so I know the bits and parcels of dancing. His eyes were looking at mine which made me blush a bit. Then, the music's tempo changed and Zale stopped rhythmically and started to pull me to his side.

Then he twirled me with his hand. I felt like a princess. And after the twirling stopped, Zale lifted my left foot with his foot and bent my body backwards, with his hand supporting my back. Then, he leaned forward and kissed me in my lips.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I woke up instantly trying to catch my breath. My lips felt wet. The kiss felt like it wasn't a dream. Everything felt real. My history textbook was under my head. I accidentally slept while studying late last night. And Zoey's words were still ringing in my head "But you've fallen for him". Maybe she's true. Maybe I HAVE fallen for Zale.

"SIS SIS SIS SIS SIS SIS" My siblings annoyingly shouted at the door.

I opened the door only to find my little five year old sister Reyna Mason, my annoying four year old little brother Fred Mason and Zia Mason, my 13 year old younger sister standing outside.

"What?" I asked sharply

"Mom said we're gonna go to the beach!" Fred said enthusiastically

"Yeah! So come down and have breakfast so that we can go there early!" Reyna shouted

And then, both of them rushed down the stairs while screaming and shouting.

I sighed. "Is it true? Are we going to the beach?" I asked Zia.

Zia nodded weakly. "Mom said only if it's not raining. Those blasted kids literally pulled me out of bed.." she complained

I sighed again. "Alright then, let's go eat."

My sister Zia is . . mysterious. We are pretty intimate as sisters. We used to be always fighting in the past. But one night, she came to my room crying because she just broke up with her ex-boyfriend. Always consoling my friends, that was nothing new to me. I calmed her down and since then, we bonded almost every time we see each other.

"Hey Ashley, come and have breakfast. I made pancakes." Mom said with a warm smile.

My mother, Laura Mason is a housewife. She's a really beautiful woman with a long straight hair and has a really beautiful smile. She was from a really poor family until she met my dad. They started dating and finally decided to marry. I was born not long after that. Followed by Zia, Reyna and finally Fred.

"Morning mom. Morning dad." I said

"Morning." Dad replied coldly and continued reading the newspaper. I giggled at his funny expression. Then, he looked at me funny.

"What?" my dad asked.

"Nothing." I said, still smiling.

My dad, Reed Mason is a great guy. When he married my mother, not only did he ease my mother's family's life, he eased the life of all the families in the village. Although from a rich family, my dad once told me a story of him being rebellious against his dad. His dad wanted him to become a businessman and take over the family business but my dad had other things in mind. So he did the most rational thing. He ran away.

Away from his father, my dad took a course in his passion; architecture. After a major in architecture, he worked for years before accidentally meeting his father at Paris. My dad said they shook hands and his father acknowledged his passion. In the end, he inherited the family fortune.

Slowly chowing down on the delicious pancake, Fred started the conversation.

"So mom! When are we going to the beach?!" he said finishing his last piece of pancake.

"Patience Fred. Go to your room and change first." mom said smiling.

Fred and Reyna were just about to make a run for it before dad cut in.

"Fred and Reyna, what do we have to do first?" dad said as if teaching the two children.

"Wash our dishes.." Both of them said heads low.

Zia smiled while sipping her hot milo. The gap of age between Zia and I with Fred and Reyna is always felt. Once, I asked mom why did they stop for a while after Zia. She said they were busy with work but managed to spare some time for each other in the end. Then she added 'four was enough'. I was taken aback for a few seconds.

I stood with a mug of hot milo in my hands after finishing the pancakes. I walked towards the door and opened it. Suddenly, Zale jogged in front of my point of view outside the house gate. I panicked and closed the door immediately.

"What happened?" Zia asked from the dining table.

"Ashley, you look like you've seen a ghost." Mom added.

My heart was beating fast. I took a deep breath and calmed down.

Why?

