Falling Stars: Preface

"What?" I blurted out as I stared at Kourtni's sad face. "Why haven't you told me about this?"

Kourtni, my best friend, took a deep breath before answering me. She looked at me straight in the eye, and I saw that there was deep sadness in her crystal blue eyes.

"I'm sorry Xander," she said silently as I sat down on a bench,"but my dad told me not to tell anyone, including you, about our leaving."

She, too, sat down beside me. We fell silent for a while as a small group of people passed in front of us. My eyes followed them as they rounded a corner out of our sight.

"When?" I suddenly asked, trying to sound casual. However, my voice cracked a bit, betraying the emotions bubbling inside me.

"Well..."

"Well when?" I repeated impatiently before I could stop myself. I looked at Kourtni again who stood up and went by the old rusty swing.

Kourtni took another deep breath and faced me. "Tomorrow."

Shock overwhelmed me. I was not expecting that it would be that soon. I was lost for words and I just stared at her wide-eyed.

"Xander," Kourtni said quietly as she approached me,"I tried to convince Dad not to move, but he's just..."

"What about my birthday?" I asked, sounding more like a 4-year old than an 8-year old boy.

"I haven't forgotten," she replied, placing her hand on my shoulder,"that's why I tried to reason out with him but he just won't budge even for that small request."

I remained silent as she kept on explaining things to me. However, I was not really listening to her. I just stared at her and wondered how hard it was for her to leave this place. We had been friends ever since they moved in this small town of Parkstone. We had been more like of a brother and sister, almost. But now, in this sudden and unknown reasons, we would just separate like a twig broken into two pieces. Well, unknown reasons just for me, I guess.

As I continued to stare at her, I could not help but feel admiration for her. It must be hard for her too, but she had hidden her reactions completely than me. I felt a bit ashamed for I was close to tears now while she kept on talking.

"Xander?" Kourtni suddenly said, making me jump off of the bench. I looked around and saw that we were already alone in the park.

"Xander?" She repeated and I turned to look at her. "Did you hear what I have just said?"

"What? I'm sorry, I've been thinking about something."

"Right." She rolled her eyes and sat on the swing.

I stood up and sat on the next swing. "Look, I just can't believe you're leaving so soon. Too soon for me. But, can you tell me the reason why?"

Kourtni glanced sideways at me, as I added, "Please?"

"I'm really sorry but I don't know. Dad won't explain properly; he just keeps on telling me that we need a new scenery, that we need to visit Mom. But I have this feeling that there's something more."

"Will you be coming back?" I asked her casually as she remained silent. I felt her gaze on me so I fixed my eyes on an ant crawling near my foot.

"I... I don't know." She finally answered.

"But, would you return if I ask you to make a promise to come back?"

I looked at her as I asked her this. We stared at each other for a while; her blue ones to my brown eyes.

Finally, Kourtni stood up and held her pinkie finger. I immediately understood and stood up also. She had decided to make the pinkie swear.

"Yes, I promise that I will return." She said to me with a smile.