The Aeon Star

by Hart, Lauren T.

  By 7:10 Jenny's 'taxi service' was making its first carpool run for the day which included Davin, Jacob, and Caitlyn, two kids from the neighborhood: Jared and Janna Larsen and Jenny's boyfriend, Mike Randall.

  Davin cornered Jenny by the van, his hand on the door above her head so she couldn't open it. "I think you should let me drive this morning."

  "No." She met his irritated gaze. If he was trying to be intimidating, it wasn't going to work, she was too used to his temper. It just came across as the teenage version of a tantrum.

  "What's with the outfit?" He reached out and tugged at her shirt.

  "I don't know," Jenny pulled her coat a little tighter around her. "I just... felt like it."

  "Whatever," Davin shook his head and got in the van.

  "You look extra nice today." Mike shot her a grin as he climbed into the van.

  Davin leaned forward. "Doesn't she?"

  "Put your seatbelt on, Dav," she said over her shoulder. "Thanks, Mike." Jenny returned his smile, as she set her big blue purse on the floor between them. The van shuddered and wheezed to a start, same as every morning, and they were off.

  The Randalls and the Taylors had lived next door to each other for the past 15 years. Mike was three years older than Jenny – but that hadn't stopped them from becoming fast friends from the moment the Randalls had moved in. Jenny had been a shy and socially awkward child and Mike accepted her as she was and always made sure none of the other kids picked on her.

  When Jenny turned 16, and was finally allowed to start dating, their relationship bloomed into something more. Well, sort of. Mike understood her parent's overprotective nature, which might have had something to do with the fact that from the first time she kissed Mike – on his tenth birthday, when she was only seven – Quincy's every Sunday sermon had included a message about the importance of being chaste. So, Mike took things slow... very slow... maybe even... too slow.

  Their first real kiss occurred exactly one year after they started dating — the day after Jenny's seventeenth birthday. It was short, and sweet, and not to be followed up for at least two weeks — two very, very, long weeks.

  Jenny sometimes thought that their relationship could be better described as friends with infrequent, G-rated, benefits. But ask anyone and they would tell you Jenny and Mike were a couple; they were inseparable and exclusive.

  Except for the Christmas dance her junior year.

  Randy Cooper, who always had way too much saliva sloshing around in his mouth, had taken her, but that hardly counted. It had been her parent's idea. They had told her she needed to "broaden her horizons" or "not get too serious" or something like that.

  As always, it was easier to give in and agree than argue with them. It was really a charity date more than anything, and Mike wasn't the type to mind. He thought it was funny when she showed him the water stain on her satin dress from finding herself in the line of fire when Randy had spit-told the Big Steak's hostess, "Table for two, please."

  Mike was tall, blond and broad shouldered, not remarkably good looking, but decent. And he was smart, and kind and... respectable. Not that there's anything wrong with being respectable. It's a very... respectable trait. And if different than Mike meant Randy Cooper and his spittle, she was willing to settle for smart, kind, and respectable. And she loved Mike. Or at least, she was pretty sure she did. She wasn't entirely sure if she knew what love really was. She loved her family, and Mike felt like family, but was that all there was to it? Books and girlfriends and TV shows were always talking about gushy, tingly feelings that came with love. She'd never had any of those, but maybe she was just too practical for blushing and giggling.

  More importantly — and unlike Jenny – Mike knew what he wanted to do with his life and was doing it. She admired him for that. He was taking law enforcement training classes at night in order to get a job with the Winner Police department. During the day he worked security at the bank, which didn't open until nine but he was meeting Ray Jessup — Officer Jessup she should say — for breakfast. Ray had sort of been mentoring him through the process.

  After her first drop off at Winner High School, Jenny drove Mike to work. She thought about varying her route from the school to the bank, but she didn't.

  "You're the best," he said — like he always said — and flashed her a smile. "See you tonight." Then he leaned in for a quick kiss on the cheek.

  On the cheek...

