Circling Stars

🌟Chapter 1🌟

"That tan is not gonna last," my friend said. Shirley Marx was leaning against her Tahoe grinning at me. Her long dark hair was pulled back today and her signature pink sunglasses sat atop her head.

"Don't remind me," I groaned while dumping my luggage on the concrete. The airport was unusually crowded today, other travelers around us rushed to their planes, or summoned rides from the many Uber drivers with a touch of their phone.

"Bitch, I missed you," Shirley said while reaching for me. I grinned and gave my best friend a hug. She squeezed me so tight it was a wonder my ribs didn't crack. "I can't believe you're still doing this after three years. Leaving me here, alone, with Riley and Brandon." We broke apart and threw my bags into the car.

I was glad Shirley had been able to meet me. Our other two close friends were working and my parents were still out of town. I always liked to have a familiar, friendly face greet me after a long trip. I climbed into her car and we set off. "It couldn't have been that bad. Besides if memory serves you enjoy being alone with Brandon." I dug through my purse for chapstick.

Shirl had a sassy grin on her face. "Oh you don't know the half of it, Theo. Riley's been weird lately and Brandon's taken to watching Korean tv shows without subtitles." She took it upon herself to regale me of all the summer hijinx I'd missed this time. She ran through it much faster than usual and by the time we pulled into my driveway, the topic had switched to the new people. "Are you going to school tomorrow? You can drool over that family with the rest of us." She was practically salivating just thinking about them.

I shook my head. "No. I need some rest before throwing myself back into that. It's not like I'm far behind. I've been getting my assignments over the internet for the last week." My summer internship with NASA always ran into the first week of school. Luckily my school administration was very accommodating of students who'd been able to snag such internships and had a program set up for us to receive any work via email; and typically the first week of school had a light workload so it wasn't too stressful. However I felt I deserved at least one day of R&R before walking through the doors of Wendigo High for my senior year.

Shirley made a face. "You are so lucky. I'm not sure I'd do that if I was the big city."

"If you disciplined-"

She waved a hand dismissively while throwing the mail on the sofa. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've heard this before."

My stomach grumbled loudly, a clear protest of my poor treatment of it as I didn't eat any of the airplane or airport food. The first year of internship I'd gotten food poisoning because of airline food and refused to touch it ever since. "I'm starving; let's get some Thai." I pulled out my phone and ordered. We left my stuff in the living room while she picked a movie and I showered my travel weary body. My parents were on vacation in Spain, and not due back until Christmas so I had the place to myself for quite some time.

Shirley was setting out the food on my coffee table when I came back downstairs. I smiled to see the original Japanese Godzilla waiting for us on screen. We both loved old monster movies and the original 1954 Godzilla was the favorite for us both. I told her about my internship and how I'd watched live footage of a star going supernova. I'd never seen anything so beautiful. The stars were endless mystery and possibilities that called to my soul like siren song. Ever since I saw my first shooting star on my seventh birthday I reached for them, and my efforts had paid off in an amazing way.

During the last month of freshmen year I'd gotten an offer from NASA that I couldn't refuse. A summer internship with a moderate stipend and a chance to learn and apply my input. I'd been welcomed back the following two summers and was looking at a fourth after graduation this year. Then I'd be off to college in Texas, and if my luck held, maybe a real job studying the universe after. It was a dream I could practically taste and one I couldn't imagine ever giving up.