For You

01. crosswords and stellar collisions

➴ O L I V E R

Oliver has often wondered how the stars always manage to find the moon in the obscurity of the night, how an entity so bright can endure such darkness.

        Most people wander this earth searching for someone who will look at them like they are the center of their entire universe. Others spend their whole lives searching for someone who will love them like the stars love the moon, the same stars that wait until dawn every night knowing the moon is cratered by imperfections and cursed with a never ending cycle of change.

Someone once told Oliver that lives are a lot like unsolved puzzles. She believed that there is a reason why everyone is plagued with this perpetual feeling of emptiness, the feeling that something is missing within. In a way, we are all puzzle pieces trying to figure out where we belong. We are all searching for that place or person we can call home.

When Oliver meets Jamie Parker, their puzzle pieces fell into place not by a stroke of luck, but as if they had been crafted by the same star from the beginning of time. They were at two very different places in our lives at that time. They just happened to be traveling down two paths linked by a crossroad.

Life didn't come with a manual or instructions, but Jamie knew how to find her way around without a roadmap. She woke up every morning knowing exactly who she was. Oliver went bed every night without a single clue as to who he wanted to be, but it didn't matter because he liked who he was whenever he was with her.

         And that was enough — Jamie was enough.

         Together, they were a stellar collision waiting to happen.

✵✵✵

The first time Oliver saw Jamie Parker, it was pouring outside.

Water droplets tapped the windows rambunctiously as the tires rolled to a stop on the slick, wet pavement. He lifted his eyes temporarily from the newspaper spread across his lap, watching the seats around him fill steadily. The bus always made an extra stop at the university in the afternoon.

         "Hurry up, sweetheart. We have to get moving if we want to stay on schedule!" the bus driver yelled out the door, motioning for the last passenger to climb on board.

         Jamie appeared at the top of the steps a couple seconds later wearing a sweater two sizes too big and a ripped pair of skinny jeans. Soaked from the rain, loose strands of chestnut hair clung to her flushed cheeks. Her eyes searched the bus frantically for an open seat. She stumbled forward and grabbed onto one of the handrails as the bus' refurbished engine sputtered to life.

         She received irritated glares from the other students on her way toward the back of the bus, her worn out black converse squeaking obnoxiously with every step. Oliver and Jamie made eye contact unintentionally and he suddenly became aware of the empty seat next to him. For a brief second, he wanted to disappear into thin air.

         "Do you mind if I sit here?" Jamie approached Oliver timidly, her eyes holding him captive. "There aren't any other seats available."

         "Sure, go ahead." He pressed his lips firmly together and shrugged lightly, scooting over to make enough room for the both of them.