The Brightest Stars

Annabelle

"Hey!" I see my cousin walk by me as I step out of my room. Her expression shows that she's bothered by something. I notice the phone in her hand and her smile does not reach her eyes. "Um. Do you want to take a walk? Kristen wanted to meet up by the lake."

She furrows her brows at me and looks at one of the windows from downstairs. "Isn't it a little too cold for you to take a walk?"

"Why do you say that?" I start walking down the stairs with a teasing smile and she follows close behind.

"People with weak lungs like you should stay inside when it's really cold temperatures. Also, after an asthma attack, the lungs tend to be weaker until it gets back together."

"That was months ago," I say. I give her a reassuring smile and put a hand on her arm. "Thank you for taking care of me, Ash, but I don't want you to nurse me right now. I just want you to come and take a walk with me."

Ashley sighs and nods. "Fine. But only if you put on a warm sweater. And don't forget your inhaler!"

"Yes yes. Besides, I still need to hear about that date you mentioned yesterday."

"Oh...you don't want to know." We share a giggle as we step out in the cold air and close the door.

We make our way to the lake which takes about ten minutes by car, so we might have made it there in twenty minutes. Sure enough, Kristen's there with four cups in a tray. She gives us a wave as we slowly walk down the hill. My eyes catch a glimpse of a boy farther away from us. My heart falls at the sad sight of AJ looking down at the water. His hands shoved in his sweater and face hard. I back at my cousin and Kristen hugging.

"Thanks for the coffee," Ashley says with a smile.

"No worries," Kristen says. "And this is for you."

She hands me a cup and the smell of hot chocolate makes my mouth water. "Thanks, weirdo."

"Jay!" AJ looks up from the water and at us. His eyes fall on me and we quickly look away from each other. Kristen lifts up a cup from the tray and says, "Do you want yours?"

Without responding back, AJ makes his way here almost as if he's dragging his feet. His jaw is tight and his smile small as he grabs his cup, and nods at Ashley. "Hey, Ash. Nice seeing you again."

"Same here," Ashley says returning his firm nod. "Since when you've gotten so quiet?"

AJ takes a sip from his cup and does a sad smile. "Life has its turns." His eyes find mine and almost immediately, they rip away as he makes his way back to where he was standing. He takes a seat on the cold grass and throws pieces of rock at the water.

"Wow," Ashley says still looking at AJ. "I think you might have broken him." I roll my eyes at her as she laughs with Kristen, but deep down I know this is true. And it hurts much more than the pain I feel in my lungs right now.

"So," Kristen says as she takes a pebble and skips it across the water. "About that date." Her eyes shine teasingly at Ashley.

Ashley looks over at me and raises an eyebrow. I shrug and she chuckles. "Something like that. I don't know if you two are old enough to know all the details..."

Kristen laughs loudly at this. "Dude. I don't want to know whether you used protection or not. I wanna know who the lucky guy is!" I snort at this and Kristen gives me a playful punch on my arm. The pain in my lungs becomes louder than Ashley's sigh, so I take out my inhaler from my pocket and use it.

"I don't know if you know him. His name's Sebastian and he happens to be Diego's friend."

"Woah," I say this time as I put away my inhaler. "You're sleeping with your little brother's friends?" This time, Kristen and I teasingly laugh at her, and Ashley rolls her eyes at us.