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“Wishing on a falling star is dumb,” Blair Collins said with the absolute certainty of a twelve-year-old as she squinted at the night sky.
She and her five best friends were watching for falling stars. So far, nothing moved. They were way too old to believe in fairytale wishes.
“It is not dumb,” mumbled purple-haired Ashlyn Hall who was peering through the telescope and chewing on a Slow Poke sucker.
“Remember that time Eli Brunel jabbed a rattlesnake with a stick?” asked Annie Lee who had the most gorgeous blond curls that Blair tried not to be jealous of. “That was dumb. He’s lucky he didn’t get bit.”
“What about when Desiree Malcom went skating on Miller’s pond and the ice broke?” Ella King mused, gnawing on a fingernail. “She was lucky the water was shallow.”
“Or when MaryBeth Dunn told her big sister that her prom dress was ugly. Now that was dumb.” Limber Tara Adams shook her head. She was the star gymnast at Falling Star middle school. “MaryBeth should have known better.”
Blair studied the sky. Okay, so maybe her friends were right. Making a wish on a falling star might not be the dumbest thing in the world, but it was pretty close. Especially when you already lived in a dumb town named Falling Star. Old west settlers had been wandering around looking for a place to live, saw a bunch of falling stars, and decided it was a sign.
“Stars are just meteors,” she said. “Bits of rocks and debris burning up in the atmosphere. You’re making a wish on space garbage.”
“Yes, lucky garbage,” said Mia Clark who was the smallest of them all and yet at the same time, the oldest. She had a gap between her two front teeth and would spit a stream of water through it to make people laugh.
“It’s not lucky for the garbage. It’s burning up.” Blair took Ashlyn’s place at the telescope while her friend went to flop down on the blanket where the others lay stretched out stargazing.
“We hafta wait.” Ashlyn propped up on her elbows, crossed her legs at the ankle and dropped her head back.
“I hate waiting,” Annie chimed in.
“Me, too,” Tara said.
“Me, three,” said Ella with a giggle.
“Me, four,” added Mia.
Ashlyn snorted. “Don’t be babies. This is important.”
It figured that Ashlyn would insist they watch for stupid falling stars. She was the one who made them all tramp out to her family’s ranch to look at the sky each time there was a report of an upcoming meteor show. She said it was required since they called their club the Falling Star Stars.
As much as Blair enjoyed being a member, she only really liked it when they did something fun such as have sleepovers, watch movies, go swimming, or bake cakes.
Wishing on falling stars was dumb.
“It’s dumb,” Blair said again. “Really dumb.”
“Think whatever you want,” Ashlyn said. “I’m going to find a falling star and make a wish.”
Ashlyn turned her attention back to the sky. The rest of the girls muttered and mumbled, but when a couple of stars blazed across the night sky a few minutes later, they all called out wishes.
Blair tried to resist the impulse to look and wish, but after a few minutes the temptation was too strong, and she gave in. Maybe it was a silly superstition, but did she really want to take the chance?
“There’s so many,” Ashlyn said in awe.
Blair looked up just as a meteor zoomed across the sky. She hesitated for just a second, and then made a wish.
Just in case.