Beyond Visible Stars

Chapter 1

Raised voices echoed from the back room. Like a three-day-old wound, bitterness and anger festered until it bled down the hall and seeped into the carpet. It was capped by the thud of footsteps and the finality of a slammed door.

Paige’s head snapped upright, her metal desk and chair scraping the floor. She blinked, no longer at home on the couch but in school. Snickers bubbled in a chorus around her. She tried to ignore them—and the scowl of her teacher—as she massaged the imprint of her fist from her cheek.

Where had that come from?

With a shaky hand, Paige tucked the loose ends of her orange hair behind her ears. The attention of the other students was full of amusement and outright joy at her expense. It bombarded her weak shell of defense and she could feel the heat in her cheeks sink beneath her collar.

Great. That’s just great. If I wasn’t already unpopular enough…

Her eyes dropped to her open textbook yet she saw nothing but the image of her dad storming out of the house with his suitcase and laptop in hand. She had been eleven, sitting in the living room with her younger siblings trying to distract them with a card game. The raging argument in the bedroom, however, had ensured her failure.

When he had finally stomped down the hall and thrown open the door, there had been no goodbye. There was no glance at the children he would leave behind. No apology or expression of sorrow—no regret—just the anger over “his rights” being denied.

Paige huffed beneath her breath. His rights. It had always been about his rights and what he wanted. The rest of the family never seemed to matter until his needs were met first.

So here she was—five years later—sitting in school without a dad and way too tired to pay attention because she had spent time trying to read a book a friend had given her. Just a few hours for herself was all she had wanted. It was not that much to ask. But personal time was not something she could often afford. Family duties and school stole all her time, but the last few nights she had made an effort to change that—which had gotten her here: sleeping in class.

Five minutes, Paige told herself as she glanced at the clock. I only have to hold out five more minutes.

She could make it. She could.

Although I won’t remember a thing. She glanced sideways, past the loopy grin of the student seated next to her to the following row. At least, I have Ross.

The boy owning that name sat two rows to her right still attentive to their teacher’s droning. His fingers tapped a stream of information into his electronic notepad as if he were capturing the lecture word for word. At least he did not appear distracted by her inattention.

Paige sighed. Out of everyone in class, Ross did not need to take notes. Unlike her, he had the ability to grasp concepts far beyond some of the teachers under which he sat. It was one of the reasons she liked him—he was smart and studious. Not that her grades were bad, but her attention span was shorter that his, so it was helpful to know a good note-taker.

Fortunately, she was able to offer friendship in return, which was something Ross lacked when he had transferred to her school two months ago. Beyond that mutual benefit, however, the two of them were as different as salt and sugar.

Ross was smart—really smart—and seemed to just know thing. She was—average. She had been in one school system her whole life, while Ross had been to several. His skin was the color of damp cardboard while his hair resembled dark chocolate. Her visage was much paler with her white skin and copper hair. And no freckles, she reminded herself. Just a kinky—not even curly—very orange head of hair.

Paige suppressed a yawn as she scowled at the clock. Two minutes to go. Two whole minutes! Seriously, why was I even thinking about my dad?

Outside the window was a dull, gray sky that was typical of an upper Midwest winter—except that it was still fall. It mirrored the way she felt. And the day he took off.

The sound of the dismissal bell gave way to a mountainous scraping of desks and chairs. Paige let her eyes close and her head fall forward, ignoring the comments of amused students as they left the room. Ross was at her side a second later, his book bag slung over one shoulder.

Paige groaned as she lifted her head and shoved everything into her bag with one swoop. “I’ll need to see your notes.” She tossed her bag over her back then headed for the door with her hands deep in the pockets of her gray hoodie.

Ross followed her into the hall. “I figured you would.”

“Hey, I’m not stupid.”

He stopped mid step. “I never said you were.”

Paige rolled her eyes at the serious note in his voice. She kept forgetting how literal he was about everything. Grrrrr. She looked back and sure enough, concern clouded his hazel eyes. Already she could see an apology forming. “I was just teasing.”

“Nice one, Paige,” a student said as he clipped her shoulder. “The teacher just loves you.”

“Hey,” she called before two more boys and a girl did the same thing. “Seriously?”

Her hands gripped her backpack as it slipped from her shoulder.

“Are you all right?” Ross asked.

