ding dong dead ✘ 5sauce

nine days and counting

ashton - saturday

It was weird having both Stella and Dylan in my house that night.

The only teacher that came to my help when I ran to Stella was Mrs. Longbottom but I overheard the principal telling her not to say anything about the shot. No one else heard it, everyone had already fleed from the caferteria.

I was beyond angry at the principal because it was a high possibility that Stella had been shot. I remembered the panic I felt as I recognised her voice through the scream and as I ran towards the door, dodging everyone.

Not being a hero, I had no idea what I was going to do but I felt like I had to do something. No one else wanted to help her by the way they were leaving in the other direction.

As soon as I pushed the door open though, there was the bang of a gun and I dived out the way. I had no idea what was going on and I wasn't going to blindly storm into the hallway. Instead, I crawled on the floor to peak through the door.

I saw nothing but Stella sat on the ground, shaking a worrying amount. Before I could get to her, she had slumped against the wall. There was another envelope next to her so I folded it and put it in my pocket. I found myself on the phone calling Calum and telling him to round up the other two and Dylan before picking Stella up and walking to my car.

No one seemed to question what I was doing as I made Dylan squeeze between Calum and Luke in the back of the car before laying an unconcious Stella over them. Luke held onto the top half of her body whereas Calum made sure her legs didn't go flying as I drove back home.

Now here we were. Stella was on my bed, still passed out even though it was past midnight. Earlier, we had Dylan check her over while we left the room to make sure no serious damage had reached her.

I had mentioned the envelope that was next to her but we all agreed to wait till she woke up. Other than that, we had barely talked. Dylan started off by writing in her little journal but was now tapping her pen impatiently, waiting for Stella to wake up.

"I can't take it anymore! Open the damn envelope!" Michael had put headphones on a while ago, lost in my xbox games but was now throwing them at the floor.

"Watch it," He glared at me as he reached for the envelope. Even though we agreed, no one went to stop him. We were all dying to see what it said.

His eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the note before passing it to me.

                                                                  doing what I say right now, my dear

                                                                  won't ever keep you in the clear

I was ready to read it out loud but Dylan had suddenly jumped towards Stella.

"Stel, hey! Stella sh, I'm here." Her arms were already around her friend who I could hear crying softly.

"Where the hell are we? Where is he?"

"He's gone, Stel. We're at Ashton's" She pulled away from Dylan, slightly pushing her and looked around with big red eyes. There were fresh tears on her cheeks as she stared at each one of us.

"Why are we with them?" She tried to whisper but there must have been a lump in her throat that stopped her from doing so.

"Maybe because without Ash here, you would still be passed out in a fucking hallway with some crazy guy on the loose!" Michael spat out before anyone could stop him. Luke had jumped onto him but not quick enough.

Stella let out a simple sorry directed towards me before curling into herself again.

"Stel, what happened?"

"Don't you think you should lea -" I didn't get to finish my sentence though because Stella cut me off.

"I don't know. I was reaching for the door when he grabbed me and he demanded me to scream a second time then and he, he told me that the thing he was shoving into my side was a gun. He," She stopped for a second to calm herself down. "He didn't say anything else ju- just left. Then I heard Ashton."

She stared right at me, her eyes boring into mine. I smiled but she didn't return it. Awkwardly, I rubbed the back of my neck with my hand as I looked away. Calum was looking between us, his eyebrows raised so I shrugged lightly at him.

"Do you know -"

"I don't know what he looks like Dyl. He sounded older than any of us, his voice was deep and scary. I'm sorry Dylan." Her friend put her arms around Stella and pulled her close again, whispering something none of us could hear in her ear.

Stella nodded at Dylan as they pulled away, leaving us to send questioning glances to each other and them. They acted as if nothing was up, however and Dylan went back to writing in her novel.

"Hey Stel, want a drink?" She nodded and as I left, got up to follow me to my kitchen. "You okay?" I wa quick to pull a glass down from the cupboard and get the bottle of water out of the fridge. I had a thing about tap water, it just didn't taste nice.

"I thought I was dying. I thought that shot hit me. I thought you were going to watch me die." She was staring at her hands that were fiddling with the hem of her top.

"Watch you?" She nodded and it hit me what she meant. I placed the cup on the counter next to her and tilted her head to face me. "Those notes, they aren't from us. Or the Ding Dong Ditchers. I would never put yours or Dylan's life in danger. I would most certainly not just watch you die, Stella. Don't think so low of me."

She stared at me for the longest time but I didn't move, urgent for her to answer me and agree. How could anyone think that I would just stand and watch someone die?

She placed her hand over mine that was on her cheek, pulling it away softly. "I'm sorry, Ashton." Her voice was soft and quiet but I was content with her apology.

"Wanna watch a movie to get your mind off of... you know?" Stella nodded and picked up her glass, following me back into my bedroom. Dylan was sitting against my headboard to the far left so I sat the far right, leaving space for Stella in between us. She smiled and climbed in, settling down while Luke placed a DVD into my TV.