  Very respectable...

  Rather than return his 'you're the best' comment with her own, 'you're the best' she decided to just say the words she'd always believed hid behind it. "I love you," she called as Mike stepped out of the van.

  Mike froze halfway out of the door, and in an awkward sort of rewind twisted back into the seat and around to face her. His face was oddly contorted into something that looked like pained confusion. "Wha— wait. Wait. What did you just say?"

  Fifteen years of friendship and three years of sort of dating, and you'd think three little words like 'I love you' wouldn't be such a big deal. This wasn't exactly the reaction she had been expecting. "Huh? Did I say something? I don't recall," she tried to cover for herself. "I think I said, 'have a good day' or something like that." She flashed him a smile then quickly averted her eyes toward something intensely fascinating on the odometer.

  "Jenny, I—

  "Mike, don't worry about it." She met his panicked eyes. "I wasn't being serious. I was just saying it because, you know, I care about you, and I just wanted you to know, that's all."

  Mike looked relieved, but he also looked like he might cry. "Jenny, I am such an ass."

  "No you're not," she said quickly.

  "Yes. I am." He shut the door. "We really need to talk."

  Ah, crap. This was not good. "We need to talk" is never good. Never. Never ever. No way. No how.

  "No we don't." Jenny started. "You're not ready yet, it's okay, I understand."

  "That's not it," he said softly.

  "Oh." Double crap. It didn't take years of life experience for her to realize what was about to happen. He was going to dump her. Their entire G-rated relationship flashed before her eyes, and with the last bit of respectable-ness it could muster, she could see it gasping its last pitiful breath. She tried desperately to feel sad about it but it wasn't happening. If ever there was a time to shed tears, this seemed like the time, but she just couldn't seem to muster it. Which, if she thought about it, was probably the saddest thing about the whole situation. She wished she could think of something to say, or that he would say something. The silence was agonizing.

  Mike mumbled something.

  "You don't need to say anything, Mike." She met his eyes.

  His expression was pained; his face was bright red, like he wasn't breathing.

  He wasn't breathing.

  "Mike?"

  His bottom lip quivered, but he didn't respond.

  She reached toward him to put her hand on his leg — a bold move. On a normal day that would have been considered very PG-13, but her gesture wasn't meant as an advance, it was done out of concern. "Mike?"

  "I'm gay," he blurted.

  "What?" She pulled her hand back as if he'd just shouted 'don't touch that, it's hot!'

  "I'm gay," he repeated.

  Jenny nodded, putting her hands back on the steering wheel. "Mmm'kay."

  Wow, that odometer was really something.

  "I'm so sorry. I should have told you sooner."

  "Sooner?" she echoed. Like three years ago maybe?

  "I just..." he stammered, "I wanted to... I didn't mean for things to... shit. This is hard."

  The sides of her face felt hot. "Mike—

  "I've met someone," he cut in.

  "You've met someone?"

  "A couple of months ago."

  "A couple of months ago?"

  She really had to stop repeating everything he said.

  "I didn't mean for it to happen, it just happened, and I wanted to tell you... I wanted too... I ju
st... Didn't know what to say or... how..." he took a deep breath. "You're the only girl I've ever loved Jenny."

  What!? What in the hell was he talking about? I'm gay, and I've been lying to you and cheating on you, oh, and I love you? And I'm telling you all this now because you just told me that you loved me? No. The computation wasn't adding up.

  Jenny caught sight of Officer Jessup in her passenger side view mirror, just seconds before he knocked on the glass. Great. This was all they needed. She was fuming, but she couldn't decide if it was because she was angry, or just overwhelmed. She gritted her teeth and rolled down the window.

  Mike and Ray shared a long look before Ray said, "Hi there, Mike. Jenny. How are things?"

  Mike shook his head, on the verge of tears.

  Jenny had a sudden realization that felt a little something like the car had just imploded as she stared across the car at Officer Ray Jessup with his sharp chiseled features and crisp starched collar, who was trying, but failing, to look more curious than concerned.

