Rise Of The Sagittarians

Chapter One

          It was summer break when I ran into Aerglo at a bookstore. I never pegged him as the type to read and never expected to see him there. I had always admired him from afar but I never thought that other than being nice to look at that he'd ever be someone I'd actually be interested in.
     I was in the section where they keep the astrology books, flipping through pages and trying to decide which book would be worth taking home since I only had a few dollars to my name. All of a sudden Aerglo walked by. I wasn't expecting to see him here. In a book store of all places.  He looked at me and smiled that smile that could melt a thousand stars as he walked by. I may or may not have dropped the book I was trying to put back on the shelf when I grinned back like the biggest, most gigantic dork in the universe. He continued on his way without saying a word. I gathered myself and picked up the next book I was interested in and began to flip through the pages while trying to forget about that smile.
     As I was standing in the checkout line waiting my turn to buy my books, I lost the good fight. I gave in to the day dreaming of the smile that could make all the girls giddy with a single flash. The glittery smile that could make a million hearts beat the same rhythm at the same time. Out of nowhere someone from behind me says "Astrology, that is a very broad subject."
     I nearly jumped out of my skin. Blushing and knowing that whoever is behind me had to see that they jolted me from a daydream, I turn to find Aerglo staring down at me. The blushing intensifies.
     He smiled that smile at me again. That god forsaken smile. I just wanted him to stop glamouring me with that thing so I could think like a normal human being for one second.
     "Yes, a very broad subject. Which is part of why I think I like it so much. It keeps me busy." I say, trying to bring myself back down to earth.
     "Well, I think it's pretty cool that you're into it. I'm a Sagittarius, myself. What's your sign?"
     Pausing because I can't believe that I'm hearing that Mr.Glamorous Smile has the same sun sign as me, and my family. I also couldn't believe that he knew anything at all about astrology, most boys don't. All I could do was make a puzzled face. The odds aren't that small really. It's not that big of a deal.
     "Is everything ok?" He says, genuinely concerned but slightly amused.
     "Yeah, it's just funny, I'm also a Sagittarius." I say with a hint of excitement in my voice. Oh calm down. He isn't Prince Harry I think to myself.  "My mother is a Sagittarius and my father was as well."
     "Wow that's pretty cool! When is your birthday?" He asked.
     "December 3rd. My mother's birthday is November 28th and my father's was December 11th. When is your birthday?" I ask trying not to sound to eager to know.
     "Interestingly enough, my birthday is also December 11th. Look at us, just a bunch of Sagittarians." He said like he had just told me the coolest thing I could have ever heard.
     I do give it to him, I was a little shocked to hear that he had the same birthday as my father. What are the odds that this beautiful boy has a significant date in his life that is the same as one of mine? I tried my best to act cheerful about his response.
     "Nice! What are the odds?" Is all I could muster to awkwardly say.
     Deep down I felt a little melancholy. I hadn't thought of my dad in a few days, yet here was one of those all-too-often reminders. It wasn't Aerglo's fault, he didn't know.
     It was now my turn in line. Praise the powers that be! Get me out of here. I turned to Aerglo and said "Well, it was nice talking to you. Maybe I'll see you around." It was nice talking to you? I'll see you around? Really. I couldn't come up with anything better than that?
     Aerglo nodded at me and said "Same to you Astrid." He smiled that sparkly smile at me and then marched off to the next cashier who had not-so-patiently been waiting for him to finish his conversation.

*************************************

It should be a happy time in my life. Just a week ago I turned 18. I'm officially an adult. Every teenagers dream. But today marks exactly 18 years since my father passed away.
     December 10th, the year was 2001, I was only a week old. A tiny infant. For me, it is the worst day of the year. It is the day that signifies the death of a great man that I never had the pleasure of knowing. For many others it is just a day. I can't say that I'm not jealous of all the people who don't have the delight of waking up to this harrowing holiday. I most definitely am jealous. Most definitely.
     Ironically, tomorrow is my fathers birthday. A fun loving, good hearted Sagittarius, just like me and my mother. Well, I'm supposed to be good hearted and fun loving, but I think that's kind of hard when your life has been a tragedy basically since you've been on this planet.
