Skipper Jackson is your regular small town girl: Aggressive, good with a gun, and stunningly beautiful. She loves Austin, Texas and everything about it. She loves the night sky, the music, the dusty back roads, the people...but little does she know...
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I smoothed out my dress as I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I was going on my first date with Farkle. I was nervous as heck, but at the same time, I was thrilled. I really like him.
"You look fine, if you were wondering." I looked up to see Lucas leaning against the door frame.
"I wasn't, but thank you for that heart-felt compliment." I said sarcastically. He smiled. "I'm excited though. Farkle's great."
"Just, out of curiosity...you would never date in Texas. What changed?" I smiled.
"I met somebody worth my time." He smirked and the doorbell rang. I grabbed my bag, practically running down the stairs and opening the door. Farkle was there, wearing his denim jacket with sweat-shirt sleeves, a space t-shirt, and jeans. "Hey." I shut the door behind me.
"You look pretty." He told me. I smiled.
"Thanks. You look good, yourself. So, what's the plan?"
"I wanted to take you somewhere."
"Ok...I'll just have to be...pleasantly surprised?"
"Hopefully?" I laughed.
"I'm sure I'll love it. Let's go."
~~~
"The planetarium? Isn't it closed?" I asked.
"I know a guy." I laughed.
"Of course you do. But what are we doing here?"
"Well, Lucas was telling me how much you loved the stars back in Texas, so I figured that, since we don't have many stars here, these were the next best thing." The stars were projected on the ceiling and a blanket with a picnic basket on it was spread out on the floor. "Um...Skipper?" He waved a hand in front of my face. I looked at him.
"Nobody has ever done anything like this for me before." I told him.
"Well, you deserve it. You've been a great friend to all of us."
~~~
After about an hour of eating and laughing, Farkle and I laid down and were just watching the fake stars.
"Are they anything close to Texas?" I turned my head, looking at him.
"What?"
"The stars. Are they anything like Texas?" I turned back to them.
"Yeah...I mean, it's different when you're really there, but...it's still beautiful. Lucas, Zay, and I used to lay out in Pappy Joe's field and just watch the stars. "
"Do you miss it?" He asked.
"Sometimes. I miss parts of it. But then, with you guys, here...I like that a whole lot more."
"You prefer us to Texas?" I turned back to him. He was also looking at me now.
"Nothing could make me give you guys up...not even all the stars in the sky." He smiled, his eyes falling lower on my face. Was he looking at my mouth? He looked back up to my eyes and I felt his hand on mine. I intertwined our fingers, not taking my eyes away from him. "Nothing could ruin this moment."
Never say that. Not ever.
My phone rang and I sat up, grabbing it and looking at it.
"It's my dad. I've gotta take this. Hi, Daddy."
"Skip..." He sounded like he'd been crying and my heart sank.
"What? What's wrong?"
"It's your mom..."
"What about her?" I asked, terrified.
"She died, sweetie. About twenty minutes ago. I'm so sorry, Baby...We're gonna fly you out here for the funeral..." I heard voices. "I gotta go. I love you." He hung up, and I did too.
"What's wrong?" Farkle asked. I couldn't even answer. I covered my mouth with my hand, and just like that, for the first time in a year, I was crying. I felt Farkle's arm wrap around me, and my head was on his chest as I cried into his jacket. We sat there for what felt like eternity. My tears dried up, and I sat up, wiping my eyes. "Was it your mom?" I nodded.
"She's gone." I whispered. "They're flying me out for the funeral."
"Skipper...I'm so sorry..."
"I...I think I need to head back to Lucas's place." He nodded, standing up and extending his hand to me. I took it and he helped me up, pulling me into a hug.
"Come on...let's go."
~~~
When I got off the plan and saw my dad, the dark circles under his eyes and his hair, I could handle it. I ran to him, hugging him and crying into his shirt.
"Shh...it's ok, Skipper, it's ok." I pulled away, looking up at him.
"How are you?" I asked.
"I'm ok...how are you?" I shrugged.
"I've got some pretty great friends to help me through."
"Yeah, I heard about that. Come on. Let's go home." He wrapped an arm around me and led me to the truck.
