Aquarius, Gemini, Cassiopeia, Leo, Orion, Perseus... Aquarius, Gemini, Cassiopeia, Leo, Orion, Perseus... Aquarius--

I repeat the names of the constellations, following their shapes on the ceiling over and over. It's therapeutic, looking at the constructions, their perfectly planned chaos. I look over at my walls, trying to observe the pictures before my eyes quickly snap back to the stars, back to their aimless wandering.

I just can't.

It's too much to look at my life, and when I realize it, my heart aches. As I sit staring, I want to think about what I'm going to do about my new life, but there's just so much to process--so many questions, so much left unsaid, my mind just draws a blank. So it's back to the stars I return, tracing the glowing stickers, searching for a hidden meaning. 

A knock raps on my door, snapping me from my daze. I don't know how long I'd been sitting on my bed, staring at the ceiling, but evidently, long enough for my mom to make dinner. I could smell the pizza from downstairs, and suddenly I was starving. 

"Yeah, Mom?" I say, sitting up with a grunt.

I hear faint whispering outside my door, but nothing else. 

What?

I get up and shuffle over to the door, ready to open it and ask my mom what was up, when I hear a man's voice over the other whispers.

"Alright guys, knock it off, we're just gonna go in and see our fren okay?" The voices fall quiet and the door opens just as I've got my hand on the knob.

I take a step back as the hallway light is blocked by the silhouettes of several figures. 

There is silence for a moment, as the group of people and I just stare at each other, my mouth slightly open.

"Hey!!!" A girl's voice suddenly rings out, and I hear some scuffling and an "ow" from someone before a short, curvy girl stumbles out from in between the two guys in the front. 

Standing in front of me is a blue-haired girl, grinning widely, her cherry red lipstick framing her perfectly white teeth. I stare at her like an idiot before regaining my composure. 

"Uh, hey." I sound monotonous, which wasn't my intention, but I have no idea who these people are.

Well, actually, I do. They're the people from my pictures.

Excitement and nervousness instantly fill me up and I notice I've been shuffling my feet.

"So? You really don't remember us?" The girl sounds fascinated, and the fact that I don't know her doesn't seem to hurt her feelings.

I give a nervous smile and spread my hands out, shrugging. "Nope. No idea who you guys are."

I instantly wince because that sounded a lot harsher than I meant it to, so I quickly amend by saying, "Well I know your faces from the pictures on my walls, but I don't remember anything else."

The girl smiles kindly and looks at my walls, slightly nostalgic. Her eye catches on one of the pictures, and she looks sad all of a sudden. I resist the urge to follow her gaze and instead try to distract her. 

"Uh, so sorry if this is weird, but can I just like, get all of your names?" I sound timid and scared, and I really just want to be left alone. 

Why didn't my mom warn me they were here?

"I'm Dinah, you can call me Dee." She smiles and I grin back. 

"Okay, hi Dee."

Dee looks down and whispers, almost pleadingly, "I'm your best fren."

She suddenly squeals and lurches forward, giving me a bone-crushing hug and I stumble back a little bit. 

"Whoa!" I start laughing and I can feel Dinah laughing as well, her ribcages vibrating against mine. In between laughs, I feel her hiccup and I wonder if she's crying. 

When she pulls herself off, she wipes a tear and mumbles, "Sorry, I just really missed you Echo."

I give her a friendly side-hug and whisper back, "I don't know you, but now that I do, I missed you too. Best fren."

Dee gives a small smile and squeezes my hand. 

With Dinah standing beside me, the next person walks up and sticks out his hand.

"I'm Frederick Preston Williams, but you can call me Freddie." His smile is shy and adorable and with his curly golden hair and hazel eyes, he makes me want to hug him.

"Or you can call him an idiot too, that works," Dee interjects with a smirk, and Freddie glares at her. I instantly ship them.

Well, it's good to know I'm still a good-old fangirl. 

I laugh too and shake his hand. "Hey there, Frederick. It's nice to meet you." 

Freddie smiles, this time for real, and it lights up his eyes. "By the way," He adds, "you and I have matching tattoos. Do you remember that?"

My eyes widen in shock. "What?"

He laughs, "I guess not, then."

"Not you and Freds, he means all of us," Dinah interjects quickly. I look at her excitedly. 

"Where is it??" 

I hear a deep laugh behind Freddie and see a tall guy step up. Unlike Freddie's strong build, he is more lithe and toned than bulky. 

"You hated it, thought it was way too cliche for us." He grins. As he gets closer, I see that his rich chocolate skin is just light enough for me to make out some freckles across his nose. 

Reaching for my arm, he lifts it and I see a row of six circles on my bicep,  all of them empty except the last one, which is filled in. 

"You're right. This is the most cliche fren tattoo we could have gotten." I try to sound annoyed, but I'm too happy to see my frens. Well, I don't really know them, but I like them a lot.

The guy smiles and lifts his jacket sleeve, revealing the same tattoo, except that the first circle on his is shaded. 

"What's with the shaded circles?" I ask, looking at his bicep. (which was very toned, if I do say so myself.) 