  How could she have been so stupid? How could she not have seen it? It all seemed so obvious now, standing in front of her, sharing a look.

  "WTF?" Jenny blurted. Instantly hating the fact that she had just said WTF. What was she, 12?

  Ray pursed his lips and took another long look at Mike. Mike was looking at the floor.

  "I realize this must be hard for you to understand, Jenny," Ray said. "You were probably taught that the bible says it's wrong for us to—

  "Stop!" she shouted, her fists clenching the steering wheel. "Stay out of this Ray," she glared. Ray put his hands up in a gesture of peace, or maybe surrender, and took a step back from the van. She tried to take a breath to calm her nerves but it wasn't working. "I'm not upset that you're gay, Mike. Love is love. I'm upset because you lied to me. And I'm mad because you don't know that about me. You didn't trust me, you didn't think I would understand — even though we've been best friends since we were kids — and so you lied to me, you misled me, and you used me," she huffed. "What does that say about you, Mike?" She took a quick breath and let it out again. "And what does it say about me?" she added quietly.

  "It doesn't say anything about you, Jenny."

  "Get out."

  Mike did as he was instructed.

  "Maybe you should take a moment to calm down before you drive," Ray offered.

  Jenny wished she had a clever or snarky comeback to that, but all she could think to do was glare at them as she rolled up the window. Then she put the car in gear and pulled away from the curb. She wished she could have gunned away, tires screeching and all, but the van was way too gutless for something like that. She thought of a few choice words as she drove away, far too late to be used, so instead she just mumbled them to herself.

  Jenny's next carpool group was waiting for her at the edge of the driveway.

  "What took you so long?" asked Angela.

  "Yeah," Joseph added, "we're gonna be late now."

  "We'll make it in time," Jenny reassured, later than every other day, but still on time.

  While Jenny reloaded with kids headed for Winner Elementary, which included: Angela, and Dayton, as well as Mackenzie and Kayla Simmons, her mother drove Megan, Joseph, Jessica Larson, Kyle Brant and Dade Simmons to Winner Middle School.

  "Are you mad?" Dayton eyed her, settling into the middle seat on the row behind her.

  "Why would you think I was mad?"

  "Because you look mad. And you didn't say what you always say when I get in the car."

  Jenny took a deep breath and rubbed the anger from her brow. "I'm not mad, Dayt. Me and Mike had a bit of a disagreement, that's all."

  "Oh. Are you still going to be friends?"

  "I'm sure we'll sort it out."

  She wasn't really sure.

  "Okay," Dayton waited.

  Jenny smiled at him and put the van in gear, she angled the rearview mirror to see him and said, "Buckle up, buckaroo, it's going to be a bumpy ride." She drove forward, over and off the edge of the curb causing the van to bounce.

  "Woo hoo!" Dayton cheered as the other kids giggled.

  Chapter 2

  A Life Less Ordinary

  With everyone safely at school Jenny returned home once again to pick up her father. Normally she would have honked twice then waited for him to gather his jacket and briefcase, but because she was running late, he was already on the front porch when she pulled up.

  She'd worked for her dad at the church since she was 12, helping out wherever she was needed. She'd thought about applying to a few places around town, but with her carpool schedule, it wasn't a very practical idea.

  "Running late this morning," Quincy noted as he climbed into the car. "Is everything all right?"

  "Yeah dad," she smiled at him as she backed out of the driveway. She couldn't decide if it was charming or annoying that he was so concerned about her being a couple minutes late. "Mike and I just needed to talk."

  "Oh?" he tilted his head.

  She knew what he was doing. She was all too familiar with the 'I don't want to seem like I'm prying, but please, tell me more' routine. "Yep."

  "So this was a good talk then?"

  Not particularly, but she really didn't feel like going into it right now — or ever. "Sure," she lied. "I mean, you know... we were just... talking." She wasn't doing as well as she'd hoped. She switched the radio on, hoping that could be the end of it.

