You Are the Shell to My Tortoise | ✓

10

"...you see it?" Maddie was saying as I pushed open the clubroom door.

"Yes! I'm definitely going!" Natalie's declaration was followed by a short applause.

"Let's go together!"

"I can't wait!"

They giggled in excitement as I closed the door.

"Hey guys," I greeted as I made my way over to them. "What are you talking about?"

"Our school's astronomy club is holding an event open to all students this coming Friday," Natalie said, her light blue eyes practically sparkling. "They're having a meteor shower viewing on the school field."

"Can you believe it?" Maddie gushed. "Shooting stars! It's going to be so romantic!"

Okay, that I could admit. There was a certain quality of romanticism to stargazing at night.

Mildly skeptical at their enthusiasm, I hummed as Natalie fished out a crumpled flyer from her messenger bag and handed it to me.

"Hi, everybody! Having a lively discussion already?" Olivia's voice traveled into the room as the door opened again.

Olivia strode in with an armful of thick books. Her dark eyes stared at us questioningly as she made her way over to our circle of chairs.

"Hey, Olivia!" Maddie said, patting the chair next to her. "We're talking about the astronomy club's open event on Friday night."

"They'll be watching meteor showers. 'All non-members can attend—although registration is required,'" I read from the flyer. "'Free cookies will be provided!' Wow, that's a great way to get me to sign up."

"And look! 'If you're interested in learning more about constellations, our friendly members would be happy to help you.' That's so nice of them," Natalie said, pointing to the spot on the flyer that emphasized it.

"They're trying to pull in more members with this event, obviously," Olivia said, taking the flyer from me to look at it. "It does look enticing."

I grinned at her. "It's the perfect excuse to stay out late, especially since we'll have permission."

"Natalie and I are definitely going. We should all go together!" Maddie looked hopefully between the two of us.

"I've always been interested in astronomy," Olivia admitted, giving the flyer back to Natalie. "I didn't even know that our school had a club like that."

"Me neither. It's probably a pretty new club, right?" Maddie tapped her finger against her chin.

Natalie looked impressed. "Maybe that's why they're doing this. We should go and support them!"

"Alright, let's go together," Olivia said, cracking a smile at her. "Chelsea, are you in?"

I considered it. We rarely got to bond together outside of our weekly club meetings. This was a good opportunity to get to know them better. It wasn't like I had plans this Friday, anyway.

"Yeah," I said, nodding. "Count me in!"

----------------------------------------------------------------

"No. You're wrong."

I stared Cody down.

He narrowed his eyes at me. "That's an opinion, not a fact."

"Percy would never help out with the joke shop, no matter if Fred died, and that's a fact," I said, stabbing my pen into my notebook page in an attempt to be intimidating.