I've been going through my stories, and fixing their trainwreckness. Which is not a word. But we don't talk about that. Here's the first chapter (originally the first THREE, because I thought 500 words counted as a good, long chapter) of Touch the Stars!
"Molly!" Gill's voice crackles through my phone, way too energetic for the hour. "Good morning to you, too," I grumble. "3 in the morning? I thought you valued good rest." He humphs ever so slightly at that, as if he'd expected me to be fair tempered- which I never am, even when I'm well-rested. "I do. But desperate times call for desperate measures." He says.
"And what's so desperate?" I ask. Gill's not really a 'desperate' kind of guy. I'd even be interested, if I were awake enough to give a shit. "Father's trying to play matchmaker." He explains. "Sounds like a terrible problem. But it's not my problem. Now, if you excuse me, I'd really appreciate going back to sleep." I yawn.
"I'm not done yet." He snaps, grumpy as ever. I raise my eyebrows, even though he can't see. "Okay, sorry, sorry." I sigh, and he continues. "I need to leave and find some peace of mind. Father would kill me if he found out. Ergo, I need someone to take my-" I cut him off. "Nope. Sorry to disappoint you." He groans angrily. "Come on, Molly! Just for a few days while I get some air to breathe!" he pleads.
"Wait, are you actually begging me?" I smirk, and I can practically see his iconic Gill scowl deepening. "Ugh. Just for a bit. You owe me." He says. It's true; he was the one who helped me move into my apartment.
"I should've known you'd pull that on me. Fine. What time should I be there today?" I sigh. "Now. I'm on the boat to Toucan Island, and I've paid extra for Pascal to stop at the port in your city. Meet me on the boat." Gill says.
"What? Gill, are you crazy? It's three in the morning!" I exclaim. "You already said you would." He reminds me, and I let out a martyred sigh. "Fine. But only because you're my best friend, and because I already said yes, and because you helped me move into my apartment." I concede, then hang up before Gill can say anything else.
I begin to get ready to leave, deep in thought. Normally, I was the one with the stupid ideas, and Gill just went along with them. Before he and his father moved to Castanet Island, we were constantly getting into scrapes, and each and every one of them had been my idea. Of course, that was back when we were about 12. But he hasn't seemed to have changed that much since he moved. What's gotten into him?
Oh well. I'm not complaining. It's nice to have someone else lead you into an adventure from time to time. Even if you have to be up by three in the morning and pretend to be your best friend for who knows how long.
"Meow." I look down to see my cat, Rhiannon, staring up at me. I sit down on my comforter and pull out my phone. As I call Gill again, Rhiannon hops onto my bed and curls up beside me, watching me with her deep green eyes. "What?" He asks, without even a greeting. "What are we going to do about Rhiannon?"
About an hour later, I'm at the dock, a small cat carrier and duffel bag in each of my hands, watching the ship pull soon as Pascal's wizened face peers down at me, his mouth breaks into a grin. "Oh, so it's Molly! I was wondering who Gill wanted to pick up on such short notice. It's wonderful that you're visiting him again, all of Castanet has been anticipating it." He says all of this in one excited gush as we hug. He smells like a blend of salt water and the iconic scent of Castanet. Oh, how I've missed that smell.
"Come on, Molly, we need to discuss what you're going to do." Gill says, grabbing my hand and dragging me away. I smile sheepishly at Pascal before turning back to him. "So, how am I supposed to explain Rhiannon being on Castanet Island?" I ask as I set down the carrier and duffel bag.
"You're going to tell people that you're pet-sitting." Gill explains, crouching down to open a bag of his own at his feet. "The disguise is one of the most important parts, obviously. I have some hair dye in here, and a pair of my pajamas."
"Pajamas?" I question, cocking an eyebrow. He merely shrugs. "You're going to have to dress as me, you know. Father can't just find "me" wearing your clothes when he wakes up." I have to admit that's reasonable, but I'm not done playing devil's advocate. After all I'm doing for him, I can be argumentative.
"Wouldn't it have been easier for me to get changed once I was already at your house?" I say, but Gill's having none of it. "I'm not taking any chances." He answers simply, and I sigh, giving it up. "So, we went over looking like you and explaining Rhiannon, but what about acting like you?" I ask. Gill looks taken aback.
"Molly, I figured you knew me well enough to act like me." He says. I shrug defensively. "Well, yeah, but what about your diary? How am I supposed to act around Luna? What do I do when your dad bugs me about falling in love?" I say.
"Good points." Gill admits, stooping down again to grab something else. "The first of which I already considered. I bought a journal identical to mine, down to the manufacturer, that you'll be recording what happens in. That way, we'll be killing two birds with one stone, in the way that people will think that you're writing in my diary, and I'll know where to pick up when I return."
"And what about Luna? And your dad? Oh, and how long will you be gone, too?" I say, accepting the diary being pressed into my hands. He stares up at me, unimpressed. "I thought you knew me enough not to ask dumb questions like that." He says.
