Page 2 of Only Some Stars Fall

“Remember my dear old dad? The one who made lots of money as an investment banker in Boston, providing a nice and comfortable lifestyle for his family? Then, one day, announced he was quitting his job and wanted the whole family to move to our summer house in northern Maine permanently?”

“How could I forget? Your mom said there was no chance in hell, and you had to live through that ugly divorce. How many years has it been since you’ve seen him, ten?”

“Eight, and yes, that’s the guy. Well, he reached out a few weeks ago, expressing how much he wants to reconnect, and something in me that I can’t explain believes him. I haven’t mentioned it to you because I know you have been so focused on finals, and I wanted to make sure I was certain before taking him up on his offer to spend the summer at the lake with him. He already lined me up with a job. It doesn’t pay quite like the country club, but he promised me some side projects at the house to make up the difference.”

“Dude, you have got to be kidding me! I mean, I’m glad you’ll be a little closer, but that’s still, what, a six-hour drive from here?” I whine as if my dad had just told me I couldn’t eat my chocolate cake until I finished everything on my dinner plate.

“Well, Evie Baby, you’re in luck. I told him I would come under one condition.”

“Explain,” I say, extremely skeptical of where this is all going.

“That there is no way I am spending my summer in tick-infested, mosquito heaven, Maine, without my bestie. It just so happens he was very accommodating to this demand and said the local resort, which I will also be working at this summer, is in dire need of help. So, getting you a job too was no problem.Plus, my dad works away a lot of the time. I haven’t even been to that house since the summer before he completely lost his mind. Like, what the hell would I do in some big old house on the lake by myself anyway?”

There is silence between us as I stand in the middle of my room, frozen, trying to comprehend this plot twist. I am not someone who does well with unexpected change. That’s a massive understatement. I run from change, kicking and screaming. Even though my summer plans were absolutely miserable, I’d come to terms with them and made my peace with my summer fate, so to speak. But I have also grown a lot this year, and something inside me is saying,oh, come on, live a little.

“When would the job start?”

“Second week of June, so go home, spend some time with your family, give your dad and brother a kiss for me, pack your ass up with all the bug spray you can find, and be ready to hit the dirt road in a little over a month.”

“You do realize Maine has pavement now, right?”

“Oh, Evie Baby, you haven’t been to Aurora Lake before; just you wait.” Alex laughs before saying a quick goodbye.

For two hours, I obsessively go over the pros and cons with Hannah, who looks beyond bored and frustrated with me by the end of it. I research as much as I possibly can about the small town of Silsby, Maine, from my phone, and then, I finally call my father.

I can hear the slight disappointment in his voice that I won’t be home for the entire summer, which pulls at my heartstrings. My father is the nicest, most giving man on the planet. He raised my brother, Kyle, and me on his own after my mom passed away when I was thirteen and Kyle was nine. He is my rock, the one who calms my panic attacks, talks me down, and keeps things realistic. He knows how much I hate working at that dreaded country club and how exciting this opportunity tospend another—and maybe my last—summer with my best friend is. Plus, I will be home for almost a month, meaning I’ll still have to work a few shifts at the country club, but I’ll also get to spend some time with him and my brother before I head north. In the end, we both decide that this is the right choice, and I’m relieved to know I have his blessing.

“Get ready, Aurora Lake,” I say out loud to my half-packed room. “Here we come.”

TWO

One Month Later

EVERLY

The sun filtersthrough the car window and dances patterns across my legs. I can feel my right arm getting sunburned as we wind our way through nameless little towns somewhere in the middle of Maine. After we crossed the Piscataqua River Bridge, we sped up the highway, stopping in Portland for lunch downtown on the ocean.

Two hours later, after finally getting off the highway in a town featuring one gas station and nothing else, we’re finally making progress on our pending arrival to Silsby. I roll down the window to enjoy the warm, fresh air but am quickly met by a crisp, chilly breeze that causes me to roll my window back up just as fast as I had put it down.How deceiving. Is this how it’s going to be, Maine?

I wish her dad had just decided to settle in Portland. Earlier, when we wandered around while waiting for a table at a small waterfront restaurant known for the best lobster rolls in NewEngland, we had shopped the vendors that lined the brick sidewalks and slipped into a few of the small clothing boutiques. It’s a small city, full of fishermen and tourists, but at least it’s a city.

“I’m pretty sure you may be the only human that still has a car with crank windows. You should check theGuinness Book of World Recordson that one,” I yell over the blaring music of our favorite songs from high school.

“Shut it, Gloria and I go way back. Think of all the adventures we have had with her,” Alex says of her car. “And don’t forget she is currently safely delivering you to the most magical summer of your life with your bestest friend in the whole wide world,” she says with a cheesy smile plastered across her face.

“So far… but you keep reminding me we haven’t reached ‘Moose Country’ yet.”

I smile and stare back out the window. Alex has always been that friend that instantly relaxes me and makes my soul happy. She understands and embraces my oddities with zero judgment. Since that call a month ago, I have been dreaming about this moment. The idea of spending my whole summer in northern Maine doesn’t overly thrill me, but after doing some reading, I did come to find out that Silsby is a pretty cool town and a popular place for families to vacation. It looks like it might not be as isolating as I imagined. Silsby sounds like it could even be pretty lively. Well, as lively as you can be for being in the middle of nowhere.

Saying goodbye to my dad had been a little tough, but with how much he works now, it became clear quickly that I wouldn’t get to see him that much this summer anyway. Over the last month, with me helping out at the country club to earn a little extra money and Dad working a few extra shifts a week, we were like passing ships in the night. Kyle just turned sixteen a few weeks ago, had grown a foot taller, and had some impressive muscles. With all that combined, he has quite the activesocial life now. Hanging out with his movie-obsessed older sister wasn’t high on his list of priorities this summer.

It became apparent how much everyone back home had changed over the last year. My dad and Kyle had seamlessly settled into a new routine without me. Over the last month, there were times I even felt like an outsider looking in. I always felt such an intense responsibility to take care of them after my mom died, carrying the narrative that without me, they would be lost, but I’ve learned that’s not reality. The hard truth is that people move forward, adjust, and form new routines. Humans are very adaptable, but then there is me, still stuck in the past, hesitant to take any steps in a new direction.

“All right, so let’s chat a little about this new life ahead of us,” Alex says with a grin as if she just read my thoughts. She peers at me over her heart-shaped sunglasses.

“Why don’t I like the sound of your tone?”

“I’m just curious, what do you have in mind for extracurricular activities when we aren’t working ourselves to the bone over at the resort?”

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