Episode 6 - Ashley - A Talk With Zoey Lancaster

I went to the park that Friday for a morning jog. The breeze was calm and the weather was slightly cold. Some old people were doing tai chi by the courts. I was panting lightly after I stopped jogging when I got a text message. It was from Zoey and she wanted to meet me at the Moonbucks - our local hangout place. I texted her back and said okay.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next to the Dean Enright Station, there is a strip mall and the Moonbucks is inside. I went in and found Zoey already waiting there. I looked at my watch and it was 3 in the afternoon. I was just in time. Zoey saw me and gave me a big hug. We sat and ordered from the menu.

"Why did you ask me to come?" I asked.

"Oh you know, just for fun." She said playfully.

I looked at her and it was one of those moments when you just exchanged smiles with your bestfriend. The waiter delivered my chocolate chip yogurt and Zoey's blueberry mocha shake. I still have no idea how Zoey drinks that. Tried it myself a few times and almost puked.

"So how are you and Zale?" she started and gave me the same look she gave at the school gate.

"Why are you so interested in him?" I asked sharply and smiled.

"Oh, I don't know. He seems interesting." She said again. "He's already friends with you and it's not even his first day in school. Which raises a lot of questions. How did you two meet?"

I almost choked on my yogurt.

"Sorry. Must've been personal." she apologized.

I looked at her for a short while. "Nothing's personal anymore right? We're best friends." I said and smile.

Zoey smiled back and I told her everything. How Zale met me under the rain. How I was weak in his arms. And how we became friends. Zoey's mouth opened wide when I told her how Zale lifted me up on the roof and I kissed him on the cheek.

She took a while to let it sink in. And when it did . . .

"Ooooooooooh my goooooooooood, you guys are sooooo sweeet!!" She said it so loud, people started turning heads. When she realized that, she looked around and gestured 'sorry'. I couldn't help but to smile.

"Yeah, I know." I said

There was a quick moment of silence. "But what's wrong?" Zoey asked knowingly.

"I . . I don't know, Zoey . . It's just he seems too good to be true." I said my doubts. "Plus, I just kind of broke up with my boyfriend."

"Hey it's easy, we'll make him chase you! Or maybe he'll manipulate you into chasing him . ." she said lost in her own world and completely ignoring me.

"Hey!" I flicked my spoonful of yogurt at her face playfully.

"Oh sorry. Hey, don't do that!" Zoey said and we both laughed.

"And besides, I don't think Zale is the kind of guy who would manipulate girls into chasing him." I said confidently and finished my yogurt.

"But you've fallen for him."

Episode 5 - Ashley - Under The Stars

I sat by the window in my room. The moon was crescent. The weather was nice, but  my mind was full of what had happened today. How Zale protected me. How he stood up for me. I guess miracles do exist. I was so distracted by the moon, I didn't realize Zale who was sitting on the roof a few houses away from mine.

I opened the window and said "Hey. Sitting alone?"

It startled him a lot and he almost fell down. "Want to join me?" he said with a smile after recovering.

"Sorry." I said guiltily. I tried to climb out of the window. Zale got up and walked carefully towards me. He took my hand and pulled me out of my room. Then, both of us sat down and enjoyed the crescent.

"You know. . ." I started. "What you did to me, it's really sweet."

Zale replied me with a chuckle. Then, he said "I do what I think is best, Ashley. That's just my principal of living."

"Yeah. I thank you for that." I said.

Zale turned to look at me. The moon reflected in his eyes made him look a lot more attractive. Then, he smiled sweetly as if it was nothing. Minutes passed by. We sat awkwardly next to each other. Zale was happily smiling and I was genuinely happy because of that. It was the best night I've experienced so far.

I looked at my watch and it was already 12.30 a.m. Today and tomorrow are holidays because it's President's Day. And since there's no school, I'm not rushing off to sleep like how I normally am.

"Hey Zale." I said.

"Yeah?"

"We met two days ago and I have no idea who you are." I admitted. "It's kind of funny for us to be like this."

Zale smiled again "You want to know who I am?" he said

I nodded approvingly.

"My name is Zale Serra. I'm from New Jersey. I was transferred here because my dad was a business man and he had to switch occupation venue to increase his market. I have no siblings, being the only son." Zale said formally. His sarcasm managed to make me smile yet again.

