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.