The Sound of Shooting Stars

by Heather Allen

  “Wait, why are you here? Where are you living?”

  Her questions stumble over one another. Visions of our past flash before my eyes. The two of us climbing a tree and Sam falling to the ground, breaking her arm. Sitting on the beach beside her, sharing half a watermelon, while looking up at the stars to see who can name the most constellations. Her dad calling me son and telling me that he wants to adopt me. My pulse quickens at the loss I endured when we lost him.

  “Hey, Jamie, are you okay?”

  I look away and gather my thoughts. I never thought I would see her again. When my face turns back toward her, awe is the only word to describe my expression. A blush spreads over her cheeks. She laughs, “It is so good to see you.”

  I nod, “It’s great to see you too Sam.”

  “So tell me, where have you been all these years?”

  I look down to my hands resting on the surface of the desk.

  “You don’t want to know.”

  “That bad, huh?”

  I nod. Sam always understood. She wasn’t a product of the system like me but she never looked at me with the sympathy that everyone else did. Her dad always said it is important to try to be in control, and if you aren’t, take control. This became my mantra through the many years I was never in a stable home. I refused to let anything get to me. The things I was able to control, I did.

  She smiles, “Well it seems, you’re doing pretty well now.”

  I smirk and remember Beckett. I glance around and my eyes land on her. She’s sitting all the way up front with her back to me. Dani is sitting next to her. I’m about to look away but Dani catches my stare. She glares daggers at me and diverts her face back to the front. Great, I guess it’s Hyde after all.

  The teacher strolls in before I can tell Sam anything. But I look back over and she’s staring at me like she just won the biggest teddy bear at a carnival. I’m feeling slightly the same.

  Sam, a large sigh escapes my lips. I’ve missed her so much.

  After class Sam hurries us out, pulling me by my hand all the way to a round table across the room of the cafeteria. She plops down next to me and continues drilling as if an hour of class didn’t just pass.

  “Jamie, I still can’t believe it. Where are you living? Did you just get here because I’ve never seen you here before today; of course I was out yesterday but…”

  I smile at her overload of questions and tell her, “Yesterday was my first day here. Unfortunately, I’ve hopped around a lot since, your family.” My voice lowers at the last part of my confession.

  She sits back in her seat and mumbles, “Jamie, I’m so sorry.” Sympathy colors her words this time. It is the first time I’ve ever gotten that from Sam. I’m a little shocked.

  I shake my head wanting nothing more than for her to not to feel that way.

  “Sam, it’s no big deal. This is my last one. I’ll be on my own in May.”

  She sighs, “Oh, well that’s good.” Her eyes scan the cafeteria. I watch as her features brighten momentarily. I follow her gaze and see a tall skinny guy walking toward us. He is wearing those thick framed glasses that are in style now and his dark hair is a little long almost the length of Sam’s. I look back at her with a questioning look.

  She smiles as the guy stops at our table. She leaps from her chair and grabs his hand pulling him closer, “Babe, I want you to meet Jamie Grey. He’s attending school here now.”

  I stand up noticing that he is slightly taller than me. I hold my hand out to shake his. He grins and says while shaking my hand, “Jacob Daniels, it’s nice to meet you. Samantha has told me a lot about you.”

  I look over at Sam and she smiles and pulls him down to her level quickly pecking him on the lips. This whole thing makes me uncomfortable and I suddenly want to go back to the table I occupied yesterday. I look over to find that it isn’t empty today. Two girls are sitting over there laughing. Sam ushers for both of us to sit down. She situates herself in between us and starts telling me how she ended up here.

  Apparently after her dad died and her mom didn’t want to deal with the everyday events of life, she sent me away. This I know already. It devastated me that I was so close to having a family and it was ripped out from under me.

  After that her mom started drinking. A couple of really low years passed before her mom met a man, Gregory, Sam calls him, and got remarried. He ended up being filthy rich so he moved them here to Palm Beach. She’s been here ever since.

