The Brightest Stars

Annabelle

So now we're walking down the street to Kristen's house. Her house is pretty. It's like those wooden houses you see in the magazines. Everything seems to fit. The color of the walls, the shape of the rooms, the fireplace, the sofa, the wooden stairs, the piano in the living room...Everything's perfect.

Once we enter the house, Diego goes with AJ to his room and I follow Kristen to Skyler's room.

Kristen stops in front of Skyler's room. Her door is closed. She leans in quietly over the wooden door and tries to listen. She looks at me and whispers, "Nothing."

"Is everything okay?" I say as I stand next to Kristen and try to listen.

Kristen gives me a quick shrug. "Do you think she finally had the guts to escape the house like we taught her?" That reckless shine starts in her eyes as she smirks at me.

"You mean like you taught her?" We laugh quietly at this.

"Oh well!" Before I can stop her, Kristen abruptly opens the door and says, "Sky!"

Inside, everything's clean and neat except Skyler's on her bed with a lot of books surrounding her. A small laugh escapes my lips when I see Skyler look up from a book with a surprised jump. She lets out a frustrated sigh when Kristen enters and falls on her bed on top of all her books.

Her eyes suddenly soften when she sees me enter and puts on her sweet smile. "Hey, guys. I'm glad you didn't walk on me while I was changing." I watch as she gets off of her bed and starts putting away the books she had been reading. She takes a book from underneath Kristen's head and says, "And thank you for knocking first."

This makes Kristen open her eyes and smile even wider. "You still love me, sis. Hey! You missed it! Belle finally met her soul mate!"

"What?" I do a nervous chuckle at this and help Skyler with the rest of the books. I push aside the sudden image of this boy from the mall. But there was this...moment when his ocean blue eyes locked on mine and the world fell silent. I've never met a world as quiet as the one he showed me with just a quick smile... "I don't know what you're talking about."

Skyler chuckles lightly at this. "Well, I believe you, Annabelle. I think I trust you more than my own sister."

"Ouch." Kristen jumps to get up from the bed and fixes the blankets. She knows well how organized her sister is and how much she hates the opposite. "Get ready. Or..." She looks at Skyler's shoeless feet and gives her a light smile. "Just put on shoes, I guess." She gives me one last glance and quietly leaves the room.

I know what that look means. There's something in her mind. But this look always seems to appear whenever she is with Skyler. I can't seem to figure this one out yet. Whether it's jealousy or sadness, Skyler senses it, too. She watches her sister leave and lets out a small sigh.

After a quiet moment of cleaning her room, Skyler clears her throat and shyly says, "I'm glad you've been with my siblings lately."

I look up from putting her cello in its place next to the closet. "I know. It's been hard for you guys lately."

"Yeah. I just hope everyone here can...move on to how it used to be." Her dark blue eyes match her sad smile.

"What about you? How are you?"

I watch as she gently sits on her bed and her eyes grow distant. Her pretty nose stands out even if she is as blank as she is now. Her smooth skin matches the light peach color of her thin cardigan sweater. Her fingers seem to fidget a little when she finally looks up at me.

"I'm okay. Don't worry about me. You should...worry about Kristen instead." She carries this glint in her eyes that immediately makes her look just like Kristen and her sweet smile barely reaches her eyes.

She is just a few inches smaller than me so I am able to hug her tight. Her hug is gentle but it carries a longing with it. I can feel her chin rest on my shoulder and I let a small smile start on my lips. We don't even have to say anything. We both know that we will be there for each other.

It's funny the way I understand the silence in this family. Each one of the Newman siblings has a silent expression that can give you a million words.

The sound of footsteps makes us pull away and look at Diego standing in the doorway. His furrowed brows relax when he sees Skyler. His bright brown eyes shine when she smiles back at him. And I can't help but smile at his silly attitude whenever he's near Skyler. I don't blame him though. Skyler is one of a kind.

"Hey, Sky. I...I just wanted to let you know that we're ready to go."

With a single smile that Skyler gives him, I watch as my cousin melts. "I'll be right there. I'm just gonna get some shoes." Skyler walks over to her closet and searches for shoes.

"R-right. You look good anyway, you know. I mean!" Diego scratches the back of his head lightly. His brown curls seem to bounce whenever he's nervous. Now that he has his hair short, they seem thicker. "What I mean is that--"

"Forget it," I say quietly. I put my arm around his shoulder and guide him away from Skyler's room. I give her a quick wink and close the door behind us. "Let her be, Diego. Don't scare her if you want a chance with her."

I chuckle at my cousin's defeated sigh. Trust me, Diego. Love isn't as nice as it seems.