Starr-Crossed

Chapter Two

The sky was gray when morning came—not the kind of gray that threatened storms, but the kind that felt like silence. Thick clouds hung low over the city, blurring the edges of the skyline, muting everything beneath it. It was the kind of day where the air felt still, like the world was waiting for something to shift.

Paisley stood at the kitchen sink, staring out the cracked window at the street ahead. The sidewalk was littered with soggy leaves, cars of people heading to their cooperate jobs they hate. Kids walking to school not knowing what lies ahead of them but not caring. Her hands rested on the edge of the counter, still and tight, like she was holding herself together by the fingertips. The chill from the morning air had already crept in, but it didn't seem to bother her. Everything felt distant, even the cold. Her mind buzzed with the weight of what the future for them would hold. The house felt empty, life felt unreal. and worst of all, she has to face going back to school after being gone for the past two weeks.

The principle decided it would be nice for them to get some time to grief from their grandmother passing. A funeral was held three days after she died, and she was such a loving woman, she was known by many. It didn't help how small the town was neither, it wasn't long for the news of her death showed back up on their doorstep.

Behind her, Danielle was humming softly—half a song, half a memory. She did that when she was nervous. Or tired. Or trying not to say something she was thinking too loudly. The melody twisted in the air, light and haunting, like it belonged to another time. It had been their grandmother's favorite tune. A lullaby Paisley couldn't hear without remembering what it felt like to be young, before everything had crumbled into silence and strain.

"I fixed the strap on your backpack," Danielle said, voice gentle. "It should hold for now."

Paisley didn't turn around. Her eyes stayed locked on the street below, but she could picture Danielle standing there, the soft curve of her shoulders, the way she always tried to patch things up—literally and figuratively—before anyone had to ask. "Thanks," Paisley muttered.

Danielle stepped closer to Paisley, her steps light, careful. Her hair was half-braided, her sweater too big and slipping off one shoulder. She always looked like she'd stepped out of a different world—one that hadn't learned how to harden her yet. One that still believed in the idea of tomorrow being better than today.

"You sleep at all?" she asked, her voice tentative, as if she was afraid the answer would pull them further apart.

Paisley shook her head, her gaze never wavering. "No."

Danielle didn't press. They both knew sleep was a luxury in the state of mind they have been in lately. She's been afraid to shut her eyes, afraid that she is going to have to relive the day of her holding her grandmothers hands while she was breathing her last breath. Re-cry the tears she used all up just on the very first night. Feel the pain that's been slowly fading from her heart as the days went by.

"Tomorrow's the meeting," Danielle said after a pause. "with the principal about going back. We have to really sell it too"

Paisley nodded, her eyes still fixed outside. "We can do it, it might be hard but it's what we got to do"

"You think it's really a good idea for us to go back this soon?"

"We can't miss any more days. Grams wouldn't want that; she wouldn't want us to stop living because she's gone. She'd want us to continue school and go to the colleges that we've dreamed of attending since birth" The words were strong, but there was a determination in them that only Paisley could pull off. They both knew that if something had to be forced, Paisley would find a way to do it.

Danielle wrapped her arms around herself, her eyes a little too wide, a little too vulnerable. She wasn't used to dealing with things on her own. "I just... I don't want this to hold me back. I want to know that I'll be completely focused on work. I want to graduate next year, not do junior year all over again"