"What about your mom?" I asked, still smiling.

"My mom is dead." Zale answered quickly and coldly. The smile disappeared from my face.

"I'm sorry." I said sympathetically.

"They all are." Zale said as if denying reality. "You know the 77 explosion?"

"A gas . . tank?" I said slowly and carefully. The 77 explosion is a nickname given to an accident that happened a few weeks ago. A lunatic was driving like mad and crashed into a gas station in New Jersey causing a huge and destructive explosion.

"Yeah. The news of the big explosion was spread throughout the whole wide world." Zale continued. "It almost destroyed the city. And my mom happened to be walking around the station at that moment."

"Zale, I'm just- I'm so-" I started to apologize

"No, it's alright. You don't have to" Zale said and smiled at me.

Then out of the blue, he stood up slowly. I looked at his face, sadness and pain were written all over it. Zale offered me his hand. I stared at him.

"It's getting late. We should get to bed." he said.

I agreed and took his hand. Zale pulled me up and treated me like a princess, making sure I was stable on the roof. We were standing next to each other for a short while and I decided to kiss him on the cheek. His face turned red.

"What was that for?" Zale asked.

"For everything." I said, smiling. "Goodnight Zale."

He smiled. "Goodnight Ashley."

And then, we parted for the night.

Episode 4 - Ashley - Desmond Steele

"Um, Zale, this is Zoey. Zoey, Zale." I introduced them to each other.

"Oh.." Zoey said and looked at me, smiling with her squinting eyes. "I'll leave you two alone, then." she said again.

Awkward silence fueled the atmosphere. After Zoey left, both of us walked home together side by side.

"My teacher talked about you just now." I started.

"Oh?" he said in a surprised tone. "What did he say?"

"About you joining the class." I said and smiled.

"Mr. Osborne is your class teacher?"

I laughed. "Yeah, you didn't tell me you were going to meet him in the faculty office."

"Yeah well I don't know he's your class teacher. And you never asked." he said dumbly. "Wait.. That means we're classmates!"

"Hehe yeah!" I half-shouted excitedly.

Then we just walked home together. We were talking normally about normal stuff. Although the topics changed from football to cooking to killing a cockroach, I realized I was happy. We were walking towards the Dean Enright Station when my ex-boyfriend, Desmond Steele with his gang stumbled upon us.

"Hey Ashley!" he said in a mocking tone. "Who's this joker? Your new pimp?" Then, he laughed with his gang.

Zale, who was beside me took a step forward and raised his left arm sideways slightly in front of me.

"Oh, he's a fighter." Desmond mocked again. "Well, your brain is not as good as your bravery if you're defending that . . whore." he then let out another laugh.

"Oh, want to test it out?" Zale said without hesitation. Then, the whole gang went silent and Desmond's face was getting red hot. He was about to say something but Zale cut him off before he could.

"Or are you too coward to even stand for your own?" Zale said mockingly.

"You watch your words, freshman." Desmond said with his index finger pointed at Zale. "Not many kids insult me and get away without crying" he chuckled and started to laugh. Zale was still holding his ground, protecting me.

Desmond looked at me again and said "Remember, you're still a cheap whore!" then he left with his gang.

After they were plainly out of sight, Zale turned around and asked "You alright?"

I just nodded but in reality I was on the brink of tears. Before I realized it, I was sobbing pathetically. Since I was obviously much shorter than Zale, he knelt down slightly and warmly placed his palm on my cheeks. Then he wiped my tears with his fingers.

"Hey look at me." he said and I desperately opened my teary eyes.

"You're beautiful just the way you are." he ensured me. "No one can change you. He was just a coward, nothing more." then Zale leaned forward and hugged me even tighter than last night. Everyone was watching but he didn't care.

And neither did I.

Episode 3 - Ashley - Lame School

It was a long, silent walk to school. In the train, we didn't bother to say anything to each other. As we were walking through the school gate, students around us started to stare. I don't mean to brag but at school, people know me since I was the president of the Student's Council.