  Immediately he reached over and switched it off.

  Uh-oh. He suspected something. She had to play it cool. "Not in the mood for music today?"

  "Jenny," he sounded very serious.

  "What?"

  "You look very nice today."

  "Thanks, Dad." Twelve blocks to the church, and eight stop signs, maybe if she neglected to stop at one he'd change the subject.

  "You'd tell me if something happened wouldn't you?"

  Like Mike dumping me then outing himself and Ray Jessup? Uh... no. I think I'll keep that to myself. "What do you mean, Dad?"

  "I don't know." He looked flustered and he was stumbling over his words. "Like, something that I might need to know about."

  What exactly classifies as 'need to know?' she wondered.

  "Like, something that might require needing to reserve the church this — or next — next summer?" he emphasized.

  Reserve the church? What was he talking about? She looked at him quizzically. He looked horrified. And then it dawned on her what he was skirting around.

  "Relax Dad," she laughed. "I'm not getting married. I'm only 19 for Pete's sake." Not to mention her best prospect is gay, so there was that little glitch as well.

  His sigh of relief encompassed his whole being.

  Up until this morning she had envisioned herself engaged by 20 and married when she was 21, that would've given Mike time to finish school, settle into work, find a place to live, and hopefully given her time to figure out what she wanted to do with her life.

  But none of that mattered now.

  Winner wasn't exactly a social hot spot and if the past held any significance toward the future she'd be lucky to be dating again by the time she turned 21.

  Six blocks later, they were at the church where Jenny spent most of the morning assembling mailers about upcoming church events.

  Her mother arrived just before noon with lunch. "Hey sweetheart," Nancy took on a sympathetic tone. "Everything okay today?"

  "Yep."

  Nancy eyed Jenny's shirt with a disapproving look. "Your dad said you were running late this morning. Are you sure there isn't anything you want to talk about?"

  "Nope."

  "You're sure?"

  The double ask. Her parents were relentless.

  All this attention from a black shirt and being a few minutes late, how on earth did Davin and Caitlyn get away with so much?

  "Yep," She changed the subject. "So what's for lunch?"

  After lunch (which was peanut butter sandwiches and carrot sticks) Jenny changed
the message on the sign out front.

  From: Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.

  To: Wherever you go, go with all your heart. –Confucius

  Then she decided to get the mail. As she opened the box a faint whiff of something tickled her senses. What was that scent? She thought she recognized it but couldn't place it, and then it was gone. It wasn't an unpleasant scent, just different. She couldn't even describe it — the encounter had been so brief. Maybe it was something on one of the letters. With letters in hand she started back toward the church.

  She lifted the power bill to her nose and inhaled.

  Definitely not.

  Low interest rate credit card?

  No.

  Open immediately, current resident?

  Huh-uh.

  The next letter wasn't a letter at all. It was a postcard featuring the Statue of Liberty. She lifted it to her nose. The smell was faint. Almost nothing. But it was there. Her breath caught in her throat, and a deep chill ran through her. What was that about she wondered?

  What was that smell? New York maybe? Probably not. Most likely it was the sender's cologne. Gleurg. Who wore that much cologne? Maybe they'd spritzed the postcard with it.

  She knew it was wrong to read other people's mail, but postcards could hardly count. If you wanted privacy you'd put it in an envelope, right? She flipped it over. It was addressed to the church and read:

  Q -

  Thank you for your services.

  Final payment will follow upon safe arrival.

  - M

  Cryptic. Q was obviously for Quincy. Services? Well, that could mean a lot of things. Final payment? With the amount of pro bono work her dad did, she couldn't imagine the idea of him taking payments. Money had never been something he had many cares or worries about.

  She was intrigued by the mystery. It would probably end up being nothing but she was curious nonetheless.

  "Mail call," she announced, placing the pile on the edge of his desk.