Star Chaser

Chapter Twenty One

I had imagined several reactions when I thought of telling Orion about how I felt, but none of them had been anything close to the look I now saw on his face. A look of utter terror.

His last set of words rang through my ears as I stared back at him, dread coating the air between us. "What do you mean killed?" I finally asked when it became clear he wasn't going to elaborate.

"No," Orion whispered, frustration clear as he took several steps back. "No!" His voice was suddenly drowned out by the music inside, as a rock song began, but I felt his rejection loudly, ringing in my ears, vibrating through every inch of me. 

Sighing through clenched teeth, Orion pulled off his hat, running his fingers through his hair. "This isn't supposed to happen," he said, turning to look up at the sky, brow furrowed. 

I felt frozen. Stunned into silence. He shook his head and finally looked back at me. "Alina, this can't happen."

My cheeks turned a shade darker and my eyes suddenly began to fill with tears. Something that only made things worse. I refused to cry. To fall to pieces because of the weirdest rejection I could have possibly imagined. 

Pushing the tears back down, I looked up at him, confused. What was happening? 

You see, a small part of me said, that's why you don't give people your heart. 

"Orion?" I finally managed past the lump in my throat.

He took another step back, pain lacing his expression. "Don't call me that. You are Ranch Girl and I am Glow boy. You hate me."

It was too late to back up. To make it all into a joke. There was no point in pretending. If he wanted to be a drama king about it, then fine. But I wasn't going to pretend. Not anymore. "I thought you already knew. The fact that I like you is obvious." 

The world around me was filled with a strange ringing sound. My heart began to sputter, attempting to shut down under the crushing weight that had suddenly expanded inside my chest. I was itching to turn and run, but something held me there. Confusion demanding answers. Why was he so afraid?

He shook his head, panic filling his face. "Not to me. I can't read human signs the same way you can." He said something in a language I didn't understand and then looked back at me. "This can't happen. Even the thought of it makes me shudder."

And then my heart broke into a million pieces, glittering pieces of painful confetti, shards ripping through my body, making it impossible to breathe past the pain. "Well forgive me if the thought of being with me makes you want to vomit!" 

Feeling too rejected to look at him, I finally gave in to my impulse. Turning, I ran.

I sprinted blindly, my eyes spilling tears that should have never existed, for a boy that I should have never learned to care about, for a decision to share what was in my heart when I should have found a way to kill it. 

I ran until I saw the start of Brookes Ranch. I didn't remember most of the run, surprised that I was able to make it that far without a car. My foot hurt but I didn't stop moving. I dashed towards the white picket fence that was the start of our land and climbed over, eager to burry myself under blankets and never come out. 

Suddenly, a pair of monstrous arms yanked me backwards. I was launched off my feet and slammed to the ground. A voice that sounded like rocks grinding into each other filled the air. "It's the girl." My face was pressed into the ground, gravel cutting into the side of my face.

"Let's take her to the boss," another voice said. Suddenly, something slammed into my skull, and my world went dark.

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