Herizonstar Chapter 1
by Andrew Uys
Chapter One:
Star woke disturbed. Skin damp, her mouth dry and sore as if from shouting, the warmth of the blanket long discarded, she scanned her silent room seeking comfort from familiar shapes: her bear; a picture frame; the skates that hung from the back of her door. Still the dream clung to the corners of her mind; the cacophony of howling noise, the sensation of running yet the more she struggled to retrieve the dream, the more it slipped beyond reach of her memory. That is but for a single image: a large gold circle against a starry sky. Finally her mind emptied, and with a soft sigh, she pulled the blanket closely about her and drifted back to sleep.
The morning sky was still inky blue when Star’s clock buzzed demandingly. Groggily, she hit the alarm button, and pushed the blanket off. The cold air stung her skin, and Star silently cursed the schedule that sent her to bed when other girls her age were talking on the phone, and forced her to start the day when everyone else lay cuddled warmly in bed. Star leapt up, donned the tumble of clothes stacked on the desk, and minutes later, left her house, skates and school books tucked in a large bag slung comfortably over her shoulder. Arriving at the bus stop at 5:30 exactly, she banged her mitten clad hands together for warmth, and looked expectantly down the road for the approach of the bus that faithfully carried her each morning from the corner of her street to the ice rink. 5.35 as scheduled the bus arrived and Star boarded, sitting down between a middle aged Filipino woman and an old Indian man, her usual morning companions. Though they never chatted Star knew the woman to be an office janitor, and the old man, an employer at a local convenience store. The only break from Star’s morning routine was the book that she packed to read; this week’s was a thick novel about a war between forgotten gods trying to eke out an existence in modern America. As she rummaged through her skating bag, she noted it was snowing slightly, and inwardly sighed, feeling her life was a tad too dreary.
The morning passed uneventfully: figure skating; shower; school clothes; another bus ride; seven subway stops: a short walk, and Star was at school with time enough to stow her skating gear in her locker and head to her first period class, French, and with winter tests only two weeks away, Star’s teacher, Madame Eighten, had switched the format from the usual conversation class, to exam prep. As the morning bell finished, student chatter quieted and Madame, articulating deliberately, outlined the day’s material. Leafing through her notebook, looking for the previous evening’s homework, Star noted the many doodles in the margins. While not artistically gifted by any means, she was proud of the cartoon figures that she created of her fellow classmates, and as she flipped through, she noticed a certain individual had become more and more prevalent in her sketches. The focus, a boy, a recent transfer student from British Columbia, who had come to Toronto for the term, and was slated to leave following the winter holidays. Star especially liked his unique smile. When he grinned, one side of his mouth curved upwards, while the other dipped slightly, giving the impression that he was not smiling at you, but rather delighted by a private joke. Star’s stomach tensed, her mouth dried, the corners of her mouth twitched as she enjoyed the racy feel, thoughts of Kaiotay, called Kai by his friends, brought. Star started to doodle Kai’s smile again. The sketch slowly grew out to form a face, and Star’s attention drifted even further from the classroom into a pleasant daydream.
As the French lesson ended, Star tried to maneuver approach Kai, but Madamae Eighten called her over. Star didn’t share another class with him that day, so when the next period ended with the lunch bell; Star headed quickly to the cafeteria, hoping to get a seat beside Kai. This was always tricky, for while Kai was new to the school, he had made a lot of friends, and usually Star couldn’t always sit as his table. Today was no exception, and as Star approached Kai, she saw that there were no empty seats left. Dejected, Star was looking for a seat elsewhere, when Kai called out.
“Hey Star, you can sit here”
Star started to walk over, unsure of what to do, but was delighted when the boy sitting next to Kai stood up, and moved to another table. Star settled into the chair, and smiled at Kai, blushing slightly. Feeling awkward, as she didn’t even have her food tray yet, Star tried to stammer out that she would be right back, but Kai offered her his untouched tray.
“You can have mine, I snuck a few sandwiches in Physics last period, and, I ain’t that hungry anymore.”
Star accepted the tray, but the food remained untouched as her attention focused on Kai, and more specifically, on his mouth, while he talked animatedly about snowboarding back home. All listened intently and Star’s world narrowed to only Kai. When suddenly he turned and asked her if she had ever snowboarded, Star blushed, realizing that everyone at the table was now looking at her.
“N… No. I ski, and skate, but I have never been snowboarding…” Star managed to reply, in a voice that quivered and sounded a little high pitched.
“Well, you should. I mean it’s not the same here, what with you guys not having any mountains, but it’s supersonic. Hey, a few of us are going up to Lisa Phox’s chalet after exams, do you think you could make it?” Kai asked his voice smooth and assertive.
Star felt uncomfortable. Lisa Phox was one of the most popular girls at school, whom Star didn’t even think knew who Kai, let alone herself, was. Even if Star could somehow get the time off from skating practice and find a way up to the chalet, Star felt certain she would be imposing, and would, most likely be shunned the entire time. Kai must have sensed her confusion, for he quickly added,
“Lisa said I could invite a few of my friends, and my father has asked the family I am staying with if they can drive us there.” Kai’s face lit up with that odd smile as he continued, “and it would mean a lot to me if we could hang out together before I have to go back to BC. You in?”
Star’s head swam and it took all of her strength to stay in the chair, and shyly nod in agreement. Kai launched into a new story, this one about hiking in BC, and as the table’s attention returned to him, Star remembered she needed to breathe.
By the time lunch ended, Star was beaming and bouncing off the walls. She had already decided that she would do whatever it took to be part of this trip, even if it meant lying to her folks and her coach. Nothing would stop her from going snowboarding with Kai, and as Star entered her history class, she was imagining talking late into the night, a roaring fire nearby, and a beautiful clear starry sky outside.
Later that night as she got ready for bed, she wrestled with what she should tell her parents – would they let her go if they knew the truth, or should she lie, and say that one of her friends had a cabin up north. Then there would still be the inevitable questions about how she would be get there, what the address was, who was going, would any boys be there and or parents and finally, the big if, would they let Star miss skating practice for one whole week. Normally, driven and enthusiastic about figure skating, this trip was her big chance to have some time alone with Kai, and though Star hated to admit it, for she didn’t think of herself as a shallow person, this trip could get her in with Phox’s crowd.
As Star put her tooth brush back in its holder, and rinsed out her mouth, she looked up at the mirror, and stared hard: blond hair cut just below her shoulders; skin, pale with a dozen freckles splashed across her nose and cheeks; not thin, but very athletic and other than the baby fat that still made her face look a little rounded, her body was in good shape; pierced ears but she didn’t wear jewelry normally. While Star felt attractive and she had noticed boys at school staring at her sometimes, a nagging doubt remained, caused by no real attention from guys. Star hoped Kai liked her, but was uncertain how far she would let anything go. While thoughts, doubts and questions nagged her, so too did the thought of her early start and so she slumped off to bed, figuring that a night of sleep would be better than bringing up the subject of the trip with her mom just yet.
Closed eyes, Star drifted off, thinking of Kai, skiing, and maybe even trying to snowboard - the furthest thing from her mind was the dream that had awoken her the previous night.
Star’s feet stung as she propelled through the snow, the cold biting deep. Breath coming in ragged gasps, Star’s throat felt raw from the freezing air, she could feel her pursuer just behind. Daring a glance back, Star saw only its glowing yellow eyes before her left foot slipped, and she spun sideways, crashing into the deep snow. With a hideous roar the beast lunged for Star, but all she could see was the stars in the night sky swimming together, creating a glowing circle above.
Waking suddenly, the howling chased Star back to her room.
To Be Continued…