"It's in order of age." He replies. "I'm Devon, the oldest, then is Freddie, Dinah is the fourth oldest, and you're the youngest." 

I smile back at him, Devon, before another voice comes out from behind him.

"And I'm the second youngest, older than you by one day."

I look and see another guy step up. I instantly recognize him as the one in all my pictures, but he's even better looking in real life. Well actually, all of my frens are attractive in their own ways, but part of me feels like this guy is more attractive in my way. 

What?

He's a lot taller than I expected, though not as tall as Devon.  We stand in front of each other for a second, just looking. It's kind of awkward, but for some reason, I feel like this guy needs a moment. 

"I'm Josh."

I know.

I shake his hand, still staring at him before my mouth blurts out, "Are you my boyfren?"

ECHO. OH, MY GODS NO.

I barely have time to register Josh's shocked expression before I hear a choking noise, a snort, and then suppressed laughter. 

I turn around to see Freddie and Devon choking on their laughter, Freddie with his hand over his mouth, and Dinah slapping them indignantly.

"Shhh-shut up guys, she doesn't remember, it's not her fault!" She hisses at them, slapping the back of Freddie's head. I like her. 

"Uh, no, I'm not." I turn back to see that Josh is tomato red. He shuffles his feet nervously.

I quickly try to make amends.

"Oh my gods," Josh smiles at that phrase, and I wonder if it's a thing we do or something, "I just thought because you're in literally all of my pictures, sorry, wow ah, I just didn't know." I stumble over my words and the whole situation is just so painfully cringe that I just shut up and look down at my feet. 

"Nah, you're good." I can hear the amusement in Josh's voice and I look up to see him smiling kindly at me. I return the smile as Dinah steps up next to me. 

"Don't worry Echo, you're not the only one who ships you two dorks." She nudges me with a smirk and I look between her and Josh in confusion. Josh is glaring fire at her, so I don't say anything. His glare is scary. 

"I remember you," I say tentatively, waiting for Josh's reaction. 

His eyes flick up in surprise and happiness, "You do? How?"

"Well I, uh, I don't remember anything after I guess my 13th birthday I think it was, but I guess we were frens before then because I remember you before that. That's why I was wondering if you were like my boyfren or something since we've been frens for so long." I look and see Josh's face fall a little bit, which confuses me. 

He was happy I remembered him like 10 seconds ago.

"Oh uh, yeah, we've known each other since we were like 5." He smiles kindly at me, which I try to return but something feels off. 

Turning around, I look around at my *literal* circle of frens. Devon, Dinah, Freddie, Josh and I. Something is missing. I look around at my pictures looking for it. 

Aha. 

The picture of all of us in front of a Ferris wheel. I look for her face before landing on it. There's all five of us, plus another girl standing next to Devon, with dark brown skin and huge wire glasses. She is almost as tall as Devon and her body is thin and slender, like a dancer. Everyone else is laughing and smiling crazily, but she stands looking right at the camera, a small smile tugging the corner of her mouth up. 

I am about to ask about her when Josh catches my eye and follows my gaze to the picture, and the girl. I watch his face fall and his smile falters a little. Looking over at me, he seems to read my mind and gives his head a small shake. 

Somehow I know that he's going to tell me later, so I nod back and turn my gaze back to the group. 

"So, what now?" Freddie asks bluntly. I look around, trying to think of something to do.

"Well, what do we like to do?" I prompt the group, trying to keep things from getting too awkward. I wonder what it feels like for them, knowing someone who doesn't know you back. 

Josh sits up straight. "I have an idea."

He looks around at the rest of the group with an excited smile. 

"Sleepwalkers."

It's as if the word has magic powers because the rest of the group is thrown into motion.

Dinah stands up, already getting her bag from a chair in the corner, "Oh my gosh, yes! We have to show her!!"

Devon nods in agreement, pulling Freddie to his feet as he stands up as well.

"Awesome, let's go!" Freddie exclaims excitedly. 

I throw my hands up in the air, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, guys. What the hell is a sleepwalker?"

"Uh, someone who walks in their sleep, idiot." Devon grins at me cheekily, and I glare back. 

"I know that, idiot. I meant what is the sleepwalker we're going to? You can't just say that and then walk off." I reply huffily, looking around for validation. They don't mean an actual sleepwalker, obviously, but I have no idea if they're talking about a person or place or activity.

Josh walks over, obviously amused, and puts a hand on my shoulder. I try to pretend like it doesn't feel like I'm being pricked with a thousand tiny needles where his hand touches my bare shoulder, so I concentrate on glaring at him accusingly. 

"Don't worry, Ex, it's a place. That's all I'm going to tell you, other than the fact that you love it." He begins to head out the door after the others.

"Wait! How do you know I'm going to love it?"

He turns with a smile. "Because you created it."

I what?

A/N: I KNOW I'M SORRY IT'S SHORT IT JUST WAS THE PERFECT PLACE TO END IT BECAUSE THE NEXT CHAPTER IS A LIL DIFFERENT.

OKAY COOL BYE SEE YA'LL IN  A LIL BIT 

ALSO I MIGHT CHANGE THE CAST UP A BIT CUZ IDK HOW I FEEL ABOUT IT YET.