Sky Full of Stars

Chapter One

She loved him and he loved her, but it wasn't that simple.

               I wrote this exact line across a random page in one of my spare notebooks. The day before, I was absent once again. The professors were probably tired of my absences, but I had my reasons. At that rate, I just might've gotten kicked out.
               Later on, I packed up all my belongings carefully. I kept looking at my journal, though, I just had an odd feeling about the latest entry I wrote.

I won't bring that up just yet.

               I dragged my feet down the hallway, staring down at the floor as other busy students barely brushed by me, speeding over to their next classes. I sighed and opened my locker, which was remodeled for this year; then put large, heavy textbooks inside.
               I stood there for a second, my hands shaking, and then Danica brushed past me. I pondered for a second; I thought she was going to talk to me, but she didn't.
               It seemed as if she hated me, but then again, she had no reason to. I thought she was using me the entire time, actually. Nothing was sincere, she refused to say 'I love you', and I never got to go out with her in public. One of the prettiest girls I knew, yet she was a total bitch to me.

A few hours later.

               I decided to walk home instead of taking the bus because I didn't want to see her again. I walked for half an hour; soon I arrived at my destination.

               I made my way down to the apartment my parents owned, holding the keys in my left hand by my pocket as I kept staring down at the concrete, dragging my feet over to the door.        
               Out of no where, Mom runs out toward her car and Dad yells after her, drunk he seemed, "Honey! Please, come back!" I sighed as I approached him, he turned to me and said "Hey Ave, m'boy!"

               I replied in relief, "Dad, you're drunk. Go to bed." He frowned at me and walked inside, heading to the couch.

               This was the norm for me. It was kind of pathetic at first, but I got used to it. Dad slept it off, and by sunrise, Mom came back. It repeated that process for a while. I've always been in a poor household. I had to do things on my own; cooking, cleaning, working, and paying bills. I don't know how we even made it; maybe we were lucky.
               It was college year, and I still lived with my parents, although I was responsible enough to live by myself.

               I followed into the apartment, heading to my room, almost immediately. I fell backwards onto my bed and looked up at the ceiling, which was painted to look like the night sky, but with constellations. It was pretty, and I was proud of it because I painted it all by myself. Yeah, it took some time, but it was worth it in the end.
               I remember my parents being pissed at me because of it; the landlord was fine with it as long as we painted it back when we moved out, so it was no big deal. And anyways, we'd been living there for years. Our neighbors knew us well, but it was for having the most broken family of the entire complex. They referred to us as the Nelsons every time they filed a complaint about the yelling and screaming when my parents argued.

               I jolted up to loud knocking on my window. I hid for a second until I heard yelling. Someone was yelling at me through the window. My heart dropped.

               "AAAVERY!" I heard a familiar, raspy voice yell. I decided to look out the window. I knew that voice, I just knew it. "Be quiet..." He jumped in through the window, rolling onto the floor.

               "Oh my god, DARREN!! I'm gonna kill you." I scolded as I opened the window, so that he could climb in. "What do you want...?" I muttered at him, with an angry look plastered across my face.
             
               "Ah, well someone has attitude." He snickered at me, as he pulled his bookbag through the window. "Anyways, we haven't talked in a while and I thought maybe you just wanted to hang out?"

               Well, before we get back into that conversation we had; meet Darren Winchester. He's been my best friend, ever since 9th grade. He was so lame sometimes, and such a nerd. His bookshelves were filled with Star Wars pop figures and weird lego creations. Many books, too. He had tried getting girls before but never succeeded. He was kind of built like a twig, thought he was cool for wearing baggy clothes and sunglasses all the time. He never attempted at fixing his hair, it was just always a mess.

               I replied although that sour look was still attached to my face, "Nah, I think I'm good, Darren." I tried to sound calm, except Darren knew I was upset about something.

               "What's wrong, Ave?" he questioned, it was obvious that he was concerned, so I gave in.

I replied, with a sigh of relief, "Well, I'm still upset about Danica."

               He snapped "Still?! It's been two weeks since the breakup, Ave." It was clear that he was upset because I've been stuck on her for months, now.
               "You have to move on, she's not worth your time and is definitely not worth your attention. It's what she wants. Attention." he continued arguing. I completely zoned out and it was as if my eyes were burning a hole through my journal. He seemed to notice because he immediately looked at my journal when he realized I was zoning out.

               "What did you write, today, Ave?" he questioned hesitantly as he picked up my journal.

