Comet Club

The Comet Club
By Jennifer Joy Arend

My name is Kelly Peters. I'm not quite sure how to begin this story. I know I should start at the beginning, but I can't seem to find it. Oh, well. I'm wasting too much time, and time is too
precious to waste.

    So I guess it all started when Dr. Teresa Miller, top astronomer at the time, spotted the comet. It was about seven years back. I had just turned ten. Dr. Miller came on the television, interrupting a sitcom that my mom, and I were watching. She said that she had spotted a comet....and that it seemed to be headed straight for our great planet. I was really scared at first. Then, she said that it was very far away (I don't remember how far), and that it would take an estimate of five years for it to come close enough to collide with the planet. She thought it was even possible that it could change path, collide into our moon instead. But, the way it looked now, that wasn't the case.
    I felt somewhat relieved. Well, really relieved. I never even thought of the comet again until those five years were up.
    "Hey, Kelly!" "Are you coming over tonight?" Lisa Delano called to me from across the school hall, an anxiety in her voice.
    “I don't know," I recall saying. "We could get in huge trouble."
    "Oh, it wouldn't be as fun without you!" She pleaded.
    "Well, I'll think about it," I assured her.
    She grinned. "Great, see you there!"
    I watched as she ran down the hall, and I wondered how she knew me so well.
    We were all nuts back then I guess. We were risking it all that night. We were breaking into the high school, and having an all-night party there. Of course, Lisa's opinion was that we were risking nothing.

    "Miller's Comet is going to hit tonight anyway." "We'll all be dead tomorrow, why not have one last way cool memory?"
    I had to agree with her. I mean come on. I was fifteen. I was stupid.
    So, that night I told my parents that I was going out with my friends. They hit the roof.
    "Kelly!" My mother shouted. "You want to go off with your friends when....." She couldn't bare to say "When your family could all be dead by tomorrow." I got the message anyway.
    I felt tears coming to my eyes. I did understand her point. I just felt this terrible need to disobey her. She's just trying to run my life, I thought grimly. And it could be almost over.
    "I'm going anyway!" I shouted at her.
    Mom looked at dad. He sighed. My little brother burst into tears, and I felt myself begin to weaken.
    "Blood's thicker then water, Kelly," dad stated, gravely. I saw both the hurt, and the anger in his eyes.
    "So's a milk shake!" I yelled back, as I slammed the door on my family, and walked out into the cold.
    I walked down the street, my hands in my pockets, breathing to my discontent, the cold harsh air. My coat was a Johnson High School letterman's jacket, and it wasn't very warm. It reminded me of my friends. When I think back, I wonder if it was symbolic.
    When I arrived at the high school, I looked back at the sky. The comet shone brightly in the East, almost as bright as the sun, maybe brighter. It was getting closer and closer. It made the evening look like an early afternoon, and that made it a very scary reality.
    "Hey, Kelly, you came!" Chad Trenton greeted me with a wink.
    I smiled, but nothing could shake the awful feeling in my stomach.
    "We're going to have a blast tonight!" "We'll start with spray painting the halls, then we'll make some crank calls." "Last, we'll trash the principal's office." Chad laughed loudly at his plans. I thought they seemed pretty pointless since tomorrow we would all be dead.
    Dead. The thought echoed through my mind. It wasn't until that moment that that word ever seemed to apply to me. I was scared for a minute, but then I thought about my friends. I was going to die with them, I thought. I should be happy. And at the time, I was.
    "Kelly, did you bring your c.d.'s."
    "I brought mine, and my stereo."

