Hanging Stars On Big Willow Creek: A Novel

by Sarah Hill

  Kevin looked up to where she was pointing. “Oh, yeah. I see it now. He’s smiling,” he said, turning to smile at her and catching her staring at him.

  “Sorry. Your face looked so cute,” Rylie said, blushing and quickly adding, “I mean, the way you were looking at the moon was cute.”

  “Don’t apologize,” he said, sitting up. He was only inches from her face and she could feel the warmth coming off his skin. “I think you’re cute, too.”

  “I didn’t mean--,” she started, but Kevin leaned in and lightly brushed her lips with his.

  Rylie pulled away from him, unable to meet his eyes. “Kevin,” she whispered.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I just don’t think I’m ready for that.”

  “Okay. No, that’s fine. I just read you wrong. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t apologize,” she said, echoing his earlier words with a smile. She looked back up at the sky. “I can see why this is your favorite star gazing spot. It’s beautiful.”

  “Hey, Rylie.”

  “Hmmm?”

  “Would you consider going on a date with me? I’d really like to get to know you a little more.”

  Rylie looked over at him and sighed. “I don’t know, maybe.”

  “Why the hesitation? Do I scare you? I promise I’d never try anything you weren’t okay with.”

  “I know. You don’t scare me, Kevin. You’ve been incredibly sweet tonight.”

  An odd look darted across his face and he frowned. “Is there someone else you’d rather go with on a date?” he asked.

  Holding her breath, she shook her head. “Nope,” she said, letting the air rush back out.

  “Can I ask you again sometime?”

  With a tight smile, she nodded at him. “Sure.”

  “Well,” he said, standing up. “I guess we should head back.” He reached down to help her up.

  As they started back down the hill, Rylie grinned over at him and said, “Hey, Kevin. Thank you for including Maddie and me tonight. I’m having a lot of fun.”

  “I’m glad you came. I’ve wanted to hang out with you for a while now.” He sounded so sincere and the look he gave her caused the butterflies inside her stomach to awaken.

  She blushed, but before she could answer a high voice cut across the air.

  “Where have you two been?” Rebecca squealed, her shrill voice cutting across the night air and drawing attention to them.

  Maysen looked over his shoulder at them, took a drink from the red solo cup he held in his hand and looked away.

  “We were just talking, Rebecca, so don’t start your gossiping,” Kevin answered.

  Rebecca glared at them and crossed her arms in a huff. “I don’t gossip!”

  “Yeah and the moon is made of cheese.” Kevin rolled his eyes and looked back over at Rylie. “I’m going to grab another beer. Did you want anything?” he asked, as he headed towards the house.

  “I’m good, thanks.”

  As Kevin jogged towards the house, she walked over and sat down between Maysen and Maddie. “Did I miss anything?” she asked.

  “No, but it looks like we did,” Maysen said, narrowing his eyes at her.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Rylie, let’s roast a hot dog,” Maddie said, handing her a roasting stick and a plate of hot dogs.

  “Why did you say that?” she asked, looking at Maysen’s profile and ignoring Maddie.

  “No reason. I was just answering your question.” Maysen stared into the fire, avoiding her stare.

  “No, you weren’t, Maysen. You were suggesting something happened with Kevin, and I don’t like it.”

  Maysen looked over at her and asked, “Are you saying you guys weren’t doing anything?”

  “We weren’t. He was showing me his favorite spot to look at the stars. Even if we had been, who are you to say anything? You were the one trying to set it up for him.”

  “I wasn’t setting anything up for him.”

  “Then what was this morning about?” she asked, her voice raising.

  “Guys, come on. We were having so much fun. Don’t fight,” Maddie begged.

  Rylie looked over at Maddie, her eyes begging for them to stop. Realizing how quiet it had gotten, Rylie looked around and saw that everyone was watching them. Embarrassed, she got up and stalked away. She didn’t know where she was walking to, but she knew she needed to get away from Maysen.

  “Rylie!”

