A Tail of Stars

The sound of falling water captured my attention.  It was odd, the sound of fat drops hitting the marble floors.  I wasn’t actually hearing rain falling in the middle of the library.  I knew that.  But I couldn’t help being drawn into it.  It was the emotions it evoked.

“Casey?” David snapped his fingers in front of my face.  Concern slowly painting his features into sharp lines that made him look somehow unreal.

 I don’t remember deciding to rise but I was standing.  David moved to block me.  It wasn’t the first time he chased me into the rain, so to speak.  But it didn’t make it any less frightening.  I could see the fear in his eyes.  I felt bad for causing it but that didn’t stop me from straining to hear the laughter I knew was coming next, searching it out.

It was soft and pleasant like the tinkling of bells.  I spun, looking for the source, hoping this time it wasn’t just a ghost of a memory or the shadow of an experience I don’t recall ever having.  Maybe this time I’d actually get more than a glimpse of the source of the voice.

The library fell away, replaced by an enormous fountain and at the center was the statue.  She was pouring water from a pitcher over her shoulder.  It splashed across her marble back and cascaded down into the pool below. 

The sight was so comforting, so familiar I moved toward it, pushing past the column that stood in my way.  I could see his silhouette across the way, nestled between two columns.  The blonde was with him.  Her hair was piled atop her head, loose ringlets brushed her slender neck.

My tongue suddenly felt dry.  It was thick in my mouth.  I tried to swallow back the ugliness I felt towards her.

She threw her head back and laughed.  It was the kind of laughter that could make you smile even if you were having a bad day.  Naturally he was drawn in, brushing a stray curl from her shoulder.  His fingers lingered on her porcelain skin.

The laughter was gone from her eyes, replaced by a look that twisted my stomach and left the taste of ash in my mouth.  “No.”  It was only a whisper, but it was as if he heard this time.  He turned, searching me out with his eyes.

There was a scream.  It sounded far away.  Something hit me from behind and all the air was knocked out of me.  The ground rose up to meet me and I was rolling.  There were flashes of concrete and something softer.  David.

“Casey?” David shook my face, his fingers pressing into my chin.  “Casey?”  He sounded more frantic now.

“David?” Relief flashed on his face, then anger.

“What happened?” I asked.

“You wandered into traffic.”  His tone was bitter.  I knew he was tired of pulling me from ledges and holding me till my blood was silent. 

Hazel, his girlfriend, was more than tired of it.  I could see it in the way she stood on the sidewalk, hands on her hips, staring down at me with something just a little short of contempt.  I tried not to think of the fight they’d have later, because of me.

When my parents died, David’s family took me in and made me one of their own.  He became my self- appointed protective older brother figure.  I’m not sure Hazel ever believed his reassurances that he only saw me as family.

David rolled off of me.  Checking me over for injuries, his strong hands probed.  I winced as he found an especially tender spot.  He held my arm up and I wasn’t surprised to see a thick patch of road rash spread down my left arm just below my elbow.

“Nothing seems to be broken,” David said, a scowl forming.  He brushed a lock of my limp brown hair out of my eyes then pulled me up onto my knees. “Case, you have no sense of self preservation.”  He shook his head.

“Dude!  Can you both get up off the pavement.  People are staring.” Hazel tossed her hair and tried not to look like she was with us.  David rolled his eyes and shook his head again.  But he stood up, anyway, yanking me with him, practically dislocating my shoulder and my elbow in the process.

“Jeez, take it easy!  I just had a near death experience.  I’m a little fragile.”

“Right. You’re about as fragile as a brick.  In fact, we should probably get outta here.  I think you dented the concrete.”

I shoved him and earned myself another glare from Sparkle Barbie, Hazel.  “Uh oh, Davie, I don’t think you’re gettin any tonight.”  I winked at him and in response he grabbed Hazel around the waist and shoved his face into her neck, making overly loud slurping noises for mine and everyone else’ benefit. 

Hazel tried to look annoyed but gave into a fit of giggling, curling around David in a way that wasn’t at all playful.

“Ick, get a room!” I hollered and skipped ahead, jumping onto the bottom step of a waiting bus. “Thanks for saving me, Davie.  Again!”

“Clean that cut!”

“Yes, Dad.”

He was going to say something but Hazel, obviously feeling left out, slipped her tongue down his throat. I shivered and shoved my bus pass at the driver.  He shrugged, not even looking at it and I dropped into the nearest seat.  I tried not to think about his eyes, dark brown and warm and looking at me for the first time, ever.  The man the voice belonged to, he’d never been aware of me before.

The thought made me tingle.