Chasing Stars

B u c k e t L i s t

     I looked around the hustle of teenagers, trying to spot a certain boy with dark hair.

   I searched through the crowds and still found no signs of Austin. It had already been forty five minutes since the final bell.

   My heart sank. Maybe he was getting me back for ditching him yesterday.

   I felt a light touch on my shoulder and jumped.

   "Sorry for being so late." Austin muttered.

I smiled, remembering my decision to be friends with him.

   "That's okay. Mistakes happen.So are we going to your house?" I asked, masking my slight irritation.

  I was slightly nervous at the prospect of trying to be friends with him, and I tried to tone down my usual hostility as much as possible.

    He looked at me suspiciously.

"That's it? You're not even going to chastise me for being late? Not even a small lecture?" He asked sarcastically.

   "Nope" I said, emphasizing the word.

He narrowed his eyes at me.

  "There's something going on...you're being too....nice" he said, as if it was a horrible thing to be.

  "How so?" I asked, trying not to roll my eyes.

    "Let's see..at class today, I knocked over your textbook and you didn't say a word. I also got you in trouble with Mr.Foster for talking when it was totally my fault. And now, after making you wait for forty five minutes you're not scolding me like you usually would."

     I chuckled at his evaluation. "Maybe I am just a kind soul. You haven't known for me very long you know" I pointed out.

     He raised an eyebrow at me.            

   I sighed. I didn't have much experience with making friends.

   "Okay. You caught me. I've decided to be less...horrible to you. Maybe even try to be friends"

   Austin's face brightened. "Aha! I did win you over didn't I? I told you, no one escapes my charms and good looks."

  I laughed.  "Okay buster. Now lead the way to your car."

    His face fell a little. "I..uhm..don't have a car"

  I looked at him, surprised, and saw an  embarrassed face.

    I nudged him with my elbow. "I don't have a car either" I stage whispered.

   He grinned. "Okay. Let's go and walk"

  We started towards the sidewalk.

"Do you walk home everyday?" I asked, trying to make conversation.

    "Yeah. My dad's always at work, and they don't have a bus service after school" he said with a shrug. "But my house isn't that far so its not that bad. What about you?"

     "My mom usually picks me up. She works from home" I said.

   "What does your mom do?" Austin asked curiously.

   "She's a caterer. She cooks the food and her clients come and pick it up." I replied. "What about your dad?"

  "He's a businessman. Its a boring job, really. Nothing I want to do."

   I nodded. We walked further and soon fell into a comfortable silence.

   After a few minutes, he stopped me in front of a moderate sized house, that resembled a barn, with bright red walls, and a white roof. I immediately fell in love with it.

     "Its not much, but its home" Austin said, a little red.

    "I love it!" I said.

     He brightened and bounded up the steps, with me following behind him.

  We stepped inside and put our backpacks on a small coffee table next to the door.

   He rubbed his hands. "So, we have a few diaries and things upstairs in the attic, we could start there" he said enthusiastically.

  "Sounds good. Lead the way" I said, sweeping my hands.

   We walked up a set of stairs and I brushed my fingertips against the white wallpaper.

       "This house is pretty old isn't it Austin?" I noticed.

   "Yeah. It was my dad's grandparents house. We moved in, after the incident last year." he said, looking down.

    I gave him a sympathetic smile.

   He smiled back and led me to a small ladder that opened up to a platform in the roof.

   I looked up and gulped at the gaping black hole above me.

   "You're sure that its..you know..safe?" I asked hesitantly.

  He winked at me. "You're going to have to find out."

   He helped me onto the ladder and I climbed up, stepping into the gloom, with Austin at my heels.

   It was a huge black space, with narrow tunnels of light spotlighting diaries stacked on top of each other, and trunks lying near them.

  I wove my way through a maze of boxes and pulled a string that was attached to a lightbulb.  

    A feeble light turned on, barely lighting up the attic.

   "Wow" I said, enchanted by a porcelain vase. "All these vintage furniture are beautiful" I  murmured, brushing against a glass statue.

"They were my great grandparent's." Austin said behind me.

   "Okay. So where do we start?" I asked.

"Let's start with those diaries. Those might help." he answered pointing to a stack nearby.

   I took the top one and opened softly, after caressing the soft cover.

   We read quietly for a few minutes; the only sound was of the flipping pages.

   I read the diaries for a while, entering a world back in the past. But after finding no particularly useful information, I was about to close the book when a small piece of paper flew out and fluttered to the ground.

    I bent down and picked it up, and was surprised to find that the paper wasn't very old.

   

   There was writing on the front and a name in the back.

   "Austin, who's May Reynold?" I asked, reading the name to myself

He looked up, his face ashen.

   "Where did you find that name?" he whispered, trembling.

   "A note flew out from the diary" I said, wondering why the name pulled such a reaction from him. "Hey, are you okay?"

   He walked over and gently pried the piece of paper from my hands, the diaries forgotten.

  Flipping the note over, he read the text on the front.

   He didnt say anything for a long time. I looked at his face and was frightened to see how pale it was.

      "Austin, you look like you just saw a ghost"

   Austin handed me the note roughly, and I saw tears in his blue eyes.

  I read the text, and saw that it was a list.

  Things to do before I die

I looked at Austin, still confused.

   "Its just a bucket list. What-"

       "May Reynold. That's my mother" he interrupted quietly.

     And it suddenly made sense.

     It was his mother's bucket list. A list of wishes that never came true.