A Night without Stars Page 3

  She smiled and took it, placing some chicken on her plate. “Thank you.”

  “So Autumn, what do you think of your room?” Aunt Katherine asked as she started passing around the potatoes.

  “It’s beautiful,” Autumn said, handing the chicken to her uncle. “You guys didn’t need to go to all that trouble.”

  “Oh it was nothing,” her aunt insisted.

  Her uncle nodded in agreement.

  “It was the least we could do knowing you have to tutor this knucklehead all year long,” he ruffled Rick’s hair affectionately.

  “Guys, don’t lie you went all out,” Rick jumped in. “That room was just a single bed and a lamp before Autumn came here.”

  Autumn narrowed her eyes disapprovingly. “You are spoiling me.”

  “We only want the best for you,” Aunt Katherine said, beaming at Autumn. “You should feel at home here.”

  “No need to worry,” Autumn smiled. “I already do.”

  Autumn spent the rest of dinner catching up with everyone, while answering a bombardment of questions from Nathaniel.

  She felt like she was being interrogated.

  He wanted to know everything about her. Her favorite shows, bands and sports teams, how she felt about leaving home, if she liked skateboarding or video gaming?

  It was late when she finally made it to her room. It had been a long day, filled with excitement and anxiety and despite her nap on the train, she was completely exhausted.

  After taking a bath, brushing her teeth, and slipping into a white tank top and yoga pants, she collapsed onto her bed.

  Her aunt and uncle stopped in to say goodnight and ask if she needed anything.

  She told them everything was perfect.

  A few minutes later, Rick showed up to say goodnight as well.

  “Hey,” he said. “Going to bed?”

  She nodded at him. “I’m pretty tired. Traveling always exhausts me.”

  He smiled at her. “Alright. Night Autumn. Sleep well.”

  She smiled back at him. “Night Rick. You too.”

  When he was gone, Autumn climbed beneath the covers and turned out her lamp. Content, she snuggled into the warm and cozy down duvet. Her window was open and there was a cool summer breeze wafting in, and she could hear the sound of an owl hooting in the distance. She listened to it, slowly letting her muscles relax and her brain disengage, and before she knew it, she was asleep.

  2

  The next morning, Autumn was woken up by the sound of muffled voices downstairs.

  The strong scent of cooked bacon drifted into her bedroom as she stirred, glancing at her clock. It was ten in the morning.

  She yawned, lifting the covers to her chin, determined to keep sleeping when she heard a knock on her door.

  “Come in,” she said, sitting up and fixing her hair with her fingers quickly.

  “Are you, like, decent?” Rick’s voice said as he stepped inside her room with his eyes closed.

  “If I wasn’t, would I be telling you to come in?” Autumn asked.

  “True,” Rick said, opening his eyes. “Mom said to come down for breakfast when you are ready. It’s better warm.”

  “Alright,” Autumn said.

  She got out of her cozy haven and stretched as Rick looked at her expectantly.

  “What’s up Ricky?”

  “Nathaniel told me he really likes you.”

  Autumn pulled her hair into a bun, looking at him in disbelief.

  “He doesn’t even know me Ricky.”

  “He said you are hot.”

  “I’m glad he is basing his affection on something substantial,” Autumn grumbled.

  “He also said you are nice and smart,” Rick went on, sliding his hands into his pockets.

  “He’s sweet,” Autumn said cautiously. “Cute in an adorable little rascal sort of way.”

  Autumn began making her bed, eager to change the subject.

  “You know my mom will do that for you.”

  Autumn stopped and looked up at Rick, her eyebrow arched. “Really?”

  “She makes my bed every day,” Rick said, looking proud.

  “Back home, I made my own bed,” Autumn said, fluffing her pillows.

  “Besides, it’s the least I can do.”

  When she was done with the bed, Autumn began making her way downstairs with Rick.

  “So, if Nathaniel asked you out, would you say yes?” Rick asked.