“Fine.” She hoisted her bag and continued to her locker. Lunch was next, and Candice would be waiting for them. After spinning the combination, Paige shoved her bag inside and closed the metal door. Ross stood next to her, clinging to his backpack.

“Don’t you want to put that away?” she asked then scolded herself. Why do I even bother? She headed for the cafeteria.

“So, what’re your plans after school?” Ross asked as he caught up, still holding his bag.

Paige grunted. Beyond getting through the next hour, she had given the day little thought. “I don’t have plans,” she said as they pushed through the cafeteria doors. The noise crashed over them like a tidal wave. Paige scanned the full tables and busy lunch line. “Do you see Candice?”

Ross was at least three inches taller and sometimes that made all the difference. After a moment, he pointed to the back corner. At a table by herself sat a girl with brown skin and black hair with blond highlights.

“I’ll get her.” He wove his way through the mass of moving people.

Paige waited until Candice had seen her before she made her way to the long line. She grabbed two trays, holding one out to her friend—and cousin—as she cut in behind her.

“Ross is guarding the table.” Candice’s dark eyes were full of sympathy. “You look awful.”

“Well, thank you,” Paige muttered. “Nice to see you too.”

Candice smiled, revealing her perfectly white teeth. Her mixed heritage had given her a flawless complexion—at least compared to Paige’s. “I’m just keeping it real.”

Paige shook her head. After a mutual friend had moved out of state last year, Paige and Candice had started spending more time together. Because Candice was so direct, they had become quite close and now had few secrets. Paige valued this quality in her cousin yet also found it annoying.

She sighed, wishing for the school day to be over. Although it has nothing to do with wanting to go home, she reminded herself. No matter where she was there were demands on her time. Being at home meant she had to watch her two younger siblings while her mom made supper. Then she would need to help with their homework and get them ready for bed. Between all of that was her homework. That routine had not changed in the five years. The only bonus of being at home was that she did not have to feign interest in anything.

Dimly, Paige was aware that Candice was trying to start a conversation, but nothing but white noise seemed to register. Then she felt a nudge to her back.

“Hey, what’s with you?” Candice demanded, setting her tray next to Paige’s.

Paige shrugged. “I’m just tired.”

“You’re always tired. Don’t you ever sleep?”

“I sleep.” She grabbed a plate full of pasta. I just didn’t sleep much last night.

“Well, you haven’t been sleeping a lot these past few days. What’s gotten into you?”

Paige placed a piece of bread and some butter on her plate before muttering a response.

“It’s not ‘nothing,’” Candice countered as she followed Paige to the end of the row. “Now tell me what’s going on.”

Paige shrugged as they stopped for silverware. “I’ve just been up reading.”

“Obviously not textbooks.” Candice followed Paige through the maze of tables to where Ross sat. “Come on, Paige, tell me what you’re reading.” She swung around to sit next to Paige and across from Ross. Her eyes landed on the notepad he had open in front of him. “Please, tell me you’re not doing homework again,” she said as she retrieved her napkin.

Ross glanced at her over the screen as he continued to type. He shook his head. “Just doing some research.”

“School related?”

Ross tried to hide his smile, “No.”

Candice picked up her fork. “But you’re not going to tell me what it is, are you?”

Again he smiled. Then his hand reached for the metallic thermos next to him.

“Why do I feel like I’m being left out today?” Candice asked. Her eyes moved from Ross to Paige and then back.

Neither responded as Ross sipped from the container.

“You’re still doing that diet thing, aren’t you?” Candice asked.

“It’s not a diet.” His eyes were still on his screen.

“Sure it is. It’s called a liquid diet.”

He shook his head before glancing at Paige. She copied his motion. Candice was always the one to get things going: discussion, action, or otherwise. Her words and actions made things interesting and awkward, all at the same time. It was a distraction she was grateful for.

Paige dropped her gaze to her plate, conscious that Ross was watching her. Don’t ask, she wanted to say, but knew that would only raise more questions. Ross cleared his throat and Paige felt her shoulders tense as he questioned her progress on the book he had lent her.

Immediately, Candice perked up and Paige wished for a surprise fire drill. She wanted to curl inside her sweatshirt like a tortoise in its shell. With hard eyes she glared at Ross until he looked back at his screen. Candice knowing about her late nights was not going to make the day go any faster.