3

10:25 PM, Friday

    Ian felt bad as he sat at the bus stop, waiting for the bus to take him to the hotel he was staying at that night.  He hadn't meant to distract Chelsea so she bombed her final question.  She had to be so angry right now, and Ian understood.  He had hoped to talk to her, but now he knew she would probably not want to see an old, annoying friend who had showed up out of nowhere and ruined her perfect interview.

    It began to drizzle and the Ian listened to the pitter-patter of the raindrops on the roof of the bus stop.

    Soon, the rain turned into a downpour and Ian pulled his jacket out of his backpack.  He was so busy trying to wrestle his jacket on

that he didn't hear light footsteps coming toward the bus stop.  A lady wearing a dark pink raincoat sat down next to him and pulled out her phone.

    Ian pulled his hood up over his head to cover his scar.  He hung his head and stared at the wet sidewalk outside the bus stop.  As he was looking down, he noticed the lady's shoes. 

    They were shiny silver heels!

    "I'm only going to ask you once, Ian Stickle, why are you here?" rang Chelsea's voice from above.

    Ian looked up, but Chelsea was still staring down at her phone.  Her face was red and her fingers moved stiffly as if she was holding down a lot of anger.

    "I came to see you." Ian responded truthfully. "And I'm sorry that I distracted you."

    "No, you made me look like such an idiot. I couldn't even answer my last question.  Can you imagine people looking up to you and then seeing you crash on your first public interview." Chelsea finally looked up, and Ian thought she looked like a mess. "That interview was streamed worldwide.  WORLDWIDE!  That was my chance to not make a fool of myself and I was so confident.  Now people in every nation are laughing at the junior space scientist who resembled a deer caught in headlights!" 

    Chelsea had talked so fast she was out of breath.  She breathed deeply and then pulled out a cloth to blow her nose.

    Ian wanted to put his hand on her shoulder or do something to comfort her, but he knew that she wouldn't have any of it. "Look, I said I was sorry."

    "Yeah, but you didn't apologize until you were put on the spot."

Chelsea said through sobs. "Maybe I would have been able to forgive you if you had come into my dressing room and apologized right after the show.  But you didn't, and I guess that shouldn't surprise me because you have never apologized unless you have been forced to.  After all, that's the reason we stopped talking.  I know you probably came here to make up, but look around, you just made my life worse."

    "Chelsea, do you even realize how ridiculous you sound?" Ian burst out. "It wasn't even my fault that I was leaving the audience at that time."

    "Oh yeah," Chelsea sniffed. "Then whose was it?"

    "Ask your best friend Adam Stephanie."

    "I did!  And he, being the kind and thoughtful person he is, told me about what happened.  He said he had tried to be friendly to you

and he even apologized!  But you, being the unforgiving man you are, didn't forgive and argued with him.  The you decided to walk away.  Adam didn't make you do that."

    "That man bullied me throughout all of grade school.  And he also bullied you.  And, after all the terrible things he said and did, you two are besties now?"

    "Adam changed, which is more than I can say for you.  Ian Stickle, you didn't change a bit, you are still so stubborn and hard-hearted.  And you can never open up to others."

    "Try being born with a scar on your neck!  You think I just popped out like this?  No, the way people treat you determines how you will turn out.  My own mother thought my scar was a bad omen.  She thought that I was karma for something she did.  I was treated like a curse in my family.  You were the only person I could 

actually talk to about that stuff.  My life was torture at home, and school was my only escape.  Until Adam Stephanie was held back and put into our class.  I grew up with hate all around me, but you wouldn't understand that because you had two parents who loved you."

    Chelsea was breathing deeply now and looked like she was trying to come up with something to lash back at Ian.  She was shaking and finally said, "I'm glad I'm going to travel space for a month.  Now I can finally escape from this horrible world and the people in it like you, Mr. Stickle."

    "Chel - " Ian started.

    "No.  You can call me Ms. Adams.  In fact, don't even call me.  I never want to see your face again."

    Chelsea stood and walked into the rain, not looking back.

