The Constellation

Chapter One: Avoid the Backroads

The blistering sun was no match against the relentless wind that flew through the strip mall at its top speed. Everyone walked with their heads bent down, clutching their shopping bags, and holding their hands in front of their faces in an attempt to stop the wind. The door to the restaurant refused to shut, when Ash tried to shut it, and it ultimately took the other two football players with the group to close it.

The waitress standing at her podium gave them an apologetic look, as they all straightened their clothes and fixed their hair. "I'm sorry about that. How many?"

Marisa, with her curly black hair pulled back neatly with a proper amount of bobby pins. "Seven please." she said politely in a cool voice.

The waitress nodded and gathered the menus before leading them to a table in the back. She took a large sheet of paper and laid it off as the tablecloth, set down a bread basket and a couple sets of crayons.

"Oh it's this restaurant!" Cole laughed and slid into the booth side of the table. He pushed his long bangs back, out of his thin eyes, and opened a set of the crayons. "I used to love coming here as a kid."

"My mom would put paper on our kitchen table, so I could draw on it." Kamden Sanders, the star of the football team sat down next to Cole.

As Ash sat down, she caught a glimpse of her mass of large blonde hair, in the mirror above the booth, and heard her boyfriend snicker under his breath.

"Nice hair, Charlie." Michael's emerald green eyes shinned with mischief as he slid into the chair that Ash had pulled out for herself.

"Shut up." Ash said, messing with the hopeless mess of an "80s big hair" the wind had caused her hair to become. "I'll go to the bathroom and fix it. Give me that hair tie." she said, grabbing Michael's wrist and pulling off one of the hair ties he always wore on his wrist.

"Ooh! I'm going too!" Tanja jumped back up from her seat, her pink and bright blue hair bouncing everywhere.

"I had a long drive to get here." Marisa said, pulling her purse back over her shoulder. "Order a water for me please."

Michael, Cole, and Kamden gave the girls weird looks.

"Why do girls always go to the bathroom together?" Cole asked, as Emma stood up again.

"Because Moaning Myrtle was murdered, and Ginny Weasley was possessed when they went to the bathroom alone." Emmalyn reminded them. Kamden tilted his head and nodded, accepting the reason as an acceptable excuse.

"That is a fair point." he said, then leaned forward and bit off of piece of the breadsticks. "But the breadsticks are all ours!"

"I'll fight you for them!" Ash promised, showing him her fists, and jabbed the air a few times for effect.

Michael pushed her fists down. "I'd like to see you try." he challenged. Ash raised her eyebrow at him, reminding him of where she had practically grown up. "Yeah Stafford, your fancy military school doesn't scare me."

"We'll see about that." Ash rolled her eyes, as Tanja pulled her through the maze of tables and into the bathroom.

Once the door closed, Ash walked over to the sinks and got her hands wet, then ran them over her hair. In this summer heat, her freckles were showing more vibrant, almost outshinning her unique violet eyes. Goosbumps were starting to form on her bare arms, from the direct streamline of the ac unit in the bathroom. As she pulled up her hair into a sloppy ponytail, she revealed the tattoo that Emmalyn had pasted onto her neck, just that weekend, while their parents were out on a date.