Constellations Shift

Chapter 1: In The Stars

As I sat quietly in the basement, the birds slowly starting to wake up from their sleep and the sun climbing quickly up in the sky, I thought quietly to myself. I could feel the warmth from the sun gently lay down on my back, like a soft blanket trying to comfort me. I held my head in my hands as I looked at the time. Hours had passed and not once did I move. I listened as people started to open and close their house and car doors, leaving for work or school.

Yet I just sat there, quietly listening as the floorboards above my head started to creak softly. I blinked. My eyes were so tired and so sore from staying awake all night and from just crying. But I simply blinked again. I listened as a few doors opened and closed from up stairs.

I turned and looked at the dents in the wall from when I was nine. I thought back about how different my life would have been if the neighbors' kid didn't get sick and they actually left on their trip to Europe. No one would have heard my screams. He wouldn't have gone to jail. I wouldn't be here right now.

But sometimes, I think that maybe it's better if I wasn't here today. I mean, what's the point in it all? We all die anyways, so why did it matter if my life was simply cut a little bit short? I could hear someone from upstairs coughing and I sighed gently. I slowly got up from off of the floor, my back breathing a sigh of relief.

My butt was sore from sitting for so long, my arms tingled as I moved them, my head felt like it might wobble off of my neck, and my legs felt so heavy, I had to drag them across the concrete floor. I didn't care to get dressed at all, I simply dragged myself up the stairs, one long step at a time. I walked into the kitchen and I looked over to see someone in the kitchen. She glanced back at me.

She had pale green eyes and her blonde hair pulled back into a messy bun. Her face was covered in freckles and she wore her yellow house coat with her purple pajama pants. Her dimples started to show as she flashed a smile my way, her teeth perfectly placed thanks to her braces at fifteen.

"Good morning there, Toddson," she said to me as I walked over to the coffee maker. "Morning, Mrs. Case," I muttered as I simply poured myself a cup of coffee. She knitted her eyebrows together. "Just call me Julia," she said and I waved my hand at her. "Are you alright?" she asked me, concern filling her voice ever so slightly. I grunted as a reply.

I heard another set of footsteps walk down the stairs. Without having to turn, I already knew who it was. "Morning, honey," Mr. Case said and I heard him kiss his wife. I turned. He had brown hair and brown eyes. He had an old rock band t-shirt with a pair of shorts on. He had his glasses pushed up to the brink of his nose and his arms were wrapped around Mrs. Case's waist. She had her arms around his neck. He turned to me and smiled. "Morning, Toddson," he told me. I turned back towards the coffee machine. "Morning, Mr. Case," I said and I heard him sigh. "I told you already, just call me Justin," he said and I simply grunted in reply. I took a sip of coffee and I glanced at the clock.

I poured the rest of my coffee into a to-go mug and I grabbed my backpack. "Leaving so soon?" Mr. Case asked me as I walked away. "Yep," I simply said as I pulled my shoes on, squeezing my feet into my 1-size-too-small shoes. "Bye kid! We love you!" Mrs. Case shouted. I simply opened the door and closed it behind me. "Bullshit," I muttered as I started to walk down the street towards the school.

I bounced from foster parent to foster parent because who would want to take care of a depressed fifteen year old? Or simply just a gay fifteen year old boy? That's why he was put in jail. Because he found out I was gay. But now? Random people would come into my house each week to take care of me because nobody could handle me. It was just as simple as that.

I don't care though. I could basically sense that they were going to leave me again quicker than they first came. I've only been with them for two days and they already expect me to call them by their first names. Yeah, because the best thing to do is to get attached to them so that they can leave me again. I've made that mistake before. Never again will I ever make that same mistake.