    Ian knew that that was it.  Their friendship was completely destroyed now.  Chelsea was a woman of her word.

    Ian looked down the street and realized that the bus hadn't come yet.  He didn't have time to wait any longer 

    Ian stood and grabbed his bag. "Taxi!" he began yelling as he walked down the sidewalk.

    Soon, a car skidded to stop next to him and he climbed in. "Parkland Suites," he said. He had to pick up Tullie before he left to the airport.

    "Yeppers," said the driver as they set off in the storm. "You look like you've had a day."

    "I'd rather not talk about it, sorry." Ian said as he looked out the rain soaked window.

    "Okie-dokie.  I'll just turn up the radio then.  Hope ya don't mind

country."

    The taxi was filled with the sounds of guitars and raspy voices. Ian laid his head back on the seat to rest and knew that he had to let it all go.

    He and Chelsea would never make up, and he probably had hurt her more by coming.  But he had been so confident that coming was the right idea.

    Just proves how wrong your heart can be, he thought to himself.  I wish I could just go back and make sure we had never had that fateful argument after graduation.

    Images of the fight flashed before his eyes and he remembered how much Chelsea had cried, but he hadn't cared.  Now he would give anything to embrace her and dry her tears.  He thought of her going into space and exploring a new planet that could have endless

dangers living on it.

    What if she was killed or came back with nothing to show.  Ian knew that one of Chelsea's biggest problems was that she always tried to exceed expectations.  While Ian had always been an underachiever.  He didn't like all eyes on him, but it seemed that that was all Chelsea cared about.  She had to have children wanting to be her someday or she couldn't be happy.  So she pushed herself and didn't stop to see how it was affecting her.

    Ian had always thought that it had been her dreams that had broken their friendship. But maybe it was just our differences. 

    In fact, now that he thought about it, he realized that they didn't have much in common at all.

    He didn't even know why she had wanted to be his friend in the first place.  Why didn't she just let Adam bully him?

    As he pondered that he realized that he had never thought to ask Chelsea why she had been his friend.  Did she pity him?  Did she think of herself as his guardian?  Ian knew that he had had a hard time standing up for himself, especially because he had been picked on his whole life.

    Chelsea had nothing to lose.  Her parents loved her and she would barely get in trouble if she fought with the cheerleaders who used to pick on Ian at their high school.  Ian smiled, remembering Chelsea grabbing the head cheerleaders ponytail and yanking her into a trash can.

    She had gotten grounded for a weekend after her parents found out.  But anytime Ian got into fights, which was very rare, his mother would think there was an evil spirit in him and beat him to get it out.  After that experience, Ian had never gotten into another

fight.  Maybe his father would have understood, even though Ian had never met him.  His mother had refused to talk to about him.  Ian had been on her bad side since he had been born, and to her he was just a burden and a curse.

    "We're here," said the taxi driver, pulling Ian out of his thoughts.

    "Oh, good, thanks," Ian said, stepping out, "Just wait here and I'll be right back

_______________________________________________________

    Minutes later, Ian was heading into the Salt Lake City International Airport with his bag and Tullie in her carrier.  He quickly gave Tullie away to be stored and paid for a ticket for a flight leaving at 1:45 AM.

    It was only 10:45 so Ian had three hours to wait for his flight.  He wasted one hour walking around the airport.  Then he walked to

 gate B15 and relaxed in a chair, putting his headphones on.

    He played whatever station popped up first on his phone and spent the rest of the night listening to 1950's jazz music.

    At 1:00 AM he saw a woman and a man come and sit next to him, also waiting for the plane.

    Ian removed his headphones, tired of pianos and saxophones.  He was about to change the station and put back on his headphones once he overheard the couple.

    "Oh, I don't know what she's going on about, but that just proves how stupid people in space science can be," said the woman. "I mean, if I were travelling to an unknown planet I would want a crew to go with me.  Especially since this is her first time in space."

    "I wonder what caused her to make this decision.  Do you think it was her mess up at the end of her interview?" asked the man.

