Aubrey, the Star

04: exoplanet

Aubrey

★

exoplanet - "a planet that freely floats between stars or one that orbits a star outside our solar system."

There was a knock at my door early this morning.

I was up, but I wasn't. You know how it is when you first wake up and you don't want to deal with any other humans for the first hour. I know that's not just me. Refusing to give in, my head buried further under the pillows as I faked complete exhaustion. Jet lag is a real thing.

Beth could consider me a lazy, waste of a human if she wanted to - I couldn't care less.

The knob on the door turned and I watched as Charlotte, my supposed sister, poke her head into my bedroom. She took in my still form wrapped in the plush comforter and frowned at the suitcase that still lay unpacked by my bed. Charles offered to take me to a store to buy decorations to make the room feel more like me, but I declined. The only place that could feel like home to me was over a thousand miles away and the other was buried in the ground.

Everything was gone.

"Your first day of school is tomorrow," Charlotte said. I winced because the idea of starting school a few weeks into a new semester was frightening. Everyone already had order. Now I was causing a disruption. Last night, Charles noted how he pulled a few strings to get me off the waitlist for Chellgren Private. Apparently that school was known for its academics and prestigiousness. I didn't thank him. "I wanted to know if you wanted to go to the mall to get some new clothes?"

I pulled the pillow off my head and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Doesn't Chellgren have a uniform code?" She waved a hand, blowing it off.

"Yeah, but people still add in their own personal style," she said. "There's no reason to be so prim and proper about it." Considering how I had to buy clothes from thrift stores, personal style was hard to come by. The effort just wasn't in me to take advantage of the opportunity nor did I really care.

"I have no money for new clothes, Charlotte," I bit out. Her hands tightened around the doorknob. I wanted her to stomp out, slamming the door behind her, but she continued to stand there.

"This was dad's idea," she remarked. "He thought it would be a chance for me and you to spend some time together." It was almost as if I could see the hope sparkle in her eyes. "He said to spare no expense." Of course he did.

For a minute, I was silent, just staring at her. Then I laughed. Literally, I bursted out laughing at the whole Beverly Hills, 90210 of it all. I really was trapped in another universe. Never in a million years did I ever think that I would be the kid walking around with daddy's credit card. I used to envy girls like that back at home.

All of a sudden, I was one of those girls.

"I don't need new clothes," I said, getting my composure back in order. "Tell Charles I'm fine with the things I have. Less is more, you know."

Charlotte looked at the floor, her eyebrows furrowed while in deep thought. "This was for Charles," she began, "and it was for me." She glanced back up at me with a defeated look on her face. "I've been trying to connect with you for days, but you're so dismissive with us. Only in the movies do secret sisters pop up out of nowhere. I would just like to get to know you, that's all."

My head lifted up from one of the many pillows surrounding me. I pushed away at the endless strands of curls that fell in my face. "This isn't my movie moment," I admit, not letting my eyes falter from hers. We looked similar in a few ways. Sometimes when I would watch her at breakfast or dinner, it shocked me how we were more of the same.