"So, here's where we'll part ways. I'm going to the faculty office." Zale said

"Oh . . Do you want me to go with you?" I asked in a weak tone.

Zale put his arms on my shoulders. "Don't think about it too much, alright? You're better off without him. And it's okay, I got it covered." he said.

"Yeah okay, I won't." I said and gave him a promising smile.

Zale smiled back "You want me to walk you home when you're finished with class?" he offered

"Oh no! It's alright!"

"Oh okay. I'll see you later then?" Zale said and smiled again

"Later" I nodded. Then he left and went to the faculty office. It was like we're couples - coming to school together, sweet goodbyes and stuff - but hey, I'm not complaining. I made my way into the school hall and upstairs to my class. There, the first person to jump on me was my best friend, Zoey.

"Heeeey" she said in a playfully annoying manner. "Who was thaaaat?"

"Who was what?" I said innocently and smiled.

"Just now, you walked through the gate with some random guy and you were like, smiling happily with him! Now don't tell me that's nothing girl!"

"Haha oh my God stop getting so worked up! He's just a friend of mine." I said truthfully

"Just a friend?" Zoey emphasized on the word 'just'.

"Yeah, just a friend." I said and smiled.

The bell rang and everyone took their seats. Mr Osborne - my teacher - slid the classroom door and entered the room. Everyone stood and said good morning. Mr Osborne started to write mathematical equations on the board and called out names to come and solve the equations.Some time in the middle of class, a genius asked Mr Osborne about a transfer student from New Jersey. That obviously caught my attention since it was about Zale. And I was also just being curious.

 Mr. Osborne said the transfer student's name was Zale and he lived in Parkington Park (which was my neighborhood as well). Zale will be entering the school next Monday after the three days holiday. Mr. Osborne even said that Zale will be a good addition to our class. Our class? Oh no. I looked at Zoey. She was looking at me with her left eyebrow raised, smiling. Just about then, 10 hands were raised and all asked questions about Zale.

School ended five hours later. Zoey and I walked out of the school talking about boys. About Zale, mostly. She asked me lots of questions about him and since I just met Zale last night, I obviously couldn't answer that much. We were walking through the school gate when Zoey noticed a guy leaning on a wall. She tugged my hand and pointed at him.

"Isn't he hot?" Zoey stated.

The guy noticed Zoey and started to walk towards us. Zoey hid behind me as the guy got closer. After a few steps, he was already in front of me.

"Hey Zale." I said.

Zoey's eyes widened as I said his name.

Episode 2 Chapter 2 - Ashley - My Cofession

Well, the kid went home but we still haven't finished our ice creams. So we sat on the bench, side by side, finishing each others cone. The locket was in Zale's hand, tightly gripped. I was halfway through my ice cream when Zale asked me a sensitive question.

"He was you boyfriend?" he asked.

"The kid?" I acted innocent.

"The guy from last night." Zale said and looked at me.

"Oh.." I let out a long, exasperated sigh. "Ex-boyfriend, really. Now he's going to tell everyone bullshit about me."

Zale stopped licking his ice cream. "What makes you say that?"

I stopped too and lifted my head. The sky was blue and the clouds were covering the sun. It was a nice weather to go out for a walk. Then I turned to face Zale who was already facing the ground.

"He did that to all the other girls he dated before." I said.

"Then what made you accept him in the first place?" he asked again.

"Because he . . ." I stopped. Why did I accept him in the first place? Even I couldn't answer that. I knew how foolish I was back then accepting his request but I didn't care. Now I am all heartbroken and he will just fish for another girl.

"I'm sorry." Zale said again.

I finished my ice cream and sunk my head into my palms. "What now Zale? How do I show my face at school?" Tears started to collect in my eyes.

Zale tapped my shoulder. I raised my head with my eyes closed and inhaled. Then, I opened my eyes and looked at him.

"You're a strong girl. You can do it." Zale stated confidently and smiled.

"But . . . What if I let it all affect me?" I asked desperately.

"Then I'll be there for you."