Where the Stars Are is a series of short stories about Niki and her friends’ lives throughout different periods of time. The times where each story will take place will be when the they are teens, when they are in their 20’s, and when they are in their early 40’s. Some stories are told as dreams of either the future or the past.
    
   
  
 

        
  
   
    
     
Before They Shine
     
“Gale. Are you ready for your first mission?” A blonde haired girl named Amanda asked, pulling up a file on the screen.
     
“I am,” a little brunette girl replied, putting her hair back into a ponytail.
     
“How far back?” an older brunette with glasses, who was called Juliet, asked, not taking her eyes off of the screen in front of her.
     
“Back to the time when they reunited,” a short boy with red hair replied.
     
“Sounds good to me. How about you Sam?” Amanda asked, looking at the blond haired boy to her left.

He looked up briefly and replied, “Perfect.”
     
“To the New World!” a black haired boy exclaimed, opening a gate.
     
“You’re not Christopher Columbus,  Jon,” Juliet said, touching some lights on her screen, then starting a countdown.
    
“To the Past,” Gale whispered to herself, as the scenery around her started to change.
    
   
    
   
  
 
 
  
   
    
     
CHAPTER 1
  
     
Year XL55
     
“Nero?” I asked.

Marcus shook his head, then asked, “Lukas?”

“No, we’ve already got a Lukas with a c,” I replied.

“Hmm. Nick?”
     
“Nah, it sounds too much like my nickname.”
     
“Noah?”

I shook my head.
     
“Daniel?”

“Nah, he was weird. How about Duke?” I suggested.

“Nuh uh.”

“How about...”
          
“Tim!” we said in unison. I sat back as we both laughed.
     
“What was that?” I said, wiping a tear from my eye, because I was laughing so hard that I had started to cry.
     
“I know right? Perfect synchro...” I leaned in close to look him in the eye.

“...nization,” he finished, his eyes following mine. He sat up more and leaned closer to me, so that our faces were only inches apart. I closed my eyes and kissed him. He brushed a strand of my hair to the side.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his eyes, once again, following mine.
     
“Wh-Why?” I replied, starting to worry slightly. His hand was still on my face; his fingertips brushing the tip of my left ear. He could see my worry. He smiled, then chuckled softly. I became slightly puzzled. I punched him lightly in the shoulder and said, “What?” He laughed again. I tackled him out of frustration and said, with a demanding tone, “ Well, out with it!”
     
“Alright, alright! I give!” he replied, laughing at how I had managed to tackle him, then he stopped and looked me in eye with the most serious expression I’d ever seen on his face.

“I love you Nicole. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that before you left,” Tim said, moving his hand up to my arm and holding it tightly, but with care. My eyes started to water and I lowered my head, so our fore- heads were touching.
     
“Thank you.” I whispered. Tim brushed my chestnut-colored hair to the side and kissed me again. That elevator held many secrets and witnessed a few heart breaks as well. It was a special place for all of us.
 

   
Time Travelers
     
“Well Gale?” Amanda asked, the little girl.
     
“It’s a sweet tale so far, but she’s been through a lot, right? A whole nation divided because of her didn’t it?” Gale replied, looking back through the small window made in the time space.
     
“Yes. Now to the present?” Juliet asked Amanda.
     
“Well Sammy?” Amanda asked.

Sam didn’t take his eyes off of the window and replied, “Aye, Ms. Parker.”

Amanda nodded to Juliet, who opened a Time Gate labeled: Present.
     

The Present
     
The lights flickered and the elevator whirred back to life. We both sat up at the same time, not a good idea. Our heads collided.

“Ow.” I said, rubbing my forehead.
     
“Sorry.” Tim replied, blinking a few times before he stood up.

“It’s okay,” I said as he helped me up.

We stayed quiet for awhile.

“So...” I started, staring at the elevator buttons.
    
“Um...how have you been since the move?” Tim asked, leaning against the back of the elevator.
“I’ve been good. I found some more eccentric family members,” I said, watching the light change above the elevator door.
     
“Interesting,” he replied, looking at his watch.
     
“So how have you been?” I asked, turning around so I could see him.
     
“I’ve been good. The metro New York branch collapsed, because of a rogue agent. I barely made it out alive,” Tim replied, not taking his eyes off of the ground. His face twisted in pain as he recalled the events that took place.
     
I walked over to where he was standing and leaned against the back of the elevator. I acted like his story didn’t faze me, but deep inside I knew that there were tears. Even though they weren’t visible, they were there. We had lost so many friends, because of this stupid mistake that was forced upon us when we came to this world of fiction....when she started to break.
     
“This is all my fault,” I kept telling myself, year after year. But after awhile it just became a daily part of my life. I knew that I needed to escape, so I left the States when I was 14 and traveled around Europe until I decided to move in with some of my cousins in England. The Enders, they were called.
     
