"Reese!"
Reese groaned and rolled over, disoriented. He had fallen asleep on the couch.
"Reese!" his mom called again.
Reese swung his feet off the couch and sat up. "What?"
"Can you go to the garden and pick some kale for me?"
"Yeah, sure." Reese stood up and walked into the kitchen.
His mom stood at the counter, chopping onion greens. Her thin, whispy brown hair was tied back with a faded green bandana. She smiled when Reese came in, but her eyes looked sad, and her eyebrows always went up in the middle when she smiled, giving her a worried look. Her eyes went down at the outer corners, and her eyelashes were long and curled up at the ends. The irises were a pale bluish-gray. People told Reese often that he had his mother's eyes.
He slid on a pair of worn hiking boots at the back door and stepped outside. It was chilly and smelled of pending frost. He breathed the cool, dry air in deeply and wedged his hands in the pockets of his jeans before strolling across the browning grass to the garden.
The kale had been unaffected by the cold. Its leaves were dark green and curly, and it had grown to a healthy size. Reese crouched and started plucking leaves from the largest plant. A gust of wind ruffled his hair and he shivered and subconsciously curled into himself.
He gathered a good armful of kale and stood to go back to the house, pausing to look up at the sky. The sun had just started to set behind the woods at the edge of the yard, and streaks of orange and pink were smeared across the graying sky. Clouds floated through the colors, pushed along by the strengthening winds.
Reese turned and hurried back to the house, goosebumps running along his arms. He stepped back into the kitchen, and the warmth of the house wrapped around him, relaxing his muscles. He set the bundle of kale down on the counter and stepped back over to the door to remove his shoes.
"Reese, can you put some wood on the the stove?" his mom asked, taking the kale and chopping it into the green onion.
"Sure." Reese tossed his boots to the side and opened the pantry, where they kept a small stack of wood on the bottom shelf.
He selected a few of the smaller pieces and lined them carefully in the large wood stove. His mom smiled, her eyes still sad.
"Thanks, sweetie," she said, sweeping the kale and onions into a pan.
"Sure," Reese said, walking back into the living room.
The heat from the wood stove subsided behind him, and he felt cold again. He curled up tightly on the couch and took his phone from the coffee table. 33fifty-eight% was chatting with him. That was Maxy, who, out of everyone in the clique, was probably Reese's favorite person to talk to. Reese opened Zodiak and read what Maxy had written.
Maxy: hey
Maxy: can I talk to you
Maxy: also whats up with Margarita
Maxy: is she okay
Reese: Hi.
Maxy: there you are :) hey
Reese: Yeah. What did you need?
Maxy: well I was wondering about Margarita
Reese: Yeah, she's worried about Pippa not being on for a while.
Maxy: yeah but are both of them okay
Reese: Pippa and Margarita?
Maxy: yeah
Reese: I think so.
Maxy: and also theres this girl who moved down the street from me about a week ago
Reese: Yeah?
Maxy: do you have any advice
Reese: Do you like her?
Maxy: I guess
Maxy: I dont really know her too well but shes a really sweet girl
Reese: Why are you asking me?
Maxy: I dont know
Maxy: I havent had a girlfriend in a while
Reese: I've never had a girlfriend.
Maxy: oh
Reese: Why don't you ask a girl?
Maxy: I asked Alice and Margarita
Maxy: Alice didn't help and Margarita said to give her a note
Reese: Then give her a note.
Maxy: Im not sure shell like that though
Reese: Margarita said girls liked that, though.
Maxy: yeah but just because Margarita would like it doesn't mean all girls would like it
Maxy: I mean Margarita isnt all girls you know
Reese: Yeah, but a note seems fine.
Maxy: I thought it seemed a little cheesy
Reese: Yeah, a little, but I think it's good cheesy.
Maxy: I didnt know there was good cheesy
Reese: Yeah. A note would be good cheesy, probably.
Maxy: probably
Reese: Probably.
Maxy: wow
Reese: Reassuring, huh?
Maxy: oh yeah
Reese: What's her name?
Maxy: Amber
Reese: Isn't Amber a greenish color?
Maxy: no
Reese: Really?
Maxy: yeah
Maxy: I think its sorta yellow or something
Reese: 'Or something.'
Maxy: youre making me doubt myself
Maxy: Jaidens chatting with me
Maxy: Im gonna go
Reese: Okay. Bye.
Maxy: bye
Reese pulled up his web browser and googled 'amber.' Indeed, it was a golden brown color, which was certainly closer to yellow than green.
Reese went back to Zodiak and opened his chat with Pippa. Though he wasn't as concerned as Margarita, it was unusual for Pippa to be offline for so long, and he wanted to check on her.
Reese: Hey, Pippa.
Reese: Just wanted to check in on you really quick.
Reese: Margarita's kind of freaking the fuck out.
Reese: Which she does a lot, but still.
Reese: Just reply when you see this.
Reese: Bye.
YOU ARE READING
Crossing Stars
Teen Fiction[Quick warning: some of the sexual and death related content in this could bother some people. It's probably fine for most teenagers and older, but if that sort of thing bothers you a lot, you might not want to read it.] Life is hard, especially for...