     You see, astrology is kind of my thing. My vice. When I'm having a bad day I sometimes read up on all of the qualities of a Sagittarius man and envision the kind of man my father was, who my father was. Silly I know, but some days it is all that gets me through.
     I first became interested in astrology when I discovered that my whole family has Sagittarius as their sun sign. I REALLY took a special liking to the subject when I came across one of those fancy birth chart websites online and found that other than my generational signs, my whole birth chart is composed of complete sag. I am a COMPLETE Sagittarius. Nothing else runs through my blood. This is basically unheard of. Somehow at the exact moment I was born every planet was located in the Sagittarius constellation. Including my rising sign. My whole chart is complete fire. I guess that makes me kind of special. I guess.
     As I lay here on this dreadful day I think about what could have been. Tomorrow could have been a fun filled day full of birthday surprises, party hats, cakes and friends but instead I'm laying here sulking and missing a man that I never knew while trying to live the life of "just Astrid".
After my fathers death my mother brought me here to this little town to live. She wanted to move somewhere that no one would know us and the tragedies we faced. She didn't want me to grow up in the shadow of my fathers death. She wanted me to have a chance at starting a life as "just Astrid", not "Astrid the girl who's father died when she was one week old".
"Astrid! Get down here!" Yelled my mother from downstairs.
Great. Now I have to get up. My mother has never understood that on this tragic holiday of ours I just like to be left alone. She pretends that nothing ever happened, like today is just another ordinary day. I've always hated her for that. But I guess we all have our ways of coping.
"Coming!" I yell back in fear of my mother's wrath. She is a fiery red head and can be a little scary when she wants to be.
I slowly pull my body out of bed and walk towards my full length mirror and I feel as though I have a thousand weights tied to my body. I suppose that's just the feeling of depression in the morning. I find the nearest t-shirt and pair of jeans lying on the floor, quickly put them on and do my best to tidy my curls in the mirror and turn to head downstairs.
     As I walk down the hallway towards the kitchen I see my mother sitting in her chair at the table. As usual. Only today she is writing something instead of reading the newspaper. When our eyes meet she shoves the paper into her purse on the floor next to her and grabs her newspaper and makes a rude face at me as I enter the kitchen. "Well don't you just look like a bag of sunshine this morning." she snarks.
"Oh you know, I'm trying to set a new trend for bags of sunshine." I reply.
     " Very funny little lady. You're a true comedian. Now hurry and eat your breakfast you're already late for school. At this point I'll have to tell to Mrs.Clary that you were kidnapped by thieves in the night and I had to cross over into wonderland to retrieve you and beg her to excuse you for missing half of first period."  She was always being so dramatic. I had plenty of time.
    I return the same rude face to my mother that she gave me and sit down in my chair and begin eating the soggy cereal that I'm sure she prepared for me 20 minutes ago. To say that I'm overjoyed about soggy cereal on an already crappy day would be an understatement.
     "So mom, what were you writing?" I say mid soggy-cereal-chew.
     "Oh, just a list for the grocery store. Nothing interesting." She says without making eye contact. By this time she has picked her up her newspaper and has began to read the front page stories. I've always tried to figure out why she doesn't just get on her tablet and use the search engines. But that's my mom, always doing everything the prehistoric way.
    "Oh, ok..." I say after choking down another bite of soggy cereal. I find it strange that she is writing a grocery list because she just went to the grocery store two days ago and normally my mother can remember everything, but who am I to judge. I'm "just Astrid" the girl who never wants to leave bed, eating my soggy cereal like a true mess.
     I thankfully finish my last bite of cereal without gagging and get up from the table. I turn and admire my mother reading her newspaper in the morning light shining in from the big window beside the kitchen table. She really is a beautiful woman. Fit to be a queen. Not a single hint on her angelic face that she is mourning my father today. Although I know deep down she is. I snap out of it and start heading towards the door when I see some other kids walk past my house through the window. A group of popular kids. Bleh. They are just going to school, not meaning any harm. However, I will just wait here until they pass. I can't bare any small talk with acquaintances today.