  Turning around she saw Maysen coming after her as Maddie stood in the background watching. “Leave me alone, Maysen,” she said, as she continued walking. She realized she was going back up the hill she and Kevin had just left and sighed.

  Making it to the top, she hurried towards the cellar. She thought she might be able to barricade herself inside if she was fast enough. She started running towards it but only made it about twenty yards when arms wrapped around her waist and her feet left the ground.

  “Dammit, Rylie. Stop!”

  “Put. Me. DOWN!” she growled, trying to pry his arms from around her waist.

  “Are you going to stop acting like an idiot so we can talk?” he asked, his head leaning against her back.

  “I am not an idiot. Everything was fine until you got moody. You started this, Maysen. Don’t try blaming me.”

  “I know.”

  Rylie stopped clawing at his arms. “You know?” she asked, sucking in air as she tried to catch her breath. The struggle to free herself had left her winded.

  “I was being an ass, I know. Can I trust that I can put you down and you’ll stay?” he asked, mumbling into her back.

  Nodding, she whispered, “Yeah, I guess.”

  Maysen set her down and then sat on the grass and looked up at her. “Wanna sit?”

  Hesitating, she narrowed her eyes at him and said, “I don’t know.”

  “While you decide, I’ll start talking.” He picked a blade of grass from the hill and started peeling it apart. “I wasn’t setting anything up for Kevin this morning. He didn’t know I even talked to you. When I walked into the locker room yesterday before practice, I overheard him and some of the other guys talking about you. It wasn’t the usual stuff people said about you when we were younger. They were saying what a knockout you were and if they could get you alone, the things they’d like to do to you.” A deep line formed between his eyes and he gritted his teeth as he ripped the remaining piece of grass into shreds and tossed it aside.

  Rylie sat next to him, pulling her knees against her chest. “Keep going.”

  “I walked around the lockers and saw them all smiling like a pack of hyenas up to no good. I don’t know, something inside of me exploded. I wanted to pound those disgusting grins off their faces.” He paused as he looked over at her and said, “I wanted to tear my friends to pieces, Rylie.”

  “You wanted to defend my honor,” she said, smiling at him as she bumped her shoulder against his. She felt a warmth spread through her. Maysen had always protected her.

  “Not really,” he said, looking away and shaking his head.

  The smile fell from her mouth.

  “When I asked you what you thought about Kevin, I wasn’t asking for him.” Maysen stared out across the grass.

  “You said he asked about me.”

  Nodding, Maysen raked his teeth across his lips and paused, as if he were trying to decide what to say. His eyes glazed over as he continued his stare into the night.

  “Maysen?”

  “I knew in the seventh grade. When you wore that stupid Goonies t-shirt to school,” he said, looking down at is hands and smiling as he rubbed them together.

  “I loved that shirt. You thought it was stupid?”

  “It was the first time I noticed how much you’d changed,” Maysen said, as if he hadn’t heard her. “The way that t-shirt fit you… it made me feel things I shouldn’t feel for you. It was after that I started seeing you as more than a friend. Noticing little things. Like how your laugh m
ade everything better. I could be having the worst day and you’d laugh that cute high-pitched laugh of yours and everything would just melt away. The way your nose wrinkles when you’re lost in your stories,” he paused and looked at her, before adding, “and the way you bite the end of your pencil when you’re in deep thought. Not hard enough to make any marks, just enough to make a light tapping sound. Your hair never stays in a ponytail and you always have strands falling around your face. And when the sun focuses a sunbeam on you… well, I think it’s the closest I’ve ever been to seeing an angel here on earth.”

  An odd rush fell from the top of Rylie’s head into the pit of her stomach, like an elevator dropping at a high speed. She wasn’t sure if she had heard him correctly as an odd buzzing sound filled her ears. Unable to look at him, she looked over at the cellar trying unsuccessfully to control her breathing.

