The Falling Stars of Mooncrest Bay, By Makaila Odoom, Part 3

The Falling Stars Of Mooncrest Bay, By Makaila Odoom 

Part 3

By the time the guests started arriving, Chrystie still hadn’t come out of the room she had barged into after scolding me. It sounded like she was on the phone when I tried eavesdropping and, fortunately for me, Chrystie was the loudest whisperer of all time.

“No… we haven’t told her yet,” I heard her practically yell. “I said I’ll handle it. For goodness’ sake, please tell him to stay away tonight.”

A shiver went up my spine as questions raced through my head.

What was happening tonight? Was she talking about me? Who was he? Handle what?

She had stopped talking, and I assumed she had hung up the phone. I walked away from the door, a gigantic sense of unease racing through me.

Once all my friends had arrived, we sat around the kitchen table, discussing our plans for the evening.

“Lila, do you think we could go for a walk on the beach tonight?” my friend Jasmine asked.

I gulped. “Uhm…” I glanced at my sister’s closed door on the other side of the table. Whew.

“Sure, maybe. But we have to wait until Chrystie is asleep,” I whispered.

“Why?” my friend Mila asked.

“Because my whole family has forbidden me from going near the ocean,” I told them, “because of the stars.”

“My parents say they’re harmless,” Jasmine shrugged.

“Same,” said Mila and my friends Madelynne and Freaya.

I raised an eyebrow.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

All three nodded.

“Huh,” I said, wondering why my family felt so differently.

The rest of the night went by pretty quickly. We watched a movie, ate cake, opened gifts, and then headed upstairs to stargaze. We decided to lay our sleeping bags up there instead of sleeping in the bedrooms downstairs.

My friend Diane was the first to spot a shooting star. It seemed awfully close, streaking across the sky like an arrow caught in flames. It kept going… and going… and going. My friends had gotten distracted by a second shooting star, but I stayed focused on the first one. After a full minute, it was still as bright as ever until it suddenly changed course and dropped straight down… straight down into the ocean by my town’s tiny beach.

Whoa.

I glanced at my friends, checking if they had witnessed what I had seen, but none of them seemed to notice. They were too entranced by the other shooting stars that came one after another.

Chrystie finally came out of her room after realizing she was supposed to be watching us—or at least checking on us every few minutes. She lingered for a while, looking up at the rainstorm of shooting stars before heading back downstairs once she was convinced we weren’t causing any trouble.

Seemed like a convenient time to come up. The second something strange happened.

The knot in my stomach returned.

I sighed, setting my sleeping bag next to my best friend, Esme.

“You okay?” she asked, a concerned look on her face. “You look really deep in thought. Concerned about going down to the beach?”

“I’m fine, just a tiny bit worried. Maybe we shouldn’t sneak out,” I muttered.

She laughed. “You’re actually thinking about listening to something your family said for once?”

She was right. Most of the time I didn’t.

“Fine,” I sighed. “I guess you’re right,” I said, when in reality I couldn’t stop thinking about how we were about to sneak out and do exactly what my whole family had warned me not to do. Usually they weren’t that serious. If they found out, I was most definitely going to be in chest-deep trouble.

Esme grinned triumphantly. “That’s the Lila I know.”

“I’m going to go check if Chrystie is finally asleep,” I said. She had retired to her room after we came upstairs.

Esme nodded, and I made my way downstairs. Every stair seemed ten times louder than normal, as if they were trying to warn me… or just wake Chrystie up if she was already asleep. I went to Chrystie’s door, pressing my ear against it. Sure enough, I heard the sound of her loud, chainsaw-like snoring and knew we’d be safe to sneak out.

I rushed back upstairs, letting my friends know that the coast was clear. We all tiptoed down as quietly as possible, which I learned was almost impossible with seven eager girls, making our way to the back door. The door led to the patio, which led to the beach.

Esme gave me a reassuring nod.

I took a deep breath as I wrapped my hand around the doorknob and opened the door.

The ocean roared in the darkness as we stepped outside.