Born of starlight and shadows

~Part five: Stella~

I'd spent the last day of my life trying to pretend what I'd felt wasn't real. Hannah Jones was the new girl at school. That was it. She wasn't some sort of freak of nature the way I was.

There was no weird, mystical connection between the two of us. All that had happened by the lockers was the two of us engaging in casual conversation as we walked to the exit of the school building.

"Casual conversation." Ha. That was practically an oxymoron, in the case of my life.

Fine, then. We'd been engaging in conversation as we walked. Nothing more.

I kept telling myself that and I still couldn't convince myself it was true.

Seeing Hannah's face in the cafeteria didn't help matters. Of course, it wasn't entirely unexpected. Frequently I'd wondered if I would see her, and what would happen if I did.

Turns out I was about to find out.

She looked about the same as she had yesterday. Black t-shirt (she must really like that color, I thought), jeans, tennis shoes. Galaxy print backpack.

She moved towards my table quickly. Deliberately. Gripping a Styrofoam tray in her hands tightly.

She set it down on my table and took a seat, right next to me.

"Um," I said. "Hi?"

With what seemed like a great effort, she said, "Hi."

She turned to me, fiddling with her bracelet all the while. "Do you remember what I asked you yesterday?"

"Not to follow you?" I asked. "Which, I didn't, by the way. You're welcome."

"Oh, trust me, I would have noticed if you did," she said. "But, no, actually, I meant the other thing. When I..."

She shook her head before continuing. "When I invited you over to my house."

"Yeah, I remember," I said. "Or at least...now, I do."

"So, I take it you didn't ask permission to do so," Hannah said.

"Nope," I said.

Hannah sighed. "That's slightly problematic."

Noticing my confused expression, she added, "I've got lots of homework due tomorrow, and I really could use some help with it."

"Uh-huh," I said. "Sure."

"What? I actually do have homework," Hannah said. "I wasn't lying about that!"

"But you were lying about some of it?" I asked.

"Possibly," Hannah rubbed her bracelet. "Okay, yes!"

"Why?" I asked.

"It's complicated!" she cried. "Very, very complicated!"

"So un-complicate it," I suggested.

"I can't, not here!" she said.

I shook my head. "Why in the world not?"

"Just trust me, okay?" she asked.

"But that's just it! How can I trust you when I barely even know you?" I asked.

"Because, because I'm a Star Child, that's why," she said finally.

I stared. "Okay. Is that supposed to mean something to me?" I asked. "Is it a code word, maybe?"

"No," she said. "Actually, yes. Kind of."

"Hannah, what in the world is going on and why are you acting so weird?" I asked finally.