Fire Heart

Chapter 8: From 5 to 1

Zoey was so confused,
Ashe likes Jake, Jake likes Ashe! What am I going to do!? 
All she could do was sit in her room and wait until dinner. Not long after, Mrs Croft called Zoey and Jake downstairs for dinner.
"Ooh, spaghetti and meatballs, yum!" Zoey said as she walked into the kitchen and sat down.
She dished herself a plate of food and dug in. Eventually, when their parents were too busy talking, Zoey spoke to her brother,
"How long have you and Ashe been a thing?" She asked. Jake spluttered,
"W-what? We aren't an item..." He said, staring at his food.
Zoey shrugged and walked upstairs with a spare meatball for Flambo.

"Hey buddy, I got something for you." Zoey said as she waled into her bedroom.
Flambo lifted his head up, he was watching 'Adventure Time' on Zoey's laptop,
"Num-Nums!" he said, flying over to Zoey and he took the meatball.
Zoey laughed as she watched Flambo struggle to bite his food, she decided to break it in half. Zoey walked over to the window and looked at the stars, then her laptop beeped.

 "Hey, Zoey you there?" Said a voice from the laptop.
Zoey flung herself over to her bed and looked at er laptop,
"Hey, Ashe!" She said excitedly, then spoke really quickly,
"So, howlonghaveyoulikedJake?" Ashe looked confused,
"A little slower?" Zoe took a deep breath and spoke normally,
"How long have you liked Jake," She asked, Ashe blushed,
"W-what makes you think I like your brother," Zoey shrugged,
"It was just a guess, no reason whatsoever." Ashe looked concerned,
"Anyway, what's going on between you and Luke?" she asked Zoey. Zoey lied back on her bed,
"I have no idea, he seems annoyed with the new guy, Dylan," Her friend nodded,
"It does seem like Dylan is trying to steal you from Luke," now it was Zoey who blushed,
"He can't steal me if I never belonged to Luke..." Zoey said a little upset, Ashe sat up.
"Hey, kiddo. Who's to say Luke doesn't  want you?" Ashe asked, Zoey shrugged,
"I don't know, ever since the Marshmallow incident, it seems like he's trying to avoid me..." Ashe was about to say something but Zoey hung up.
Ashe started to message her friend;

Ashe: Hey, what was that for?
Zoey: I don't want to talk about this right now
Ashe: Zoey. Get over it!
Zoey: ...
Ashe: Maybe he doesn't like you! >:(
Zoey: What are you talking about?
Ashe: I mean, maybe he likes someone else, maybe you don't deserve such a great guy!
Zoey: Ashe..I-I thought you were here to support me
Ashe: I guess you were wrong! I'm leaving! BYE ZOEY!
Zoey: Ashe? please don't go
Zoey: Ashe??
Zoey: Ashe????

Zoey didn't go back down stairs, she went straight to bed. Surprisingly she fell asleep very quickly. When Zoey awoke the next morning, she got dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast.
"Morning sweetie," Her mum said while putting a plate of pancakes on the table,
"Sleep well?" She asked, Zoey nodded, taking two pancakes of the pile.
She grabbed the whipped cream, maple syrup and fruit and threw it all together on the pancakes. By the time she finished it was time for her to walk to school, she grabbed a minty -having no time to brush her teeth- and ran out the door. Flambo followed her for a bit, then hid in Zoey's bag as soon as more and more people came into sight.

When Zoey turned into school, she expected Ashe to run up to her. But there was no Ashe in sight, she pulled out her phone and dialed Ashe. The phone rang, but Ashe hang up on her.
"Maybe she just didn't notice it was me, Flambo," She reassured her buddy.
But she didn't believe her own lie, Ashe really did leave her. Suddenly the bell rang, and Zoey ran off to Maths. She was the first one in the classroom, so Zoey sat where she would usually. When her other friends walked in, they looked at Zoey but sat somewhere else. She was really confused, even Luke sat away from her.

At lunch, Zoey sat in the school library. It was the only place she could quietly sit, without people knowing she was alone. A few minutes later Dylan waked in, clearly looking for Zoey,
"Hey, Zoey." He whispered,
"Can I talk to you?" He asked Zoey.
She nodded, Dylan began speaking,
"The reason everyone sat away from you is because, Ashe told us you were bullying her and being really mean and stuff." Zoey began to listen more closely,
"And then she told Luke that you...that you were avoiding him so you could hang out with other guys." This made Zoey lose it, she ran out to the nearest bathroom. She cried. Flambo was there to dry Zoey's tears until the bell rang.

Zoey never spoke until the way home. Because Luke ran up to her,
"Zoey, if you wanted to hang out with other guys. You should have just told me." He said in a not-so-sweet way.
Zoey began to talk "But Luke I-" She got cut off
"I don't want to hear whatever lies you have to say, I need to go." Luke ran off.
Zoey ran into her front door and upstairs into her room to cry,
Zoey, take control. This isn't a big deal, right now you need to focus on the dragon fire...
She said to herself. Flambo flew over her bed and turned on the laptop, Zoey smiled,
"No matter what happens. I'll always have you, Flambo." She ran over and hugged him.

Zoey didn't come down for dinner, she told her parents she ate a lot of lunch. Suddenly, her laptop got a message;

Ashe: Having fun being a lone?
Zoey: Why are you doing this? I thought we were friends?
Ashe: You thought wrong. Now the whole school knows about you, you'll never make a friend!
Zoey: Ashe, what have you done, this isn't like you. Please, listen to me!
Zoey: ASHE LISTEN! This isn't like you, something's happened, THIS ISN'T YOU!

Little did Ashe know, Zoey was right. Outside Ashe's bedroom window, Merida was sitting in a tree. Humming incantations, Ashe wasn't herself. Zoey deeded to stop this quick, otherwise, she'll never get her friend back...