Read There Once Were Stars for Free Online

happened yesterday had just been a dream. A terrible, screwed up, dream.
    “I can’t believe I missed your birthday!” Xara exclaims.
    “Yesterday was crazy. I started my contribution—and—stuff.”
    Her dark ringlets jump around her face as she squeals. “You’re eighteen now!”
    “Happy birthday, Nat,” Jak says in his quiet voice, standing next to her. Though we’ve all been friends since we started school, Jak is often left in the shadows of Xara’s enthusiasm.
    “Did you get anything good?” Xara asks. “Or is that too much to ask of your grandmother?” She doesn’t hide her eye roll. Xara has put up with me and my frustration with Grandmother for nearly a decade. But she’s never complained; the sign of a true friend.
    I hold out the locket from my neck and can’t help but let a smile spread across my lips when Xara’s mouth drops. But I’m not going to open it and show her the photo inside. It’s a final secret between my parents and me; something I will never have again.
    “Wow, Nat,” Xara leans in, “that’s gorgeous. Real jewelry. You’re so lucky. All my mom gave me was a book about etiquette.”
    “Maybe she’s trying to tell you something,” Jak pipes up. Xara punches him in the arm as he hides his face.
    “What did you get?” she asks Jak.
    “A tie,” he beams. “Perfect for working as a Delegate one day.”
    “You wish.” Xara snorts. “You’re a business district boy. You’ll end up in a bank, at best.”
    It’s true. Jak is from a more privileged area than Xara and me, but she doesn’t have to be so single minded. She knows that anyone can try for positions above their district. At eighteen, you get to leave the Learning Institute and go out into the real world where you have up to two years to figure out how you would like to contribute to the dome by trying out a variety of different jobs until you find your fit.
    “Did you hear they found someone on the outside?” she says, her brown eyes wide with excitement. “Seriously. They brought him inside—I heard his skin was melting off from radiation exposure.”
    “No, I don’t think that’s right—”
    “And I heard that the Order took him to the Axis so he could die with dignity.”
    I recall the Outsider’s black eye. He looked pretty alive to me.
    “I was asking where he came from, because no one seemed to be worried about that. Mom said in the olden days, people who didn’t want to follow the rules of a dome were cast out.”
    “You think he’s from the olden days?” I ask, holding a laugh in. If Xara only knew I’d seen the Outsider up close, she’d never stop talking about him.
    “Of course not,” she rolls her eyes again. “Don’t you get it? He’s from another dome. Maybe they still cast their rule-breakers to the outside still. Isn’t it freaky? We could be housing a murderer for all we know?”
    “But I thought you said his skin was melting off?” I tease.
    “You can’t believe everything you hear,” she laughs.
    “All that matters is he was contained,” Jak says, seriously. “The Order looks out for us.”
    I shift uncomfortably. The Order sure did a number to the Outsider, maybe he was a criminal.
    “So, what’s the plan?” Xara changes the subject.
    “I thought we could visit the museum?” Jak offers. “I hear they have an excellent exhibit on—”
    “Ugh, Jak, no,” Xara scrunches up her nose. “Nat is eighteen now, we can use her to do something fun.”
    “But it’s an exhibit on the Order.” Jak’s light blue eyes light up. “There’s even a piece on the Director and the Delegates.”
    Jak has always been somewhat obsessed with the Director. Since he was a child, he’s dreamed about becoming a Delegate and assisting in the management of our dome.
    “I’ve got it!” Xara squeals, ignoring Jak. “Let’s go to a movie, a grown-up one!”
    “Yes!” I shout back. An older couple across the street stops and looks at us. Xara and I giggle quietly, then