  I glance across the room feeling completely miserable suddenly. I meet Beckett’s glare. She is definitely channeling her inner evil self. Maybe the walk after school will be good for me. The last place I want to be is in a car with her.

  Sam calls to me, “Hey Jamie, so you didn’t tell me, where are you living?”

  For some reason I’m not too keen on telling her about living with Beckett’s family. Call it intuition or whatever but I avoid telling it all.

  “I’m living over off of Cherry Street, only nine more months though.”

  She laughs, “I can’t blame you for counting down.”

  Her eyes perk up and she glances over at Jacob, “Hey babe, we should bring Jamie over to Gabe’s house this weekend. It will give him a chance to meet more people.”

  “Sure, Sammy, whatever you want.”

  Her face reddens as he uses his pet name for her. For whatever reason, my stomach clenches as I watch their exchange.

  She turns to me and explains, “Gabe is Jacob’s closest friend. He lives over on the beach and his parents are going out of town this weekend. He’s having a big party.”

  Oh man, a party with lots of drunken teenagers. Not an event I would voluntarily attend. I shake my head but she doesn’t let me answer.

  “Oh yes, Jamie, you are going. I know you; you’re still that shy boy, aren’t you? Well, I’m determined that you’re going to have the best senior year, if I have anything to do with it.”

  The rest of the day passes quickly. I don’t see Beckett or her two sidekicks at all. Sam however makes sure to meet me at my locker after each class. She wants to know all about my classes and who I’ve met so far. I’ve always kept to myself so there isn’t much to tell her. Instead she gushes about which teachers are the best and which ones I need to steer clear of as much as possible.

  After school I trek out to the parking lot to find Beckett standing against her car. Obstructing my view of her is the same dude from the cafeteria yesterday. He’s talking to her but her expression says she’s annoyed. She shifts on her feet and spots me over his shoulder. A swift smile spreads over her lips right before she grasps him by the shoulders and brings him down into her space.

  I shake my head and shoulder my bag. Dammit, Beckett. Nine months is a long time with this crap. I stroll down through the lot and onto the sidewalk leading in the direction of her house. I probably won’t see Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee today. I’ll have to endure the heated walk but that’s okay because I finally have a tiny glint in the dark that has surrounded me for so long, Sam.

  Chapter Ten

  Beckett Chase

  Ursa Major – The Great Bear

  Callisto lived as a bear for 15 years, roaming the forest and always running and hiding from hunters. One day, her son Arcas was walking in the forest and the two came face to face. At the sight of the bear, Arcas quickly drew his spear, scared. Seeing the scene from Olympus, Zeus intervened to prevent disaster.

  ~*~

  The one time I’m thinking of taking a chance and letting someone close to my heart, it gets stomped on and kicked across the sky. They’re all the same, every single one of them. They’ll take what they want and if you get hurt in the process, who gives a shit? I vowed never again would I let it happen. Seeing Jamie talking to Samantha of all the people in this shitty school, was a wake -up call that I need to steer clear of him. It was a reminder of what happened last year.

  Dani tried to give me play by play descriptions during English and lunch but I ignored her. As far
as I’m concerned Jamie Grey is that minor blip on my radar that I just happen to live with. I’ve gotten real good at turning it all off and it works for me.

  After school, Brett cornered me at my car when Dani and Trina took off. He wanted to solidify our plans for the weekend. I was ready to call them off maybe having a moment of sympathy for him. I don’t want to lead him on when I’m not interested. But then Jamie walked out of the school and it was on. I pulled him down planting a nice fat kiss across his lips. When he pulled away I looked back over to find Jamie gone. Brett’s hand came up to my cheek caressing it as if endearing me. Oh God give me a break. I turned and huffed into my car. Confusion crosses Brett’s face as he leans against the window frame when I lower it.

  “Beckett, you baffle me. One minute you’re interested and the next you want nothing to do with me.”

  I sigh and tell him, “Brett, how about we meet at Gabe’s on Saturday night?”

  He squints, “That doesn’t exactly sound like a date.”

