The Changing Stars (Chapter 1.1) (LMS)

Whack. The sound of a hand slapped a desk. “Am I boring you, Miss Burdon?”

My eyes shot open as I prepared myself to be berated for closing my eyes for a moment. Surprise came over me as I found no teacher in front of me.

“Well?”

I groaned inwardly, turning fully to glance at my sister as our teacher glared down at her.

“Um,” Mackenzie muttered quietly, licking her lips, “Well, yes. Actually, you were.”

Gasps of surprise and quiet chuckles filled the classroom as my ears turned red with fright for my sister.

“Hm, I see.” Mr. Langdon said, looking at the top of the room over his glasses, “And how might that sentence help you in the long run? Do you think that your honesty will save you from sleeping in my classroom, followed by insistent rudeness?”

“Honestly Mr. Langdon, I’m going to get in trouble either way.” She shook her blonde head slightly, blue eyes sparkling with laughter. “What kind of story do you think would save me? Maybe I could make up something like ‘I’m tired because of my sleepless night helping out with my baby siblings, Mr. Langdon!’ or ‘Mr. Langdon, I can’t stay awake because I was doing homework last night!’. Either way, you would say that it’s no excuse, so I might as well just admit that I find Dipole Dipole boring.”

I stuck my forehead on my desk lightly, hoping that my action would magically poof! me from the situation.

“I will ignore this encounter today, Miss Burdon, but I will let my fellow educators know of this conversation so that they may not let the same pass. But, I will not catch you sleeping again in my class or you will have to find somewhere else to study.”

I peeked one eye open at Mackenzie, to find her nodding slightly. She couldn’t agree completely, not my Kenny. ‘She’s too headstrong, she’s like a bull, that one’, my Dad would say.

“Now, we will get back to the wonderful world of molecular forces.” Langdon turned, running his wrinkled hand through his hair warily, clearing wanting no more controversy that day. If only my class could refrain. My sister especially.

As if she could hear my thoughts, Mackenzie turned suddenly in her chair, looking directly at me. Her eyes sparkled happily.

“Dodged a bullet.” Kenny mouthed silently, winking.

“Good morning.” I mouthed sarcastically, tilting my head. She rolled her eyes, turning her head back to face Langdon before he caught her. I huffed and leaned back in my chair, craning my neck to gain at the ticking clock. I puff of air left my lungs as I smiled in relief. Five more minutes until lunch. I could deal with that.

I filled the time by creating specialized notes. Dipole-Dipole definition followed by a drawing of a flower. A definition, doodle. Just as I finished the last swirl of my tulip, the bell savior sounded above my head.
I was up and out of the room before anyone had a chance to catch up to me. I found my table in the center of the cafeteria. It was just small enough for it to be okay for just one person. I sat down heavily, pulling headphones out of my bag. Here I come, Spotify, I thought fondly as I tapped my app. I placed my headphones in my ears happily, expecting the soothing sound of Florence and the Machine to grace my ears. Instead, I was met with the eerie silence of broken headphones and broken dreams. I squeezed my eyes tight, it just really wasn’t my day.

I searched the crowd of teenagers, hoping to get a glimpse of my sister. Sure enough, she was at her usual table with her friends. She caught my eyes and through me a quick wave, inviting me over. As usual, I shook my head at her, followed by blowing a kiss. She rolled her eyes, turning to her friends. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to sit with her, I really did. Honestly, I just really didn’t get along with people outside my family, and I certainly didn’t want to submit Kenny to my introversion. In fact, it was at my insistence that she sit elsewhere. I guess I kind of forced her to make friends.

Turning back to my lunch, I decided that it couldn’t be the worst eating in silence. Hundreds of people must do it every day.

“Braylie Burdon?” An unfamiliar voice sounded above my head, just as I had lifted my sandwich up to my face.

I put my sandwich down lightly, looking into the slightly familiar face of a very cute boy.

“Uh, yes.”

“You don’t remember me, do you?” His dimpled smile grew as my eyes combed over him. Hazel skin, dark hair, gorgeous face, light eyes. No, I think I would remember someone that gorgeous, I thought to myself.

“Haha. I’m not surprised.” He laughed, putting his hand out to me. “Rowan Darger. I think I was your best friend until we were like, seven or eight.”

“Oh my god!” I practically screeched, jumping up from my chair. “Rowan!”

“I missed you too.” Rowan said, smiling widely. “I can’t believe you live here.”