    "This is going to be the best party of our lives!"
    Notice he didn't say the last, I considered. Stop it! I ordered myself. You're supposed to be having fun.
    Just then, a group of boys came out of the shadows surrounding the oak tree. I saw they were Justin Harris, Mark Darby, and Pat Keller. They were wearing camouflage clothes, and were carrying water guns. I saw that Mark had a bag slung over his back.
    “Hey, no one told me it was Halloween!" Chad laughed. "Who do you guys think you are?"
    "Ha! Ha! Laugh now, Chad." "Cause you are going to be so sorry when you are thanking us for saving the planet!" Pat shouted.
    “What are you clowns talking about?" Chad asked.
    "See what we got in this bag?" Mark opened the sack, and displayed the contents.
    "Its a bunch of fire works." Chad looked confused. We all were.
    "Hey wait a minute!" "First its Halloween, now its the fourth of July!" "Excuse me while I recover from the time lapse." Shannon rolled her eyes, but the rest of us were interested.
     "We're gonna shoot these up at the comet, and blow it up before it ever gets near us!" Pat stated proudly. "It was my idea."
    Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. Puh-lease! Did they actually think that would work?
    Chad seemed moderately convinced, but not totally. I was glad he had at least some sense.
    "Hey, are you guys staying at the school all night?" Mark asked.
     Chad hesitated to answer. He probably didn't want them joining us when they were through with their little rescue mission.
     "No," he replied. "We're going to leave around midnight or so."
     That should take care of them, I thought. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing as they walked away.
      "Hey, Kelly, where's Lisa?" Jason Fieldman asked, abruptly.
      "What!" I exclaimed, totally shocked. "She begged me to come, and she didn't show up!"
      "Woe, calm down!" Shannon Heartly put her hand on my shoulder. "If she said she'll be here, then she'll be here!"
       Just then, the pay phone inside the school rang. Chad unlocked the door with a stolen key, and we all ran in. Shannon reached for the phone.
      "Hello, Comet Club, she said giggling.
      I didn't listen to what she said next. I started watching that comet again, through the nearby window. It just hung there in the sky like an ornament, on its collision course, challenging me to try and stop it. I wish there was a way that I could, I thought.
    "Ok, well bye, Lisa." Shannon hung up the phone.
    "That was Lisa!" I shouted. "What did she say?" "Is she coming?"

    "She decided not to," Shannon stated. "She says her sister's really scared, and that her family needs her," she explained.
     That's when I started to feel really guilty. When I saw Shannon's face, I knew that she felt the same way.
     The guys didn't seem to be in the slightest way affected.
    "Well, let's get started!" Chad exclaimed. We all followed him into the band room. I slightly remember seeing a little silver key drop to the shiny hallway floor, but I didn't really think about it. Chad set his stereo up in the corner. He turned it on at full volume.
     "Guys, I'm leaving." "I'm sorry." Shannon shouted over the music.
     A wave of silence went through the room as Chad turned the c.d. player off.
     "Why?" He asked. His face was completely blank. He really didn't know why. I guess that's one difference between guys and girls, I thought. Girls can catch each other's eye for one second, and know exactly what each other is thinking. Guys have to be told.
     "Does it matter?" Shannon asked.
     "Yes." Chad looked almost hurt.
     "Look Chad, I have a little sister too." That was all she said. Then I guess Chad understood because he started toward the door, to open it. Jason, and I followed although I'm pretty sure neither of us had any intention of leaving.
     By the time we had reached the door though, I had decided to go home, too. Jason looked like he was going to also. He was all nervous. He must have been worried about what Chad would think of him.
    When we got to the door, Chad reached for the knob. It wouldn't turn. The color drained from our faces.
    "Chad, did you lock the door from the outside?" Shannon asked.
    "Yea, I think I did. I didn't want those bozos following us in here."
    "Don't worry, I have the key. Stole it from Mr. Gregory's ring yesterday."
    Oh, no! Chad dropped the key! Please let me have imagined it, I thought.
    But, unfortunately, I hadn't imagined it. Chad looked everywhere for the key. He finally just shook his head.
    "I must have dropped it outside the room somewhere," he said, gravely.
    Shannon started to cry. Jason hugged her, but tears were in his eyes too. I sunk down to the ground, and put my head in my hands. We were stuck here. We were all going to die here.
    We were going to die right here at school, with no one but our close friends to comfort us. No family to read from the Bible or pray with. No hope, I thought. Now there's no hope. Why should we be spared now? We were selfish, and stupid. We deserve to die. But in my heart, I didn't believe that.
    Shannon and I cried for most of the night. The guys kept busy with spray painting the hallways. They never did get finished.
    I remember, there was a loud rumble.
    "Its coming!" Chad screamed.
    I stood up, ready to face it as if it were only a slight problem, as if it were just a school yard bully, as if it was something that I myself at fifteen could deal with.
    A loud bang echoed through the air, and the whole school shook, and I was sure it would fall apart. It did, too. The ceilings came crashing down on us, burying us. I blacked out, wondering if this was the end, wondering if I was about to die.

