Stars are better with friends

 She looked up at the stars, tracing the constellations with her eyes. She listened to the crickets chirping and closed her eyes. She sighed, finally some peace and quiet. 

Lina hadn’t been sleeping well for the past few nights. Her mom had just given birth to her baby brother. And while he was cute, he was loud. Very loud. So loud that he woke everyone in the house up at night.

After many restless nights, Lina had decided she’d lay in her backyard, since it was warm enough for it. She’d hoped that she would get tired enough and when she went back into her bed, she’d fall asleep instantly. 

But, going outside had the opposite effect, she was more awake now than she was before. 

Lina sighed again, she had to wake up early the next day and go over to her friend’s house, her parents wouldn’t be home, so they thought it would be a great time to have a sleepover. The two of them were too loud at night when they laughed and talked and always woke the other people in the house. Knowing her friend, she wasn’t going to get any sleep. Which meant no sleep for forty eight hours. 

Her and Christa had been friends since they were younger. They met in first grade and immediately clicked. Lina, even though she was really shy, got the courage to go up to Christa and introduce herself. Ever since then, the two had been inseparable and considered the other as a sister. They used to have sleepovers every Friday and always, always had the same brand of pizza. The first time their parents met, they also became good friends. 

Lina stayed out there for a bit, trying to work up the strength to stand up. The grass was surprisingly comfortable. 

After a few minutes, she finally stood up and slowly made her way back inside and into her room. She laid down in her bed, wrapping the blankets around herself like a burrito. 

The second Lina was about to fall asleep, her brother started crying again. 

Lina groaned and put her pillow over her head. This was going to be a long night.

In the morning, Lina woke up from her restless sleep and rubbed her eyes. She had been in and out of sleep a lot the night before, most of her night was spent trying to ignore the cries from her brother. She felt bad for her parents, they were the ones who had to calm him down and try to get him to fall back asleep. 

Lina dragged herself out of bed and got dressed. After doing everything she needed to do to get ready, and packing stuff for her sleepover, she ate a quick breakfast with her parents, who also looked very tired. 

She got into her mom’s car, she’d been using it ever since she got her driver’s licence a few months before, and started on her way to her friend's house after saying bye to her parents.

When she arrived there, she knocked on the door, fighting back a yawn. 

Christa opened the door, a bright smile on her face. Her short light blond hair a big contrast to Lina’s long dark brown hair. 

“Hey, are you ready?” Christa asked, gesturing for Lina to step inside. 

Christa closed the door behind her as Lina set her things down on the floor. 

“So, what do you want to start with? We have movies, food, nail polish, and a few games to play.” Christa grabbed Lina’s things and led her into the living room. 

“I don’t really care, I’m fine with whatever.” Lina answered as she yawned. 

Christa set Lina’s bags down next to the couch and grabbed a movie off her shelf. “Movie it is then. Did you not get sleep last night?” She asked as she put the disc into the DVD player.

“Oliver was really loud last night. And whenever I was about to fall asleep, he would start crying again.” Lina answered as Christa sat down next to her and handed her a blanket. 

“I’m sorry, we can just chill today then.”  

“Thanks.” Lina said and got herself comfortable. “Which movie are we watching?”

“We’re going to continue the Harry Potter marathon we started.” 

Lina nodded, the last few times they had had sleepovers, they watched a few of the Harry Potter movies, but never had enough time to finish the whole thing. They only had the last two movies left, they were probably going to finish them today. 

After a few minutes, Christa got up to get snacks, telling Lina to sit back down when she got up to help. 

The two of them finished the movies, eating the snacks and food. 

Afterwards, they decided that they’d play a board game. They both really liked playing them and found it a great way to spend time with the other. 

Later that day, when it was starting to get dark. Christa asked Lina if she wanted to go outside. 

The two of them laid down on the hilly part in Christa’s backyard. She had a huge backyard and one part of it was a bit raised. When they were younger they called it a hill and it kind of stuck.

They stayed there in comfortable silence, just laying there and watching the sun slowly set. Lina had seen a lot of beautiful sunsets, but that one was amazing. The sky was an explosion of color, oranges, pinks and reds all blending together and making the sky look like it was a painting by a professional painter. 

“I’m glad that I get to sleep here tonight, away from all the noise.” Lina broke the silence. 

“Yeah, I’m glad that I don’t have to be alone.” Christa agreed as she got out her phone and took a picture of the sunset.

They fell back into a silence, still watching the sun set. 

Before they knew it, the sun had set and the stars were coming out. Lina got a feeling of deja vu. 

The two of them stayed there, pointing out some shapes the stars made to the other. They were both glad that the other was their best friend and that they weren't there alone. And they looked up at the stars, tracing the constellations with their eyes.