Frostbitten Past

I

IT WAS the last normal night of her life.

Andorra, of course, didn't know this. Perhaps if she had, she would have begged her parents to let her stay home. Instead, she stood bundled up on the football field, shivering in her jacket. The subzero temperatures of Northern Maine during a cold, January night was not what Andorra had in mind for a Wednesday evening.

It had started Monday morning in her astronomy class. Her teacher had been so excited, so enthused, about the upcoming meteor shower. He passed out permission slips, took stock of his telescopes, and told the students to report on the field at 7:00 on the dot.

Well, she was there. And now it was growing closer to 7:30, and her teacher was still fiddling with telescopes. Other students in her class and the other cohort were standing in clusters of small groups, enjoying the nightly adventure that had added some excitement into their weeknight. Normally, Andorra may have felt inclined to do the same.

But, she was new. New to the school, new to the state, new to everything. And as a quiet girl from across the country, Andorra had yet to form connections and friendships. So instead, she shifted on her feet, shoving her gloved hands further into her pockets.

It was not the first time Andorra wished her old school parents would let her get a cell phone. At least then she could have pretended to be occupied rather than standing alone.

"Alright! It's time." The teacher's voice was loud in the quiet of the night. He waved his hand to the students in a come closer motion. "There are seven telescopes and about 30 of you. Go ahead and form your own groups and claim a telescope."

Above them, stars twinkled in the sky. If Andorra stared hard enough, she would catch a glimpse of a shooting star, but it hadn't really started, not yet. She edged closer to some of the groups, but felt a bolt of anxiety race through her chest. Students were already grouped up. This was a small school; everyone knew everyone since kindergarten.

Being the new girl was decidedly not like the movies. No one had really spoken to her. Most gave her curious looks, some even offered a smile, but most didn't rock their friend group boat. Most felt inclined to continue ignoring her as if she didn't exist.

Andorra took a step closer to the teacher. Her hands fluttered uselessly in front of her. You could just ask to join a group, she reminded herself. Social anxiety gripped her by the throat in a resounding no.

"Oh, Andorra. No group? Here, how about I help you find one." Possibly more embarrassing was that her teacher would force her classmates to adopt her, but it was already in motion. He moved towards a group on the outskirts, all three of them ignoring the telescope in favor of chatting instead.

Andorra wanted to dig her heels in. "Shaniah, Jessica, Kyle. This is Andorra. She'll be joining your group."

The three of them turned. Andorra recognized Shaniah from her astrology class, but the other two had to be in the other cohort. Shaniah offered the teacher a smile, but when she looked back to Andorra, it seemed to sharpen a touch.

Andorra watched the teacher walk back to some of the other groups. She gave her own smile in return. "Hey," she offered. "I'm Andorra."

"We know. You're new, right?" Shaniah's voice wasn't incredibly friendly, but it didn't have to be. Not for a little group outing.

Andorra readjusted her hat. She noticed that both Shaniah and Jessica only wore jackets and nothing else, seemingly used to the frigid Maine weather. "Yeah. I'm from California."

Jessica seemed interested in that. "Ooh! Like LA?" She twirled a strand of chestnut hair around her finger. "I've always wanted to go to LA!"

"Uh, not quite. I lived closer to Arizona, actually. A small town on the border." Where it would be 75 degrees out right now instead of the negative 5 it currently was.

"Oh." Jessica's nose wrinkled in distaste. "Not as cool."

The boy, Kyle, let out a laugh. The sound of it was smooth and confident. He stretched his arm to drape it over Jessica's shoulders. "I don't know, that sounds cooler than middle of nowhere Maine."

At the sight of his arm across her shoulders, Jessica's face turned red. She let out a nervous, high pitched giggle. "You're right."

Shaniah turned to dismiss the conversation, nudging the telescope with the toe of her boot. "Shouldn't we like, get started?" She craned her neck back to look at the night sky above. "I don't see any movement up there."

Kyle hung back a step as Jessica huddled closer to Shaniah to look at the telescope. "So, California. How are you enjoying Maine?"

"I'm not," Andorra retorted. And it was the truth; they had been there for a little over a month, and it was everything Andorra disliked. The weather was torture at best, chilling Andorra to the bone no matter how warm she tried to get. No matter what the thermostat said in their drafty farm house, she could never get warm enough.

And she didn't want to get started on the school. The no friends situation.

Kyle bumped her shoulder. "It has to have some perks, right?"

It didn't have any perks. Andorra was counting down the days until graduation. As soon as she walked across that stage, Andorra would be going back west. To somewhere warm. To somewhere that wasn't New England.

Andorra looked a little closer at Kyle. He was a little too tan for their current climate, suggesting his family had spent winter break somewhere warm. There was something familiar about him, something comforting.

"Kyle," Shaniah whined. "Come on. Let's get started."

Shaniah was the first to take a look through the telescope. When she saw nothing of interest, she stomped her feet like a child in the mood for a tantrum. "This is so dumb," she muttered as Jessica took the telescope next. Shaniah crossed her arms, then took out her cellphone to type something. Jessica, also seeing nothing, took a step back with a sigh. "Nothing," she said exclusively to Kyle.

Kyle made a move to lean forward, but then he backed up a step, beckoning Andorra forward. "How about you take a look, California?"

Extremely aware of Shaniah and Jessica watching her, Andorra stepped forward and bent towards the telescope. She peered into it, looking up at the stars closely. Then, right as she made to step back, a star shot across the sky in a wide arc.

She drew in a gasp at the same time the teacher loudly announced, "It's happening! It's starting!"

Stars began to fall across the sky at a rapid pace. Andorra was struck still as she watched, but it didn't last long. That single moment of peace was cut short by Shaniah's shoulder shoving her to the side. Andorra was maybe sure it Shaniah had just meant to scoot her over, but Andorra found herself stumbling back onto the ground by the sudden force of movement.

She stared up at the stars, head slightly dizzy. "Hey!" She heard Kyle exclaim. "What the fuck Shaniah?"

"She was taking too long," came the simpering response.

Andorra stared up at the sky, watching the stars race through the night sky and twinkle out of sight. She closed her eyes, the chill of the snow seeping down the back of her neck, and she made the wish without a second thought.

I wish I was home.

It was that single wish that changed everything. The stars were listening that night. And the stars knew she was at last, finally ready.