About Last Night

STARSTRUCK

My last day of normal started off like any other Monday in mid-July. The sun was high, the air was crisp with the scent of pine and hardwood, and mom greeted me warmly as I awkwardly shuffled into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Kay darling," she said, sauntering past me.

"Eat up now," she said, looking at the girls. Breakfast was already on the table, oatmeal with brown sugar, lots of butter and honey. I barely noticed my sisters as I plopped down into one of the creaky chairs and took a swig of orange juice.

"No," I said, my eyes catching Mia holding a spoon filled with sticky oats ready to throw; Dawn, five and one year older than Mia, was already covered in half of Mia's oats. I groaned and gave mom a look. It was seven and I couldn't be late. She was holding the blue washing-hamper, blond hair piled on top of her head. And I wanted to scream. It was laundry day. I sighed deeply, grabbed the girls—both mysteriously sticky—and took them to the bathroom. I had to clean them up myself.

Half an hour later I had escaped. As much as I loved my sisters, they were chaos incarnate wrapped up in baby skin and pink ribbons. I was halfway past the first traffic intersection when I realised my fingers were still sticky; I had washed my hands three times before I had left.

Downtown Echono' was marked by the disappearance of white picket fences and the replacement of three-story offices, single standing businesses and the odd bank here and there. In all honesty, I loved my hometown. I loved its quiet streets, the cluster of trees dropping its leaves all over the sidewalk in autumn, I loved its cute boutiques, the trendy art galleries you could find in the town square. I loved the brown open fields in early December as winter slowly started to creep in. I loved that it was far enough from the city that we were on the outskirts of the daily hustle and bustle, but close enough that no one was intoxicatingly laidback. In a town of only 14000 growing up here meant everybody spoke to everybody. Even the slight kiss of wind on the back of my neck felt as if it was apart of the grape vine of gossip. You either loved how close knit the community was or you hated it.

Making my way down the last industrial neighborhood, I turned onto the street leading to Echono Park High, and walked towards my day time prison.

"Algebra," I heard a familiar voice groan as I pushed open the glass front doors leading down the main hall. Despite the clutter of students lining the hallway, I spotted them first. The twins. It wasn't because of Kira's obnoxiously bright green skirt or Kim's abys black rimmed eyes. It wasn't even the fact that the second they spotted me they came barreling towards me and locked me in a hug—it was simply because I knew the second I pulled out of their grip, the second that I even walked in here, one question awaited me...

"Did you go?" Kim asked, black eyes wide with expectation.

Go...Did I go?

No. I did not go to the concert they have been bugging me about for the past month. This past weekend I was in New York, it was a family trip—visiting my Nana. Simultaneously, in some other part of the city, was a concert. But not just any concert, it was apparently 'the concert of the century'. Or at least that was the hashtag trending on social media said. But... why would I want to trade delicious roasted pork, homemade cookies and two whole days of pamper simply because I was the oldest granddaughter, for being pressed up against sweaty people singing monotoned music with an artist on stage with a shrilly voice? It didn't make sense to me.

I didn't have to answer the question. The second Kim looked at me, the expectation in her eyes died quicker than a burning candle in a windstorm. The excitement didn't just die down, Kira physically let my arm go, which she had been hooked into this entire time.

I guess it must've been one helluva concert, then.

"You missed an opportunity to see Shawn Blue in person," Kira said, her eyes glossy. Was...was she about to cry?

"You don't get it," Kim sighed, licking her maroon lips, "He isn't some singer that you don't care about. He isn't just a celebrity famous for nothing...You had an opportunity to see the biggest star of the twenty first century and you let it slip away," she took a breath then said, "You need to get out more. Or you'll turn into one of the boring townsfolk..."

"Live a little," Kim added.

I snorted. They've been telling this exact same thing since I was thirteen and every year after that, and ever new star they discovered was the biggest star ever. Typical teenage groupie. They wanted me to live? I have lived. I've been to three foreign countries in the past five years, been on a mission's trip to Africa once. I have a solid social life, good grades...and yet none of this mattered because I had no social media.

No Instagram, no Facebook, or Snap.

I didn't care about it. And that made me as barbaric as the ancient civilizations.

I blinked, then took them each by the hand. "So," I said, starting to walk. "Did I hear first period was Algebra?"

Immediately all was forgotten, and they groaned. "Yes," Kim said, twisting her face.

"Wanna skip?" I asked smiling.

They didn't answer, but I knew the hallway we had turn down didn't lead to Mr. Erikson's classroom 61. It led to room 108, the school library.

✩ ✩ ✩

Apparently, a lot can happen in 7hrs.

The foot traffic streamed out of the school gates and towards the local coffee shop like a human river—and everyone was staring at their phones. Pings and vibrations were going off all around me and I didn't know why.

"Did you hear?"

"Have you seen??"

"I'll forward you the link,"

Were the only whispers I heard around me. It was times like these that I regretted not having an online life. But... looking at Kim, Kira, Leo and Haily walking beside me, reminded me that if I did, I'd be walking around like them. Tapping glass, swiping a little box, my eyes glued to a small screen. I'd rather be out of the loop than walk around with my head in the sand like an ostrich.

We made a stop at O's, choosing our usual booth. The one right at the back, with the deep red leather settee and weathered table top.

O's was a local caffe one street away from EPH. Automatically it went from being merely a local caffe to becoming the oasis of every high school student in close proximity. Kim didn't join us, though. Instead, she went right to the back, waving at Enrique a fellow waiter. Her summer job had turned into a part time job—and all of us were surprised. Out of all of us, she was the laziest.

"I still can't believe it," Hailey said, fiddling with the laminated menu. I was still lost.

"I know," Leo echoed.

So everyone knew except me, then.

"They broke up," Kira explained, "Shawn and Laura," I had no clue who they were. Or were they in my class? "Look," she said holding her phone to my face. It was an Instagram post of a girl—an impossibly beautiful girl. Tall, chopped hair, round blushing cheeks, golden and tanned... Even after surgery I knew I'd never be able to look like that. I scanned the post;

"Singer Shawn Blue....dumped...model Laura Straus.....sources said...blah blah blah"

Right, so they weren't in my class. I shooed her phone away and waved, "Waitress,"

Kim glared daggers at me, and I smiled sweetly. "Jumbo fries with cheese sauce and coffee," I said.

"Vegan cheese," Hailey added. "And two ice tea,"

"Soda," Kira whispered.

Fifteen minutes later Enrique returned with our order.

"Where's Kim?" I asked, and he pointed behind him. She was lounging on a high chair behind the counter, eating a donut.

Job or no job, she was still lazy.