    Ian knew they had to be talking about Chelsea.  He pulled up the news and found the newest headline.

    Scientist Chelsea Adams has Declared That She Will Travel to Her Planet Unaccompanied by a Crew, Claiming It is So She Can Learn to Rely on Herself for Future Space Travels

    Ian placed his hands on his forehead.  She was making a terrible mistake and letting her own dreams of personal gain cloud her reasoning.  He wished he could call her, but he knew she would never answer.

    So now all he could do was sit back and watch as she made the biggest mistake of her life.

4

Aug 25, 2:30 PM, Wednesday

    "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!" Jay Diamond's voice rang over the speakers and the gathered in the P.E.P. hangar applauded.  "Who is ready to experience history?"

    Chelsea heard the audience scream again, the sounds resounding off the metal hangar and echoing back to make the sound twice as loud.

    She felt a little uncomfortable in her shiny white space suit.  It wasn't big and bulky, but the boots were heavy.  Plus, the hairdresser behind her was pulling all her hair into a tight bun.  Chelsea winced as the woman grabbed a loose strand of hair and added it to the hair in her hands.

    This must be what it's like everyday for famous people, she thought. Lots of crowds and tight hairstyles.

    She didn't like the thought of never wearing her signature sloppy side braid again, but that was the price for fame.  You become the person that people want to see on the screen.

    In a ways that seemed stupid.  Why would she let other people tell her what to wear and say?  But she knew they just wanted her to lead the best, famous life.

    Chelsea sighed.  Being known was harder than she thought.

    Even in school it had been hard.  Being the best student, the teachers always looked to her to know the answers if no other kid knew.  There were a lot of expectations.  But that was to be expected because she had worked hard and built up to that level of expectations.

    The teachers had rarely ever called on Ian to answer questions. 

    Chelsea stopped and made a note in her mind not to think about Ian.  She had meant what she had said to him at the bus stop.  And had resolved in her mind to never think about Ian ever again, but that was proving harder than she had first thought.

    It hadn't occurred to Chelsea how many times a day she thought about Ian.  But she guessed that it was because she had always worried about him during grade school.  She was always standing up for him.  Maybe that's why he had come back, to find someone to help him.

    Well, thought Chelsea, He lost the chance of my caring about him years ago.

    "Miss Adams," said her hairdresser. "You are about to be called on for your interview before you depart."

    "Ok, thanks," Chelsea smiled at the woman but she just nodded and walked away.

    That was another thing about being a celebrity.  The people who helped her never seemed to really care about her.  It was just a job to them and their way of getting paid.  Chelsea couldn't even remember the last time one of her helpers had given her a smile.

    "Now, I would like to introduce you to our adventurer into the unknown.  Scientist, and now, astronaut, Chelsea Adams!"

    Chelsea walked onto the stage, smiling and waving to the crowd as they applauded like crazy.

    She stopped next to Jay and felt jitters.  She really hoped that nothing would mess up this interview.  Chelsea quickly scanned the crowd, and was glad to see no Ian.

    Adam was standing to the far left and gave her a double thumbs

up once their eyes met.  Chelsea smiled back at him.

    "So, how are you feeling right now Miss Adams?" Jay asked, pointing his mic toward her.

    Chelsea leaned toward it and said. "I've definitely got butterflies, but I'm sure that happens to everyone going into unknown space."

    "I'm sure it does.  Now, would you like to answer the many questions that people have asked regarding your decision to fly this mission solo?"

    "Shoot away," she said confidently.

    "First, what motives are behind this big decision?"

    "Umm . . . I think I wanted to learn how to rely on my own strength instead of relying on ten other team members.  I have been put through space training and I'm confident I will be just fine by myself."

    "Do you think pride motivated your decision at all?" asked Jay.

    "Uh, maybe a little, yeah.  But mostly excitement I would say.  I mean, just imagining being out there in space by yourself.  I can record and have time by myself.  I know that gets lonely pretty fast, which is why I will only be gone a month."

