“You can pick anything from the bottom shelf.” The kid said, half paying attention, half counting the wad of cash he had in his hands.
“My lady,” Shane said presenting the bottom shelf to Reagan. She went with a small stuffed pink dolphin.
“Let’s get out of here before you spend all the money you have to your name.” Reagan chuckled.
When we got back to the house Shane snached the dolphin from and Reagan stuck it on his front license plate. “Let’s go for a joy ride. It’s a beautiful night. We’re young!” Shane yelled, jumping up on the hood of his old van and banging his fists on his chest.
“Let’s do it!” Reagan said. As she pulled the van door open it screeched. I flipped on my phone and shot my mom a text.
Going for a little ride. Be home soon. Love you to the moon and back.
We parked the van on the side of an old dirt road and found the perfect spot to lay down and look at the stars. Shane’s favorite youtuber posted a new video so he insisted on hanging back and checking it out before he joined us. Reagan and I threw our shoes in the back of the van and raced across the road. The dew had already fallen and the grass was wet underneath me. I couldn’t think of a better moment than this. I looked over at my best friend as she gazed at the sky above and saw the giant grin on her face.
Reagan loved astronomy. She rambled on, pointing out all the different stars and constellations above. “Did you know that the sky is filled with love stories?” Reagan whispered, her tone soft and steady like a song. Before I could even respond she continued. “There are so many different constellations that are all connected in some way. Some are enemies. Some are in love but the most romantic part about the constellations is that the greek gods and goddesses who fell in love remain up in the sky together for eternity.”
“That’s really cool Reagan. Are those two a love constellation?” I asked, unfolding my hands from my stomach and pointing to the sky directly above us.
“That’s Perseus and Andromeda. Andromeda was chained to a rock to be sacrificed to a monster and Perseus rescued her and made her his queen.” She explained.
Reagan and I laid side by side in silence enjoying the sky. Before we knew it, the once starlit sky was overtaken by clouds. Rain began to pelt down on us. Thunder roared and crashed. Without exchanging any words Reagan and I looked at each other then stood up and booked it towards the van.
It took Shane three attempts to get it started. His windshield wipers barely worked and a five minute drive over the bridge was clearly going to turn into an adventure.
“You ready to roll ladies? I’ll get us home quicker than you can snap your fingers.” He blasted the radio and Reagan and I belted out our favorite song. We flew down the dirt road towards the bridge. The sky was pitch black and the bridge was already completely flooded. The van puttered and almost didn’t make it up the hill. Shane floored it and the rain spun underneath the wheels. He hunched his body over the wheel and continuously hit the gas. A huge flash of light filled the sky and lit the whole inside of the van up.
Chapter 2:
The next morning, I felt super dazed when I woke up. Reagan had her arms wrapped around me in my bed and Shane was passed out on the floor next to us. My head was pounding. I rubbed my eyes and carefully lifted Reagan’s arm off of me. She stirred a little. I quietly unlocked my phone to check the time.
“What time is it?” I heard a familiar voice croak. I turned over to see Reagan stretching and yawning.
“11:30”, I replied. “Why does everything after we ran to the van in the rain feel like a blur to me?” I questioned.
“I don’t know; what do you think I roofied you or something?” Reagan hopped out of bed and kicked Shane lightly. “Let’s get up; we have a mission to complete today.” She smirked. “Operation get Sutton a date.”
This took me back to when we were in school together and Reagan constantly played matchmaker for me. In fifth grade I told Reagan I had a crush on Ricky Barnes. Ricky had brown hair that he spiked up with gel every day. He always wore Patriots clothes and was absolutely obsessed with football. The only thing he loved more than the Patriots was chocolate chip cookies.
When Ricky sat next to me at lunch one day and gave me half of his cookie I fell in love. The second I told Reagan about my newfound romance she was absolutely obsessed with making sure he’d be my boyfriend and somehow it worked. Ricky and I would hug at recess and sit next to each other at lunch and he always shared his cookie with me. Then half way through the school year Ricky found out he was moving to Arkansas and our whirlwind of a romance came to an end.
When I was in eighth grade Reagan convinced AJ Marks to ask me to the semi formal dance. He was handsome and smart and lots of girls in our grade liked him. Of course, I said yes. We slow danced together and stepped on each other’s feet. He even held my hand when we walked across the street to McDonald’s after and bought me an ice cream cone. I had my first kiss that night and it was the most awkward perfect first kiss I could have asked