As I stare at these happy, popular, not a care in the world teenagers walking by I recognize one of the boys in the group. Aerglo. He has clean cut, red hair with a nicely trimmed beard. He's probably one of the only guys our age that can actually grow a beard, honestly. He's also probably one of the only boys that has ever been able to catch my attention.
     For a moment I almost forgot that I wanted to walk to school alone. I pause then make a quick decision to just go for the door and deal with the horrid small talk. I'm intrigued by this boy enough that I can sacrifice myself for today, I guess. I want to get close enough to him to see what he's like.
     I don't care much for the popular kids. All they care about are sports, who's dating who, who is cooler than who, and partying after school. Bleh. Sounds like a horrible boring life. But again, who am I to judge?
     I'm just a little bit behind the group when one of them turns around and notices me. Lyra, one of the nicer girls of the bunch, slows her stride to a stop and just looks at me. The others in the group don't seem to notice and continue waking down the sidewalk.
     As I approach her she says, "Astrid, I see you're walking to school alone. No one should be doing that alone. What if you get kidnapped?!"
Oh, what is it with people and me getting kidnapped today?
     "Oh I'll be fine, really. You must know by now that I prefer to be alone anyway. A kidnapper wouldn't be able to handle me, they simply just wouldn't want me." I say with a grin.
    Although Lyra and I weren't what you call friends, we had been in school together since we were very young. She of all people should know that I'd rather not have any human interaction. She's only been staring at my resting bitch face for years.
     "Well, if you insist then." Says Lyra as she turns to prance off to the group.
    I pause for just a second and then pick up my stride to catch up with Lyra. "Wait! I'll join you guys. But just for today. I'm feeling a little froggy I guess."
     Lyra just laughs and links her arm in mine and drags me with her to catch up with the group.
     We join the others who barely seemed to notice Lyra's return, or my addition for that matter. The group was made up of mostly boys and sports conversations are life, you know. While we all walked I listened to a boy named Han tell the story of how he made the best play in the history of football at Puxonia High, thus winning his team the championship. Sounded like a lot of exaggerating, but that's just me. Everyone else seemed to be thinking the same as me though, so maybe I can actually speak for the popular kids as well.
     During Han's next story about how he also made the next best play of Puxonia High's football history, I noticed that Aerglo wasn't paying him any attention. Instead, Aerglo's attention was on me. I blushed a little and then continued to pretend to care about Han's story.
     As we walked into the school we all started going our separate ways. No one really acknowledging me other than Lyra and Aerglo. I don't think they ever noticed that I joined them on their walk to school, honestly.
I got about ten steps down the hall when I sensed a presence. I turned around to find Aerglo on my heels.
     "Hey Sagittarius girl." He said smiling.
     "Hey... Sagittarius boy." I said with a smirk. "I have a name you know. It would do you well to remember it."
     "Oh sassy!" He said as he threw up his hands. "I know your name silly. It's Astrid. A name similar to mine, all outer space-esque."
     "I didn't even think of that. Yet again, what are the odds?" I said. "Well space boy, I better get to class. Don't want to have to tell a fib to Mrs.Clary about why I'm late."
     Laughing he said, "Ok, astrology girl. I was wondering though, would you like to join me after school on my walk home since it appears that I have to walk past your house anyway?"
     I feel myself blushing. Again. Why would this boy want to walk home with me? He's a perfect beautiful boy. He couldn't want to spend his time with someone like me, could he?
     Finding my inner strength I smirk and willing the blushing to go away, I say "Sure, since it's convenient."
     "Sounds like a date Astrology girl. I'll meet you at the stop sign at 3:10 PM." He says as he hastily darts off to his class.
     I smile and stand there blushing harder than before. A date. I have a date with space boy. A date with Sagittarius boy. The boy with the smile that can bring peace to the entire world after it starts a war. I stop and realize that this boy must have a pretty amazing smile for it to be able to do all of these extraordinary things, I just smile to myself and giggle a little and begin walking to Mrs.Clary's class.