  Autumn sighed. “You don’t mince words do you Ricky?”

  “I don’t think so,” Rick said. “Just think about it okay?”

  Autumn didn’t need to think about it to know it was a bad idea. Nathaniel and her hooking up and breaking up, would make things awkward. And after Kyle, she barely dated.

  “Rick, just give me some time to get adjusted then we can talk about this okay?” she said gently.

  Rick nodded. “Sure. Okay.”

  When they finally made it downstairs Aunt Katherine, dressed in a white ruffled blouse and black slacks, was obviously on her way into work.

  She was a secretary at a doctor’s office downtown and according to Rick, Doctor Ronson, had been practicing in Whitan for thirty years. Since most of Whitan went to see him, he was beloved by the town which meant Aunt Katherine had a pretty cushy gig.

  Autumn said good morning to her aunt who was clearly in a rush.

  “Rick, make sure you take care of Autumn today. Show her around and make her feel at home,” she said as she grabbed her purse.

  Rick, who already began loading his plate with various breakfast foods, nodded.

  “You got it mom.”

  She paused, taking Rick’s face into her hands lovingly.

  “Enjoy these last weeks of summer sweetheart because this school year you will be working your tail off,” she said. “Autumn will make sure of that.”

  She winked at Autumn, who grinned, playing along. “Don’t worry. I’ll torture him Aunt Katherine. I promise.”

  “You guys are ganging up on me! Not fair,” Rick grumbled as he grabbed three slices of bacon.

  Aunt Katherine kissed him on his forehead and did the same to Autumn.

  “Have a fun day you two,” she said before leaning into Autumn.

  “Just watch him please,” she whispered. “A few weeks ago, we had to bring him to the hospital. He was riding his skateboard too fast and crashed into the neighbour’s fence.”

  “I heard that mom!” Rick yelled as she left. “And I meant to hit that fence!”

  The door shut, and Autumn looked at Rick in disbelief. “You meant to?”

  Rick nodded, his mouth full of bacon. “Oh yeah. Totally.”

  As she packed food onto her plate, she couldn’t help but be in awe of what her aunt had made.

  A variety of eggs (hard boiled, sunny-side up and scrambled), bacon, sausage, hash browns and toast took over the table.

  Autumn looked at Rick’s plate, which was stacked with three of everything. Rick always had a rather large appetite.

  Watching him inhale his breakfast made Autumn realize that some things never changed.

  “So what are we doing today?” Autumn asked as she put some scrambled eggs into her mouth.

  “I was thinking I could bring you to the skate park,” Rick said, his blue eyes lighting up.

  Autumn forced a smile. “Great. That sounds wonderful.”

  She would much rather have gone to the antique shop or a bookstore, but she didn’t want to crush Rick’s joy.

  He looked at her suspiciously. Could he still see right through her like he always had?

  “You don’t want to go do you?”

  “Yes I do,” Autumn said as convincingly as she could manage.

  Rick wasn’t fooled. “I know when you aren’t tel
ling the truth Aut. When you were little, you would do the exact same thing when you lied. You have a tell.”

  Autumn looked at him incredulously even though she really wasn’t surprised Rick knew her idiosyncrasies so well.

  “Really,” Rick said earnestly. “You get this twitch in your left eye.”

  Autumn sighed. “Rick, this is your town where you have lived your whole life,” she said, taking a drink of orange juice. “I want you to show me around. Take me to the places you love.”

  “Well, I do really love the skate park,” he admitted.

  Autumn nodded, smiling. “Exactly. So take me there. It will be fun.”

  Autumn had promised herself when she came here she would try new things and embrace change. She wasn’t going to be a killjoy, spending the rest of summer reading books in her air-conditioned bedroom. She wanted adventure and the only way to capture it was by going out and living.

  Rick grinned excitedly and grabbed three more pieces of bacon for his plate.

  “Awesome. I can show you my sweet jumps!”

  “As long as you promise me you won’t hurt yourself again.” Autumn said sternly.

