Written in the Stars

by Isobel Bird

  She walked to the front door. When she saw Tyler standing there, she froze. He smiled slightly.

  “Hey,” he said.

  “Hey there,” Kate replied. What are you doing here? She wanted to add, but didn’t.

  “I know I shouldn’t have come,” he said. “But I heard there was a party, and I wanted to give you something.” He held out his hand. In it was a wrapped box.

  Kate walked over to him. She reached out and hesitantly took the gift. “You didn’t have to,” she said.

  “I know I didn’t have to,” said Tyler. “I wanted to.”

  Kate unwrapped the gift. Inside was a picture. It was of her and Tyler. They were sitting on a beach, and Tyler had his arm around her. They were both smiling.

  “Willow took it at Beltane,” Tyler said. “I found it a few days ago and it made me happy to look at it. I thought maybe it would make you happy, too.”

  Kate looked at the picture. She didn’t know how it made her feel.

  “I hope we can be friends again, Kate,” Tyler said. “I’d like that.”

  Kate shut her eyes tightly, then opened them again. She was finding it hard to speak. She looked up and directly into Tyler’s eyes. They’re golden, she thought randomly. She was trying to think of something to say, but nothing was coming.

  Before she could speak, Tyler leaned forward and kissed her gently on the cheek. “Happy birthday,” he said. Then he turned and walked out of the house, leaving her standing there looking at the picture in her hands and unable to think about anything else except the lingering feeling of his lips on her skin.

  CHAPTER 12

  “I’ve got Annie’s chart here,” Olivia Sorensen announced at the start of class on Tuesday night. “And an interesting chart it is.”

  She waved a piece of paper in the air. It was covered with charts and boxes filled with strange symbols, and Annie wondered what they all meant. She was still doubtful about the whole thing, but she had to admit she was also curious to hear what Olivia had to say about her.

  “As I told you last week, I always ask a few questions to make sure that I’ve done the chart correctly. So I’d like to start with those if that’s okay.”

  “It’s fine with me,” said Annie.

  Olivia looked at the chart. “Okay,” she said. “Can you tell me about the time when you were about four years old and something dramatic happened to you involving water.”

  Annie nodded. “I almost drowned when I was four,” she said, surprised. “At the beach.”

  “I thought so,” said Olivia. “Okay, how about when you were six?” she continued. “Something else big happened, but this time involving fire.”

  Annie froze up. The fire. She’d been six. Again, she found it hard to believe that the astrologer could see that. But she did. Did she also see that Annie’s parents had died in that fire? If she did, she wasn’t saying anything. Annie simply said, “Yes, that’s right.” She could see Kate and Cooper looking at her, checking to make sure she was okay. She looked at her friends and tried to appear calm.

  “Great,” Olivia said. “This is looking good, but let’s keep going. “When you were twelve, did you travel somewhere, and I mean somewhere sort of exotic, not just like to another state or anything?”

  “We went to Cancún,” Annie answered. “For a vacation.”

  “That explains the sun,” Olivia said distractedly, making a note on the paper. “One final question. How old were you when you started studying the Craft?”

  “Fifteen,” Annie answered.

  “Perfect,” Olivia said. “The chart matches up just right.”

  “How did you see all of those things?” asked Cooper. “You were pretty specific.”

  Olivia nodded. “I can be very specific,” she said. “Different planets, and the combinations of planets with each other, suggest certain types of events. For example, when I asked Annie about the incident with water, it was because at that point in her life there was a very strong Neptune influence. Neptune, of course, was the god of water, and the planet Neptune often suggests the influence of water. She also had a very strong Pluto influence at that time. Pluto, the god of the underworld, was connected with death, as is the planet named after him. Those two things combined suggested to me that perhaps Annie had had some dangerous encounter with water. And, as it turned out, she had.”

  “Why did you ask me about when I started studying the Craft?” Annie inquired.

  “Two Decembers ago, there was an interesting combination of planets in your chart,” Olivia explained. “One was Jupiter, a planet that influences things like learning and thinking about serious subjects such as spirituality. Another was Mars. Mars suggests adventure and trying new things. And the third planet was Venus, which suggests feminine principles. These three planets together suggested to me that perhaps you developed an interest in Wicca around that time.”

  Annie thought for a moment. “It was right around then that I started reading more about it,” she said. “But I didn’t really get involved seriously until February and March,” she added, “when I met Kate and Cooper.”

  “That makes sense,” Olivia replied. “The influence began in December and grew stronger throughout the spring. I imagine if we did Kate’s and Cooper’s charts we’d find that they had similar influences operating during that time.”

  “Wow,” Cooper said. “This is pretty amazing.”

  “It certainly can be,” said Olivia. “Once you start seeing how all these different influences combine to form patterns, it can help you see why certain patterns occur in your life.”

  “What does Annie’s chart say about her?” Kate asked.

  Olivia held up the paper in her hand and pointed to one of the charts. It was a circle divided into twelve sections, like a pie. Each one was numbered and had a list of words in it. Some of the sections had symbols around their edges as well, while others had just the words.