  “I know but it’s the best I can do right now.” Suddenly I’m tired and all I want is to sleep until tomorrow morning.

  He nods still looking unsure. I pull away resigned that if I do go out on any date with Brett, he’ll probably be the one to get hurt. Maybe I shouldn’t care but a part of me doesn’t want to put him through what I went through.

  When I pull into the drive the only car there besides mine is Sasha’s. I step out and clop up the steps. Maybe I can get away with not seeing Jamie at all. I make my way up the steps to my room and pull out my phone placing it on the bedside table. I change into blue sweats and a white tank top and crawl on top of my bed. My eyes fix on the stars above. I spy the empty spot where a star used to rest and immediately push up from the bed to find the extra stars David stashed in my desk years ago.

  A whole sheet of the shiny things lay before me when I open the drawer. I grasp them and climb up my chair to replace the missing star. Unfortunately, I’m not tall enough and my hand won’t stretch the five inches I need to push it flush with the ceiling.

  Before I can climb down, my bedroom door swings open to reveal a very pissed Jamie. I lose my balance surprised by his entrance. My foot slips and my body falls to the floor with a loud thud.

  He mutters, “Shit, Beckett.” and hurries in.

  I roll to my back and cradle my wrist which unfortunately I must have landed on.

  He kneels down and asks looking into my eyes, “Are you alright?”

  I frown and look to my wrist. He grasps it gently and asks as he moves it softly, “Does that hurt?”

  When it shifts to the right a searing pain shoots up my arm and I yell, “Ow!”

  He sits back moving his long legs out from under him and stares, “I don’t think it’s broken but you might have sprained it. Do you want me to call your mom?”

  Suddenly uncomfortable, being splayed out on the hardwood floor in all my glory, I shift and push myself to a sitting position with my good hand. I look back over at him and shake my head because if Marla gets wind of this I’ll never hear the end of it.

  He looks at the chair and up at the ceiling then back at me.

  “What were you doing up there anyway?”

  I can feel the flush through my face as the embarrassment of what I was doing surfaces. But instead of letting him get to me which I vowed I wouldn’t allow, I tell him, “I was replacing a missing star.”

  He looks up again at the ceiling with an interested look crossing his face. He stands up, crosses the room and closes the blinds. Shadows dance across the floor and walls until we are surrounded by only a dim light. He turns back to me and walks over to the exact spot he vacated only a minute before. I watch intrigued as he lowers himself onto the floor. He leans down onto his back and looks up.

  “Ah, I see you’re missing one of the stars in Ursa Major.”

  I look over at him as he stares above us in amazement. My mouth is dry and I can’t speak. My wrist is beginning to throb but my attention is diverted to this boy lying on the floor of my room.

  He gets up abruptly and scans the floor finally finding what he’s looking for. He reaches down a few feet from where I fell and lifts the sheet of stickers. When he stands up again he glances over at me with a slow smile. He climbs up the chair and replaces the missing star with a new one.

  Once the chair is pushed back under my desk he resumes his position on the floor staring back up at the ceiling.

  “Much better,” he exclaims and moves his arm over his forehead.

  The whole time I just watch him like a total idiot. Where did the angry, shy boy go?

  He looks over at me after a few minutes of staring at the twinkling stickers above and pats the spot next to him.

  I frown and try to hide my wince as I slide onto my back. Lying a few feet from him, my heart speeds up and I’m at a loss for everything. This is exactly the thing I was set on staying away from a mere hour ago.

  He breaks the silence, “Did you put those up? You did a really good job on the more known ones.”

  I consider a lie telling him that yes I am gifted and I put them up myself but it’s pretty obvious by my recent mishap that it wasn’t me.

  “No, David did it when I was ten.”

  A few minutes later I whisper, “We would lay in this exact spot right before bed and he’d point them out to me.”

  I smile as more of the memory rolls out, “He thought that once I could recognize them on my ceiling, I’d be able to spot them in the night sky.”

