Distanced

Chapter 1 - Black Holes

~Flashback~

     I remember exactly when my fascination with space began. It was around my 4th birthday when my dad had passed away. My mother was devastated, as was I but she always kept a front. Always wanted to make me feel better about life.
     One afternoon on a cloudy day, my mother had gone up into the attic, me being the curious little kid I was, followed her. She looked back and slightly chuckled "You've always been a curious kitten" I smiled and laughed a bit watching her with confused eyes, she took out this dusty looking telescope, along with a book.
     I was about 10 at the time and she sat down in front of me. Her eyes read sadness, and amazement. I sat down in front of her and watched with glazed over eyes. She looked up with a smile and said in a hushed tone "This was your fathers, I remember you telling me you wanted to learn more about space, so I wanted you to have this, and I'm sure he would have as well."
     I looked down and gently took the book from her hands. The cover read "Distanced" sooner or later I got up and hugged her ever so tightly thanking her over and over.

~Flashback End~

I chuckled at my small kitten sitting on the windowsill, Jax loved to wake up just to go right back to staring out a window. Watching her black and grey tail moving back and forth waiting for me to get up and open the window.
I slowly pulled the black sheets off of my little legs and walked towards her, as she continued to give me a look of excitement. I slowly opened the window and watched as she jumped outside onto the roof.
I looked at the clock and read "7:30" less than an hour before I had to be at school, I sat down on my bed once more and pulled a book out from my nightstand and stared at it in wonder. "Distanced" the cover read as I traced the white letters with my thumb. Smiling slightly to myself.
I opened the book to the first page and read aloud to myself "Black Holes" in deep bold print. "When a star burns through the last of its fuel, it may find itself collapsing. For smaller stars, up to about three times the sun's mass, the new core will be a neutron star or a white dwarf. But when a larger star collapses, it continues to fall in on itself to create a stellar black hole.
Black holes formed by the collapse of individual stars are (relatively) small, but incredibly dense. Such an object packs three times or more the mass of the sun into a city-size range. This leads to a crazy amount of gravitational force pulling on objects around it. Black holes consume the dust and gas from the galaxy around them, growing in size. Even the light from such a star is unable to escape its immense gravitational pull. The star's own light becomes trapped in orbit, and the dark star becomes known as a black hole. Black holes pull matter and even energy into themselves—but no more so than other stars or cosmic objects of similar mass."
I sighed as I then closed the book. Got myself back up out of bed, and put the book into my backpack, and walked to my closet.
     My room wasn't anything special, just plainly painted white walls, and a few drawings here and there. My bed is sitting underneath the window so that I have a better chance to star gaze at night, seeing as how that would be more comfortable, I always have the roof as well, which is great on a fall night.
I pulled on a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, a pair of black converse and a Mickey Mouse hoodie. I turned back around to check the time and read "8:00"
I sighed and rushed myself to the bathroom with my backpack thrown lazily over my shoulders. Applied a bit of light makeup, and some eyeliner and ran downstairs to kiss my mother goodbye.
"BYE MOM!" I screamed before I grabbed my car keys off of the kitchen counter, and threw my bag in through the window of my car. I opened the garage and slowly backed out, looking behind me for any small kids walking to their bus stop.
     I looked to my left and saw a u-haul in a driveway, watching curiously I peaked my head out and saw a boy, about my age, red hair, freckles, blue eyes, and a smile made of adventure, carrying in a few items, laughing at something his mother had said. I smiled and waved as she waved back with her petite body, and her eyes shining.
     I continued to back out of the driveway, and looked over to catch the gorgeous boy staring in my direction. I blushed, and drove out of the neighborhood on my way to the run down high school.
     I parked the small green Camry into my payed for parking space in the schools parking lot, and grabbed my bag and threw it carelessly over my shoulder. Waiting for my friend Gabe to show up.
     A few minutes later he pulled up with a bright smile on his face, dyed black, and teal hair, a leather jacket on, and some black skinny jeans with a white tee.
     He had something hidden behind his back, I turned my head to the side looking curiously at him, he quickly noticed and pulled one hand out from behind his back and began waving a finger at me in a disapproving manner.
     I laughed before asking him "What is is?" He shook his head and smiled, before responding, "You must wait until after school darling." I glared playfully at him, as he shoved whatever it was into his car and wrapped his long, slender arm around me and began to march us inside.