Invisible || Ashton Irwin

Chapter 30

Zoe's POV

"By guys! See you next week." Maya, Kat and Lucy give each of us hugs as we get off the bus at school.

"See you guys tomorrow." Cal, Luke and Mikey each give me a hug and the weird man shake thing to Ashton before walking away.

"What time are you leaving?" Ash asks me and I shrug my shoulders while looking around the parking lot at the parents with their kids. I wouldn't be surprised if my parents didn't even show up.

"You can go if you want." I say to him and he shakes his head.

"I don't want to leave you here if your parents aren't coming." I give him a small smile as a thank you. We wait for another half an hour, everyone had cleared out of the parking lot ten minutes after we had arrived. "Do you want a lift?" He finally says and I sigh. I nod my head and follow behind him to his mums car.

"Hello Zoe, I was wondering where you two where."

"We were waiting for my parents." I say sadly, put my bag in the boot and get into the backseat of the car.

"That's ok, I can drop you home."

"I don't want to put you out." I say quietly and Anne laughs.

"Zoe, you would never do that. Besides you live down the road from us it's fine." I rest my head on the seat as Anne pulls out of the parking lot. I don't really want to go home to my "family". I'll probably get there and mum will say "oh, I forgot I had to pick you up" or "oh that's right, you weren't here".

As we drive along Ashton glances back at me. The first few times I don't notice, but eventually I catch his gaze.

"I had fun this week." He says after a moment of silence. I agree with him by nodding my head. "Are you coming over tomorrow?" He asks with a gleam in his eye and I can't refuse.

"Yeah, I'll be there." He gives me a big smile and faces the front again when the car starts to slow down and we stop in front of my house. He gets out of the front and gets my bag out of the car for me. "Thank you." I say shyly and take the bag from his hands.

"The boys will be there tomorrow so around ten?" I nod my head and kiss his cheek softly.

"See you then."

~*~

"Up now Zoe! You need to unpack your bag." I groan as I hear my mothers voice. Yesterday she did in fact forget about me. She didn't even realise I was gone when I got home. How did she forget? Was she yelling at an empty room all week? "Are you up?" She swings the door open and I stare at her from my bed. "Zoe, now." She shuts the door again and I resist the urge to scream. I'm sick of her having this control over me, the need to monitor my every move. I get up and get changed so I can head to Ashton's.

"Where are you going?" She stops me at the bottom of the stairs but I push past her.

"Out." I say and she grabs my arm.

"Out?" She repeats what I say and I nod my head confidently. "Where." She seethes and digs her fingernails into me. Why must she do this?

"I'm going to Ashton's. I have tutoring." She sighs and let's go of me.

"Fine. I hope you unpacked your bag." I close the door on her before she realises that I haven't unpacked my bag.

"Hi Anne." I greet his mother as soon as I walk into their home.

"Hello Zoe. They're in the garage." I head straight there. Of course they're there. Where else would they be?

"Zoe!" The boys say together as I walk into the room.

"Hi." I throw myself on the couch which has become my home when I'm in here. I feel confident and comfortable around the guys and I love it. I pick up my guitar they leave leaning against the couch for me and softly strum.

"Hey did you guys hear about the fundraiser the school is having?" Michael says and everyone looks over at him. "Yeah they're going to have a big sleepover. Movies, food and sleeping under the stars. I thought it sounded cool." I nod my head in agreement and see the other boys nod too. "Great!"

"When is it?" I ask and he thinks for a second.

"Next weekend."

"It sounds good. We'll go." I answer for the rest of them and pick at the strings of my guitar. "What are we playing today?" I look to each of the boys while they look between themselves.

"We thought we could just mess around with a few songs today. You know, spitball some ideas." Calum suggests and the others nod. I love the easy life we have, I mean all we do is play and eat. It's a wonderful break from my normal life.

"Hey Zoe, did you want me to show you some of the new beats?" Ash calls me over and I gladly accept. All I've been thinking about lately is him. What is he doing to me? More like how is he doing this to me? No one has ever made me feel like he does. I stand behind him and watch and listen to him explain what it is he's doing and what song it is for. Somewhere in the land of Ashton's voice I hear the boys say they're going to get snacks from the kitchen. "Did you get all that?" I look up from the drum kit to his eyes and nod. I think I did anyway. He hands me his drumsticks and instead of standing like I expect him to, he pulls me down onto his lap. It's not the most comfortable place to be but I love it. I start playing what he just showed me and only mess up a few times. He stops me when I mess up and puts his hands over mine to show me how to play the part.

Once we finish, I get up off him and head back to the couch before the boys come back in. I don't want them to feel awkward around us.