    I woke up in a hospital to my shock, and surprise. My mother was holding my hand. My dad, and my little brother, Josh were sitting in the visitor's chairs looking excited.
   "She's awake!" Josh leaped up to hug me. I started to cry.
   My mother was crying, and so was my father. Only Josh had dry eyes.
    "I knew you would be all right, Kelly!" He exclaimed. "Hey, guess what?" "I just learned a new song on my guitar!" "Its called Blue Friday!"
    "Great!" I exclaimed. "I can't wait to hear it!"
    I looked out the window. It was a sunny morning. Everything looked just beautiful. But I found it strange that all the buildings looked intact. What was going on?
   "Mom," I whispered. "What happened?" "Did the comet......"
    "It hit our moon, dear." "Just like Dr. Miller predicted it might."
    "Yea," Josh added. "You should see the size of the hole it left!"
    "Then what happened to me, and my friends?" I asked, confused.
    My mother looked mad. "Some kids had some illegal fire works last night. They were attempting to blow up the comet, I guess. Anyway, the boys put several of them together. They didn't think anything could go wrong, but something did. The whole school will have to be rebuilt."
    I thought of the boys the night before. Maybe they wouldn't have done them so close to the school if they had known we were there, I scolded myself, and my friends. If we had just let them know. If we hadn't been so selfish.

"What happened to Shannon, and Chad, and Jason?" I asked even though I was afraid of the answer.
"Well, Shannon was just released from the hospital yesterday." "Chad is recovering, he's still here." She paused.

    "Jason is in a coma. He may not live. I'm sorry, honey." She hugged me, and I started to cry again.
    "Why didn't we just stay home, where we belonged!" I shouted.
    "Shoosh," my mother whispered. "We're in a hospital, dear."
    My dad came over. "All that matters now is that you've learned something from this." "After all, that's what its all about."
    I cringed. One of my close friends was dying, and all he could think about was the lesson this experience had taught? I thought that was really insensitive, so I didn't answer.
    "Can I see him?" I asked timidly.
    "I don't see why not," my mom said.
    I got up, and strolled down the hall, bringing my I.V. tower with me. I found Jason in room 704. He looked really sick, and pale. I went in, and sat beside him.
     "Hey, Jason," I greeted him. I wonder if he can hear me, I thought. "It's me, Kelly." "I wanted you to know I was okay." "Shannon, and Chad are too." "We're all waiting for you to wake up, Jason." "Please, wake-up." I held back my tears, and started to stroke his hair. He was such a good friend, I thought. I wonder if he knew I thought he was. What am I thinking? He's not dead yet.
   "Remember that time, Jason, when we were at that huge amusement park upstate, and we all got lost?" "We were only what--eight then?" "Remember how we all got hysterical, and you courageously went up to the ticket guy, and asked for directions?" "You were the hero of the day, Jason." "I always meant to thank you for that."
   I saw a smile spread across Jason's face.
   "Yea, I remember." "And you're welcome, Kelly."
   "Jason!" "You're awake!" "Nurse....."
    "Don't worry, they know I'm awake." "I woke up a few minutes before you came in." His smile turned into a mischievous grin.
    "Jason, you were awake that whole time!"
    "Yea."
    I hit him with the extra pillow. He laughed.
    "Well, I'm going to go call Shannon," I said, getting up from my perch on the bed.
    "Tell her I'm okay," Jason suggested.
    "Duh, Jason, that's the plan." I laughed the whole way back to my room, not because Jason's little joke was that funny, but because I was just so relieved.
    "Mom, dad, Josh, Jason's awake!" "He's going to be all right!" I shouted kinda quietly, as I entered the room.
    "That's great, Kelly!" Shannon exclaimed when I told her on the phone. We were both amazed by our luck, if that's what it was. Jason was going to be okay, and that was all that mattered now.

    "Do you think this nail polish is cool or cold?" Shannon asked me. We were sitting under a tree about two years later, outside the new school, just hanging out. It was just the two of us. The guys were at basketball practice. Lisa was watching them today.
    "Very cool," I stated, looking at the neon orange stripe on her nail.
    Shannon cringed. "You really think so?"
    "Yea, why not?" I replied. She just shook her head.
    It was nice to have things back to normal. I myself, sit here under the tree with Shannon writing this story, while she talks about nail polish. I know I'm still only seventeen, but I think the whole experience has taught me a lot. Its taught me how important family is, and how good friends will always be there when you need them. I've grown up a lot from since the comet, and sometimes, when I think back at that fifteen year old girl, I don't recognize her as myself. That fifteen year old girl died that night so that I could become the person that I am today. Sometimes, when I think of how close we all were to dying, and how we all survived, I think of one word: miracle. And sometimes, when I'm alone at night, and the house is totally quiet, I look up toward the place where the comet was, and just whisper "thank you."

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