Starlight

It all started out as a normal week, I finished seventh grade on Tuesday and on Wednesday I finished packing for New York. We were all supposed to spend two weeks there because my sister Petunia is going to NYU and she was getting her schedule and rooming situation figured out. She could have done it online but my mom decided it would be nice for all three of us to have a fun summer break.
We definitely looked like tourists walking around the city. My mom was taking pictures of everything and Petunia was getting upset at her because she wants to look like a local. She often complained about not knowing the city and again looking like a tourist… I think this is part of the reason why we went on this trip.
It is currently Sunday and I believe I am still in New York but with everything that has happened, if you told me I was on Venus I would believe you. I’ll catch you up by starting on Thursday.

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I woke up to the sound of my alarm going off. I set it for 3:15 so I would have 15 minutes to put on shoes and get my suitcase into the car. Which is what I did. I got up from out of my bed and grabbed my phone, my charger, and backpack before heading downstairs. Mom and Petunia were already down there talking by the door.
“Finally you're awake” Petunia said
“Mom said we were leaving at 3:30” I replied back
“I did,” My mom said clearly already annoyed with our banter “Lily just put on your shoes and grab your suitcase”
I went and grabbed my green converse from the shoe rack and sat down so I could put them on. I wanted to be comfy so I wore gray sweatpants and a white t-shirt with green writing on it. I had a sweatshirt in my bag in case the plane was too cold and shorts in my bag for when we landed.
“We’re stopping at McDonald’s to get breakfast for the ride there” Petunia told me
“Y'all better hurry to get in the car if you want to get any food” My mom said clearly thinking we are going to be late when boarding doesn't even start for another 3 hours so we have enough time, although the car ride takes around an hour that's still about 2 hours we will have for security and other things, but me and my sister still obeyed and walked out to the car.

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We were now getting off the plane and our seats were towards the back of the plane. This plane had 2 rows with 3 seats in each. I got the window seat because my mom wanted to sit by the aisle and Petunia thought it was weird seeing the wing. I of course took lots of pictures but besides that I also read (I finished the song of achilles and started reading circe, both by Madeline Miller, I like comparing them to the Iliad and the Odyssey) and listened to music (a mix of Taylor Swift and other artists) over the course of the 2 hour 40 minute flight. We walked to baggage claim and grabbed our suitcases. We all had matching green suitcases in different shades. We walked over to the rental car area and got our car for the next couple of weeks. It was a silver Blazer, and it had heated and cooling seats in the front and the back which I thought was cool because our car at home only had cooling in the front seats.
We put our luggage in the trunk and drove to the hotel.
The hotel was nice looking, it had a workout room and a pool, which I used the pool but not the workout room as my time was cut short, but I don't even know if I would have used it if it hadn't been.
It was only 10:00 am but we were all hungry so we went to go get some lunch. We walked around looking for someplace to eat and decided on eating at a sub place. I had a sub with tuna, lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, and mayo on it, it seemed the most normal on the menu. I am so glad that my mom went with the one with ham on it, instead of the meatball one like she was going to get. Petunia got a turkey one.
Once we were done with lunch we walked around not knowing where to go. We walked into some shops and got some stuff.
“Here you go” said an older lady, stopping me on the sidewalk and handing me a gold ring that had a light pink stone in it (I think its rose quartz).
I wasn't sure what to do but I said “oh no I can't take this from you” while my mom stood frozen completely shocked and Petunia just looked embarrassed.
“Yes you can dear” she said to me not accepting the ring back “it will help you when you most need it” she winked at me and then looked to my mom and smiled and walked away.
“Does it fit?” my mom asked. I put it on my index finger on my right hand and it fit perfectly. I put up my hand nodding to tell my mom that it does.
“Well I guess you can keep it then” my mom said, seeming flustered. “Well why don't we go back to the pool and swim for a bit”
So we went back to our hotel room and took turns changing in the bathroom. I was the last to go in so while I waited I put my hair into two braids. I went into the bathroom and I put on a pink bikini.
“Petunia, your swimsuit looks good, stop worrying” My mom said “Let’s go to the elevator so we can swim”.
I never got why Petunia was always worried about her looks, she was skinny and I thought she was gorgeous. I hate how skinny is always perceived to be the standard beauty type, it makes me insecure, whenever my friends have a crush they always like them back. I’ve dated people but the longest was 3 months. Okay, yes I know it doesn't actually count because of how young we are, but it still matters to us. I mean, lots of people tell me I’m gorgeous, but that's mostly strangers that my mom knows and I apparently met at one point but have no clue who they are.
At the start of this year a teacher had the audacity to say that I shouldn’t be in advanced math just because I and I quote, “didn’t look the part”. WTF does that mean, this grown ass adult male had the audacity to judge me, a twelve year old at the time, based on my looks. My mom complained to the principal and it turns out this creep was brand new, so he got fired. But you’d think that was the rest I’d ever see of him, but no, I was walking home and he started following me, luckily some girl saw and pretended to be my sister but I could have sworn he wanted me dead.
I went into the bathroom and put on my swimsuit.
“You ready?” my mom asked.
“Yup,” I replied, and we walked out into the hall and went down the elevator.
When we got off the elevator I asked “Which way?” pointing to the signs saying there was a pool to the left and the right.
“Lets go right” My mom decided after looking down both halls. We had no idea if there were two pools or if the signs were wrong but there was a pool and at this pool I met a boy named Remus Lupin.
Him and some other kids my age were playing some water games like Marco Polo. I had a lot of fun playing with him and all the other people. We started talking and the reason why he was in New York was because his father, Lyall he told me his name was, had a business trip for studying exotic animals for the government or something like that. His mother, Hope, worked part time at an insurance agency during tax season. Hope and my mom became quick friends when they started up a conversation in the hot tub.
Eventually I had to leave to go change for dinner but Remus, Hope, and I had plans to go to the Long Island aquarium and Montauk Point lighthouse. Now that I think about it seems a bit weird that my mom would trust this stranger she barely knew with me but turns out that me and Remus have something special in common that they talked about. I don't know how they figured out each other's secret but I'm glad they did so I wouldn't be here alone.