In the Stars Read Online Free Page B

we pass in order to get into Heather’s. “I still can’t believe I need a new transmission.” I mutter and open the passenger side door to Heather’s Civic.
    “You have had a burst of bad luck lately,” Heather admits, starting the engine and pulling out of the stall. “You didn’t walk under a ladder or anything, did you?” Her words are overly sarcastic, but I choose to ignore that. Heather doesn’t believe in luck. She says that fate is nothing more than a lazy man’s desire to blame someone else for their flaws. I, however, know that some things happen the way the universe wants, regardless of how hard someone tries otherwise.
    “You mock, but right before Drew broke up with me, I dropped a pair of scissors on the floor. Everyone knows if you drop scissors, your love life is doomed.”
    Heather rolls her eyes and turns the radio music up three notches louder. “You’re certifiable, you know.”
    I lean back and put my knees on the dash with my legs hanging down. “This is fun, getting away with you for a weekend trip. We haven’t done anything like this in such a long time.”
    “Well, you’ve been pretty busy the last few years. Law school and then articling took up so much time.” At least Heather doesn’t make it seem like a bad thing, the way my mom does. She’s still aggravated that I forgot to call my brother on his birthday two years ago.
    “I don’t know how I survived it,” I admit. My thoughts turn melancholy as I reminisce. “I slept in the law library some nights. I would study so late that often I’d fall asleep into my case book. It was a toss-up whether a security guard or the janitor would wake me up and send me packing.”
    Heather merges onto Deerfoot Trail and accelerates. She looks relaxed when she drives, with her forehead smooth and her shoulders sinking deep into the seat, that you would never guess that she has an accident record a mile long and ten or eleven speeding tickets. I stare out the window for a few minutes in silence. I watch the city rush by, everything turning green with springtime and new beginnings.
    The opening bars of Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys begin on the radio station and for the first time ever, I listen to the words and mull over their meanings. A girl who nobody can ever forget. A girl more beautiful and confident than anyone else. I need this. I can be that girl in flames. I can do this.
    Heather sings along, her thin voice hitting all the right notes. I would join in, but for some reason I never sound the way I think I do when I’m alone in the shower. I’m like those American Idol contestants who audition and everyone looks at them like “Really? You must be delusional if you think you have a good voice. What is wrong with you?”
    “How do you know all the lyrics, Heather? Didn’t this song just come out?”
    Heather sets cruise control to twenty kilometers over the speed limit and rests her arm on the middle consol. “Dude, you have been hidden in dark caverns at Carter Clinton too long. This song’s been out for forever.”
    I cringe at the reminder of Carter Clinton and resume my stoic vigil at the window. We’re out of Calgary now, and all around for miles and miles are wheat fields, the tiny plant shoots still small and green, but in a month or so they will be golden and tall. Far off in the distance I can make out the peaks of snow-covered mountains, and blue sky stretches as far as I can see.
    “I still can’t believe they trusted that bitch over you,” Heather continues. Apparently she has no desire to drop the subject of my former employers. “She wasn’t even a lawyer.”
    I clench my fists at the memory and let out an angry growl. “It wasn’t fair. She was the one who took three-hour lunch breaks and came in late every morning. I was a model employee. I worked my butt off for them for a year for practically no pay and then bam! Fired!”
    “What happened again? I forget.” Heather adjusts her rearview mirror so she