𝒮𝓉𝒶𝓇𝑔𝒶𝓏𝒾𝓃𝑔 (Stargazing)

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 17

The gravel road was tinted with a beautiful, bright orange color as the tree's leaves began falling from the sky, leaving their old homes barren and empty. The world around me was beautiful, the light blue sky allowing the neighborhood around me to look like it were a painting, perfectly crafted through the gentle strokes of a masterful artist. Then, there was me. Half asleep, stumbling down the drive way towards my bus after waking up past my alarm. My black hair pointed out in every direction like a mad scientist, the souls of my feet tapping the ground heavily below me as I semi-ran up the road.

Making it up the hill, I noticed the hissing sound of the bus pulling around the neighborhood, driving up the road into my line of sight. Swiftly moving my feet, I began running down the road, my bag slamming into my spine with every step as I ran in front of the bright yellow monster, it's two eyes watching me enter its mouth. The driver gave a dirty look before stepping on the gas, the bus moving before I could sit in my usual seat. Slamming my body into the cold blue leather, I sighed before gathering myself together. Placing my bag against the window, I placed my ear buds in before leaning against my bag, listening to the soft guitar play into my ear.

The late August days had now shifted into the early month of September, Janine and I's friendship only growing as the days continued on. These past few weeks had been simply amazing, the joyous wonder I have felt from the moment I met her to this very day, thinking about her as I ride the bus to school. In a way, she was taking me out of this low in my life, bringing me to the light at the end of this dark tunnel. The soft vibration of my phone grabbed my attention, looking down to see a text from Janine.

"Good morning," it stated, the bright yellow sun emoji warming up the coldness of my exhaustion.

"Good morning," I replied. "How are you doing?" After a moment, there was a light vibration against me.

"I'm doing alright, just a little tired," she explained.

"Didn't sleep well?" I asked, placing a laughing emoji beside it. "I overslept and was almost late to the bus."

"No, I slept fine, just up a little too late." The bus hissed to a stop, allowing more students to enter its greedy stomach. The bright orange tint of the leaves still flooded the environment around me, bringing with it that natural autumn feel.

"Ah ok. How's physics going?" I asked, receiving a response almost immediately.

"ITS SO HARD!!!" she typed out, another message coming in almost immediately with several groaning emoji's. Tapping away at the keys, I offered her assistance despite the fact that I also didn't fully understand what was happening. "No it's okay, thank you though."

"Were you up doing physics homework?" I questioned, sitting there a moment before looking back at the outside world. I didn't fully understand why but it captivated me, the scenic route my bus followed was still beautiful despite the fact that we followed the same roads every day.

"No, I was actually sitting by my window."

"Why were you doing that?" There was a long pause between our messages, my mind fluttering with the curiosity of what she could be doing. But as the message popped up on my phone, it wasn't entirely what I expected to hear.

"I was stargazing."

"Stargazing?" I questioned, to which she replied much faster than the first time.

"Yeah, I was looking up to the sky." I sat there silently, my head turning back towards the light blue sky that stood above me. There weren't any stars in the sky of course but there was something oddly calming about it. It was as though the light blue sky was calming me, telling me things would be okay despite the fact that there was nothing ever wrong to begin with.