               I sighed, "It's really nothing." I had a lot of pages filled out because I wrote in it everyday for almost a year. Calling me a dork would be a believable statement, I acted like one around my friends. Except, I only saw Darren. He came to me, though; through my window, that is. He acted like a spy kind of, after whispering to me 'be quiet', he jumped in and rolled onto the floor. He looked a little bit stupid, to be honest. It was just the horrible acting skills, as if he tried to remake a scene from a spy movie. He's my friend, though, so I care for him even when it comes to situations like that, which can be dumb and unnecessary.
 
               He opened my journal, scanning the newest written entry, which was marked with a crimson colored bookmark with Call of Duty stickers stuck to it.


Dearest thought-log,

               Today has been a tough day. I saw Danica again, she wasn't too happy. I don't know why though, I never did anything wrong in the relationship. I feel like, maybe, she was using me for something. I'm not sure what it was. The love? The attention? The help? She's just a mystery now. On my way to my parent's apartment, I felt like I was being watched or something. From off in the distance, I felt like someone had their eyes glued to me. It's probably just paranoia, so I'll leave it alone unless it goes on for too long. When I arrived at the apartment, Mom and Dad got into another fight, so Mom left for a few hours, didn't arrive until early morning. I keep thinking things will get better, but they never do. All I can do is wait, so I'll try to be patient for a bit longer.

               Darren finished reading the page, and turned to me, "Nothing new. Which is not surprising." He sighed, looking down at the floor for a second. He looked back up at me, almost commanding me, "Well, let's change that. How about we go to the arcade with a few friends? My bros are chill."

               I replied, almost immediately, throwing attitude into my statement. "Stop using the word 'bro', I don't think it'll make you cool. It's just... cringey."

               "Whatever you say, captain." he sassed back. "Anyway, you gon' answer my question or not, buddy?" he chuckled after that, as if he still was trying to piss me off.

               "Well, it depends how many people and how busy the arcade is, right now." I muttered, glaring at him. I tried avoiding going anywhere, really. I didn't have motivation to do anything, so I stayed inside my room all the time, and never socialized, like an emo teenager going through puberty. "It also depends on the time we go, and the time we leave." I snickered, attempting a joke, which obviously wasn't funny, or smart.
               I finally gave in because he gave me this look, like he was asking 'really dude?' in his mind. I looked at the ground for a second, "So... when are we going?" I asked subtly, looking up from the ground. He smiled at me.

               "It's been a while, Avery Nelson." Darren beamed, grabbing his phone from his bookbag. He started texting a few friends; from my perspective, it looked like a group chat. "I know what you're thinking. Don't worry, it's only 3 other people."

               "Oh wow, Darren. I'm not a child, don't treat me like one. I just don't like people, okay?" I snapped at what he had said. He acted like he could read minds, but really, he couldn't. I don't know if I was in a bad mood, or if I just wanted to be upset; everything he said just pissed me off. Did he want to make me upset? Was he just joking? Darren couldn't have expectations, he always had something up his sleeve.
               "We should get going, I don't want to come home late." I commanded him, politely this time. I thought that maybe everything would be alright, maybe I was just hitting a bump in the road.

               He started putting his belongings back into his bookbag, as I stood up, stretching. I walked outside and sat down in front of the door. I looked around at the parking lot and I noticed a car parked at the back of the parking lot, it was still on. "Uh- DARREN! THEY'RE HERE." I yelled loud enough so that Darren could hear from my room. He ran out with his bookbag around his shoulder.

               "Alright, I'm here." He announced as he ran across the parking lot, I followed, just walking instead. I felt like something was different. I felt a bit excited, like there was hope.
               I got into the left-hand backseat, it seemed like everyone was already hyped; more hyped than me, probably.

               "Meet Owen, Trey, and Liam; everyone, meet Avery." He introduced them to me, vice versa. I waved to them, politely, before they started talking amongst each other.

               The car started moving, we were soon on the road, heading to the arcade. Seacoast Arcade; an arcade that I've been going to ever since I was little. It's where I met Darren, in fact.                     When he first went there, I gave him an 'arcade tour', it was the most fun I've ever had. That place was like my escape route from my family issues. It was the best thing to me, when I was younger. I hoped that they didn't change anything since I've last seen it. It had been a couple years, and I was an adult. I wondered if Patrick would recognize me. I was completely different as an adult from when I was younger; I even had a haircut.
               My brown, thick hair was more wavy than before. It looked better, too. The hairstyle my parents always gave me was plain and straight, it didn't fit my face well.

               I felt that weird feeling, again, like I was being watched. I felt somebody's eyes glued to me. I looked outside the window, and I saw someone staring at me in the car next to us. We were at a red light, and their windows were too tinted to see them, so I never got a good look at the person. But, I swear I've felt their presence before.