  Rick waved his hand as if to shrug her off. “Relax Aut. I won’t get hurt. I am a total pro.”

  It was early afternoon when Autumn and Rick finally headed to the skate park. Autumn, dressed in denim shorts and a flowing white tunic, had her long hair pulled into a bun.

  As soon as she stepped outside, she could feel the heat on her skin. She could smell the scent of freshly cut grass lingering in the air, and she inhaled deeply. Back home, everything was smoggy and polluted on hot days. Here, the air was clean and pure.

  Rick said the park wasn’t far, and they decided to walk despite the heat.

  Rick grabbed his board, and they were on their way.

  It took them about ten minutes to get there and when they did Autumn immediately recognized Nathaniel on his skateboard puttering about in the parking lot.

  “NATE!” Rick called out as they get closer to him.

  Nathaniel looked up at them and began waving cheerily.

  Autumn waved back and Rick looked over at her, nudging her gently in the side.

  “Autumn, it’s your secret admirer,” he said in a singsong voice.

  “It’s not a secret now. You already told me,” Autumn began, exasperated. “But you didn’t tell me he was going to be here today.”

  “I only texted him a while ago and he wanted to come along. That way, you could see his sweet moves and maybe you’d want to hook up with him,” Rick said, winking at her.

  “Nothing gets me going like a guy jumping over things on his skateboard,” Autumn said sarcastically.

  “That’s what Nathaniel thought,” Rick said, not catching her sarcasm.

  “What’s up Rick?” Nathaniel called out. Today he was dressed in khaki shorts and a plain grey T-shirt. His ginger hair was messed up from the wind.

  “Dude, not much,” Rick said, and they exchanged a high-five.

  Nathaniel looked at Autumn, a giant grin on his freckled face.

  “Autumn. You look exquisite today.”

  “Thank you,” Autumn said politely.

  “I looked up that word on an online dictionary this morning. I thought you’d like it,” Nathaniel said arrogantly.

  Rick looked bewildered by this notion.

  “There is a dictionary on the Internet dude?”

  Nathaniel looked at Rick like he was absurd.

  “Yeah dude. It’s so much easier than flipping through all that paper with words on it.”

  “You mean a book?” Autumn offered.

  Nathaniel cringed in response. “Yeah. One of those things,” he said. “Now let’s get going.”

  “So man, have you been practicing anything new on your board?” Rick asked as they all began walking. Autumn looked around. The park was pretty deserted for a summer day but she wasn’t really surprised.

  It was so hot that just walking made beads of sweat trickle unpleasantly down her back.

  “Yeah. I looked up some videos this morning and there’s this new move you can do on the rails. It’s ridiculous!”

  “You got to show me,” Rick said excitedly.

  Seeing Rick’s smile, so childlike now, brought Autumn back to summer’s they spent together as kids. Hanging out at the public pool, running through sprinklers, barbeques with their parents and eating ice cream in the hot sun.

  “We’re here!” Rick announced and Autumn was shaken from her thoughts.

  In front of her eyes, in a large concrete area surrounded by green grass were different-sized ramps, half pipes and handrails. Back home, there wasn’t a skate park. The kids just made do with curbs and pavement.

  “Sweet right?” Rick said, catching Autumn’s gaze. “It was a huge deal when they built this. Mostly, Whitan is getting bigger and people wanted a place to board and stuff.”

  “Yeah and the cops probably got sick of people skateboarding down the police station stairs,” Nathaniel said smirking.

  “Alright guys. I’ll be here watching you,” Autumn said, taking a seat on a nearby bench. “Have fun. Don’t break any limbs.”

  “Alright,” Rick said to her. “Let me know if you want to try my board out.”

  Autumn had an image of herself mounting the skateboard and wobbling on it feebly.

  “I couldn’t,” she said.

  “Seriously Aut. It’s easy. We’ll skate for a bit, and then you can try it out,” Rick said encouragingly.

  “Besides, you used to do ballet. That requires balance.”

