FALLEN STARS

a café, interrupted tea, and a band of idiots

Is it really too much to ask for?

A cup of tea and some quiet, I mean. I'd spent the last hour trying to find the correct spot to sit, and then another twenty minutes getting warm and comfortable (a difficult task at my mom's cafe), and then a band of idiots barged in- splintering the doorframe, I might add- bringing a whole nest of wasps with them. I think that's when I knew I would no longer be having my interrupted- albeit, previously lonely- tea party.

The first thing I noticed was that in the initial shock that came with the incident, I'd spilled my tea on my skirt. the next thing was my new company; a gangly-looking group of kids in their teens.Yep. A band of idiots.And how accurate a description! The idiots started swatting at the wasps, squishing them and yelling at them. As I tried to figure out what exactly was going on, I stayed by the window, not going near the wasps. apparently I had the right idea, because the wasps were leaving ME alone, too.Once the wasps had been completely wiped from existence by a torrent of boots, i felt like it might've been a good time to yell at people.

"Hey! What's wrong with you g-" i was interrupted when I heard someone in the group say "infected", and realized they were describing the wasps. So i spoke up, inserting myself into the intruders' conversation.

"Well, if they're infected, then the people who were stung by them are out of luck."And then the group went silent, turning to me. i finally got a good look at them; a group of girls with long hair, all looking quite frazzled. But one of these things was not like the others...oh, there was a dude in there. That's what was different.So, a band of idiot girls and one guy who looked like he was going to blow a gasket, none explaining themselves. this would be fun.Suddenly, from the quiet, a girl with hair getting in her face said "Who are you exactly?!"

And then it was like she'd unplugged their mouths. they all spoke at once, asking me the same thing. How thick-skulled must they be?!

"Hold up!" I yelled, quieting them. "You broke into my cafe, and now you're asking who I am?! Well, not to be obvious, but shouldn't it be the other way around?! Who are you idiots?!"

"We're not idiots," muttered a girl in the small crowd, playing with her hair condescendingly. If I'd known someone could be condescending through hair-twiddling, I would never have messed with this chick. She stopped twiddling her hair and offered me her hand. "I'm Anna."

I ignored her hand, instead addressing the boy, who was yelling at me pointlessly about the star imprinted on my collar bone.

"ANOTHER ONE?! Seriously, do they just fall from the sky- oh, wait-"I raised a brow at him, trying not to laugh as he realised his mistake.these stars had fallen from the sky. And it seemed that was the thing that brought us together. every single one of us had a star. 

For me, it happened last night. I was standing on my roof- getting away from my mom, in other words- and staring at the stars, when one rudely decided to whack into my collar bone. I thought it had broken. Not a moment later, a piece of worn parchment appeared, floating gracefully in front of me. i grabbed it without a thought, and what it said would shock me forever.

Put simply, it said I was specially chosen to save the world.

The star had then embedded itself in my collar bone, unmoving. I signed the paper with a quill that had also appeared with it, and then it dissappeared into thin air- back to where it came from, i suppose.

After that, I wasn't sure what to do- as i usually wasn't- so i waited for fate to take it's course. Now I'm not sure if it's the course i wanted.

Well, these imbeciles were refusing to move on, so i had to introduce myself to them. I crossed my arms tightly. "My name's Orphellia. like  Ophelia, but... less intelligent-sounding. you can thank my mother for that..." there was an awkward moment when no one was sure what to do, and then a girl with black hair started speaking.

"Well, we should move on. We need a place to stay, and the day isn't getting any younger." she offered me her hand, and I looked at it speculatively. "I'm Abril. Nice to meet you." I nodded, but didn't shake. The boy looked exasperated, and the other two girls weren't saying much of anything either. until the condescending hair-twiddler stepped forward with a smile. "I'm Anna. Like I said before." I took a good look at her. she wore a green shirt and jeans, and her brown hair hung loosely about her. Just looking at her, she seemed pretty happy-go-lucky, but i wasn't so sure after that little display with her hair. iit was kinda scary. The girl with black hair- Abril- was tapping her foot behind me, impatiently waiting for a reply. she was pulling on her suspenders, and letting them go with a snap. she also had a bright gold feather in her hair. She was quite beautiful. she reminded me of the greek goddess Artemis. then came a quiet and grudgeful introduction from the girl with her hair hanging over her eyes. "I'm Sinamon. But if you know what's good for you, you'll call me Sin."

I decided not to point out the irony of this. This chick looked like she could rip off my head with her bare hands. She reminded me of the Roman goddess Bellona.

Not sure what exactly to do now, I glanced at the boy, who was still refusing to share his name. then everyone was staring at him. Did anyone here know each other?

He stuffed his hands in his pocket, then grumbled, "Aster." we all assumed this meant that his name was Aster.

It was then that the seriousness of the situation hit me. They were all expecting me to join them on this mission- I was joining them on this mission. It was already late in the evening.

I awkwardly spoke, trying to break this thick ice. "You can all stay here for the night." I gestured to the counter, behind which was a large fridge. "The owner won't be returning until a couple of days from now. there's plenty of food."

And then the talking resumed. everyone was speaking over eachother, everyone had something they wanted to say. i sat back and watched the chaos, not wanting any part of it. That's when i noticed the teddy bears.

Two large teddy bears.

and they were walking.

There was another girl- one i hadn't noticed previously- commanding them gently. she had white hair, and apparently she could control teddy bears. over all the conversations, she was saying "my name's Eu..." quietly, and she seemed like she was perfectly distracted by her bears. i was taken aback by this blatant use of supernatural power. did she take those bears everywhere? who had noticed them before this group showed up here? we really needed to be careful not to have any passersby notice our abilities...

Oh I didn't mention. These stars came with another little thing- super powers.

And i can tell you now. Mine wasn't so super as much as horrible.

It was a cruel joke that was being played on me. All i'd done in life was get hurt, and now i'm infused with magic star power, and what is it? The ability to absorb the injuries of other living beings.

But apparently this girl- Eu- could animate inanimate objects. that's pretty cool.

i wondered what the other people's powers were. but it didn't really matter right then.

I noticed the boy- Aster- was hanging back on the counter. the conversation had died down now to just randomly talking about powers, and where they each found their stars. I was overwhelmed by all these people. I never really left my cafe since about a year and a half ago. It made me nervous. But that meant that my "people skills" were "rusty", and there was nothing I could do but sit aside and try to watch and learn from how they were all interacting with one another.

There was a lot of sarcasm eminating from Sin and Aster- that was more my speed. Anna and Eu were talking about Eu's bears now, and Abril seemed to be checking the structure of the cafe. i'm not exactly sure as to why.

I decided to incorporate myself into the conversations by yelling "Where will you all be sleeping?!"

They all replied with shrugs, gesturing sround and saying "wherever we can"

I couldn't help but feel like Shrek. This was my swamp. But I knew that this was the best idea. I couldn't kick these kids out now.