Compare Me Not to Stars

                    He had his rod leaned up against an elm tree, the boy sat on a bench just before the beach of the lake began and fed into the murky water. He’d figured he’d needed a new hobby. He just didn’t think he’d be resorting back to fishing, but the promise of some decent-sized bass in the ‘Haverford pond’ not to mention the deal he was cut, he couldn’t refuse. It was one Hell of a nice day, enough to lure him into running around the park’s track a few times before fetching his gear, slipping off his sticky t-shirt and grabbing his bait from the front seat of his truck. He got up from the bench then, eyes trained on the nightcrawler he had picked up, still worming between his fingers as he grabbed his rod and steadied the hook, a shadow finding his peripheral, causing him to look up, suddenly feeling cautious, “… You aren’t here to slap me on the wrist, or something, are you?” He began, shrugging a should, a crooked smile on his lips, “–I checked with the park before. Promise. I’ll just be castin’ the line here.” He gestured towards the area, opposite to the park.

“Fishing in the pond?” Astrid teased, though she couldn’t stop herself some smiling. “How quaint and small town-like of you.. You do realize there’s the beach not to far from here, though, right? It’s a hell of a better view.” 

“No, I get it.” He said, in response listening to the voice on the other end of the phone continue on, “it is a lot, I know.” He continued, more placating his boss than actually listening. There was no way it was happening, he didn’t fly anymore, at least not now, so getting what the man wanted was practically impossible, if he wanted to be undetected and that was all Hunter wanted. “Hey, let me think about it, but I’m going to have to let you go–” he was interrupted, “no, I know this is important but my meeting just showed up.” It didn’t he just needed a nice way to hang up, “yeah, uh huh.” He rolled his eyes before ending the call, directing his attention to the person nearing him, “you don’t know this, but I think you just saved someone’s life, I swear.” 

“Not bad for 10am,” Astrid smirked teasingly. She, of course, had no idea about the context, but she wasn’t one to pass up a comment like that. “This I could aim for the continent by 5pm?” 

         “I told you I knew how to fix a flat tire.” Helena chuckled as she wiped away the dirt from her hands. “You know it should be required before they give you a licenses to drive. Know where the oil is at, what’s under the hood, how to change out the flat to a donut, the fun stuff.” She leaned over to grab her iced coffee and took a drink, “But back onto the subject, what were you saying?” 

“I was saying you look damn fine in those coveralls,” Astrid teased lightly. “Very... Utilitarian Grunge. I think we should start a fashion movement.” In truth, Astrid hated everything to do with fixing cars; it reminded her too much of the summers she used to spend with her father in the garage, fixing up the old Ford Mustang. It was the same car that killed her mother and, well... she never liked her father much after that... 

“In the flesh,” she confirmed and wrinkled her nose like she had just smelled something sour. Viola, Diego’s ex girlfriend tended to have that effect on people — At least on Cecilia, and she was pretty sure Astrid would feel the same way if she was ever unfortunate enough to get to know her. “Your crazy meter is definitely off! Or, well she’s pretty good at concealing it, so I can’t blame you. It comes out suddenly, all the crazy,” she mumbled. Truthfully, Cecilia had actually liked Viola at first. She had been sort of cute and quiet, and clearly smitten with Diego, but a month or two later and she’d turned into someone unrecognisable. “Yeah, he’s good… You know him, always busy with something. He’s working a big case at the moment, one of the biggest his law firm has seen in a while, so yeah… He asked about you the other day though. Maybe we should all go out soon? When he finds a spare minute.”

Astrid had heard the horror stories, and while it was difficult to escape someone in a town like Lanford, it was nice to know Diego was doing a good enough job at least. “Aw, he’s sweet. Mr. Big Shot Lawyer Man... I mean, I’m all for waiting for his schedule to clear, but we should also do a night where we ditch him. Soon. So I don’t have to keep coming here like a stalker to see you...” 

Andre prided himself on being the perceptive type, but it didn’t take a genius to see that this young woman wasn’t enjoying her morning jog. He lowered the volume on his music in the interest of politeness, keeping the earbuds in for ease for the time being. “I suppose that is a subjective statement,” he chuckled, acknowledging the blonde’s apparent distaste for physical exertion or maybe it was the early morning hour.. or both. “Well, speaking only for myself here– the sun’s shining and my favorite song on my workout playlist just started playing–so it’s shaping up to be good for me.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Taking a wild guess that jogging’s not your cup of tea?”

“Ha. Wild, right?” Astrid let out a breathy chuckle. It wasn’t hard to see she was struggling. Her thumb dug into a stitch in her side. “Signed up for a marathon. Thought it would be fine. I used to run... y’know to things, away from things... This is very different.” 

