The Weight of the Stars - K. Ancrum Page 0,4

two more days before the movers send our stuff over?!” someone shouted.

Ryann looked up.

At the end of the aisle was the girl, Alexandria. She was shopping with a stern-looking older blond man, who was clearly ignoring her.

James twisted around to see what Ryann was staring at, then looked up at her in concern.

“It’s already been three weeks!” Alexandria continued. “I don’t know why—”

Alexandria gazed up the aisle to find the Bird siblings gawking at her. She stopped short, staring back.

Ryann schooled her face into a mask and studied Alexandria.

She was shorter than Ryann had thought from seeing her sitting down this morning. Her hair had been dyed platinum, but she hadn’t kept up with it, so dark roots were starting to show. She was one of those people with red splotchy faces who always look like they are about to cry. But her eyes were dark and angry.

Ryann itched to fill the awkward silence with something, but nothing seemed to be right. Instead she looked down at James, gripped the cart railing so tight her knuckles turned white, and pushed the cart down a different aisle.

4 HOURS

Later that night, Ryann lay in her bed. She curled her arm around Charlie and breathed.

The moon washed her room out in light blue, and it was hard to sleep when the sky was so bright. She’d broken her blinds a couple months ago and kept forgetting to get new ones, so James had tacked up one of his extra sheets. But it wasn’t completely opaque.

She was so exhausted these days that it was beginning to affect her mood. It was easier now than when Charlie had first arrived a year ago, since he was old enough to sleep through the night these days. But it was still ten times harder to get enough rest than it was before any of this happened.

She pulled out her phone and texted Ahmed.

Ryann: You awake?

Ahmed texted back immediately.

Ahmed: Yes. My parents have friends over and they’re being loud as fuck. It’s like 1am please come here and kill us all so I can finally find rest in death

Ryann snorted. Drama Queen.

Ryann: That’s too much effort. Have you tried asking them to settle down?

Ahmed: Have … you met … my family …

Then a few seconds later:

Ahmed: I’m considering going to sleep in the woods.

Ryann: You could always come up here?

Ahmed: Too far. Too lazy. I’ll just lie here and struggle. I’ll see you tomorrow

THE NEXT DAY

This time, Ryann got to class early. She put her boots up on the desk and motioned for Ahmed to come sit next to her. Ahmed usually sat near the front, but he raised an eyebrow in curiosity and shuffled his supplies to Ryann’s right side.

Ryann tapped her pencil on the desk. “I ran into Alexandria in the store yesterday. She reminds me of Blake.”

Ahmed snorted. “Blake’s an asshole.”

“Yeah, but like … an asshole in a lonely, isolated, lashing-out way,” Ryann said. “She was yelling at her dad in public, which was kind of wild. I feel bad for her.”

Ahmed tilted his head back and stared at the ceiling for a solid two minutes, then sighed deeply. “You’re not going to feel satisfied until you try to be her friend for real. Like … I know Mrs. Marsh asked you to do this, but I know you,” he said resignedly. “Because that’s what you do. Literally compulsively rescuing people from themselves like it’s a part-time job or whatever. Just … go and try so we can either add her to our group or she can yell at you like she’s already yelled at like five other people.”

Ryann crossed her arms. “Fine. I will.”

3 CLASS PERIODS

The lunchroom was largely segregated by grade and then again by social class. No one was allowed to leave the building for any reason, so it was always packed.

Ryann and her friends usually sat at the back near some of the baseball players. On their other side was the pom-squad. Shannon Greenly from the squad, who was entirely too popular to be hanging out with them in the first place, had moved to the back to sit with Ryann. The entire squad eventually followed and they never left.

Today, however, Ryann opted to seek out Alexandria, who was—predictably—sitting alone. She was wearing a jean jacket and holding her fork in a fist as she scraped at the dry chicken nuggets they were serving today. She looked angry and disgusted. Ryann walked past Tomas, Blake, and Ahmed, who watched her curiously.

Ryann