    "Well, we ran out of time with you, Miss Adams, but we will all be watching your launch." Jay reached his hand forward and gave Chelsea a strong handshake. "We are all rooting for you, Miss Adams.  Godspeed."

    "Thank you," Chelsea said and then walked off the stage.

    She had one final briefing with Lincoln Hast, founder of P.E.P., before she actually boarded her shuttle.

_________________________________________________________

    The briefing was over before she knew it and Chelsea soon found

herself being driven to the launch pad.  Her butterflies hadn't gone away and she was in dire need of someone to talk to.

    Like an answer to prayer, Adam was waiting at the entrance to the elevator taking her up to the shuttle.

    "Oh my gosh, I'm so nervous," Chelsea said once she reached him. "Maybe this was a bad idea."

    "Chels, you're gonna be ok." Adam said consolingly. "I know you, you're strong and resilient.  Remember that one time you gave me a black eye in gym after I accidentally broke your phone case with a basketball?"

    "I don't think it was an accident," Chelsea said. "And I was only strong because I was angry and emotional. I just feel scared right now."

    "Scared of what?"

    "That I pushed myself too hard and this mission is going to be a failure because I thought I could do something that I'm actually not cut out for."

    "Hey, you can use that fear.  Fear of failure can cause you to do better than you ever thought you could.  But you need to harness it in the right way and not let it control you."

    "You are always right, Adam, thanks.  And thanks for being my friend once . . . others didn't stick around.  I will bring back a planet rock for your weird rock collection." 

    "I would like that," Adam said, smiling down at her.

    Chelsea reached up and kissed his cheek. "Bye."

    A man called her to the elevator and Adam bid her farewell.

    Chelsea rode the elevator up to the top of the shuttle.  She could see the cameras on the ground fixed on her.

    Right now was her moment.  She was going to become a global icon the moment she put on her helmet and stepped into the rocket.

    The elevator reached the shuttle door and Chelsea put on her helmet and stepped into the shuttle, positioning herself in the pilot seat.  The man went through the whole ship, making sure everything was in order and all her provisions were there.

    Chelsea just wished that she would be in space already.  Waiting for it to happen was so stressful that she might have actual white hair by the time she launched.

    The man secured her seatbelt and then left, talking to command with his headset.

    A voice broke through the speaker built into Chelsea's seat.

    "Ready for launch Miss Adams?" asked the man on the other end.

    Chelsea gripped her chair tightly and responded, "Yes."

    "Ok, T minus 1 minute."

    In one minute she would be launched into space and then it would be up to her to get herself into position for her jump to the new planet.  The jump would take three days to complete and then she had to land the craft. 

    She had probes in the rocket that she would release to scout the planet. If there was a landing space then she would land and begin examining the atmosphere and checking for life-sustaining climates.  If she found water then that was a good sign of life.  And any green plants were a plus.

    Her hands shook.  She could be making the find of the century in less than four days.

    She imagined the cheers and excited crowds she would return home to.  It almost overwhelmed her to think about how much

global attention she would get once she returned.

    Other nations would probably want to interview her and she would share her finds with the world.  Maybe she could find a cure for all sicknesses and save people from dying young deaths.

    All the possibilities for fame rushed through Chelsea's mind.  Then, a thought suddenly crossed her mind, making her forget all about fame.

    Was Ian watching?

    It was very doubtful.  She had probably made him very angry and he would predictable react by not watching the greatest achievement of her life.

    But what did she care if he was watching or not?

    There were millions of other eyes all over the globe watching her and this launch toward history.

    Why did she care if one man didn't care?

    But Chelsea already knew the answer.  She cared because his approval is all she had ever cared about all through grade school.  She remembered him cheering her on at her high school basketball game, and how he still took her out to get ice cream even though her team lost.

    Ian had always been there for her to pick her up and to tell her to go for the moon.  She thought back to the question that she had floundered during her interview.  "Who inspired you to follow your dreams in space?" 

    She couldn't answer because the answer was someone whose name she didn't want to say.  Someone who had been walking toward the exit at the very time of that question.

    Ian Robert Stickle.