“Both? Technically.” Dexter muse, somewhat quizzical and unsure in his instant answer before he divulged further. “They’re lemon– but not awful, trust me, real sweet and delicious. Everyone loves that citrus in the hot months. You can try these ones–” A gesture to the ones he held. “– then if you like ‘em, can buy those ones.” A final gesture towards the inside of the store.

Astrid really didn’t need much convincing; she hadn’t eaten yet today, and was fine with foregoing lunch for a cupcake. (Or 3, she was feeling a little stressed today.) So without further ceremony, she took the offered pastry and took a bite. “Damn it! It’s good... I was kind of hoping it wouldn’t be,” she teased. 

Alexis couldn’t help but chuckle at her friend’s reaction, she immediately shook her head as a no. “I know you will but there’s no need for that.” Glaring at the women over her shoulder before meeting the blonde’s gaze, she sighed. “The more you respond, the more they attack. I don’t engage anymore.”

Astrid hummed out an agreement. She had enough evidence to prove that wasn’t always necessarily the case, but in this circumstance, it seemed true enough. “That’s probably smart. Take the high road. Not sure I always have the discipline for it, so good for you.”  

                “That’ll work,” Maya answered in a clipped tone of voice, cut by a sigh that didn’t make her seem any less worked up than a moment ago even though Astrid’s presence actually helped. Of all the people she could’ve run into, this wasn’t the worst. “Yeah, well, that’s because my dad’s an asshole, and my brother’s an even bigger asshole for not seeing it.” She clenched her hands into fists and took a deep breath, trying to let the steam roll off of her. “Where are you off to anyway?”

Astrid knew everything about asshole fathers, the kind so bad not even brothers could deny it, so she definitely felt empathy for Maya’s situation. “That sucks,” she said simply and matter of factly. “I was on my way over to The Bread Basket. I was gonna go visit AJ and maybe try to score some free pastries. Wanna join? You seem like you could use the girl time.” 

“I wouldn’t dare do it for anything less than life-threatening,” she joked with a faint laugh, relieved that Diego ex had left again and made room for Cecilia to slack a little in her friend’s company. “The usual coming right up,” she said next and jotted it down on a piece of paper, sticking the order through the service window to the back kitchen for the cook to get on. “Well, that was the infamous ex girlfriend of Diego’s. You remember the one who tried to trick him into getting her pregnant? She’s a whiny thing, and talking to her for more than a minute shaves at least five years off your life,” she warned. 

“That was her?” Astrid exclaimed, not even attempting subtlety as she turned around hoping to catch a passing glimpse of her. But no luck, the woman was long gone. “Dammit, I should have been paying more attention. My crazy meter must be off, because I didn’t pick up on any of that...” Astrid prided herself on being a pretty good judge of character, and she’d always had a morbid fascination with women who went mental in relationships. Call it a walking cautionary tale... “How’s Diego doing, by the way? Keeping his nose clean of her, I hope...” 

‘She is such a slut. I can’t believe she is still living in here. What a nerve.’

The lady’s remarks caused Alexis to roll her eyes, she wasn’t surprised of course. Town gossip wasn’t something Alexis was stranger to. At this point, she was sure some of the soccer moms didn’t even know her real name, they would just call her a slut or a whore. “Just ignore them,” Alexis said, looking at the two women over her shoulders before turning to the person who was standing next to her. “They shut up eventually.”

Astrid threw a glare over her shoulder at the gossiping women. God, this was the one downside of small-town living... Sure, perhaps Astrid didn’t exactly approve of Alexis’ choices, but there was no reason she needed to be crucified for them. “Just say the word, and I’ll make them shut up now...” 

There was half an hour left of his shift, and it’s not like he was counting down the seconds until his freedom, but Dexter wasn’t exactly wheeling and dealing out front with his cupcake tray. Unfortunately for an unlucky citizen, they were walking in his selling bubble slash zone, so he interrupted their peace with his best Barney Stinson impression to ring out a question in tune to a memorable quote from How I Met Your Mother. “Waaaaaaaaanna try a cupcake?” He didn’t give them much time to respond without adding: “They’re from the summer menu and last batch of the day is going cheap before they’re gone for another year. Can’t get these bad boys in a couple of weeks.”

Astrid felt a little guilty, because she knew AJ had a batch waiting for her at home, but she had also never met a cupcake she didn’t like. “Try or buy?” she asked, as if that would really influence her decision at all. “And what flavor are we talking exactly?” 

              Stopping in her tracks when she noticed her brother across the street, accompanied by a familiar face, Maya’s eyes narrowed and her jaw set. Mike wasn’t a bad guy, but it was the fact that he was with their dad that made her hesitate— a sense of betrayal bubbling right under the surface. When they pushed the door open to the cafe she had agreed to meet with Mike at, and not their dad, that was it for her. She quickly turned on her heel and walked in the opposite direction, turning a corner and nearly bumping into someone, creating a bit of an awkward moment of dreaded anticipation mixed with relief, leaving the two of them standing opposite each other like idiots. “That was close,” she muttered with a puff, tension rolling off of her shoulders. “You wouldn’t happen to know a place around here where they serve liquor before 4pm, do you?” She asked, deciding she might as well put the awkward moment to good use.