  “You asked me this morning if there was someone I wanted to impress tonight. I didn’t answer because the thought of telling my best friend that she was the only girl who hangs the stars in the sky for me, terrified me.” Maysen reached over and tucked her hair behind her ear and said, “When I heard the guys talking in the locker room, I realized they were starting to see you too.”

  Rylie looked up and whispered, “And that bothered you?”

  “Sometimes I think I see something in your eyes. Like you see the possibility of us, but it disappears faster than a shooting star and I’m left thinking maybe I imagined it. So, when other guys start paying attention to you, I can’t help but wonder if it’s one of them who holds your heart.”

  “No,” she said, shaking her head and jumping to her feet. She climbed up the cellar hill and sat down, looking up at the stars. She felt the warmth from Maysen’s arm as he sat beside her, causing goosebumps to sprout along her arms. She looked over at him. He was resting his arms on his knees and looking up at the sky. Rylie hid her feelings for this boy for so long, starting the first morning he walked her up to that bus stop and treated her like she was a friend. “My whole life I’ve felt invisible. I’m ignored by most everyone at school and my own mother acts as so though I don’t exist most of the time. Now, in one night, I’m supposed to believe I’m somebody?”

  “You are somebody, Rylie” he said, looking back at her and adding, “you’ve never been invisible to me.”

  “I’ve always been just your friend. Why, when someone else shows interest in me, does that change everything?”

  “It doesn’t. I hope we’ll always be friends. You had fun with Kevin tonight and I’m glad you did. It’s about damn time people start realizing how amazing you are,” Maysen said, leaning his head on his arms and focusing on her. “I just wish I’d been the one you were spending your time with tonight.”

  “He kissed me,” she said, looking down at her hands as her cheeks reddened. “Not a real kiss. I pulled away before his lips did more than brush against mine,” she said, pausing and looking over at him. “It was an attempt, I guess,” she said, shrugging.

  Maysen was silent as he tore at the clover that threatened to choke out the grass growing on the hill. Rylie wasn’t sure if he had heard her, he seemed so deep in thought. As he tossed another handful of the clover aside, he looked up, his eyelids low over his sapphire eyes and asked, “What made you pull away? Were you scared?”

  Rylie shook her head and said, “No.”

  “You weren’t scared?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Maybe a little,” she said, looking him in the eye. Her lips felt dry as she tried drumming up the courage to say what she wanted to say. Licking her lips, she took a deep breath and said, “Kevin wasn’t who I imagined would give me my first kiss.”

  Maysen’s eyes moved across her face, looking down at her lips and then moving up to meet her gaze. Leaning forward he reached over and lightly grazed his fingertips down her cheek to her lips. He used his index finger to trace the outline of her lips, starting from the top and moving around to the bottom sending chills through her body. Meeting her eyes once again, he cradled her chin and pulled her closer to him until they were inches apart. They sat like that for what seemed like an eternity, searching one another’s face for signs of any doubt before Maysen leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.

  October 11, 2010 ~ Morning

  Rylie woke up to the sound of a coyote howling in the distance. She sat up with a disoriented fear in her stomach. Taking a deep breath, she remembered where she was as she looked around the familiar room from so long ago. She tapped her phone screen and saw it was almost eight in the morning. Del’s surgery was in a few hours. She better get moving or she wouldn’t be able to see her before they put her under anesthesia. Rylie threw her legs over the side of the bed and stretched. She realized she’d fallen asleep in the clothes she’d traveled in the previous day. Standing up, she slipped on her shoes and headed out to the car to grab her things.

  As she was pulling her luggage through the gate, her phone buzzed in her back pocket. She saw it was Norm and slid the bar to answer as she cradled her phone between her cheek and shoulder. “Good morning Norm. How’s Del?”

  “Her usual stubborn self,” he said with a laugh. Rylie heard Del’s voice in the background, but couldn’t make out what she was saying. “See, I told you, still arguing.”

  “That’s a good sign. Her spirits are up at least,” Rylie said, as she pulled her luggage through the entry to the kitchen and sat down at the table.