Soon the elevator rang, the doors opened and we had to leave, but I wanted to keep talking. I opened a secret panel under the usual elevator buttons and pressed a button.

Tim was about to walk out when I grabbed his arm and said, “Wait. I want to show you something.” He looked at me with confusion, but then decided to stay. The elevator doors closed and the elevator continued to descend.
     
“So what is it that you want to show me?” Tim asked seeing the faint smile on my face.
     
“Oh you’ll just have to wait and see,” I replied, with mischief in my eyes.
     
“So, how’s that story you were working on last time we met?” Tim asked, looking for something to talk about.
     
“Oh, the one about the girl who kept going back in time to fix the broken hearts of people she knew?” I replied, thinking back on the story I had written as a hidden-truth type of book.
     
“Yeah, wasn’t it called something like, “The Trail of Broken Hearts”? he asked, tracing the pattern on my dress with his eyes.
     
“That would be the one,” I answered, smiling, and walked to a different part of the elevator trying to get him to look elsewhere.
     
“64...65...66..67...68.......71...72...”
     
We were quiet for awhile and then we finally reached our destination. I ran out first and shouted, “Ta-da,” with a huge smile on my face and my arms stretched out. “This is my secret garden, or my ‘Memory Garden’ as I like to call it,” I added, leading Tim into the secret room that only myself and two others knew about.

(This has been my favorite place to hang out, because each plant stores a different type of memory. Star Trees are for dreams, Bleeding Hearts are for romantic encounters and romantic fluff. Dark hollies are for depressing thoughts and are buried deep in the Pitch Woods, which is a place for the negative thoughts and nightmares that I would sometimes have. Actually, come to think of it, I think I’ve seen Sara and Sarah down here together sometimes going into that forest to hide things that they don’t want to remember. Like that one time Sara’s boyfriend got into a car accident and he couldn’t remember who she was for at least a month or that one time when Sarah’s....yeah, I’ve definitely seen the two of them down here. It’s weird sometimes they look like they’re little lost twins. Sometimes I remember things of my past and I feel bad, because I used to be called “Sarah” before the actual Sarah changed my name.)
     
“Hey Niks, are you okay?” Tim asked, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I jumped from the touch and my thoughts came back to the present. I shook my head and said,
     
“Yeah. I’m sorry. I was just remembering something from the past.” Tim took his hand off of my shoulder and we kept walking.
    
        
“This thing called love can be so cold. It can be miserable, it can be beautiful. This thing called love can be so cold. Sometimes it’s amazing, sometimes it crazy. This thing called love.”*
     
“What’s that song called?” Tim asked.

I tensed and pretended I didn’t hear him. Tim frowned and stopped walking.
     
“Niks, are you really alright?” he asked, turning me around so I could face him.
     
“Heh. Alright? Me? No, not really. My parents are dead, Liz is in rehab, I’ve been on the run, living many lies since I was 14, my uncle abandoned me, I’ve been thrown back and forth between dimensions, my true self keeps haunting me, and I left home thinking that you hated me. I know that God is there, because I have seen proof of His love in my life, but sometimes I feel like He’s constantly punishing me for something that I’ve done that I’m unaware of. So, yeah, Tim, I’m just fine,” I said, almost shouting towards the end, tears streaming down my face.

I turned away and as I stared at the tree in front of me I asked, “Timothy, do you really love me? Can you ever really love me? Even though I’ve been cursed to live a never ending nightmare? Even though I’ve killed people? Even though I may never completely understand the meaning of love? Even though I break down and can’t function like a normal person? Even though I may disappear from this world on multiple occasions?”

I turned my head to look him dead in the eye. “Can you take care of and protect me? Can you help me fight this battle that I’m in? There may even be times when you’ll have to put your life on the line whether that be for faith or me.”

I turned my body so that I was facing him fully.

“Let me ask you again. Timothy Luis Clarke, do you love me?” I asked, my tears now dry.

For a moment there was silence as Tim stared at the ground. Then he lifted his head, stared right back at me and said, with confidence, “Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes. Nicole, right now I don’t care about your past and all of your problems. Right now, all I care about is the you that is standing right here in front of me, the you that has become even more beautiful, strong, courageous, and faithful through everything that life has thrown at you.”

He hugged me tightly and said, “I’ll never leave you ever again. I promise. I’m so sorry for not going with you when you left us. You’re very precious to me and I don’t ever want to lose you again. I will fight with and for you, because I love you Nicole.” I wrapped my arms around him and held him tightly as I cried my heart out.

Behind us the Tree of Truth glowed a pure white.

To be continued…

*”This Thing Called Love” by NF