“I can’t believe you do.” I shook my head in disbelief. I hadn’t seen Rowan since we’d moved away from New York. That had been like ten years before.

“Do you mind if I sit?” Rowan gestured to the seat across from my own.

I licked my lips slightly, “Well you certainly can, but I’m afraid that might be social suicide.”

But with a face like his, could anything be social suicide?

“I couldn’t care less. Honestly, Bray, I haven’t changed that much from our days in second grade.” He sat down in his chair, placing his food carefully on our table. “Now come on, I think we have a ton to catch up on. Why did you guys move here? We like never got a chance to talk to you after. And where’s Kenny? She moved away not to long after. Have you seen her?”

“Well, we actually moved here right after my parents divorced. My dad was looking for somewhere new to live, I guess.” I sighed, sitting back down. “But um, Mackenzie. That’s a bit complicated. We, ah, we actually adopted Kenny not long after we moved here. Her Dad died.”

His face fell as he gazed across at me. Him, Kenny, and I had been like three peas in a pod since birth. Our parents worked together, so we were always together.

“Oh god, tell Kenny I’m sorry.” Rowan licked his lips, sighing.

“Why are you sorry for me?” The table shifted as Kenny appeared out of nowhere, sitting lightly on the table. “And why are you sitting with my sister?”

“Kenny!” Rowan smiled. “It’s me, Rowan.”

“I know.” She rolled her eyes. “That part was obvious enough. But that’s not what I asked. Are you hitting on her or something?”

“Ken!” I whispered, grabbing her hand. “He was our friend. Why are you acting like this?”

She leaned down, whispering back at me. “Oh, you’re constantly overprotective, like, always and I suddenly decide to return the favor and you’re mad? What if he was harassing you?”

“He can hear you, and he’s not.” I gestured towards Rowan, who was now looking slightly confused.

“Fine then.” She turned back to Rowan. “Hey Row.”

His eyes widened at her sudden personality change, “Ha! I sure did miss your bluntness, Ken.”

“Thanks. Now what were we talking about.” She sat down next to us, swinging her blonde hair around to look at me.

“Just catching up.” I answered, smiling shyly at my former best friend. “Now, how did you get here Rowan?”

“I just moved in with my Grandma. I left New York a couple weeks ago. I’ve been doing the coursework online, though, so that I was caught up to everyone when I got here.”

“That’s awesome. Why Grandma? Your parents kick you out?” Kenny asked with no reservations, something that I could most likely not do.

“Uh no, not exactly.” Rowan twitched nervously. I saw Kenny bite her lip, the telltale sign that she was not prepared for what she asked to be true. I could see that she regretted her bluntness now.

“That sucks, Rowan. Don’t worry, you don’t have to tell us yet if you don’t want to. We have a lot of time to catch up on everything.” I offered, combing my hand through my auburn curls.

“Good.” He smiled wide. “I missed you guys a lot. But, I do need to eat this sandwich, so it might be good if we meet up outside of our lunch, that way we can talk more.”

We both nodded in agreement, as my stomach growled in agreement. But the more I ate my food, the more I found myself staring at him in bewilderment. How could this handsome man be the scrawny boy that I had a faux wedding with? It was utterly surprising, but I wasn’t the type to gawk. I had to keep my maturity in check, without acting like a sixth grader that first realized that ‘cooties’ weren’t a real thing. It wasn’t like I was never around boys. But, Rowan was on a new level.

“Bray?” Kenny snapped me out of my thoughts.

“What?” I blinked my eyes, clearing my mind.

“Is Dad picking us up?” She asked, tilting her head slightly, analyzing me.

“No.” I breathed. “He dropped off my car earlier. They fixed the heat.”

“Amazing.” She smiled. “So we can go out to lunch with Rowan tomorrow then?”
“Lunch?” Rowan brightened. “I’d do that. If you guys can of course.”
“We have to watch Rose and Cody tomorrow, Ken.” I reminded her lightly. I couldn’t find anyone else to find our younger siblings. I wouldn’t trust anyone else with them.
“Row, do you mind if we bring our brother and sister?” Mackenzie asked, picking at her food.

“No, not at all. I love kids.” Rowan smiled once again, looking me in the eyes. I blushed and turned back to Kenny to hide it.

“Well, then. It’s a date.” Kenny smiled warmly at Rowan, making me think she had a crush on him.

“Well, not a real date. Not with you. Gross.”

Then again, maybe not.