  “It is, it is. I was just calling to let you know, Maysen will be in at some point today. I told him you were here, so he is aware and won’t be blindsided.”

  Rylie felt the odd hollowness of the tin chamber beneath her ribs again. “Oh. Okay, good. Del needs to know she has love and support from a lot of people.”

  “I’m so proud of our girl,” Norm’s deep voice was low and full of affection. “I knew you’d do this for Del. Thank you.”

  “Yeah, of course. Nothing is more important than her right now. I’m going to get dressed and do some quick hair and makeup. Just enough to look human. I will be on the road in less than 20 minutes.”

  “That sounds good sweetheart. I will see you soon. Drive safe.”

  Ending the call, she grabbed her luggage and pulled it into her room. Heaving it onto her bed she grabbed a t-shirt and jeans and hurried into the bathroom to get ready.

  Rylie was about thirty minutes from the hospital when her phone blared with Hedwig’s song, the ringtone linked to Spencer’s number. Smiling, she hit the Bluetooth button on the steering wheel to answer. “Hello?”

  “Mommy?” Alex’s tiny voice echoed through the car.

  “My sweet boy!” she exclaimed, as she signaled to change lanes on the freeway.

  “I miss you.”

  “Oh, baby, I know. I miss you too! Did you sleep okay?” she asked, a sadness settling into her stomach.

  Alex giggled on the other end of the phone allowing the to ease. “Yessssss,” he said, continuing his giggles.

  “What’s so funny, Mr. Tompkins?”

  “I slept good because I slept in your spot!” he squealed with delight before adding, “your pillow smells just like you and it didn’t even feel like you were gone until I woke up.”

  “Thank you for keeping my spot warm for me, love. I’m glad it gave you some comfort.”

  “Daddy said I can sleep there until you get home and Mom, guess what else?”

  Rylie smiled at the excitement in his voice. It meant that although he missed her, Spencer was doing an outstanding job keeping him occupied. “What?”

  “We are going to read all the Harry Potter books! We read the first two chapters last night and Daddy said tonight we are going to try to get to chapter five! That’s three whole chapters!”

  “That is so exciting! You’ll have to tell me all about Harry’s adventures when I get home.”

  Alex laughed. “Mommy, you already know Harry’s adventures! You read them to me the first time!”

  “I know, but every time
you read them, you’ll hear something you missed the last time you ventured through them. That’s the magic of books!”

  There was silence on the other end of the line, Rylie imagined Alex pondering this new bit of information.

  “Alex? Are you still there?”

  “Yes, I was just thinking about how magical books can be.”

  “If you’re anything like your momma, you’ll discover magic and adventure on every page of any book you pick up. No matter how many times you read it.”

  “That’s cool.”

  “Yes, it is! Now, Mr. Tompkins. May I ask what delicious morsel you had for breakfast this morning?”

  “I haven’t eaten yet. Daddy is making pancakes with chocolate chips!”

  “That sounds like heaven!”

  “It was my idea!”

  “With a mind like yours, I don’t doubt that for a second! You enjoy those pancakes.”

  “I will. I’ll tell you all about them the next time we talk.”

  “That sounds amazing. It was lovely speaking to you this morning, Mr. Tompkins.”

  “I miss you, Miss Stone. I’ll dream of your hugs tonight.”

  Rylie loved Alex’s version of an English accent. It made her heart soar to know he had an imagination like hers. “I will dream of your sweet laughter. I love you sweetheart.”

  “I love you too, Mommy. Here’s Daddy. Bye!”

  “Good morning beautiful.” Spencer’s strong voice sent goosebumps up her arms.

  “Hey there gorgeous, how are you this beautiful morning?” she asked, as she looked at the horizon bathed in gold from the autumn sunrise.

  “It could be better,” Spencer said.

  “Oh, no, did you burn the first pancake? You know that’s just the laws of pancake making, right?”

  “No, only you burn the first one. Mine are always perfect,” Spencer said, a laugh hiding behind his remark.

  “Listen to you. Then what would make it better?” she asked with a laugh.