Stars (Zach Clayton Fanfiction)

Introduction

   I sighed and briskly walked past the group of favored students. Once I had progressed past them, I headed to my moms car.

"Hey mom!" I grinned and hopped inside.

"Hi sweetie, how was your day?" She asked me with a smile plastered across her face.

"It was school," I shrugged. She smiled once more before starting the car. Since the town I lived in is super small, we got home quickly. I could walk home, but the Texas heat is unbearable sometimes. Once we had arrived in front of my house I swiftly made my way to the front door. New neighbors had recently moved in. I stared over there but soon got bombarded by my mom.

"Whatcha looking at?" she peered over and then drew her attention over to the house.

"We've got new neighbors," I pointed over to a moving truck parked in front of the house.

"Oh, I'll invite them to dinner tonight!" she exclaimed.

"No!" I stopped her.

"I'm going to and that's the end of it. Now go play soccer or something in the backyard!" she scolded and pointed towards the door. I walked in, only to see Jacob, my younger brother lounging on the couch.

"How did you get here so early?" I quirked an eyebrow at him as he shrugged. I walked away, rolling my eyes. I reached the kitchen and grabbed an apple off the counter. Then jogged back through the living room and up the staircase to my room. Once I made it there, I opened my closet. I threw on a pair of shorts and a random T-shirt. I had forgotten about my apple and walked back down the stairs.

"I'm gonna go practice my drills," I informed Jacob.

I dribbled the ball back and forth through the small patch of grass we had. Hence, the gigantic in-ground pool. I messed up and kicked the ball over the fence. I started to climb over the large, wooden structure. Suddenly, I saw the ball fly. It hit me and I fell over into the neighbor's yard.

"Uhm," I looked up at a shorter boy with a bucket hat on his head.

"What are you doin' in my swamp you dusty, crusty ogre," he said sassily.

"Sorry," I stuttered.

"I'm just kidding, I'm Zach, who are you?" he held his hand out for me to grab. Willingly, I grabbed his hand. He pulled me up quickly. He must been about 5'6 because I'm 5'0.

"I'm Ariel!" I smiled then slowly let go of his hand. He rubbed his hand on his shorts and cracked a smile back. Of course, I smiled back.

"Did my mom invite you over to dinner yet?" I asked him. He nodded his head, signaling that he was.

"I better go and get ready then," I pointed back over the fence.

"Alright, cya tonight!" He grinned as I made my way back over the fence. Once I had made it there, I jogged inside. I made my way back up to my room, totally ignoring Jacob. I proceeded to take a shower, then made my way to the closet to find an outfit. I decided on a flowy, lacy, white, crop top, black ripped skinny jeans, an army green jacket, and black and white Adidas. I walked downstairs and saw Jacob still lounging, carefree on the couch. I threw one of the pillows on the couch at his face.

"What was that for!" He screeched and threw a shady glare at me.

"Get ready! The new neighbors are coming over in like fifteen minutes!" I shouted. He sat there with his arms crossed.

"Why do you care so much anyways?" He rolled his eyes at me.

"Because, now shoo!" I scolded him. He jolted out of his spot and ran upstairs to his room. I sauntered to the kitchen. My mom stopped cooking and looked over at me.

"What are you making?" I questioned. She opened the oven to reveal a pan of her homemade baked spaghetti. Not to mention, a batch of warm, flaky breadsticks laying on the counter. About five minutes later, I heard a soft knock on the door. I quickly ran to the door and ripped it open. There stood Zach and his mom. (I'm sure we'd soon figure out who his dad was.)

"Hey!" I smiled at Zach. He waved and grinned back at me.

"Hi Arieel," he joked.

"I see you guys have met already, I'm April!" she held out her hand. I grabbed it and to my surprise, she pulled me into a hug. I hugged her back and welcomed them inside.

"You guys are welcome to sit at the table, I'll go fetch Jacob, my brother," I quickly informed them, before jogging upstairs. I dragged him downstairs and told him to sit down at the table. I decided to sit next to Zach.

"Hello!" my mom smiled warmly and greeted Zach and his mom. She placed our meal in the middle of the table.

"Hi!" April beamed back. There was small talk all dinner until everyone was stuffed.

"Why don't you go and show Zach your room," my mom gestured to me.

"Alright," I shrugged and stood up and showed Zach up to my room.

"This is my room," I plopped down on my bed and looked over at Zach, who was gazing at the picture-filled bulletin board.

"That's just a ton of stuff like things from concerts and meet and greets," I shrugged. He nodded his head. I watched as his finger pointed up to a picture from my Jack and Jack meet and greet.

"I'm good friends with these guys," he glanced back at me. He slowly began to sit in the spinning chair at my desk. I quirked an eyebrow at him.

"I'm a younower," he laughed and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"I've heard of that before but never payed attention," I laughed.

"Yeah, we moved so we could be closer to the airport, because that's where we basically live," he joked.

"Do you mind going live with me?" He asked as he peered over at me. I shrugged, not minding.

"Come over here then, silly!" He said in the same voice he used earlier today. I moved closer to him and he sat down on the ground. I sat down next to him.

"1 2 3, cheese," he made a weird face as the camera snapped a picture. I watched the small screen as the chat flooded with a mixture of hello's and hi's. He responded to some of them and soon all the comments said things like: who's that girl? Is he dating her? There were some really shady comments, but I ignored them. Especially since most of them were really nice.

"She's my girlfriend," he joked. All the comments were thing such as: Congrats!, Etc.

"I'm kidding," he shook his head at the screen.

"Hi kidding, I'm Ariel!" I laughed at myself.

"Yeah, she's a little high right now," Zach laughed, pulling me into his side. I gazed at the comments they had posted 'she should get a younow' and 'does she have music.ly?' Actually... I didn't have any of those. Maybe I should make them. I instantly grabbed my phone and downloaded younow and music.ly.

"What should my username be?" I asked Zach.

"Baby Ariel." I started making my account. I heard Zach's phone ding.

"Bye guys! I'll be back later!" Zach scurried to shut off his younow and opened up his e-mail.

"What is it?" I peeped over his shoulder.

"You're invited to join the 5quad tour!" Zach exclaimed.

...and that's when my whole world got flipped upside down