Celestial Sisters

Chapter 4: What's Happening To Me?

Luna Goodwin watched from her bedroom window as slews of people entered her house, carrying an assortment of decorative items: ice sculptures, flowers, balloons and anything else Mrs. Haverstock thought the party needed. It was exactly three days until her eighteenth birthday and though Luna was excited to hit the big one eight, she couldn't rid herself of the sinking feeling in her gut. She could practically feel the tension. It was suffocating her with each breath. Only, she didn't know where all of those negative feelings were coming from.

"Okay, I give up," Jane stormed into her room, "That woman is a maniac."

Jane threw herself on Luna's bed. The skirt of her lavender halter dress fluttered around her legs. She ripped the Bobby pins out of her bun and untangled her ebony locks. When she arrived early in the morning, Jane had every intention of helping out but after listening Mrs. Haverstock's nagging for three hours she was ready to hit someone over the head with the ice sculpture. Grabbing one of Luna's gold, sequined pillows, she crushed it in between her hands. Luna cocked a brow at Jane's antics.

"That woman is Will's mom," Luna reminded her.

"Ugh! Poor him. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Will is a miracle survivor," Jane continued to batter the pillow.

The pillow was just one of many and she knew Luna didn't mind. If anything, Luna would be more upset that Jane ruined the ambiance of her room. She worked very hard in creating her own personal heaven. Luna's queen sized, flowy curtains, shaggy carpet and walls were all the color of pure winter snow. The chrome molding, full sized mirror, decorative trinkets- such as her round table side clock, Angel dolls- and her flat screen TV were all gold. The room was fit for an angel like Luna herself.

"She's just trying to give me a nice birthday party."

"Can't she do that without turning into Satan?" Jane abandoned the pillow for the latest edition of teen vogue. The crease between her brows only deepened as she stared the picturesque models on the glossy page.

"I suppose you're right," Luna agreed. Turning away from the windowsill she joined Jane on her bed. "But she has good intentions."

Jane sighed, "Yes, she does. It's your eighteenth birthday nobody can fault her for wanting to make it... perfect."

Perfect. The word that seemed to rule Luna's life was sounding more and more awful each time she heard it. The charade she forced herself to play was becoming tedious and Luna didn't know how much longer she could keep it up. Six years, that's how long she had been playing that game, and after six years she was tempted to take a vacation. Shaking her head, Luna expelled those sudden thoughts from her mind. As tempting as a break from reality was, she couldn't afford it. She only had to endure eight more months and then, she promised herself, she could relax.

"You're wrinkling your dress," Luna said.

Whereas Luna was sitting on the edge of her bed, legs crossed daintily, so her light cream sweater dress didn't expose any unnecessary skin, Jane sat cross-legged- completely forgetting that she was even in a skirt. The dress wasn't hers, just another article of clothing she borrowed from Luna. After trying it on, Luna gave her closed-lipped smile and told her to keep it. She claimed that it contrasted nicely with the mocha color of Jane's skin.

Giving Luna a sheepish look, she carefully fixed herself and mirrored her best friend's posture. "Do you still have a headache?" Jane asked, noticing the tight way Luna held her mouth.

"It hasn't let up," Luna winced. She massaged the side of her head, for a second, before willing herself to forget about it. The incessant pounding in her head was bad, but endurable.