DC: I'm actually here for this one! I told her to do this ages ago!
AJ: *sigh* Here she is. As I said before, this is a collaborative piece. What's your username here again?
DC: IPleadConspiracy ! But I don't have very much up yet!
AJ: :) Me neither, so I guess we're even. BTW, I hate your keyboard.
DC: Do you hate it "so much"?
AJ: You're not Romano.
DC: Spain is better anyway.
Disclaimer: We own nothing but our plot and original characters. Please enjoy and review!
Shooting Star – AJ
The rain was falling hard as I sat with my two cousins on the front porch of their house in Arab. We were watching what we could of the stars through the dense precipitation.
"Dinner," my aunt called through the open screen. You've gotta love early summer. Despite the intense heat, people actually leave doors and windows open. In this case, it means the house isn't so stuffy that people asphyxiate and Aunt Kelli can yell at us from the kitchen instead of having to come on outside.
The younger of my two cousins, Lexus Hope, ran into the house giggling and chanting "KFC! KFC!" It reminded of the time when she'd asked me what it meant and Matt, her much older stepbrother, had told her "Kentucky Fried Children." It had taken forever for Donna and me to convince her that he was lying and that the Fib Monster was going to bite off his toes for it. And its been very difficult stealing all of his open-toed shoes so that she wouldn't figure it out. (Seriously, the guy knows if you go in his room, even if you don'tclean up the dirty Kleenex, empty "blue pill" bottles, empty boxes that previously held tools for safe sex, and burnt pencils—as if we would actually touch those, but still! At least we know he's not completely stupid…)
When Donna and I didn't respond as quickly, Dave came out to check on us. "Hey, girls. What's up?"
We both just looked at him, trying to conceal our laughter that tried to burst forth at the goofy look on his face. "Sky, clouds, and space," we answered together. I could feel my façade starting to fade, so I averted my eyes back to the sky. The rain was starting to clear up!
Dave chuckled and rolled his eyes at us. "Whatcha doin'?"
"We're star-gazing," Donna answered. In my mind's eye, I saw her turning back to stare at the stars—or at the few we could see. Damn light pollution.
"Star gazing? How can you see anything through this fog and rain? It's thicker than pea soup!"
I shrugged nonchalantly.
"Maybe we know what to look for," Donna replied, finally turning and smiling at her stepfather.
We'd both been kind of uneasy about his and Aunt Kelli's hasty marriage, but now we actually knew Dave…sorta. We were well aware that 1) he was a good guy, and 2) he and Aunt Kelli are unconditionally and irrevocably in love…for real. As in, it's not just hormones and they're not stupid teenagers written about by a woman who seems like a third.
"Well, you two need to come in and wash up for dinner, okay?"
Donna sighed and followed him back into the house. I stayed and continued to stare at the sky. The rain had stopped completely now and the yard was absolutely flooded. The cats were yowling and complaining at me like old women, like they actually thought it was all my fault they were going to get wet next time they decided to go burry their crap in the grass or catch mice.
Just before I was going to turn and go see if there was an available sink, something up in the sky caught my eye.
"Donna!" I shouted, excitement filling my voice. "Hurry up before you miss it! It's a shooting star!"
Donna came sprinting from the kitchen, soap still all over her hands. Matt was complaining loudly to his girlfriend Jordan about the now wet carpet.
When Donna saw the star, she gasped aloud. "Anna! Hurry up and make a wish before you miss your chance!"
My mind was then like a blank sheet of paper at the end of the Writing Assessment. "What should I wish for?"
She just stared at me, looking a little envious. "I don't know. It's your wish."
By now, the star had fallen past the trees, away from where I could see it, but I had a feeling that it was still close enough that my wish wouldn't be wasted.
Please, Lord, I prayed. /iJust grant me this one wish. I want somewhere to belong…Well, not even that. What I really want…what I might even/i need is just someone to belong with.
"Girls," my aunt called again. "Hurry it up! The food's going to get cold! We're waiting on you!"
