The Brightest Star

Chapter 9

Her head snapped up at the familiar sound of a crutch hitting the ground, the sound becoming painfully obvious as she tried to gather her racing thoughts, hastily wiping away the tears that threatened to fall.

"Star?" The hazel eyed boy questioned, peaking his head into the room. He beamed at the sight of her, fully making his way into the room before coming to a stop a little ways away. His smile morphed into a frown at the look of distress on her face, his eyebrows pinching together in concern, "Mrs. Medda saw you come back this way earlier, you know it's third period right?"

"Uh, right, yeah I know. I must have just lost track of time." She replied with a sheepish shrug, an obviously fake smile on her face as she pushed past him so she could get to the door, her headache steadily growing worse.

"Hold on a sec, are you ok?" He asked, barely managing to grab her arm as she brushed past him, "You've been quieter than usual and you actually missed science, you never do that! What's wrong? I mean if you don't want to tell me that's fine like I get it, but it there is something-"

"Oh my God, Crutchie I'm fine!" She exclaimed, ripping her arm from his grasp. His eyes widened at her sudden outburst, drawing his hand back as he watched her. She refused to meet his eyes, harshly biting down on her lip as she felt her chest begin to tighten.

"I'm fine," She mumbled much quieter this time, her headache growing steadily worse. The familiar waves began to wash over her as the image of his hurt expression repeatedly flashed through her mind, "I just, I have a really bad headache, ok."

His expression softened at the hurt in her voice, the red rings around her eyes only making him feel worse. He stood still for a moment, trying to think of what to do. After a moment he began to carefully make his way towards her once more. He watched as she immediately tensed up as he drew near, her hands clenched into tight fists.

"Let's go get you some medicine then, huh?" He stated gently, trying his best not to upset her further. His face held a reassuring smile as he held out his hand, hoping she would trust him enough to take it.

Her eyes widened at his words, quickly shifting from his face to his outstretched hand. She bit her lip once more before turning away, giving him a slight nod and making her way out of the room without another word.

The boy let out a long sigh, letting his hand drop back down to his side as he watched her leave. Shaking his head, he soon followed after, not sure what else to say. Her sad smile played over and over again in his mind, causing a slight ache in his heart he didn't know was possible.

...

"Hey Star!" The brown headed boy called out, bounding up the stairs of the house despite his best friend's protests. He had spent the past hour or so with Crutchie and Mrs. Medda preparing everything for the arrival of the boys later, the only thing left was getting the girl to come down to join them.

He gave a short knock at her door, bouncing on his toes as he impatiently waited for her response. Barely a minute passed before he broke, unable to contain his excitement he slammed it open, barging into the room.

"Uh, Star?" He questioned with a small chuckle, coming to a stop at the end of the bed as he stuffed his hands into his pockets, "Whatcha doin'?"

"I'm packing." She replied simply, continuing to fold the clothes she had laid out beside her.

"Packing?" He repeated, raising a brow at her.

"Mhm."

"Uh-huh," He laughed with a slight shake of his head, "Come on, you can do that later, the boys will be here soon."