"Hey, just trying to be sure." I shrug again. "Anyways, I don't know how long I'll be gone. However long it takes for me to be ready to deal with my father again." He says. I sigh. "I can't believe you're making me handle all your issues while you vacation on Toucan Island." He backhands me in the arm. "Go get into costume. See you in a minute." I nod and head to the bathroom, on the other side of the ship.
"Earth to Gill." I say a few minutes later, snapping in his face. "What? Stop doing that." He grunts, grabbing my wrist and moving it away. "I'm supposed to imitate your voice." I say, and he looks at his watch nervously. "You have about 5 minutes to get it down."
"How about this?" I ask, using my best Gill voice. He flushes. "I don't sound like that! I'm not a child!" He snaps. I laugh. "Okay, how about this?" He shakes his head. "Now it's too raspy." I pause for a moment, stumped, before trying again. "How about now?" I say. He nods.
"Good. Or as good as it'll ever be, anyway." From a few feet away, Pascal calls, "pulling into the dock!"
"Make sure not to mess this up." Gill warns. I pat his shoulder. "Calm down, G, I'll be fine!" He scowls. "And don't let anyone call me G." He adds. "Okay, okay, I won't." I say, palms up in a promise I don't intend to keep.
"Oh, and one more thing. Luna likes to-" Gill starts, but I cut him off. "Gill, if you want me to do this, you need to let me actually get to town." I say, standing up. "I'll see you later." He says something after me, but I can't make it out. I wave goodbye over my shoulder.
"Until further notice, I'm Gill, alright?" I say to Pascal. He nods. "Your secret's safe with me. Have a good rest of your early-morning stroll, Gill!" He winks. "You too, Mr. Pascal." I say, winking back. Then I step onto the dock and take in Harmonica Town.
It's just like I remembered it, from the cluttered buildings to the pastel colors. The smell of seawater wafts in from the sea beside me, mixing smoothly with the cool 4:30-in-the-morning air. I breathe in deeply. No better place to be calling home than good ol' Castanet. I begin to walk down the street, taking the easy route. I close my eyes and hum to myself happily.
"Gill? What are you doing up so early? And why do you have a cat?" I jump, and look around wildly. Luna is sitting on a bright purple yoga mat in front of Sonata Tailoring. Was this what Gill was going to warn me about?
"I'm, uh, cat-sitting for a friend." I say. "I had to go to the dock to pick her up." I gesture to the carrier. Luna giggles. "In your pajamas?" "Yeah, well, it was really short notice…" I mumble truthfully. "What are you doing out here, anyway?"
"I'm doing Sun Salutations!" She says, a sparkle in her eye. "Want to come join me? It's very relaxing." An image of Gill doing a tree pose with a tank top reading 'find your zen' floats into my head, and it takes everything in me to hold back a cackle of laughter. "Uh, no thanks." I say. "I'm actually about to head back to bed." Her face falls.
"Alright. Maybe some other time, then." she asks. "Yeah, maybe," I say, the forbidden image of yogi Gill still tempting me to join her. Instead, I bid her good morning and continue down the street. Conversation number one was a success! I congratulate myself.
I reach Gill's- er, my house- and tentatively turn the doorknob, half-expecting a security alarm to go off. But Gill must not have one- or maybe he disarmed it- because nothing happened. Feeling a bit more confident, I open the door to my temporary bedroom.
As soon as I walk in and close the door behind me, I release Rhiannon. She emerges from the carrier and sniffs around the room. I, meanwhile, spot a small collection of items on the bed, along with a note. I look at the note first.
Molly,
We were a little crunched on time back on the ship, so I decided to only give you what was necessary in person. Some of it is a little personal too, so you can see why I hesitated.
If you ever need something, text. Don't call, or someone could overhear and our cover would be blown. Make sure you change your phone's wallpaper, too. I'll send you my wallpaper tomorrow morning so you can change yours. Oh, and the security code is 9735. Thanks for helping out.
-G
"G?" I chuckle to myself. "I thought he didn't want anyone calling him G." I begin to go through the stuff, blushing furiously at the chest binder laying underneath everything else. He actually went and bought me a chest binder. Talk about awkward. How did Luna not ask questions when he did? Guess I'll have to make some sort of excuse for that.
"Alright, Rhi." I say, moving everything onto the dresser. "Let's get some beauty sleep before the sun comes up." I scoop her up and place her on the foot of the bed, before sliding under the covers. She curls up on my feet and begins to purr.
Ugh, finally, some rest. 'Bout time I checked out, too busy being a martyr and all. If Gill is gone for more than a season, I swear I will… uh. Whatever I'll do, it won't be good. And with that thought, I drift off to sleep.
Oh, you're thanking me for fixing the trainwreckness (still not a word)? You're very welcome :P. And thanks for reading the story! An extra big thank you to those who reviewed telling me that my chapters were super hecking short. I see you!