Waiting for the stars

Chapter 1
Maureen stared up at the sky with thousands of twinkling stars just waiting to be discovered, waiting to be talked to, the one thing that had kept her calm during her bad days.
She grunted, sliding off the mini porch on her parents house by the beach. And thoughts swirled inside her head. 
Tiptoeing inside her home, she opened her creaky door to her room and sat on the rickety chair grabbing her one toy as a little girl, a stuffed star. She grabbed a satchel and stuffed a few snacks and her star inside. she purposely slid open her curtains and window taking one more look at her room, jumped.
She knew it would work, just like she planned. She was heading toward the space museum in the center of town, there were plenty of ideas about researching and visiting the stars. Just what she needed. As she entered the museum, she reached for her satchel, groaning as she remembered she hadn’t brought any money or a notebook. which meant she could just stare at the breathtaking displays and sigh.
The cool night air rushed up to her as soon as she stepped through the museum door. And a star drifted towards the ground, falling faster as it went. Silver and shining, Maureen wondered what that meant. What was going on up there? She glanced up at the sky and shrugged carrying on to the deeper part of town. Her trip uneventful, as always, but when she got to the gate, she shrieked. Piles and piles of teeny tiny spots littered the ground, their glow fading each second. 
She tilted her face up towards the sky and immediately looked back down at the rough cement ground. It was a tug, and she knew it was something big. She didn’t know how, but she knew she was right. She could feel it.
~~~~~~
“Maureen! Maureen! Did you hear the news? Maureen?” Maureen turned around to face Gilda, her best friend. “No...what happened this time?” She answered. 
Gilda never mentioned the news unless it was something urgent. Last time she came to Maureen shouting like this was when a tent in the town square lit fire.
“Omigosh! You won’t believe it! Stars are falling from the sky! They’re EVERYWHERE!”
I believe it...Maureen thought before forcing a smile and flipping her hair over her shoulder, “I’m sure it’s nothing...stars? How could that be possible?”she lied, looking away
“Oh it’s possible” Gilda assured her, “one fell on Mom’s hand yesterday when she was coming home from work and it burned! And when she went to the doctor’s this morning to check it out, the ‘star’ was stuck under her skin! And-Maureen, are you all right?” she wondered clearly seeing how pale maureen was getting.
“Ok, look, I need to get to my classes, Universe! ” Maureen grinned, playfully punching Gilda’s shoulder before sprinting away.
Maureen might’ve looked calm, but inside, she was panicking. What was happening? Was Gilda’s mom alright? How was she going to explain to Gilda what had happened last night? How was she going to get to her classes even?
Deep breaths...calm...calm...anddd...back to panicking. She slid into the bathroom taking a few more deep breaths before “skipping” off to class.