Audrey spent the rest of the day watching the boys get the place ready for the fair. The sun was out and not a single cloud could be seen for miles. The wonderful summer weather filled her body with an energy that made her cells buzz with excitement. Auntie was right, she didn’t need to worry. Brandon was going to be ok and they would be together for the rest of their lives. The young girl stared out into the sky, imagining things that they would do together when they were older. Maybe go see Europe, or visit her grandmother out in the Western states. The possibilities were endless and it made her heart jump picturing doing all these things with Brandon. Movement out of the corner of her eye made Audrey jump from where she was sitting.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. But I saw you sitting alone over here and thought I’d join you.” A young, petite woman strolled over to the shady spot under the oak tree where Audrey was sitting. She wore a bright yellow sundress with lovely floral designs all around it. Even though her big floppy hat covered her face, Audrey knew right away who the young girl was and she couldn’t help but smile as the girl stopped in front of her.

“Maggie!” The two girls hugged each other tightly in greeting before sitting back down to talk. Maggie had brought a small picnic basket with snacks and drinks for the two of them. She spread out the large polka-dot blanket and the two girls talked about anything that came to mind as the sun slowly arched across the bright blue sky. After a couple of hours the guys had gotten most of the layout done and were finally starting to build their attraction. Though they spent more time goofing around then they did actually working. It was days like this where Audrey wished summer would never end. She loved how green the trees and grass became, how they days were long and warm and how the nights were spent out by the lake catching fireflies or stargazing. Audrey had never seen a shooting star. She would spend hours laying out near the old mill with Brandon and her brothers but she never got to see one. Brandon would tell her when he saw one but by the time she looked it would be gone. The last time she had gone stargazing with Brandon he had seen three of them. She remembered perfectly what he had told her that night.

“They only last a couple of seconds, but don’t worry. You’ll see one someday. I promise, it’s the most beautiful thing when you look up and see it streak across the sky before suddenly vanishing. It makes you wonder if you really even saw it at all.” She made a commitment that night that for the rest of the summer she would lay out all night and look for a shooting star. To most people it probably seemed silly, but that’s just the kind of person that Audrey was. She wanted to experience everything she possibly could in life. From visiting foreign places to something as simple as a shooting star.

“Hello! Did you hear anything I just said?” Audrey shook her head to clear her mind and realized that Maggie was staring at her expectantly. With a sheepish smile Audrey slowly shook her head no and her friend rolled her eyes before repeating everything.

“I said that Daniel should be able to come back and help out with the rest of the setting up tomorrow and he’s pretty excited to see how the guys are doing.” Daniel was Maggie’s uncle. He was a good man but just a few nuts short of a fruit cake. Audrey held back a small laugh as she watched the boys play monkey in the middle with a rolled up ball of newspaper, wondering how Daniel would be able to convince them to actually work.

“Well he won’t be excited when he sees what little progress they’ve made.” From where she sat, Audrey could hear the wind chimes from aunties wagon on the edge of the woods. It was a soothing sound but for some reason, as she listened to the rhythmic chiming, the tugging sensation returned to her chest, making it hard for her to sit still. Trying her best to ignore the odd feeling, Audrey stood up and walked over to the fence and watched the boys until Brandon noticed her and jogged over. He was covered in sweat but still had a huge smile on his face as he laced his fingers through the chain link.

“Seems like you guys are getting a lot of work done.” She teased as she rested her hand on top of his and leaned in for a kiss. Brandon happily obliged and pressed his mouth firmly against hers, the cool metal of the fence pushing gently into her cheek as they stayed locked in place.

“Get a hotel room!” One of the boys yelled to the couple. The rest of the group laughed and started making kissy faces at each other, making Brandon break the kiss and turn towards them laughing.

“Hey, where’s your girlfriend at Charlie?”

“At home doing my laundry!” Audrey rolled her eyes and watched as a few of the boys playfully punched Charlie.

“Everyone knows you don’t have a girlfriend you loser.”

“Yeah, and now we know why!” The group had ganged up on the short ginger haired kid and Brandon looked back to Audrey

“I’ve got to go stop them before one of them gets hurt.”

“I thought you were helping set up the maze. Not babysit.” Audrey teased.

“Well, it’s a double job I guess.” Brandon moved in and stole one last kiss before turning and running back towards the group of boys. Audrey watched him start to break up the pile of flailing bodies and she couldn’t help but laugh as she watched Charlie wiggle free from the bottom of the mass. She turned away from the fence and casually strolled back to where Maggie was reading a book and sat down beside her once more. For the rest of the day the two of them relaxed in the shade and watched the boys as they slowly started to put the maze together.