Page 3 of The Lost Kings

Presley

T he center dipped, making Gio roll toward me. I nudged him with my elbow, so he’d give me some space as Kingston crawled next to me.

“At least this place has a cool trampoline,” Kingston said while stealing some of my blanket.

I tugged back, hitting him in the side until he finally let go.

“Gio, find us the twins.” I finally settled and pulled my stuffed cow closer to my neck.

Kingston made some sound then shifted next to me. “Probley can’t cause it’s a different sky.”

We had left the manor, even though I wasn’t sure why. Mom and Dad just said we had to all leave on a trip, and then we packed all of our bags. I tilted my head to the side. “I think it’s the same sky.”

“A different patch of sky.” Kingston sighed like I should have known what he was saying. “Found it.”

Gio raised his finger and then I put mine up, but I must not have pointed in the right place. “You don’t see it, Elvis.”

I cut my gaze over to the boy next to me. “That’s not my name. It’s Presley. ”

Gio rolled his eyes while Kingston scoffed. “We knowwww.”

I knew his mouth couldn’t form the R in my name the right way, so he didn’t call me Presley. He called me Elvis, but Kingston called me mi reina. He only did that because I made him play dress-up where I got to be the queen, but it didn’t bother me as much as the nickname Gio gave me.

I sat up, my hair sticking up everywhere behind me. “Then stop calling me Elvis.”

“Look! It’s right there, the Big Dipper.” Gio grabbed my hand and made me point in the right place, which made me fall back to the trampoline.

I sighed, “I thought we were looking for the twins. Castor and Pollux.” I didn’t really know what it was, but Gio had once said there were twins in the sky and ever since, I had wanted to find them.

“I’ll keep looking,” Gio replied.

“Do you think we’ll always be under a different sky?” Kingston asked, pulling my hand into his.

Gio quickly grabbed my other one until both my hands were clasped by two warm palms.

My fingers wrapped around theirs as we all watched the familiar stars light up the sky.

It made me think of all the times I’d drawn my farm and the cows I’d have on it.

How they’d be so happy under a sky like this, and how there’d be open space for them and for me.

I’d invite Gio and King to come visit but they’d have to promise not to ever be mean to my cows.

I let out another little sigh, feeling content. “Yeah, cause there’s so much of it. It’s like all the roads that lead to everywhere we go.”

Kingston explained, “We’ll always have to find the Big Dipper, then we’ll be under the same sky.”

Gio sat up and stared over at his twin. “What if it’s daytime?”

“Duh, only during nighttime,” Kingston argued.

“Maybe there’s a Big Dipper in the clouds somewhere,” I suggested, “Or maybe the twins are up there.”

Gio rolled his eyes. “It’s hard to find that one and you’re acting stupid. Of course the Big Dipper isn’t in the clouds during the daytime.”

My nose scrunched in irritation. “You’re stupid. If we ever get split up, I’m not looking for your stars, so we won’t ever be under the same sky.”

Gio crossed his arms and said, “Then I’m not looking for you.”

My eyes burned and before I knew it, I just needed him to understand how big of a deal that would be to me.

I took my brown cow stuffy and shoved it under his neck while crawling onto his chest. “You take that back, Giovanni. Right now. You have to always look for me because what if I get lost? You have King, I have no one to find me.”

Kingston pulled me off and gently said, “I’ll look for you, mi reina .”

Gio glared until he realized I was crying and then he pulled my hand into his and whispered, “I’m sorry, I’m just joking. I’ll look for you too.”

I sniffed. “Promise?”

“I promise.”

The next night we were back home, and I was being tucked into bed while my parents tried to make me feel better.

When we traveled, no one seemed to care if me and the twins slept on the floor together but whenever we got home, we weren’t allowed to.

The twins always made me feel better, but Mom and Dad said I had to start growing up.

“Goodnight, sweetheart. We love you.” My dad said, before hitting the light.

I didn’t say it back.

Why couldn’t I just sleep with my best friend, just like always?

Once the light clicked off, I clung to my stuffy. I tried to prepare for the fear that always came when the darkness hit but this time, there was a strange green glow that appeared above my loft.

I crawled out of bed and then climbed the stairs up to my second-story loft. Mom had set up a painting area for me, where I created pictures of the farm I wanted to live on one day. The ceiling had never glowed, but now it was covered in green stars.

Someone tapping against glass had me turning around.

I walked over and pushed the window open, only to have Gio duck his head and step on the seat, and then the floor.

“What are you doing here?” I whisper-shouted at him.

Dad was going to be so mad if he heard him.

Gio’s eyes rose to the glowing stars and then he smiled. “I felt bad about what I said when we were on the trampoline. I made you a sky that we will always share now, no matter what.”

Squeezing my stuffy closer to my chest I tilted my head back and smiled.

“This way you’ll never leave me.”

Gio reached out and held my hand. “Never, ever.”