Every Soul a Star: Chapter 5

Her mom continues, "Bree might be a little self-centered, but she has a tender heart. When Melanie has one of her nightmares, Bree is the one who comforts her and brings her back to bed so she won't hurt herself. She's done that since she was four years old."

We'll make lots of friends, will get to do all this cultural stuff like go to museums and libraries and zoos. When we simply sit there, expressionless, they throw in movie theaters and bowling alleys and arcades. Kenny twitches almost imperceptibly at the mention of arcades, and Mom pounces on it.

If I only have a few more years to potentially find a comet, I need to be under these dark skies. I quickly grasp my meteorite, then let it drop against my chest.

I take that second to whisper to Kenny that Melanie doesn't want to move back, so he'll have to keep her occupied for a while so she doesn't foil our plans.

Wondering how far I dare take this, I say, "Well, besides the occasional scorpion, we'll sometimes get fire ants and black widows. You'll wanna watch out for the brown recluse spiders too. Oh, they're really nasty. They'll turn your whole leg gangrene."

And this time when Bree stops hugging me I don't stand quite as stiff. I'm getting used to being hugged by virtual strangers.

A look of panic flits across Bree's face.

"Oh yes! It's all very expensive, but so is living in the 'burbs. My parents had to take out a second mortgage just to pay for all our activities."
Neither of us knew what a second mortgage was, but Bree said she saw it on a commercial about people needing money.

"Like drugs of course! The drug problem in middle schools today is rampant! You'll be lucky to make it down the hall on your first day without someone asking if you want to buy. And Kenny, holy cow! The elementary schools are even worse!"

We'd pretty much reached the end of our banter anyway.

Bree holds out her hand like she's a grown-up. Ryan eagerly shakes it. I wait for Ryan to introduce Jack, but he's too smitten with Bree. I glance over at Jack, expecting to find him looking at Bree too, but instead he's looking at me.

"'We are aware of a ground-based radio frequency that has been causing interference in the signal. When we receive your complete unit, we will alert you if the signal was caused by anything other than this interference. Thank you for being a part of our team.'"

We pass a clearing with a fire pit in the middle of it.

I quickly toss the stick back into the pile like it burned my hand. “I don't whittle. I'd bleed all over the sticks."

“No, I'm sorry," I say contritely.

The next page is a collage of heads. The woman looks at me quizzically.

I glance over at Bree. She actually seems to be paying attention. Melanie is rapt.

"Good. So now wherever you're standing, imagine a line pointing from you to Polaris. That line points north. It can also tell your latitude. If directly over your head is always ninety degrees, where would you say the star is right now?"

More clapping ensues, and then I sit back down on my log.

He paces back and forth, pulling at his hair. He used to do that in class, too, whenever someone (often me) gave an answer that was unfathomable to him.

I didn't even know he HAD a wife. I glance at his left hand, and sure enough, there's a gold wedding band. I've really got to start being more perceptive.

I figure he's confused about what the buildings are called, but I wish them all happy prospecting, and set off.

Without waiting for an answer, she takes off at a run. Someday I hope to be able to run as effortlessly as her, instead of lumbering along, huffing and puffing.

I can hear myself rambling, but I can't stop.

She says something in technobabble and Kenny nods and technobabbles back. It sure sounds like they know what they're doing. Hopefully they're not bluffing through it like I would be.