𝒮𝓉𝒶𝓇𝑔𝒶𝓏𝒾𝓃𝑔 (Stargazing)

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 8

August 2nd, the first day of school

My footsteps echoed through the empty hall, discomforting me as I quietly made my way towards the vending machine. As I walked towards it, my mind raced, hoping I wouldn't see anyone I knew from Fast Pass. Glancing at all the smiling faces of the kids in the glass panes against the tan wall brought a sense of sadness. They probably had more successful lives than me, and they were out there making a name for themselves while I was simply drowning in my own misery. Finally, I made it to the machine that was nearly empty except for a few bags of chips and sweet treats.

It stood between the entrances of two bathrooms with a hallway behind me. With a loud beeping, I placed my card back in my wallet and began buying the chips I wanted. Pay's salt and vinegar chips, not my favorite brand but the flavor was good enough for me. Upon pressing the buttons, I heard someone walking down the hallway behind me. With a quick glance, I was able to make out that it was a girl with short blonde hair.

Quietly, I knelt down and opened the heavy metal door, grabbing my chips as she stood behind me. Upon looking into the reflection as I stood up, I could tell she was rather tall for a girl. Alongside this, she was very lean, possibly on the girls' basketball team or track maybe. As I began walking away from the machine, I heard her faintly speak.

"Aw shoot," I heard her saying under her breath, causing me to look back. The pale girl was looking down at the dollar and back at the window of the vending machine. I don't know why, but I stood there as she looked up at me, her green eyes shining brightly as they stared onward in my direction. Haven't I seen them somewhere before?

"Um... I hate to ask this but do you have a quarter?" She gave me a warm smile, causing me to look into my wallet. I didn't have any cash or change on me, feeling slightly disappointed upon looking down at it.

"No, I don't. I'm really sorry." Her smile slowly faded, a sense of disappointment running through her beautiful green eyes.

"Okay, thanks," she said softly, before walking away from the machine. I watched, feeling slightly bad for her as she stepped away from the machine. Looking back down at my wallet, I noticed my bright red credit card sitting inside of it. Quietly, I looked back up at her before speaking.

"What would you like?" I asked, making my way towards the vending machine. She stopped, turning towards me as I pulled my card out of my wallet.

"Hey wait! You don't have to do that," she explained, turning around to face me. Upon making it to the machine, she stood beside me. "Hey, it's really okay, I don't want anything."

"You did though, and I'm offering. Please just tell me what you want," I stated softly, swiping my card on the machine. Quietly, I stood back and turned to face her, her beautiful jaded eyes glistening like the emerald. With a loud sigh, she turned towards the keypad and pushed the code for a honeybun. The machine hummed, dropping the bun at the bottom of it.

Excitedly, she jumped down towards the small door and grabbed at the bun. By this point, I had already begun walking away, looking towards the tiled floor as I remembered how I bought Abigail food. I quietly thought about how our exchanges would go when I bought her stuff, how she'd tell me not too but would soon give in to my insists.

"Hey," I heard the girls soft voice call out from behind me. Stopping dead in my tracks, I tilted my head towards her. "I just wanted to thank you... but it's odd. Tell me if it's creepy or not but I feel like I've seen you somewhere before." Come to think of it, I hadn't really gotten a good look at her to see who she was.

All I really focused on were her eyes and hair, not really paying attention to her face or anything. I turned back towards her, recognizing her voice and image almost instantly upon looking at her fully. She was that pretty girl from Lix on my first day at Burg.

"Oh, you're a cashier at Lix, right?" She paused, her eyes going wide upon my response.

"Yeah, I am. You're probably one of the people that went through my line the other day."

"More like a couple of weeks ago, that was the Fourth of July." The creases of her mouth formed a smile as she awkwardly laughed.

"Oh, maybe you're right," she stated kindly. Her and I chuckled for a moment before she stood up off the ground. She wore light blue sweat pants with a white hoodie. Even in these baggy clothes, she looked oddly pretty, my heart beating slightly faster as her and I spoke to each other.

"What class are you in, if you don't mind me asking?" I questioned, taking a step towards her to show some interest without making things weird. Her chuckle faded without her smile, which sat on her face beautifully.

"I'm in stupid history class, what about you," she said unhappily, glancing towards the hallway that she came from.

"I'm in physics," I explained, putting my hands in my jacket pockets as we spoke to each other.

"Oh wow, I have that next period."

"Oh really, who's your teacher?"

"Mr. Harvark." The same teacher as I do! With a wide smile, I told her that we had the same physics teacher. "Oh really! No way," she laughingly said, the both of us chuckling at the coincidence. As we both chuckled, she lifted herself off of the vending machine.

"If you don't mind me asking," I began, "what's your name?"

"My name is Jocelyn Willis. Whats yours?" Jocelyn. I had never heard that name in real life before, something about it sounding beautiful as she said it.

"I'm Kevin Carter," I said quietly as she began walking towards the hallway.

"Well, Kevin. I hope we run into each other again," she explained, waving her pale hand towards my direction.

"Heh, same. Have a great day," I said, waving back towards her.

"Thanks, you too!" she said, before disappearing behind the wall of the hallway. I stood there for a long moment, thinking to myself about the interaction we just had. That was actually a successful interaction with an attractive girl. Maybe if I see her again, I could ask for her number.

I turned around, walking down the hallway quietly as I smiled at the conversation playing out through my head. That smile slowly faded though, the coldness of doubt starting to seep into my mind. She probably thought I was weird for remembering her. As my footsteps hit the hard tiled floor, the doubt in my mind started to build off of the other doubts that formed. Maybe she just wanted the food and stuck around because she felt bad.

All she really wanted to know was if we had seen each other before, nothing about the classes or our names. Did she really mean it when she said she hoped we could see each other again? With every step, my joyful aura faded and was replaced with my self-deprecating mind. I knew that after what happened with Cassey and I, my social awkwardness got worse. I wasn't able to talk to people as easily as I once did, becoming more apparent as the days went on.

People probably didn't want to be around me because of this, thinking I was some weirdo because I couldn't talk as well as others. This was my own fault, my own emotions failing me as I tried to build back the friends I once had. The echoing of my footsteps against the wall brought me back to the image of me walking through the lonesome Valley of Love. The walls still played the memories of the days Abby and I would spend time together, but lying right behind those smiles were her true intentions. These images sitting in my mind, even after I step into the classroom, closing the door behind me to escape from this valley of endless pain... 

(Author Time) 

Hello anyone that's reading this! 

first question, how are you guys liking the story?

Feel free to ask any questions or provide critiques. Also, don't forget to vote/like/ you know, all that fun stuff. 

I hope you all are enjoying this story! It's been interesting to write so I'm excited to add more parts/chapters to the story ^-^