Starlight

Caelum

I watch him sink back into his chair, the glides screeching across the tiles floor. He replaces his face in the crook of his elbow. Finn reaches over and pats him on the back.

As he spoke, I was able to get a good look at him. He has a paler complexion, although currently tainted pink. When he introduced himself, his curly dark hair fell into his eyes, and he blew a puff of air upwards in an attempt to remove them. He has long lashes framing his dark eyes, and a few freckles sparsely speckle his cheeks. His lips are rosy but somewhat chapped. He's tall but lean, and maybe sort of scrawny. His sleeves are rolled up to elbow. They almost seem drafty compared to Finn's sleeves, which appear to almost be ripping at the seams with the amount of muscle mass he boasts. He squeezes his own arm as he nervously speaks. His voice is silky and smooth, despite the hiccups in his speech.

He's cute. Really cute. And that pisses me off.

After the last couple of students finish their introductions, we all glance back up to Dr. Yamamoto. His eyes are closed and his palm has smeared across his face, leaving a bright red mark. He lets out a snore from his open mouth. The last student breaks the silence.

"Uh... Dr. Yamamoto?"

He wakes up violently with a snort and looks around as if he's forgotten where he is. Finally, his eyes focus on the class in front of him.

"Took you long enough. Let's begin," he mumbles.

*******************
I stand in the lunch line with Cassie as we wait to get our food. My eyes train on Finn and Charlie, who are further ahead of us in line. The blonde laughs heartily at something or other, as the brunette sighs and looked down to his feet. I suck in a breath. Cassie, noticing this, presses her cheek against mine to follow my line of sight.

"Don't dwell on it Brodes, it's just going to torture you," she says quietly.

"I just don't understand how he wasn't caught! It was so blatant!" I respond.

"I don't know, maybe he wrote a really good essay. Maybe he has an english mind like you and just decided he needed extra help with the math part."

"But then he should've studied. I studied for months for the math portion. It's not fair for him to come in entirely unprepared and just mooch off all my hard work."

"I'm sure there was a reason he did it. You're gonna have to let it go. Maybe we should sit with him and his friend! Maybe you just need to meet him."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Where else would we sit?"

I glance around the lunchroom. There's not a single table unoccupied. I groan and look back at Cassie.

"Fine. But don't bring it up."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

Once we get our food, Cassie starts off towards the table where Charlie and Finn are sitting, and I follow slowly in tow.

"Hey, can we sit with you guys?" Cassie asks.

"Totally! Take a seat! Cassie, right? And you're Brodie?" Finn responds energetically.

Finn is the exact opposite of Charlie. He's tall and built like linebacker. I assume he spends hours in the gym. He has straight blonde hair that swishes to the side. His eyes are bright blue, and he has a strong jaw and a large mouth. On his face is a very light five o'clock shadow, as if he shaved just yesterday. His sleeves are rolled to his elbow as well, but for a very different reason than Charlie. I'm almost sure that the cuff of his uniform sleeve doesn't quite fit around his wrist. He smiles brightly at us as we sit down. Charlie just stares at his food.

"Yes! You're Finn, right?" Cassie replies, now sitting across from him.

"Yes ma'am!" he says.

"It's nice to meet you!" Cassie says. She nudges me with her elbow and I correct my fake smile.

"Yeah, nice to meet you," I say, less enthusiastically than Cassie.

The short conversation dies down as we eat in silence. I pause halfway through my meal to glance up at Charlie, picking through his food. Suddenly, he looks up at me. Just then, my chicken tenders seem extremely interesting. Cassie notices this exchange and butts in.

"You're Charlie, right?" she asks. He turns his attention to her.

"Yeah."

"Nice to meet you. This is Brodie."

Before I can process what I'm about to say, it just slips out.

"I think we've met already." The words come out like venom. I keep staring at my food, not daring to make eye contact. Under the table, Cassie kicks my foot.

"Chill," she hisses under her breath. There's a pause of awkward silence. Finn is the first to speak.

"Well, I'm stuffed. Let's get to class, shall we?"

"Sure," Cassie says cheerfully, trying to lighten the mood. The four of us pick up our trays and bring them to the dishwasher, then leave the cafeteria.

Cassie and Finn walk in front of Charlie and I. I pick up my pace in an attempt to catch up with Cassie, but I pause when I feel a soft tap on my shoulder. I slow back down to hear what he has to say.

"I'm sorry," he says, "uh, you know, about the exam."

I want to say something nice. Say 'it's okay,' or 'I forgive you,' but those words get lodged in my throat. What bubbles up is far more hostile than I intend.

"You don't even deserve to be here."

At least I was honest.

His head falls, and he stares at his feet.

"You're right. I don't."

I feel a pang of guilt.

"I didn't mean it like that."

"No. I understand." I watch him as he walks away before I start to follow.

Way to make friends, Brodie.

*****************
3 weeks later

I watch as Dr. Jacobsen hands back our first math tests. She loops around the room, in and out of the desks, handing papers back folded over her thumb.

When she hands me mine, I quickly flip it over to reveal and shiny A- in bright red ink. I beam with pride and glance towards Cassie. She flips her thumb repeatedly up and down, silently asking if I did well or not. I give her an enthusiastic thumbs up, then point to her. She signs a thumbs up back and flashes the top corner of her test at me, with a big B+.

As Dr. Jacobsen moves on another row of students, I can't help but be curious. I slowly stand up in my desk, moving to peek over Charlie's shoulder without being noticed. When I see his grade, I suck in a small breath of surprise.

In bright red ink, Charlie's grade reads A+, 100%.

Challenge accepted.