My Little Star

“Stop making fun of me!” I groaned dramatically, dropping my head into my arms.

I was currently in last period study hall with Jared and Quil, who I met this morning with Leah and Kim. Jared thought it would be a wonderful idea to tell Quil about our trip to school this morning, including where I was sitting and my random comment about homosexual bats.

I felt my face heat up as they laughed at me, feeing Quil bump my arm. “You sat on Paul’s lap?” He asked, his voice amused. I nodded into my arms, not daring to lift my head. “That must’ve been awkward.” He laughed, and I lifted my head.

“It was,” I said dreadfully, glaring at Jared when he snickered. “Nobody was talking, and the radio was off. It was horrible.”

Jared nodded in agreement and Quil laughed at the both of us, shaking his head.

Most of the day I was pretty calm, but for some reason, right now I felt like a live wire; I just couldn’t sit still. I kept shifting in my chair, my fingers were taping at the table, and my knee was bouncing so fast I could barely see it.

“I want a cantaloupe.” I thought out loud, tugging at a strand of my hair.

Jared laughed and Quil stared at me like I was giving birth to an octopus. “What? I like cantaloupes.” I smiled innocently.

Quil blinked and shook his head before Jared spoke up. “Hey, you should hang out with us today; we were planning on going to the beach.”

I frowned. “I can’t. My mom wants me home before four.”

“Aw, why?” Quil whined, giving me a pout that reminded me of a puppy.

“I don’t know. She wants me to meet her ‘old friend’ and his son.” I told them dramatically, using air quotes when I said ‘old friend’.

“Why the air quotes?” Jared laughed.

“My mom went to 'visit' him yesterday afternoon and got back about an hour before we got up for school.” Was all I said, waiting to see if they would catch on.

Jared faced screwed up in distaste and I laughed at him, while Quil just stared at us, looking confused. “I don’t get it.”

Jared laughed and pushed his shoulder, leaving it at that.

A few minutes later, thoughts were flying through my head so fast, that it was hard to tell what I was thinking and what was coming out of my mouth. “Did you know that humming birds weigh less than a penny? And that the super bowl is the second most celebrated day in the US?”

“Girl, what the hell are you on?” Quil laughed, shaking his head as my knee began bouncing again.

Jared eyed my knee before raising a playful eyebrow. “Yeah, and why aren’t you sharing?”

I giggled and didn’t have time to answer before the bell rang. I shot out of my seat and began shoving things carelessly into my bag before slinging it over my shoulder and bee lining for the door.

I heard the guys laugh as they followed me out of the building and into the parking lot, where we waited for everyone else.

When I saw Kim walking out of the school I smiled and dropped my bag, skipping over to her. She grinned when she saw me and immediately held her arm out for me.

I giggled and hooked my arm through hers. It was amazing how well we got along. As soon as we met I knew she would be a great friend, which was weird for me because normally I just stuck with Kelly and Ryan, and here I am with this huge group of friends.

When we got back to the far side of the parking Kim went off to Jared and Paul looked at me with a crooked smile, handing me my bag.

I grinned, feeling my heart stutter. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” He shrugged, smile still in place. “So are you coming to the beach with us?” The hope in his eyes only made me feel worse for not going.

“I’m sorry Paul; I have to be home early today.” I pouted and his face fell a bit, but his frown was gone as quick as it came, making me question if it was even there in the first place.

“Well, okay. Maybe next time.” He gave me a half smile and I nodded with a smile of my own.

“We won’t have to squeeze so much this time.” He assured me, changing the subject as he nodded to his old red car. “Leah agreed to take some of the guys back to Sam’s house.”

“Who’s Sam?” I asked, tilting my head to the side as I looked up at him.

“Just a friend.” He shrugged nonchalantly, as if it wasn’t a big deal, but by the way he spoke I could tell he looked up to this guy, as if he had some sort of respect for him that he didn’t have for others. “We hang out at his place a lot. His fiancée Emily makes the best food.”

I chuckled. “Always thinking about food.”

~

“Momma, you look fine! Can we please go? We still have to drop Austin off!” I sighed when she screamed back that she would only be five more minutes.

“Yeah, you said that an hour ago.” I mumbled, knowing that she wouldn’t hear me from all the way up the stairs.

She told me that we were supposed to be there at six. Well, it was already six O’ four and she was still doing her hair. We were bringing Austin to Emily’s house; the same Emily that Paul told me about after school. Momma said that Emily was Billy’s good friend and that she had a niece of her own, so she wouldn’t mind watching Austin for the night.

I fell onto the couch with a dramatic sigh, watching as Austin sat on the carpet with his little jacket on, squeezing his stuffed pig by the neck. After another five minutes, mom finally came bustling down, looking at her watch franticly several times, adjusting her outfit again and nodding at me, indicating that we were ready to go.

“Oh finally!” I gasped out dramatically, standing and picking up Austin from the floor, grabbing his bag before leading the way out of the house.

