Despite Everything

Chapter One

Thud. "Psst. Hey! Over here."

I look up from my book, surprise written on my face.

A girl stands at the base of the garden wall. She has wild red hair, and she's wearing an orange T-shirt with cutoff overalls. She sees me looking, and smiles.

"Yeah, you. Come here!"

I look towards the house. Mom is at work. She's told me again and again not to interrupt her when she's working. And Dad is at the neighborhood meeting, discussing ways to improve life on our street. The town hall is too far away. I can't leave; who knows what the girl would do to the house while I'm gone.

Hesitantly, I get up and approach the girl. I extend one hand for a handshake. "Hi, I'm Wisteria. Wh-"

Before I can finish talking, she's grabbed my arm and pushed me towards the wall. "Climb!"

I whirl around. "What-? No! I- what are you doing?"

She doesn't answer me. "Just climb!"

I halfheartedly place my hands on the cool stones. "But-"

The girl laughs. She finds this hilarious! "Come onnn!" 

"I-" I begin, but stop. She looks at me expectantly. For Earth's sake. She's not going to stop until I've climbed, is she? My fingers curl around the rocks, finding the handholds that I've used to climb before. I lift my foot and step on the stone near the bottom, the stone that sticks out a little too much, and begin climbing.

When I reach the top, I sit down heavily. While the girl is still climbing, I look around. The view is beautiful from up here. I can see our street and all the neighboring streets. There's Emerald Forest and Pineview Elementary.

A breeze picks up, running its cold fingers through my short brown hair. I fold my hands in my lap as the girl pulls herself up and on top of the wall next to me.

"So," she begins. "I'm Mags. Nice to meet you, Wisteria."

"It's nice to meet you t-" I start, but she pushes on.

"I'm sorry I was in such a hurry before. I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't hurt you, did I?" She doesn't wait for an answer. "I needed to get you up the wall with me before anyone saw. And I know you're probably wondering why I even wanted you in the first place. Well, I'm kind of on a mission. And the mission is that I want to help people explore the Zodiac."

My eyes grow wide, and I start to wobble on the wall. Mags reaches out and steadies me.

"Whoa whoa whoa, don't go freaking out on me, ha. It's not like we're breaking the laws. Well. We are actually breaking the law, aren't we? But we're not going to get the death penalty or anything. I mean, we might. I don't really know the punishment for crimes this big." Mags is smiling wide. 

I find my voice. "But- but I don't want to explore the Zodiac!" I exclaim. "I just want to stay here - gardening, reading, and cooking. It's peaceful! It's normal!"

Mags is undeterred. "You're coming with me!" She puffs out her chest and pumps her fist in the air. "I, Maggi Turquoise Fletcher, am going to be your savior!"

"No." I cross my arms over my chest. "I'm not going anywhere."

Mags smiles. "I knew you'd be stubborn. You're a Taurus. That's why I brought this!" She holds out her hand.

It's empty.

"What?"

She grins. "It's my hand!"

"But why?"

"So you can come with me!"

"But- you said you brought something!" I furrow my brow and pinch the bridge of my nose.

"Yes, I brought my hand. So you can-" She makes her voice deep. "Join me, and together, we can rule the galaxy as father and son!"

"That's dumb."

"It's not dumb! It's Star Wars!"

"Yeah, but- you're not... you're not my father! And- what does Darth Vader have to do with any of this?"

Mags flashes a mischievous smile. "I'm not gonna cut off your hand. Obviously."

"Well... I know... but that's not what I asked. I-"

She cracks her knuckles. "But I will do this!"

Mags shoves me off of the wall and down the other side.