We both were laughing as we headed inside. I was hoping against hope that God would choose to answer my prayer. You just have to have faith, my subconscious whispered.
Ten minutes later, I was sitting with my two cousins, my aunt, step-uncle, his son, and his son's girlfriend at the big square kitchen table. We were passing around the bucket of extra-crispy chicken wings and having a grand ole' time.
"Anna? Do you wanna give the blessing?" Aunt Kelli asked.
I grinned. "Sure.
"Most gracious and heavenly Father, we thank you for this day and we pray to you to give thanks. You gave us life and we didn't deserve it. You gave us Jesus and we sure as hell didn't deserve him. Lord, we thank you for each and every blessing and we ask that you take this food to the nourishment of our bodies and our bodies into thy service, for it is Jesus' most precious and holy name that we pray, Amen."
Everyone echoed my "Amen," some happily and some quietly… Lexi just dug in to her Mac 'n' Cheese.
While we (tried to) eat, Aunt Kelli and Dave chatted, Donna listened, and I tried to ignore Matt and Jordan who were…being Matt and Jordan…and not eating food.
CRASH! BOOM! BOOM! BAM!
Lexus Hope, the "brains" of the family, just stared at the window. "Anna," she asked, assuming from my report card that that I knew everything. "What was that?"
"I…don't know."
Everyone just stared at me; some had their eyes twitching.
"Hang on," Dave said. "Didn't we watch that documentary the other day?"
"About the UFO's crashing?" DC asked, eyebrows raising up her forehead. I swear, they were nearly in her hairline. "A.J…."
I stood up suddenly. "May we be excused?"
"Just don't go too far," my aunt answered.
"Do you need my gun?" Dave asked.
"I have my pocket knife," DC replied.
When we reached the door, there was a loud FWUMP!I looked at my cousin, cocking one eyebrow. "What was that?"
DC had a wild grin on her face. "Let's check." She opened the door… I screamed. There was a boy we'd never seen before…spread out across the front steps. He was bleeding really badly from the head and all over. His hair was slicked down flat with it and looked even redder than mine. It was longer than DC's. It's not really saying much, as her hair's actually really short, whereas I haven't gotten my hair cutin two years. (Anyway, back to the story.)
"DAVE!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.
"What?" he asked, running. "(insert David phrase)"
Matt, my step-cousin, looked over his shoulder and I swear his very long, "stylish" hair stood on end. "HOLY FLAMING ZOMBIE BABIES!" he shouted. "What in the halibut is that? It looks like the Grudge on Steriods!"
The boy, groaning, looked at him, his eyes only half open. "Well you don't look too good yourself, you wanna-be emo." He sounded really crappy, like he was in some serious pain. And like he needed some serious painkillers…or maybe even a happy button hooked to a morphine drip.
Jordan ran over and gasped. "Should we call an ambulance?"
Dave¬¬—ignoring the rest of us—walked out, picked up the boy, and brought him into the house. He crouched and laid him on the tile floor of the kitchen. "Kelli, help me."
"Girls, take Lexus out of here," Aunt Kelli said as she began looking for the lacerations.
We sat there for hours, listening and waiting. I have to admit, it kind of startled me when I heard the shower start.
"Donna, Anna, please come help me with some laundry!" Aunt Kelli called.
The second we walked in, I saw a small pile of drying, bloody clothes.
I frowned. "Did he wake up?"
Aunt Kelli nodded. "Yeah. He's a lot better off than we expected. He was well enough to turn red when Dave offered to help him wash out the blood."
DC and I dissolved into giggles.
Aunt Kelli smiled. "Okay. I just want y'all to wash his clothes."
I picked up the shirt…and it kept its crumpled shape. "Aunt Kelli, how much fabric softener do you want me to use?"
"All of it," she said absently, sitting down to match socks.
"Are you sure, Mom?" Donna asked. "This is a brand-spankin'-new bottle."
"I'm sure, Donna."
We just looked at each other. I shrugged and threw the blood-soaked clothing in and upended both the detergent and fabric softener bottles. Oversized load, regular fabrics….GO!
DC: RnR plz people!