  “This chart shows the twelve different houses, or sections, of the astrological chart,” explained Olivia. “Each house is associated with different personality traits. This one, for example,” she said, pointing to the section numbered 9, “has to do with spirituality, travel, and your connection to the larger world.”

  “What are those symbols around the edge?” asked a woman behind Cooper.

  “Those are the planets that were located in that astrological house at the time of Annie’s birth,” Olivia told her. “This one is Jupiter,” she said, pointing to one of the symbols. “As I said earlier, Jupiter is connected to a person’s interest in philosophical subjects. So looking at this, I would guess that Annie has always been interested in things like spirituality.”

  “That’s true,” Annie said. “But I’m also very scientific. Where does that come in?”

  “Right here,” answered Olivia, pointing to one of the other houses on the chart. “This is the house of learning, particularly learning of an organized, logical kind. In that house you have the planet Mercury. That indicates a way of thinking that is more analytical and less abstract. I bet you’re good at math, too, right?”

  “She’s a year ahead of the rest of us,” Cooper said.

  “There are other interesting things in your chart,” said Olivia. “Without getting into too much detail, I’d say that you tend to be very realistic and not prone to fantasy. I’d also venture a guess that you’re not very likely to take a lot of risks, but when you do you really go for it.”

  Annie listened to Olivia’s assessment of her personality. It was a little frightening how accurate it was.

  “You tend to be a bit of a loner,” said Olivia, scanning the chart. “Mainly because you don’t feel like you fit in a lot of the time. And you have very strong ties to your family, particularly your siblings. Does that all sound right?”

  “Almost perfect,” Annie said. “Except the part about my siblings. I only have one.”

  Olivia wrinkled her brow. “That’s funny,” she said. “The chart really suggests that you h
ave at least two.” She paused for a moment. “Well, that might just be me reading it. As I said before, this isn’t an exact science. The important thing is that we have a basic blueprint of your astrological profile.”

  “Can you tell things about Annie’s future from that chart as well?” asked Kate.

  “Sure,” Olivia replied. “At least I can look at the basic influences and what they might indicate. That’s what I do when I do readings for people. But I’m not going to do that right now. This was just a demonstration to explain a little bit about how an astrological birth chart works. What we’re going to do tonight is talk about the different planets and what parts of our personalities and lives they’re said to affect.”

  Annie listened for the next half an hour as Olivia went through the planets and their associations, but she wasn’t really listening. Instead, she was thinking about what the astrologer had said about her. It unnerved her that so much of her personality and her life could be revealed by looking at her astrological chart. She’d always prided herself on being a unique individual, and now she felt a little like some kind of puppet being controlled by a bunch of planets and stars. Did they really have that much to say about how she lived? The idea was disturbing.

  At the end of class she rode home on the bus with her friends, as usual. Kate and Cooper couldn’t stop talking about how exciting class had been, and about how they would love to have their charts done by Olivia.

  “Imagine, finding out what might happen to you,” said Kate. “That would be cool.”

  “Unless you had some really bad planets coming along,” Cooper mused. “But I’d even like to know about that.”

  “What did you think of her reading, Annie?” Kate asked.

  Annie, who had been staring aimlessly out the window at the passing cars, turned and shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said. “It was interesting, but I’m still not sure I believe it.”

  “Come on,” Cooper said. “Look at all of those things she knew about you.”

  Annie nodded. “I know,” she said. “But even Olivia admitted that a lot of it was guesswork. She saw a planet connected with water and one with death and she put them together. She could just as easily have guessed that I overwatered a rosebush and it croaked.”

  Cooper gave her a look that clearly indicated she thought Annie was being ridiculous. Annie refused to give in, saying, “I’m serious. Do you really think that because I was born at a certain time and in a certain place I’m going to be more interested in spirituality or politics or art than anyone else?”

  “It’s as good a reason as any,” Cooper answered.

  “I don’t think it is,” argued Annie. “I mean, look, my parents were the same way. Probably I got it from them. And if all this is true, does that mean that every baby born in the same hospital I was, and at the same time as I was, has the same life I do? Think about it.”

  Her friends sat quietly, not saying anything for a minute. Annie, however, was taking her own advice and thinking about what she’d just said. And she wasn’t happy with what she was coming up with. The truth was, it bothered her that the astrology stuff made so much sense. It bothered her a lot. She knew that she was being argumentative because she really did want her friends to prove her wrong, or at least agree with her that it was all a lot of lucky guessing on Olivia’s part. But they weren’t cooperating.

  “I still think it’s cool,” Cooper said as they neared their stop, earning herself a vicious glare from Annie. “Well, it is,” she said again.

  They got off and said their good-byes to one another. As Annie walked home, she tried not to think about astrology. But she couldn’t help it. Finally she stopped and looked up at the sky. Above her the stars twinkled brightly. She’d always thought of stars as being cheerful, happy things. Now, though, she imagined them, millions of miles away, having a secret meeting to decide her fate.

  “I know,” she imagined one of them saying to the others, “let’s get Pluto over here and send Annie a really bad day. Maybe we’ll have her kiss her best friend’s boyfriend.”

  “Good idea,” she pictured another one chiming in. “And we’ll give her frizzy hair.”

