Shooting Stars and Satellites

The sun was pouring in from the casement window of my room, shining right down onto my exposed tummy. It was hot. Unbearably hot, in fact, and it was only ten in the morning. I could feel my bangs sticking to my forehead from sweat, and I let a sigh escape my lips. Sometimes the air conditioner didn’t quite reach my bedroom – the attic – and I was forced to deal with the miserable Tempe heat. I pushed the ear buds of my iTouch deeper into my ears, hoping that Chris Carrabba’s voice could somehow make me forget about the heat. I began to drum my fingers on my stomach, mouthing the words to Stolen.

“Alaska, are you – Oh, God, please put on your shirt!” Kennedy shrieked, upon opening my door and seeing me in my sports bra.

I rolled my eyes and laughed, pulling myself into a sitting position. “Throw me that purple tank over there, please.”

“Where?” he asked, covering his eyes with his hands.

“Behind you, jackass.”

He felt around my dresser until his fingers curled around the fabric. “This it?”

“Yeah, that’s it.”

He threw it at me, and walked back to my door. “I’ll wait for you downstairs.”

“Okay,” I mumbled as I threw the tank top over my head. I stood up as he closed the door, and pulled down my green boxer shorts, trying to make them a little longer. I grabbed my glasses from off my nightstand and put them on, before making my way downstairs.

“Alaska!” I heard a voice shout, before I was knocked over over, allowing something similar to ‘umpf’ to escape my lips, as we crashed to the ground.

I groaned as I realized who the voice belonged to. “Pat, get off of me, please.”

His long brown hair flew up as he jumped off of me, and he extended his hand out. “I didn’t mean to tackle you.”

I laughed and grabbed his hand, rising to my feet. “Uh huh; sure you didn’t, Patty Cakes.” I squeezed his cheeks and he swatted my hand away. I smiled and looked behind Pat, seeing a red head and my brother. “Jared!” I yelled and ran over to the red head, wrapping my arms around his torso.

He laughed and wrapped his arms around me. “Alaska Nebraska!”

I groaned and pulled away from him. “I thought we agreed when you left, that I did not appreciate that nickname.”

He smiled. “Did we?”

I laughed and pinched his arm playfully, before seeing two more boys enter the house. I ran over to the copper-headed boy first, embracing him into a hug. “Garebear, how’re ya?”

He groaned. “It’s too early to be this happy, Alaska.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re no fun.” I turned to the dirty blond next to him and smirked. “Cornelius.”

“Annabelle,” he said, rolling his eyes.

I chuckled and gave him a hug. “It’s good to see you.”

“Dido,” he stated.

Pat, Jared, John and Garrett were all a part of my brother’s band, The Maine, as well as his best friends. Because of this, I had grown close to them as well.

“Dude, I thought you said you were feeding us,” Garrett mumbled, plopping himself down on the tan sectional sofa in our living room.

“If you had let me finish talking before you so rudely hung up on me, you would have heard me tell you that we need to go pick something up,” Kennedy told him.

“Whatever, I’m hungry and I need food to be functional.”

Jared laughed and took a seat next to him. “You sound like a bitch.”

“I can’t even comprehend you right now,” Garrett whined.

Kenny rolled his eyes and looked at me. “Before Garrett dies of starvation, would you mind going with John and grabbing some doughnuts or something?”

I arched my brows. “Why don’t you go? They’re your friends.”

Pat looked at me, his eyes wide. “How rude.”

I laughed and batted my lashes at him. “I’m only kidding, Patty.”

He scoffed and stalked off into the living room, sitting down on the couch as well.

“Because I have to finish unpacking and I want to get it out of the way.”

I looked at John. “I’m not changing.”

He shrugged. “I don’t care. It’s not like we’re getting out of the car.”

Kennedy laughed. “You two have fun.”

I rolled my eyes and walked outside, John trailing behind me. I saw his white, ’65 Chevy Pickup, and sighed, waiting for him to unlock the door for me.

“Don’t make that face,” he said, unlocking the passenger door for me.

“I just don’t want to break down somewhere in this thing, with no AC,” I told him, hopping into the truck.

I heard him laugh, before walking around the back, and getting into the driver’s seat. “It’s no worse than Gavin’s car.”

I buckled my seat belt, and pulled my hair into a low ponytail. “Actually, it is.”

“Whatever. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.”

I rolled my eyes, but bit my tongue. I honestly didn’t have the energy to argue with him this early. A soft song began playing as John pulled out into the main street. I leaned my head back, and closed my eyes, feeling the breeze blow over my face. It felt relaxing and refreshing; I no longer felt like I was suffocating.

