StarFall (Completed)

Ch.7 (part 2)

"Officials are baffled by the strange lights growing ever brighter in the skies over..." 

The TV played in the background as I made my way into the kitchen, and sat myself at the dining room table. 

My mother turned to me. "Honey, you look awful. Still not sleeping right?" My mother said, pouring a cup of coffee.

I scratched my head, eyes still blurry from sleep. "Gee, thanks mom. Love you too." She shot me a look of disapproval. "Sorry, yeah another night of disturbed sleep." Disturbed was an understatement.

She ran her hand through my hair and then pressed it against my forehead. "You aren't that warm." She moved her hand down to my cheeks. "If you really aren't up to it you can stay home today."

Best. Mom. Ever. "It's a tempting offer, mom, but I got a test today. Shouldn't miss it." I moved to the counter and poured a cup of coffee.

She smiled, and walked away with her coffee in hand. "Hun, we got to get moving. You saw the news, work is going to be swarmed with reporters today."

My dad stood in front of the TV in the living room. His glasses falling halfway down his face. "It's really something isn't it?" He motioned towards the TV.

I dropped down onto the couch, my coffee on the new table, and wrapped a blanket around me that was draped over the back. "What's all this about?" I sat up, the blanket hung off my shoulders as I grabbed my coffee.

"It's nothing to be worried about. Just some normal atmospheric weirdness that's got the whole town in a frenzy. Not enough happens around here, so they gotta start looking to the skies for their news." My mom walked to the front closet and grabbed her coat.

"No, no. Something's not right about those lights." My dad squinted at the TV. "Meteors maybe?"

"Meteors?" I said as my mom walked past me.

"They're not meteors, and even if they were they'd burn up in the atmosphere before doing any real damage. A car may need to buff out a dent, or a roof may need some new shingles."

She pulled my dad away from the TV. "No. Look at the size of those things. If it is meteors they aren't burning up fast enough. We'd have some very large meteorites on our hands."

She shut off the TV. "Okay, enough doom and gloom for one morning." She looked to me. "Adeline, honey, the offer still stands." She lingered for a moment, her eyes ready, and mouth anticipating. "And if you need to talk..."

I couldn't get those lights on the TV out of my mind, and then there was that dream. "Yeah, sounds good."

She reluctantly retreated to the door with my father. 

"Bye, Addy." He shouted as he hurried out the front door, my mom close behind.

"Bye, dad."

She hovered in the doorway, hand holding the door frame tight. "Adeline, I mean it. I'm here for you." Her words soft and welcoming.

I appreciated the parental reach out, but opening up about my feelings was the last thing on my mind right now. "Thanks, mom." I feigned a smile and she was gone.

I finished my coffee as I turned the TV back on. 

"Nothing has been stated as of yet, but one thing's for certain, these lights seem out of this world."

The voices on the TV faded into the background as I let a thought wander into my mind that I wish I hadn't. Those lights. Something inside of me had a bad feeling about them. I rinsed my coffee cup out and got ready for school.