  “And a zit,” added a third.

  “Thanks a lot, you guys,” she said to the sky, and continued walking.

  When she reached her house she went inside and hung her coat up. She saw her aunt sitting in the living room, and she went in to see what she was doing. Aunt Sarah was curled up on the couch, reading a book.

  “Hi,” she said when she saw Annie come in. “How was class?”

  “Weird,” Annie replied, flopping down in an armchair.

  “Weird how?” asked Aunt Sarah.

  “We’re talking about astrology,” Annie explained. “Tonight the woman running the class did my chart. It was just weird.”

  “Did she say you were going to meet a tall, dark, handsome stranger?” Aunt Sarah teased.

  “I wish,” said Annie. “No, she didn’t say anything like that. In fact, she said really nice stuff. It just bothered me that she could do that. It was like someone had done a background check on me or something. There she was, looking at some stars and planets and telling me that I’m good at science and that I almost drowned when I was little.”

  Her aunt whistled. “That is a little weird,” she said.

  “She knew about the fire,” Annie continued. “And she knew about our trip to Mexico. Not the details, but she might as well have.”

  “That would freak me out, too,” said Aunt Sarah.

  Annie sighed. “At least she had one strike,” she said. “She said that the chart showed I had two siblings.”

  “What?” Aunt Sarah asked.

  “Two siblings,” Annie repeated. “But it’s just me and Meg, so she was wrong about that. For a minute, though, I thought maybe I was the one who was wrong about it. She’d been right about everything else.”

  “She said the chart showed you had two siblings?” her aunt asked.

  “Yeah,” said Annie. “But she said she might just have misread it, too.”

  Her aunt didn’t say anything. She just nodded, then seemed to look at something on the wall. Annie watched her for a moment. There was something odd about the expression on her aunt’s face, something that troubled her.

  “What?” Annie said. “Is there, like, a giant spider up there about to fall on my head. If there is, just nod and I’ll die right now.”

  Her aunt shook her head. “No,” she said. “It isn’t that.”

  “Then what?” Annie asked again. “You look like you just got really terrible news.”

  Aunt Sarah smiled sadly. “I was just thinking about something,” she said. She looked at Annie for a long moment. “Maybe it’s time you knew.”

  “Knew what?” said Annie. The way her aunt was looking at her was making her nervous. Then she had a sudden thought. “You’re not pregnant, are you?” she asked, her eyes widening.

  It was Aunt Sarah’s turn to say “What?” Then she laughed. “No, I’m not pregnant.” She looked thoughtful for a moment, as if she was considering the possibility seriously. “No,” she said again. “Definitely not.”

  “Then I’m a little lost here,” Annie said. “What’s the big news?”

  Aunt Sarah sat on the edge of the couch. “Do you know how your parents met?” she asked.

  “Not really,” Annie said. “In college, I think.”

  Aunt Sarah nodded. “That’s right,” she said. “Well, sort of. They were both in college, but not the same one. Your mother and I were friends, and one time she came home with me over a long weekend. That’s when she met my brother—and your father.”

  “I didn’t know that,” Annie said, delighted by the news. “That’s so cool. And they fell in love and got married. How perfect.”

  “Well, not so perfect,” Aunt Sarah said. “They didn’t exactly like each other at first. In fact, their first meeting involved your mother telling your father that he was wearing the ugliest shi
rt she’d ever seen.”

  Annie laughed. “I can imagine that,” she said, thinking about all the times her mother had teased her father about his choice of clothes.

  “But they liked each other enough that she agreed to go out with him when she came for the next long weekend,” Aunt Sarah continued. “And then they realized that they had a lot more in common than they’d thought.”

  Annie was enjoying hearing about this part of her parents’ relationship. She’d been too young when they died to really know anything about it, and she’d never asked her aunt. Now that the story was coming out, she was anxious to hear more.

  “The two of them were more in love than any couple I’ve ever known,” Aunt Sarah said. “When they were apart they called each other every day, and when they were together they were inseparable.”

  She stopped talking and the faraway look returned to her eyes. Annie waited for her to continue, wondering where the story was going.

  “The summer before our senior year, your mother stayed with our family for a few weeks before we went back to school,” Aunt Sarah said. “Then one night about a month after we returned to school, she came to my room. She was upset.”

  “Why?” Annie asked. “Had she and my father had a fight or something?”

  “No,” Aunt Sarah said, smiling faintly. “She was pregnant.”

  Annie’s mouth dropped open. “Pregnant?” she said. “My mother?”

  Aunt Sarah nodded. “Your mother,” she said.

  “What?” Annie said. “How?” She had all kinds of questions, but she couldn’t get any of them out. Her mother had been pregnant? How could she not have known that?

  “What did you do?” she asked finally.

  “We talked about her options,” said Aunt Sarah. “We went over the choices she had, and what the pros and cons of each of them were. We talked all night. And by the morning she’d made her decision.”

  “She had an abortion?” asked Annie quietly.

  Aunt Sarah shook her head. “She had the baby,” she said.

  Once again Annie’s mouth dropped open. “She had it?” she said.