Off To Join The Stars

Chapter 1: Chasing Dreams and Chasing Chickens

“Alexas, come outside and put the chickens in before it gets dark,” my mother yells from the kitchen. I roll my eyes—this should be fun. Chasing chickens should be an Olympic sport. It takes me ten minutes to round them all up, but that's not bad for seventy-eight chickens. After a quick check on the rest of the livestock, I head back inside.

“Is Daisy in?” Paul asks. My older brother looks up from his book. Daisy’s my younger sister, the devil in disguise.

“I think so, but I can go check,” I offer. He pats me on the back.

“Nah, don’t worry. I’ll handle it.”

Sometimes, Paul feels like the only one who actually cares about me in this family.

“Paul, get out of the way, boy,” Pops snaps, his voice sharp like broken glass. Someone must’ve run out of their happy juice. Pops storms around the living room like a bear with a thorn in his paw, and I use the moment to slip away to my room. Daisy and I share a small, seven-by-seven box, cozy enough when it’s quiet.

Paul sleeps on the couch most nights—or the floor by my bed when our parents are fighting, which is, well, most of the time. It’s scary, but Paul keeps us safe. He knows all my secrets. I trust him with everything.

When I was thirteen, I told him I was questioning being transgender, that my body didn’t feel right. It took him some time to process that, and I get it—I thought it was a phase at first, too. But he’s always supported me, even when he didn’t fully understand.

Daisy, though… she has the biggest mouth in the world. Nothing stays a secret with her. She’s gotten me into trouble more times than I can count. Always sucking up to the adults, making up stories just to make herself look good. She’s the favorite, the spoiled youngest, and I swear she’s the evilest eleven-year-old on the planet.

I get ignored 99.9% of the time. When I’m not, I’m getting yelled at. Paul? He’s got all the responsibilities our parents should have and gets blamed for everything. And Daisy? She’s being set up for disaster. The real world is going to eat her alive.

But no one talks about that. They just say “life isn’t fair,” like that’s supposed to help. I love Daisy, even though she treats me like garbage, and I worry for her. She’s loud, and school starts tomorrow. I don’t want her getting into trouble because she can’t keep her mouth shut.

Paul, on the other hand, works full-time at the local pool but wants to go to college. He has a scholarship, but he’s so focused on supporting Daisy and me that I’m afraid he’ll throw his future away.

As for me? I’ve got my own issues, but they don’t matter. Tomorrow, I’ll have to face school, the teachers who barely teach, and my so-called “friends.” Last year, the teachers would explain things the same way over and over, as if repeating it made it easier. Newsflash: it doesn’t.

Later, Paul comes into our room and lays on the floor. I glance over at him and sigh. “You’ve earned my bed tonight. I’ll sleep on the floor.”

He hesitates but finally agrees, climbing into my bed. His back must be killing him. I wish I knew what went on in his head sometimes. I wish I knew what went on in everyone’s heads, so I could understand them better. Maybe then they’d understand me too. Probably a long shot, though.

My thoughts spiral into how messed up everything is—the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer. Even people who seem "well-off" are struggling. But just as my mind starts to wander deeper, my alarm goes off. I must have forgotten to sleep.

I turn it off and wake Daisy up quietly. Paul doesn’t have to get up yet; he needs his rest.

The bus ride to school is chaos. Someone’s phone goes flying out the window, and then the kid who owns the phone follows it. Gotta love it here. School’s no better. Some poor kid gets thrown into a dumpster, and another girl breaks her leg trying to jump a hurdle. I almost miss my third block, but my cousin Shelly helps me find a teacher to guide us. Well, she makes me ask for help, but whatever.

When I walk into class, I spot Abby, my middle school tormentor, and Kathy, who’s stabbed me in the back more times than I care to count. The only seat left is right up front by the teacher's desk. Great.

Abby snickers and points me out to her friends, but I ignore it. The teacher introduces herself as Ms. Brooks. She seems nice enough—better than most of the teachers here.

The day drags on until I run into Shelly after school. She introduces me to her friends, including a girl named Nova. Nova’s cute, bubbly, and has these incredible eyes that I can't stop staring at.

Shelly elbows me. “Sooo, got sweet eyes for Nova, huh?” she teases.

My face heats up. I try to deny it, but the words don’t come. Nova’s perfect, and I’m completely smitten. Shelly doesn’t shut up about it the whole bus ride, and then she drags me off the bus to talk about it even more. Her family loves me, so when we get to her house, it’s like walking into a second home.

After dinner, Shelly slams her bedroom door. “C’mon, man, did you make any friends today?”

I shake my head, fiddling with a bracelet.

“You can’t just be the quiet kid all year. You gotta make friends!” she scolds.

I roll my eyes. “Shut your trap, Shell.”

“Oh snap, you made Alex mad,” her dad, James, calls from the living room. Shelly bursts into laughter. She always knows how to push my buttons.

By the time it gets dark, I head home. Paul’s probably already asleep, and I don’t want to bother him. The walk is peaceful, with crickets and frogs serenading me as I pass by the creek. I stop for a moment to say goodnight to Blue, my bluegill friend. Yeah, I talk to a fish—don’t judge.

When I get home, Paul is passed out on the couch with a half-eaten taco in his hand. I clean up the mess and quietly get ready for bed. Tomorrow’s another day. Maybe I’ll actually talk to Nova.