Every Soul a Star Read online

  “Which one?”

  He looks at me like I’m crazy. “The drop-dead gorgeous one!”

  Assuming he means the shorter one on the right, I nod my agreement. I take a dog, a burger, an ear of corn, and two cookies and follow Ryan to a table. He introduces me to his grandfather, and also to a kid named Kenny who looks around ten. Kenny tells me proudly that his family owns the campground. “That’s my sister, Ally,” he says pointing to the girls at the table. “Over there. Ally’s short for Alpha, the brightest star in any constellation.”

  I’m surprised. Not only that a girl would have a name like Alpha, but that Ryan didn’t say the girl he had the crush on lived here. Maybe that’s why he was sitting with the girl’s brother, as a way to find out more about her.

  I’m wolfing down my hot dog, and it feels like the one I ate this morning in my dream was a lifetime away. Then I hear someone drop a tray and then some shouts. I look up to see Pete, of all people, turning red and looking faint. His mom is shouting, “Can you breathe honey, can you breathe?”

  Someone yells, “Is he choking? Does anyone know CPR?”

  I jump up from my bench just as Mr. Silver reaches me. “Do you have the kit?” he asks, panic in his voice. “He’s having an allergic reaction. There’s an EpiPen in there.”

  I know what this is because Mike is allergic to bees so my mom always has one in the cabinet. But I don’t have the kit! I forgot to bring it! “I’ll get it,” I tell him, and take off at top speed. Running faster than I ever have in my life, I race to the cabin, push open the door, grab the kit and the walkie-talkie (which I had also forgotten) and race back, ignoring the searing cramp in my side.

  Apologizing, I hand it to David, who is now on the floor with Pete. He barely looks like he’s breathing. The dark-haired girl who was sitting with Kenny’s sister is stroking Pete’s hair. David grabs the pen, pulls off the top, and jams it against Pete’s leg. In a few seconds his color returns to normal and he’s sitting up. I take the kit back from David along with the empty pen.

  “Wow,” says Ryan. “That was crazy.”

  I don’t answer. I’m here two hours and already I messed up. What if Pete had died because I couldn’t follow a simple instruction? I run out of the Pavilion before anyone can stop me. Unsure where to go, I take the next path I come to and wind up in something called the Sun Garden. No one is there, which is what I was hoping to find. All around me are sundials, some made of metal, some plastic, some tile. A huge one on the ground is made of colorful mosaic tile. There’s no dial part in the middle though. I stand still, not sure what to do when I hear, “You have to stand directly in the middle. It won’t work otherwise.”

  I look up to see Stella, in a white sweat suit now. I don’t answer. She walks past me and stands in the center of the sun dial. “See?” She points down at the ground. Her body casts a shadow right where seven o’clock would be. I don’t reply.

  “They’re calling you a hero again,” she says, lifting her arms in small circles and watching the patterns they make on the ground. “First you save the bus from breaking down, then the little boy. You’ve had a busy few days!”

  This was too much. “I didn’t save him!” I protest.

  “You most certainly did! Who knows what would have happened if you weren’t there?”

  I sit down hard onto a stone bench and put my head in my hands. “But I was supposed to have the kit with me. I could have helped him sooner.”

  “You were gone and back in practically no time. I’ve never seen anyone run so fast. You’re a hero and don’t you forget it.”

  I shake my head. What was the use in arguing? I’ve screwed up many times before. I know how it feels. But right then, sitting in that Sun Garden with shadows of light all around me, I make a decision. I’m not going to screw up again. Those days are gone. This is a new place, and I can be a new person here. I have to be. People are relying on me. I get to my feet and walk into the sun dial. “Show me where I stand.”

  ALLY

  5

  “Let her go,” Bree’s mom tells me, her hand on my arm. “She doesn’t like people questioning her too much.”

  I don’t say anything, but I think there’s such a thing as questioning too little. Bree had said she and her parents don’t really talk.

  Her mom continues, “Bree might be a little self-centered, but she has a tender heart. When Melanie has one of her nightmares, Bree is the one who comforts her and brings her back to bed so she won’t hurt herself. She’s done that since she was four years old.”

  I don’t know what to say. After an awkward minute, she pats me on the back and heads back to her table. I grab my notebook and join the rest of my own family, who are sitting with the boy and his parents now. He’s drinking some juice and looks a little worn out, but okay. My mom apologizes for not putting out a sign that said the cookies had peanuts in them, and promises to fix that for the next meal.

  Hayley, the boy’s mom, says it wasn’t my mom’s fault, it was her fault for not being more cautious and prepared. She says her husband, David, thought she had the medicine, and she thought he did. They go back and forth many times on whose fault it was or wasn’t, until they both start laughing. But the little boy’s mom is still sort of crying.

  “Pete, have you seen Jack?” David asks suddenly.

  “Jack?” my dad repeats.

  Pete says, “My friend Jack. The one who saved me.”

  I realize he must mean the guy who ran up with the first-aid kit. We all look around but don’t see him.

  “If you’re okay now,” Mom says to Pete and his parents, “we have a family meeting that’s long overdue.”

  “Can I come?” Pete asks. “Kenny is my friend too. He’s going to show me how to find gold!”

  “Believe me, Pete,” I say, “you don’t want to be there for this meeting.”

  Kenny shoots me a questioning look. We promise to play with him tomorrow and Pete reluctantly lets us go. Almost everyone has finished eating now, and the clean-up crew is starting to empty the large bins of trash. Just having a clean-up crew is taking some getting used to. Not that I’m complaining.

  We follow our parents to the other side of the pavilion, near where Bree and I had sat. My parents choose a table that isn’t covered by the roof since sound tends to echo under there. They waste no time in telling Kenny that we’re leaving the Moon Shadow after the eclipse. His eyes open wide and he fumbles for my hand.

  “We’ll rent a house at first,” Dad explains, “a few towns away from where I grew up. Then we’ll look for a house that we all like, in a town with a good school system.”

  Mom gives Kenny the same reasons for the move that she told me—we need to expand our horizons. We need to be around other kids our age. I stop listening. Kenny grips my hand tighter and tighter but still hasn’t said anything.

  “Kenny,” Mom says, her voice soft and almost pleading, “you haven’t met the Holdens yet, but I’m sure both of you will help them make the adjustment. Their youngest daughter, Melanie, will be taking over most of your duties, and Bree will be taking over your sister’s.”

  The image of Bree smoothing out dirt in her high-heel sandals and pink tank top pops into my brain, and I stifle a laugh.

  Kenny turns to me and says, “We can’t leave here, Ally. This is our home. I don’t want to go to Civilization. It’s scary out there.”

  “I know, Kenny. I don’t want to go either.”

  I want to tell him about my plans with Bree, but it’ll have to wait till our parents are out of earshot.

  Mom and Dad rattle off all the things about the move that will be positive. We’ll make lots of friends, will get to do all this cultural stuff like go to museums and libraries and zoos. When we simply sit there, expressionless, they throw in movie theaters and bowling alleys and arcades.

  Kenny twitches almost imperceptibly at the mention of arcades, and Mom pounces on it. “There will be so many opportunities for you guys to pursue your interest