Amalli Quinn: The Nature of Stars

Night

"So,"

"So?"

"How is it?"

Dad smiled and pointed his fork at me. "Not bad. At least yours is edible. The first time I made lasagna, I left it in the oven while I played on my gameboy. Let's just say your grandfather had to take me and my sister to Chuck's that night."

I frowned. "Would you consider going to Chuck's because of this?"

Dad laughed. "No, no, of course not. It's a tad bit on the bland side, but's fine."

It was my first time making lasagna. I tried - actually tried despite my lack of interest in cooking - to follow my paternal grandfather's recipe. Bronson Quinn had quite the culinary genius, though it didn't quite reach my generation of the family.

I quickly downed the last bit of lasagna on my plate and took the dishes to the sink, pausing by one of the cupboards to grab some tin foil to cover the lasagna. It was then that dad and I heard a noise, and we both turned our heads to the front door.

Dad craned his neck to get a better look. "Emily, love, is that you?"

A rather loud scraping of shoes against the doormat, and a shadow ghosted on the wall opposite the front corridor. Finally, mom's tall figure emerged, and she gave my father a small smile before plopping down onto one of the dining chairs.

"Hey, mom." I greeted her, setting another plate in front of her.

She smiled at me. "Hey, sweetie. How's today?"

"Cool."

"Have you two eaten?"

"Oh, yeah," dad proudly pushed the dish of lasagna closer to mom. "Mal here made some fresh lasagna."

Mom was genuinely surprised. "Oh. Well, how does it taste?"

"That's for you to find out." I placed a slice of lasagna on her plate and watched apprehensively as she dug in. Her usually dull eyes lit up, just a tiny bit, and I felt my insides swell with pride.

"This is actually pretty good." she said, moving some of the meat around with her fork.

"I followed grandpa's recipe."

"You certainly did justice to his legacy. Bronson would be proud."

Dad smiled, watching mom eat and trying to start a conversation. I noticed that the communication between my parents grew steadily lesser with the passing of time. The family bonding was already quite rare because dad used to work in the city, but ever since the crane accident, mom had worked two jobs per day to keep our family going, and that left us with even less time to bond. Though she was usually home by five, she was always too tired and simply spent her time making dinner. It was a big change, but I had grown used to it. Communication wasn't my my forte, and neither was it my family's.

Mom continued to eat, and dad stopped talking, knowing that my mother was tired and wouldn't care for a conversation just yet. I quietly ducked away and grabbed my bag, heading to my bedroom. Shutting the door behind me, I rummaged the contents of my backpack for my phone. Once I found it, I quickly looked for Merethe's number and pressed the call icon next to it.

A few rings and then, "Hello?"

I breathed. "Hey, Mer."

"Mal? Why are you calling."

"Um, nothing. You finished with your research?"

My best friend was silent, and I was about to speak again when her voice finally came through the phone. "Is something wrong?" she asked.

I tried my best to come up with a decent answer. "Uh, no?"

"Was that a question?"

"No. Yes. Look, Mer, can we meet up tomorrow? Right after school, at the observatory?"

"Yeah, sure. Mal, tell me what's going on."

"I'll tell you tomorrow."

"Tell me so I can prepare a two-hundred slide PowerPoint presentation. It's for your benefit, Mal."

I frowned. "I don't need a PowerPoint presentation. All I need is your company. Tomorrow?"

"Fine, fine. Where do we meet up?"

"By the apple tree. Sound like a good place to you?"

"Yeah. So, right after school?"

"Mm."

She sighed heavily. "I can tell this is a serious topic. Can you at least give me a hint of what we're going to talk about?"

I gripped the phone tighter and positioned myself comfortably by the foot of my bed. "Let's just say it's about the future."

"Future, huh? We're getting to the adult topics now. Scary."

"Scary?"

"It means we're growing, Mal. It isn't really terrifying, but it's unnerving enough to think that in a year, we'll actually be considered adults."

"Right. That's why I want to talk."

"So we can plan our adulthood and stuff?"

"Maybe. Look, Mer, I'm getting sleepy. I'll just meet you by the apple tree, 'kay?"

"Fine. Night, Mal."

"Goodnight, sleep tight, hope you don't die in the middle of the night."

Mal gave a soft chuckle before hanging up. I lazily got up to wash myself and to change into comfier clothing before getting into bed. I pulled the covers up high, despite the heat of the early summer night, and looked outside my window.

There, peeping from its cradle in the vast sky, was a single star. It was the only star visible from my window tonight, but one star was always better than none, and I smiled at the twinkling point of light before closing my eyes and sinking into sleep.