let's light up the sky ☆

Chapter 1

I looked over the clothes I had strewn across my bed, annoyed by the decision I couldn't seem to make.

I thought I had it all picked out last night before I went to bed – the new pink sundress I pulled out seemed like a great idea. It was a bit of an impulse buy, but I couldn't resist it and thought it would be the perfect summer look. Then I remembered the black ripped jeans I hadn't worn since Dad's last show a couple months ago. I couldn't decide between my plaid button up or an old Power t-shirt to go along with them. But when I put them on, they didn't feel right either. 

I tossed them to the side and tried on the dress. Then I wondered if I would get cold sitting in my homeroom class. Mrs. Fletcher always cranks the A/C down to negative 50 degrees, which is excessive even for Southern California standards.

Mom walked by the open door, backed up, and took a sympathetic look inside. Maggie, our 11-year-old husky, slipped inside my room from behind her. "Need help?"

I sighed because by this point I was starting to chip away at the time I had left for breakfast. "I guess."

Mom chuckled and stepped inside. "So what's your thought process? Let's start there."

Sometimes it's a blessing and a curse for my mom to be a creative writing professor. This was one of those occasional blessings. I sat down on the bed beside Maggie and pet her soft triangle-shaped ears while I thought of what to say. "Well, it's been a while since I've worn these" – I held up the jeans for emphasis in my free hand – "but then this is new. I wanna give it a shot before summer starts, like a test drive, you know? But what if the room is cold? I don't know if I'm feeling girly or a little tomboyish today."

Mom nodded. "Didn't you say you were only having a movie day today? How about, you wear the dress and then take a small blanket in case you get cold? It fixes that problem right away."

She had a point. "You're the best."

"I know I am," she chuckled. "Whenever you're done, come downstairs and we can have a little bit of breakfast together before you leave."

With that, she stepped out and closed the door so I could have a little bit of privacy in putting on my chosen dress. Now getting a good look at it in the mirror, I felt like I had made the right choice. Most people say I have my dad's doe eyes and my mom's everything-else, and now I see exactly what they mean.

Hardly anyone is gonna be at school for the last day, so I don't know why I was even fretting. Today was one of those days where getting dressed feels like a massive sandbag of effort. Since deciding on what to wear was hard enough, I didn't even bother with trying to do my make-up. I brushed my hair that Mom helped me flat-iron after my shower last night and popped in a little side braid. Thank God summer was coming up so I'd only have to deal with this problem half as often.

"Thoughts?" I asked, turning around to look at Maggie, who had now put her head down on her crossed paws. She yawned and huffed out a sigh, the graying of her muzzle growing every day. "Great, thanks for your input," I laughed. Maggie likes to take over my room whenever I'm at school or staying at someone's house. It's fine by me because it gives me an excuse to skip the part of making my bed so she can make a nest out of my blankets.

Although we're a close family, it wasn't common for us to have breakfast together. Dinner was almost always our family time unless Dad was on tour. Then Mom and I would alternate between doing our own things for dinner or sharing one together. We actually preferred the variety of changing it up instead of sticking to the same routine. Both of my parents are great cooks, but sometimes we weren't on the same page when it came to what we wanted to eat. 

The lockdowns canceled Dad's 2020 European tour and drove us crazy picking dinner every night. My older brother Armen, an at-the-time college athlete, also came home. With his big appetite and boundless energy, our entire family dynamic was under siege.