  “Rick, I was five,” Autumn said.

  Rick shrugged her off. “I bet it’s just like riding a bike.”

  Autumn sat on the bench watching intently as the guys began to skateboard. She really had no idea what they were doing. She was, however, impressed. They were flipping, sliding, pivoting and jumping all over. They were on the ramps, the rails and in the air. Autumn found herself holding her breath, only exhaling after the guys had landed safely.

  “Hey Autumn! Check this out!” Nathaniel yelled at her.

  Rick was also vying for her attention, calling out to her to watch his tricks.

  They were like little kids competing, and she was the new toy they were fighting over.

  As Autumn cheered them both on, she saw a group of guys approaching from across the field. They didn’t look much like skateboarders. Dressed in polo shirts and khakis, they were all wearing red varsity jackets that had the symbol of a hawk on the chest.

  She could hear them laughing and she thought they were going to pass her and be on their way, until one of the guys stopped. He said something to the others, and they all halted as he gestured towards her. A moment later, he was walking her way. As he got closer Autumn could see his features better. He was tall and built, with blonde hair, broad shoulders and grey eyes.

  “Hello there,” he said when he finally reached her. He smiled, exposing perfectly white straight teeth.

  “Hello,” Autumn began politely.

  “Do you mind if I join you?” he asked, pointing beside her on the bench.

  She shrugged. She didn’t want to make enemies before school even began. “Sure.”

  She glanced up and saw his friends were watching them, smirks on their faces. Autumn realized that this was entertainment for them. They were clearly depraved.

  “I haven’t seen you in town before,” the blonde said as he looked Autumn up and down.

  “I could never forget someone as stunning as you.”

  “I just moved here actually,” Autumn said, as placidly as she could manage.

  He nodded at her. “What’s your name sweetheart?”

  “I’m Autumn.”

  He took her hand into his, squeezing it. “I’m Ben Mills. Maybe you�
��ve heard of me?”

  Autumn pulled away, unimpressed. She had an overwhelming urge to smack the dunce, but she couldn’t act on it.

  “I told you. I just moved here.”

  “Well, word travels fast around here,” he leered at her. “I think you might just be the prettiest girl in Whitan.”

  You would know, since you have probably dated most of the town, she thought as she tried her best not to roll her eyes.

  Autumn noticed Rick and Nathaniel had stopped skateboarding and were watching Ben and her, looking perturbed.

  “So Autumn,” Ben went on. The way he said her name gave her chills.

  “Are you going to Whitan High?”

  “As far as I know, that’s the only high school around here,” she replied shortly.

  “Oh yeah. I thought maybe you were in college though. You have this sexy maturity thing going on, you know?” Ben said.

  Autumn felt like a fly caught in a spider’s web but instead of the spider just eating her, he was boring her to death first.

  Unfortunately for her, Ben couldn’t take a hint.

  “Autumn, why don’t you come with us and hang? We have the best connections in town,” he went on, shamelessly. “You walk in with our crew on your first day of school, and you will be set for the year.”

  Autumn arched an eyebrow in disbelief. “Really?” She was dumbfounded by the crap he was spewing at her.

  “Yeah!” he chuckled running a hand through his blonde brush cut. “We all play football for the Whitan High Hawkes,” he pointed at the symbol on his jacket. “We are popular and we can get you on the team.”

  Autumn nodded. “I appreciate the sentiment but I don’t think I’d make a very good quarterback.”

  Ben guffawed. “No silly! I meant the cheerleading team. All of my buddies date cheerleaders, and I’m sure we could put in a good word for you.”

  “What makes you think I want to be a cheerleader?” Autumn asked.

  “Truthfully?” Ben began and Autumn looked at him expectantly.

  “If you can manage it.”

  He shrugged. “You just have that body you know?”

  Autumn crossed her arms over her chest. “Do I?”

  “Curves that would fill out a tight uniform, and I bet you are flexible too,” he ogled her.