And I'm getting strong in every way

You won't get much closer 'til you sacrifice it all

'Hi.' I say politely, sitting down on the chair next to the thick glass.

'Hello darling.' Mum says to me, as if nothing ever happened.

'Orange is your colour.' I say bitterly, referring to the baggy orange jumpsuit she has to wear. Prison hasn't done her any favours, her hair is a mess and her eyes dark.

'Oh fuck off. Have some sympathy for your mother would you?' She remarks, and I try to withhold my look of disgust.

'Sympathy?! You expect me to sympathise with the witch that hit me, that treated me like a punching bag? You deserve everything you got.' I sneer, and she looks aghast.

'You pathetic bitch.' She growls at me, and I stand up.

'What are you going to do, hit me? Go on then.' I chuckle and she glares at me as I stick my middle finger up at her and walk away.

'So what's all this for?' I ask Matt, as he takes his hands away from my eyes to reveal a picnic basket and blanket on the beach.

'You've been through a lot lately and I thought you deserved a break.' He says humbly, and I kiss him on the cheek and wrap my arms around his neck as we sit down. He pours us each a glass of wine and we lie down looking at the sky.

'So how was America?' I enquire, as Matt, Dom, Chris and Tom had to go away for a few weeks to record 'Showbiz', their first album.

'Shit. Everyone was so rude and I missed you.' He replies and I say 'awww' and kiss him gently. 'Ashlea.'

'Yeah?'

'Will you marry me?' I practically choke on my mouthful of wine.

'What?' I stutter as he gets up on to one knee.

'Will you be my wife?' He says, and I break out into the biggest smile.

'Of course I will!' I squeal as he puts the ring on my finger and I throw my arms around him.

We stay on the beach for the next few hours until we decide it really is freezing and we pack up and go home.

We all stand there with our envelopes, Chris, Tom, Kelly, Matt, Dom and I. I take a deep breath and break tear open the paper lightly.

Music - A*

Maths - B

Biology - A*

Physics - A

English - A*

Oh my God. I did it.

'I can't look Ashlea,' Matt whispers and I open his letter.

'Matthew James Bellamy.

Music - A*

Maths - A

English - C

Physics - A*

Chemistry - A*'

He whoops, and looking around, I see everyone is dead pleased with their results.

'Wahoooooo' I shout, and we all bounce around together in a big bundle.

'And from the looks of it, we have something else to celebrate?' Kelly asks, eyebrows raised at me.

'We're getting married!' Matt and I shout simultaneously, and before we can all cheer again Chris butts in.

'We have something to announce aswell! Kelly's pregnant!'

And that does it, we are all cheering and hip hip hooraying.

An hour later and we are all very drunk with the exception of Kelly for obvious reasons. Everyone floods back to our flat and after a while we all fall asleep on the floor.

I don't think my head has ever hurt so much.

'Rise and shine everyone!' Kelly chirps, piling pancakes onto a plate as everyone groans at the light coming through the curtains.

'It huuuuurts.' Matt groans and Kelly looks at him.

'That would be because you were doing tequila shots off of Ashlea last night.' She remarks, and I flush red whilst Matt looks quite impressed with himself. Tom sniggers and Kelly shoots him a look. 'You can't talk, Mr 'I want to take off my trousers and dance on a table.' It took three of us to stop you!' Tom looks sheepish and pokes Dom to wake him.

'Ugggh.' Dom grunts, rolling over. 'Is this a bra?' He notices the red lace bra hanging over his shoulder.

'Yup, if you could not go through my drawers that would be fantastic Dominic.' I groan, picking up the garment and returning it to the drawer in the bedroom.

We all eat pancakes and I go to do the washing up with Kelly.

'You do know that you are going to be my Maid of Honour don't you?' I say to Kelly and her eyes brighten.

'Really?' She asks, and I nod, giving her a huge hug.

A week later and I return home from work to find my letter on the table. This is it. I open the letter and read it word by word.

'I've been accepted!!' I shout, but Matt isn't in. I jump in the car and pull up outside the studio, running inside in my boots with dried mud on them.

'Hey Ash!' Dom shouts cheerily from behind the drum kit.

'I got accepted into Cambridge!' I squeak, bouncing around. Everyone bundles in another group hug.

'You smell like horse shit.' Chris whines.

'That would be because I work at a yard hun.' I reply and he chuckles.

Holy crap, I am going to Cambridge University!