Astrid startled as she nearly walked straight into Maya, turning a corner and looking pissed. “Uh, there’s a liquor store down the street. They’ll even supply you with a classy paper bag,” she teased. “Why? What’s up? You look... tense.” 

@ Munroe Beach in Haverford

Andre jogged at a slow but steady pace on the damp sand near the shoreline, admiring the pleasant scenery of the gently rolling waves as he passed. The hip hop track bumping through his earbuds kept his motivation high, though he could already feel his body starting to tire. Fatigue was a constant, silent struggle of his to contend with, but he refused to be inactive because of it. He was alright if he didn’t overdo it, so casually slowing down and walking backward for a couple minutes every half mile or so helped greatly. This time when he slowed down and reversed, he spotted someone approaching in his wake. He grinned, wondering if it looked odd to the other person that he was suddenly walking backward. “Good Morning,” he chirped as the other person closed in.   

Astrid hated running as an exercise. She didn’t see a purpose to it - running just for running’s sake. Running was meant to be towards something or from something. Otherwise it was stupid. And pointless... 

So it was definitely stupid of her to sign up for a half marathon, but she was suckered into it by a cute kid in a wheelchair. Damn it, that was always how they got you... So now she had to run a fucking half marathon in a month, and she was woefully out of shape. She was huffing and puffing by the time the man next to her was greeting her cheerily. “Is it, though?” she replied tiredly, taking the opportunity to slow down.

Having hid in the backroom at Uncle Louis’ for a few minutes to avoid her brother’s ex-girlfriend and whatever complaints she had about him, or about her life in general that tended to take up the better part of half an hour, Cecilia came back out again slowly and smoothed her hands down the little apron tied around her waist, complete with fresh tomato sauce stains and a hint of oregano. She cleared her throat quietly and walked up to a customer that had arrived in the meantime, probably wondering why she had left in such a hurry. “Sorry about the wait,” she mumbled, looking up at them a moment later. “What can I get you?”

Of course, the pizza was a big draw for Astrid, but it was far easier to order delivery. She came to Uncle Louis’ for the atmosphere, and Cecilia’s company... “Must have been serious if you were willing to come between me and my pizza,” she teased. “I’ll have the usual, and while I wait, you can tell me whatever the fresh hell that just was...” 

He smiled at the nickname that had always been one of his favorites and shook his head. “You really think they were teachin’ the history of carnival foods in culinary school? I passed it, remember?” They both knew too well that any of AJ’s history grades were something to cringe at. “You’ve never been even a little curious? Like…” he ripped off the final piece of cotton candy from the paper cone and held it out to her. “This is not natural.” Then he popped it in his mouth and threw the stick in the nearest receptacle. “Okay, I’m officially stuffed. Tap out. Flag on the play or whatever they say in sports… What’s next on the agenda? And don’t pretend like you don’t have one, because I know you do, you freakin’ type A wingbat.”

“Have you ever heard the phrase ‘don’t meet your heroes’? That’s the way I feel about food.” While Arthur was known for his speculative ramblings, Astrid, for her part, could spin out a lofty, self-explanatory monologue like nobody’s business. “Take this corndog, for example. For years, I’d heard whispers about the disgusting things they put in hotdogs... What things? you might ask. I have no idea; I’ve willfully never listened. Because hot dogs - and corn dogs, by extension - are delicious, and if I don’t know, then I can enjoy them in peace...” She finished with a teasingly self-satisfied grin, as though she had won some argument they’d never even meant to get in to. 

“Wellll,” she started innocently, “I heard there’s gonna be a clown down at the stages in about 10 minutes....” 

“No I-” they looked at the security guard who had walked away, then back at the blonde who thought something was going on, and suddenly felt guilty for causing such a scene. Especially considering things that were happening in the world. Of course someone would see what was happening and assume the worst. He swallowed and looked at her with panicked, anxiety ridden eyes, and tried his best to form a sentence. He didn’t know why her look of confusion caused him more anxiety than her look of anger earlier. “I just got a stain on my shirt and I stole his megaphone to ask if anyone had a tide stick and then he wanted it back and got mad,” he took a breath, that sentence coming out much quicker than they had anticipated. “I’m sorry for making you worry about…other stuff it wasn’t my intension.” 

She could almost feel the gears in her head grinding and whirring into place, the sudden spike in adrenaline and the truly ridiculous explanation colliding until the only rational reaction was to laugh. Hysterically. It took her quiet a long time to come down, and by the end, she was wiping tears from her eyes. “Oh my god, that- Christ. I was not expecting that...”