A Graveyard of Stars

Chapter Ten

When Mrs. Michelle places my astronomy test on the edge of my desk, I ignore it. Then I remember the last few weeks full of textbooks, migraines and Will Conway. Snatching the paper off the desk, I notice there is a lot less red than usual. That's a good sign. At the top of the page, in a quickly drawn circle sits one single letter.

B

I got a B.

When the bell rings, I practically fly to the cafeteria. I do everything but yell GET OUT OF THE WAY LOSERS as I zoom through the halls. Stopping in front of the double doors, I work on collecting myself before going in. Taking deep breaths, I try not to look as excited as I am, but the grin I'm sporting just won't let up.

Once I feel ready, I walk in, and instantly know that something is different.

The lights have been dimmed so the giant screen can be seen at the front of the room like a movie, but the only sounds I hear are muffled sobs. The door to the cafeteria slams behind me, and any conversation that was going on has now seized due to my appearance.

The giant screen at the front of the cafeteria is showing a photo of Connor.

Little Connor from elementary school smiling brightly at the camera. His hair is shorter and much blonder than in his teenage years. The picture suddenly morphs into one of him dressed as the Hulk with his Mom on Halloween night. Richelle, Connor's Mom, is hugging him as he pouts because Richelle had to take away the candy tub from him. I remember her light tone as she said, "Eat anymore tonight and the Hulk will go into a sugar coma."

The next picture is one I remember as clear as today. The photo is of Connor, Craig and I from the beginning of last year. Richelle took it. That day, Connor and Craig decided to take me fishing for the first time. I was the only one to not catch anything but Connor was very supportive. "You just wasted a quarter of our bait but hey, at least you tried," he had said, pinching my cheek.

In the picture, Craig is looking somewhere to the right, hardly paying the camera any attention. Nonetheless, there's a ghost of a smile on his lips. My arms are crossed as I smirk down at the ground, trying not to look as happy as I actually was. Connor is in the middle. His arms are around both mine and Craig's shoulder's, pulling us into him and the picture. He's the only one smiling willingly and looking directly at the camera. He looks messy and dirty, his smile is crooked.

He's my best friend. And I let him down.

I know for a fact that half the people crying in this cafeteria right now were as close to Connor as I am to Addie Bishop. They don't know the stories behind the photos, they don't know when they were taken. But now that he's dead and gone, he's the most popular and missed guy in the school. I notice a few student's eyes are fixed on me, waiting for me to do something dramatic and gossip worthy. Instead of giving them the show they're hoping for, I simply turn around and retrace my steps. The cafeteria door slams behind me.

The girl's bathroom smells like cigarette smoke and vanilla. I pace back and forth it. Seeing those pictures has had a bigger effect on me than I'd like to admit. When we went to the creek last year to fish, Connor was his happy-go-lucky self. And yet, five months later, he was gone. Did he try to tell me? To ask for help? How could I be so oblivious? I knew he was struggling at home. I knew he was worried about graduating high school and getting into college and all the normal stuff.

I place my hands on either side of the sink and stare hard at my reflection in the mirror. What did I miss? What could I have possibly missed that had been so serious that it drove Connor to this outcome?

"Dani?"

I blink a few times. Will? I see him behind me in the mirror

"You alright?" He asks.