  I laugh as I continue, “He was sadly very wrong. We tried on the balcony and I couldn’t find any. But at the beach, I did find that one.”

  I point up to the great bear before us. He turns his head in my direction. I’m scared to look back at him but his stare calls to me. I turn my head and meet his gaze. I can feel his breath on my face. His expression is calm and determined. I close my eyes momentarily gathering my wits about me. Obviously I didn’t try hard enough to stay away.

  When I open my eyes again a curious look has crossed his face. He asks quietly, “Beckett, what happened to our truce?”

  The day comes slamming back into me. Sam, Samantha Jamison. I avert my eyes back up to the stars trying not to let him see the hurt in them.

  My voice comes out strangled, “We still have it.”

  His voice gathers anger, “That’s not what your dirty looks and actions say.”

  I frown at his inference. Actions? Is he referring to the kiss with Brett? I shift uncomfortably and glance back at his intense stare.

  “Jamie, why Samantha?”

  This time it’s his turn to move away from my stare. He looks up at the stars and states, “Sam is family. Do you know why I know about those?” He gestures to the glistening dots above us. I remain quiet urging him to go on.

  “Sam’s dad. He was the closest I’ve ever come to having one of my own.”

  He looks back over at me with a set look, “Sam is my family, the only one I’ve ever known. I lived with her family for six years.”

  My breath escapes me as my heart skips a few beats. Shit. Why me?

  I turn briefly to look at the ceiling that has suddenly lost it’s pull on me. Angling on my side, I pull my body up with my undamaged hand. Once I’m sitting up I stand and look down at him. Concern is etched in his eyes but I l don’t give him a chance to ask any questions.

  “I have to go and see if Marla is home. I might need to see a doctor after all.”

  He scrambles to his feet but I’m already out the door skipping down the steps to put as much distance between us as I can. I knew Jamie Grey was bad news the moment I saw him. That’ll teach me not to listen to my inner voice.

  Chapter Eleven

  Jamie Grey

  Capricornus – The Goat

  Pan, the goat, helped scare the Titans away by blowing his conch shell and, later, he warned the gods that Typhon, a monster sent by Gaia to fight the gods, was approaching. He also suggested that the gods disguise themsel
ves as animals until the danger passed.

  ~*~

  Beckett is so infuriating and I was ready to let her have it when I got back to her house. The walk home didn’t take as long as I thought it would but I was practically soaked from the heat by the time I crossed into the frigid air of the house. I changed quickly and gathered my thoughts to give her hell. If this is my last stop, I have to make it work, and with that find some kind of agreement between us.

  Her fall from the chair scared me half to death. I wanted to dive down and cushion her fall but it happened so fast, all I could do was stand there and watch. I think she really did sprain her wrist but I didn’t want to push it. If I’ve learned anything in the last two days, it’s that Beckett Chase does things when she wants to.

  When I learned why she had climbed up on the chair, my heart faltered for a moment. As if using a telescope to see a different side of her, I hurried to replace the missing star. First to make sure she didn’t attempt climbing that chair again, but also to fix the broken constellation. I think she was thrown when I laid down beside her to look up at them. But the softer side of her that I saw this morning peeked out, and it was refreshing.

  When she asked about Sam, her voice changed. It was as if Hyde was about to break free. I knew it just from her tone so I told her the truth. I don’t normally open up but in that moment it felt right and if it helps my cause of having a decent nine months, then she can know about Sam. However, the reaction she had was very unexpected. She fled the room before I had a chance to get up from the floor.

  I stepped out into the hall and watched her descend the stairs, her pony tail bouncing with each movement.

  Now I’m closed up in my room with my music and books spread across the desk. I’ve always done alright at school but not without a little effort. A distant goal has always been college but I’ve never dwelled on it. The chances for someone like me, not a perfect student and not an athlete, to go to college on a scholarship, are slim. Beckett on the other hand, I’m sure has a free ride. I shake my head trying to clear it of thoughts concerning her. She’s nothing but trouble, I need to stay away.