COSMIC

8 - You've Got a Habit of Leaving

When evening arrived, I was already prepared. I said my goodbyes to Mom, before exiting the house and waiting for Nancy to pick me up. As I leaned against the picket fence and watched the cars occasionally drive by on the street, I imagined what our night would be like.

Nancy and I had decided to meet the gang at the same diner my mom and I had eaten at that morning. It was a popular hangout for kids on weekend nights, including our friends, who we had often joined there before. Tonight, though, we planned to meet them unannounced for a different reason: we were going to straighten out the mess we were in.

I breathed in the cooling air to calm my nerves and gazed up at the stars that were beginning to emerge. I searched the skies for the unusual star I believed to be David-or the Starman, whichever he preferred to call himself-and found it shining high above me. I pondered what he could be doing, what it was like up in space, how he moved around, if he could see me-and if he was happy with what I was getting myself into.

Right on schedule, Nancy's truck pulled up with the windows down. No music came from her radio. "You ready for this?" she asked, apprehensively.

"Yeah," I said, hopping in. "We can do this. It won't be that bad."

We sat in silence until we arrived at the diner and prepared ourselves to walk inside. I led the way, hoping I could encourage Nancy-and myself-to feel confident. Opening the door, we were inundated by the bustling of voices, music, clattering dishes and the whirring of the milkshake machine. It was the peak of the diner's nighttime hours and we had to meander through groups of teenagers trying to cram into their designated booths.

We reached our friends' usual table in the corner, situated only a few feet away from the old jukebox. Everyone was there to greet us: Scott and Lisa stood over the jukebox choosing a song, Josh and Gabe sat across from each other at the booth, and Kyle stood leaning against the seat with his arms crossed. He was observing the crowd and a smirk spread across his face when he saw us.

"Well, look who came to join us," Kyle said. "Your friend not show up? Or will you be seeing him later?"

I struggled to keep a straight face, especially since Kyle's eyes were on me. I wasn't about to satisfy him with a reaction and I definitely couldn't lose my head in this situation. Our secret depended on it.

"No, we just decided to come talk to you guys and explain everything," I replied, sitting beside Josh. Nancy squeezed in next to me, reminding me of the constricted atmosphere around us.

"Really?" he said, quickly plopping down beside Gabe. He clasped his hands together on the table. "Do tell."

A different song began to play on the jukebox, bringing Scott and Lisa over to our table. They greeted us joyfully before Kyle scooted over. Scott gestured for Lisa to take the empty seat.

"Nancy and I just wanted to say," I began, "that the reason she didn't tell you about that guy in the woods was because she didn't want you to get the wrong idea. That's why she denied it."

Our table remained silent until Kyle scoffed. "You really think we'd believe that? Come on, I know you guys planned this. It's obvious."

Nancy and I exchanged glances. I could tell she was trying desperately to hide her nervousness. "It's true, Kyle," she said. "I didn't want you to think we ditched you to spend time with someone else or that something weird was going on."

I swallowed. Oh, don't say that, Nancy.

"Well, you can say whatever excuses you want," he said. "But I-and I think I can speak for everyone here-don't believe you. If you don't want to tell us what's really going on, that's fine. But you know me." He smirked.