“Dunkin’ Donuts or Kris’s Kolaches?” he asked, hovering over the wheel.

“I don’t care.”

“Fine; I say Kris’s Kolaches.” He exited to the right, and I sighed loudly. “What?” He looked at me.

“I thought you would have chosen Dunkin’ Donuts,” I whined.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t.”

I rolled my eyes. “Asshole.”

“Hey, did I or did I not ask you before I exited?” he questioned, pulling into the drive thru of the local restaurant.

“Whatever, just make sure and get lots of glazed donuts,” I told him.

He laughed and pulled up to the speaker. Once he placed the order, we proceeded to the window where he paid, and we then waited for our food to be brought out. John began drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, along to some song I had never heard before. I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket and as I pulled it out, Gavin’s name flashed across the screen. I smiled at the sight.

“Gavin!” I answered.

He let out his raspy laugh; something I loved to hear. “Hey, baby. What’re you up to?”

I smiled and twirled a strand of my hair around my right index finger. “Just grabbin’ some breakfast, Gav. You?”

“Breakfast sounds good,” he said and chuckled. “I’m ... on my way to Flagstaff.”

“Flagstaff?!” I shouted, jolting my body upright.

He sighed. “I know I promised that we’d hang out today, babe, but I have some ... business to take care of.”

I closed my eyes and let out a heavy sigh, leaning my forehead against the dark grey dashboard. “What business?” I could feel John’s eyes on me, but I wasn’t too concerned with him at the moment.

“Just business, ‘Laska, you know what I mean. I promise, though, I’ll make it up to you tomorrow.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I’m sure you will.”

“Alaska,” he moaned, dragging out the second ‘a’ in my name.

“You swear it’s just business waiting for you in Flagstaff, Gav?”

I heard him take in a large breath of air. “You know that anytime I leave you, it’s strictly for business. I would never jeopardize what we have for some girl, Alaska.”

I could tell by his tone, that he was serious. “I’m just making sure.”

He laughed. “Look, I’m about to hit the highway. I’ll call you later okay, babe?”

“Alright. I love you, Gavin.”

“I love you, too, Alaska.”

I hung up and suddenly, I smelt the aroma of freshly baked dough. I looked over at John. “I didn’t even notice the food come out.”

“You did sort of have your head down,” he pointed out.

I smiled and grabbed the two boxes from him, placing them on my lap. “Whatever.” I pulled out a warm, glazed donut, the sugary sweet substance sticking to my fingers, and took a large bite. I let out a pleasurable moan.

“Um ... let’s get back to your house,” John said slowly, arching his brows at me.

I laughed. “I can’t help it; glazed donuts just do it for me.”

He laughed. “I’m sure they do, Alaska.” He pulled out of the parking lot, and we began our way back home. “So ... what’s Gavin going to Flagstaff for?”

I took the last bite of the donut and shrugged. “Family stuff.”

“You said it was business on the phone.”

I looked at him. “Family business.”

“Uh huh.” He switched lanes. “You know Kennedy would kill the both of you, if he knew how Gavin made his money.”

“And how do you know what he does, John?”

He snickered. “It’s not too hard to figure out. He has people coming in and out of his house all the time; his eyes are always glazed over, and he usually smells like weed.” He looked at me once again. “Are those good enough reasons?”

I crossed my arms over my chest, leaning into the cushion of the seat. “Look, Gavin does what he has to do, to make money, okay? It’s not like he’s out there dealing meth or cocaine, or something.”

“Right,” John said.

I glared at him. “You don’t have the right to judge him.”

He scoffed. “I don’t? Alaska, he’s always taking off on ... business trips, and when you two do hang out, you usually come home completely gone.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I seethed.

“Yes, actually, I do. Alaska, your boyfriend’s a fucking loser; just face it,” he told me.

“You don’t know one fucking thing about mine and Gavin’s relationship, so shut your fucking mouth, John.”

“You denying it doesn’t make things any better.”

I hit his leg as hard as I could, figuring hitting his arm could cause him to swerve us off the road. “You’re such a fucking asshole!”

“And you’re such a fucking bitch! God, that fucking hurt, Alaska!” he yelled, steering the wheel with his left hand and rubbing his leg with his right.

“Just get us home, O’Callaghan. After that, I don’t ever want to fucking talk to you again.” I slammed back into my seat and turned the volume of his radio up.