Nebraska Stars

Chapter Three

The last few days of the school year went by in a blur. I sat in my classes, tuning out whatever teacher was droning on, just staring out the window, watching the leaves on the trees sway in the wind, and thinking about...Nebraska. Nebraska. I thought, who goes to Nebraska? No one. The night my mom told me I was going, I raced to my computer to look up anything and everything about Nebraska, and the conclusion I came to was that no one has ever gone to Nebraska unless they were being forced, like I was. Some of the words Wikipedia used to describe Nebraska were "treeless" and "overwhelmingly rural." That didn't inspire confidence that I was going to have the kick-ass summer I'd been hoping for. 

"Wait-what?!" Jo said, when I told her the bad news. We were standing in the hallway of school and she was crouched down, her body halfway inside her locker, as she gathered papers and hair ties and empty water bottles and threw them out onto the floor, in an attempt to appease vice principal Hiller who'd told her to clean her locker out "or else." She wiped the dirt from her hands onto her teeny tiny jean shorts and stood up to stare open-mouthed at me. "You're going to where this summer? And why, and what now??  

"Nebraska," I almost whispered. "My mom's making me." Jo stood there, shaking her head at me. She was petite and lean, with the kind of body that girls envy and the kind of personality guys love. She was tough, but still feminine, easygoing but not a pushover. She ran a hand through her hair and the hot pink and green rubber bracelets she always wore peeked through her dark black chin-length strands. I had always felt like Jo was in color and I was in black and white. Not that I minded, necessarily. After all, black and white is classic. And that's how I thought of myself. I knew I was pretty, but maybe in a less in-your-face way than Jo. My hair was sandy blonde, shoulder length, my body was slim but still soft, and I tended to dress pretty casually-jeans, t-shirts, flip-flops. I cared more about comfort than "hotness," I guess. 

"I cannot believe this is happening to me," Jo said, kicking at the junk she'd pulled out of her locker. "The whole summer?" she asked, and I thought I saw the tiniest glint of a tear in her eye. 

I nodded. "Well, you know...I told you about that stuff with my mom and Alan. I guess she doesn't want me to be...uh, exposed or whatever...to that." 

"Yeah, but that's not really that big of a thing, is it? I mean, I was gonna try to find you a guy to go out with and then you guys could've doubled with me and Jay all summer. Jay told me, oh my god, he said his cousin was gonna be around this summer and he said that guy will date like, literally, anyone." She shook her head and slammed her locker shut, then kicked at it lightly. 

"Oh, nice," I said, my voice full of sarcasm.  

She spun around, "Well I didn't mean it like that! I just meant if that's how he is, he would be like, so happy to get a chance with someone as hot as you."  

I tried to imagine a summer like the one Jo was laying out. Was I the type of girl that could just start dating some random guy because he happened to be cousins with my best friend's boyfriend? While I was deep in thought, Jo's face lit up. 

"Well..." she said slowly, "if you have to go, then we're going to have one hell of a fun last night together! Tomorrow night Jay is having the biggest last day of school party and you have to go with me." 

I opened my mouth to respond, but she put her hand in front of my face to stop me. "I do NOT want to hear it Mae! You are going to this party, and guess what? Jay's cousin Clark is gonna be there." She hopped from foot to foot and let out a little squeal. "Maybe you'll hook up with him and then you'll see how nuts it is that you're even considering this whole Nebraska thing." She picked up her shoulder bag, which was empty except for the few things she'd pulled out of her locker that she deemed worthy of keeping-a bottle of hairspray, a handheld mirror, a makeup bag-and she pranced off down the hall, then turned to stare at me. She motioned at me impatiently to hurry up. "Come on, Mae! We have shopping to do!"