She followed closely after, her heels clicking on the pavement as I buckled my brother into his car seat. Once he was settled I shut the door and climbed in the front seat, eying my mom’s outfit. She was wearing a soft looking blue top that hugged her curves and a pair of tight black jeans with high heeled boots. Yup, I had a hot momma.

It only took us about two minutes to get to Emily’s house, and by the vise grip she had on the steering wheel, I could tell my mom was nervous. When we pulled up to the small, cozy looking brown house I offered to take Austin inside, deciding it would be best if I gave her time to compose herself. When she agreed hastily, I climbed out of the car, and opened Austin’s door. A part of me was hoping that the boys hadn’t left for the beach yet, or that they noticed the clouds biulding in the sky and ecided not to go, but I knew it was only wishful thinking.

Once I had Austin on my hip and his bag on my shoulder I made my way up the path to the small house. When I got to the porch, the wooden door was already open, so I knocked on the screen door three times, hoping someone would hear me.

After less than twenty seconds, a woman opened the door with a smile on her face. She was nothing short of beautiful, with her long dark hair and caramel colored skin. On the right side of her face were three long vertical scars, and even though they did nothing to corrupt her beauty, I tried my best not to stare.

“Hi, I’m Stella, and this is my brother Austin,” I smiled before quickly glancing behind me at my mom’s car. I could distinctly see that her hands hadn’t moved and she was now banging her head against the steering wheel. “And I’m sure that if my mother wasn’t having a mental breakdown, she would love to meet you.”

She gave me a big smile. “That’s alright, we all have our off days. Why don’t you come in for a minute?”

Smiled and nodded, following her into the small living room. The house was quiet, leading me to believe that the boys had in fact already left for the beach.

I set Austin down on the carpet and placed his bag in a nearby arm chair, smiling over at Emily as she watched Austin strangle Mr. Piggles. After a second she looked back up at me, seeming like she just remembered something. “Sam’s out at the moment, but he should be back later, maybe you could meet him then.”

“Sure,” I grinned, nodding my head. “Paul and the guys seem very fond of him.”

She smiled lovingly. “They’re inseparable, those boys; like brothers.”

“Well they certainly look like brothers.” I agreed, smiling at her as I fiddled with the star shaped locket around my neck, glancing back at the front door nervously.

“I should probably get back to my mom. You know, make sure she hasn’t given herself a concustion.” I only half teased, handing her a slip of paper. “That’s my phone number; just call me if you need anything.”

She took the paper and slipped it into her pocket, glancing down at Austin before grinning back at me. “I think we’ll be just fine.”

After I kissed Austin’s head Emily lead me back to the front door and I smiled and thanked her before making my way back to my mom.

When I got back in the car she seemed relatively composed, and by the time we pulled up to an adorable red house, it was as if she was never even nervous to begin with. That was the thing about my mom; she was a good actor.

“Ready momma?” I asked cautiously, watching her closely.

She nodded slowly and turned off the car, placing her hand on the door handle. I sighed and pushed my door open, not bothering to be dramatic about it as I stepped out of the car. Mom followed me slowly up the walk way and seeing as it didn’t look like she was going to do it any time soon, I rang the doorbell.

As we waited I looked around, noticing a ramp that wrapped around the front of the house and continued down the side of it. On the side of the house, towards the back was what looked to be a make shift garage, with wooden walls and a tin roof.

A looked back at the door when I heard it open and blinked down at the man in a wheel chair as he smiled brightly at the both of us. Well that explains the ramp. I smiled back at the man sweetly. He had tan skin, like most of the people here, and long dark hair.

“Elizabeth! So glad you could make it!" he exclaimed, smiling behind me towards my mother before looking back at me. "This must be your daughter.” The man smiled, holding his hand out to me as my mom took a step closer, standing next to me instead of hiding behind me.

I took his hand in mine, shaking it as I smiled back at him. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Stella.” I hated being formal, but if it was for my mom’s sake then I would deal with it.

“Billy,” He responded, letting my hand go before wheeling himself backwards into the house, motioning for us to follow him. “Come in, come in, make yourselves at home.” He turned his chair all the way around so that he was facing a hallway. “Son! Come out here,we have guests." He yelled,his voice raspy, but kind.

I forgot he had a son.

Mom seemed to be slowly going back to normal as Billy engaged her in a conversation about something I didn’t really care about. I was happy though, because despite how weird she was a few minutes ago, I could tell that she was really happy around Billy, in a way that she never was when my dad was around.

After a few minutes the pair disappeared into the kitchen, saying something about checking dinner, so I plopped myself down on the couch, unsure of how I would entertain myself for the night. Eventually my eyes floated to the flashing TV screen and I stared at it like a zombie, not really paying attention at all.

After another minute or so I heard a door close from down the hall, but stayed how I was, keeping my eyes glued to the screen until I heard footsteps behind me and my curiosity got the best of me.

I blinked at the boy in front of me, unsure if my eyes were playing tricks on me or not.

“Shorty?” he asked, tilting his head to the side and looking about as confused as I was.

“Jake?” Well, I didn’t see that coming.