Gamma Stellaris

Chapter 1

        Kassidy frowned as she studied herself in the mirror, fiddling with her brown hair. She preened at it as if she could fix it even though it sat in perfect curls already.

        She sighed, deciding to leave her hair alone and finish her makeup instead. She started applying eye liner, trying to make her grey eyes more noticeable than they already were.

        "Kassidy, we're gonna be late!" Jared shouted from downstairs.

        "Where are we going anyway?"

        "The others want to check out some abandoned amusement park."

        She scoffed, setting her eye liner pencil down. Of course Kassidy loved her friends, but she felt like they also had some of the stupidest ideas sometimes. There was Stefanie, who just wasn't the brightest in general. Then there was Brian, who loved the idea of doing stupid stuff sometimes just to have the experience. Finally, there was Leanne, who was probably the smartest of the group, but was also the most fearless person Kassidy had ever met, which made her prone to dumb decisions.

       And the twins seemed to just follow along with it for some reason.

      Kassidy ran down the stairs and quickly slid her shoes on.

       "What took you so long?!" Jared hissed softly.

        Jared looked practically identical to his twin sister, except he had a small cluster of freckles lining his nose.

      "What? It takes effort to look this good."

       "Let's just go."

       "Whatever you say, asswipe."

      Jared rolled his eyes as he grabbed his car keys before walking out of the house.

       Kassidy groaned as she sat down, picking at the ripped leather on her seat. "You need to replace this piece of junk."

       "Tell that to mom and dad. They insist that this rust bucket runs just fine."

       She rolled her eyes. Her parents were really cool, they just also happened to be insanely cheap. They insisted their two children could get along just fine in a car that had barely run since the 80s.

       As Jared turned his key in the ignition multiple times and tried to coax the car to life, Kassidy was half waiting for it to blow up. He finally convinced the engine to start and they were off.

       "Why are we doing this again?" She asked softly.

       Jared softly groaned. "The others seem super excited about it. We just have to not be dumbasses, that's all."

        She chose not to tell Jared that she had a really bad feeling about the whole trip. After all, she didn't want to be the one to ruin the day for everyone.

       Jared pulled into a gas station and turned the car off. 

       "We're out of gas already? Didn't you fill it up after last night?" Kassidy asked.

       "I forgot to. It'll just take a minute."

       Jared paid for the gas pump and then walked inside to buy some snacks. Kassidy softly sighed, already knowing they were going to be late again. She and Jared were notorious for being late to everything they were invited to.

       The driver's door opened and Jared tossed Kassidy a bag of chips after taking the pump out of the gas tank. He shut his door and put the key back in the ignition.

        As he turned the key, the car gave a weak sputter. He turned the key again, but got nothing more than the same weak sputter.

       "You've got to be kidding me." Kassidy hissed softly.

        Jared sighed, pulling out his phone. "I'll see who's nearby."

        Kassidy kicked the glove box with a scowl.