Midnight // l.h. au

chapter 02

~Flashback~

October 12, three years earlier

The night sky is dark in contrast to the millions of bright stars that decorate it. I pull my Denver Broncos hoodie over my head and lean back against the park bench, shivering slightly in the cool night air.  I’ve always found the park to be a good place to look at the sky and just relax, even though I have a perfect little balcony off my apartment building.  Tonight is the perfect night for stargazing.  I just look up at the stars and daydream, if you can call it daydreaming when you do it at night.  And right about now, when it’s almost midnight, is my favorite time to do it. For me, midnight is a lucky hour, when good things happen. It’s just one of my many quirks.

It’s relatively quiet at the park tonight.  I can only spot one other person; usually there are several older couples who like to come here and spend time together.  The other person is just strolling slowly on the sidewalk that winds throughout the park.  I pay them no mind, sitting back and closing my eyes for a second.

There’s something strangely calming about sitting in a quiet park late at night, looking at the stars – or just reflecting on things.  Maybe it’s just me.  At the very least, it helps me sort out the thoughts that fly through my mind on a daily basis.

“Hey, don’t fall asleep!” a male voice interrupts my thoughts.  I blink open my eyes, feeling slightly shocked at the interruption. Looking down at my watch, I see that it’s exactly midnight, which means that I had barely closed my eyes for even a minute.

In front of me stands a tall guy, blond-haired and wearing black clothing.  He smiles at me, revealing deep dimples in his cheeks that look rather adorable.  “Sorry if I startled you,” he says shyly, running a hand through his styled-up hair.

I shake my head, clearing my throat. “No, it’s fine. I was just thinking. And stargazing.” I have to tilt my head to look up at him; he really is quite tall from where I’m sitting.

“Stargazing? With your eyes closed?” he laughs, flashing me a grin to show me he’s just kidding. He gestures to my park bench. “Mind if I sit?”

“Sure,” I reply, scooting towards the side of the bench to make more room for him.

“And I’m sorry, I haven’t yet introduced myself. I’m Luke, Luke Hemmings,” he grins, holding his hand out.

I reach out and shake his hand. “Maiya Starr. It’s nice to meet you,” I say politely, grinning back at him.

Luke sits back and looks up at the sky. “The stars are so beautiful.” He pauses. “Do you come here often?” he asks out of the blue, looking over at me.

“Often enough,” I shrug. “Not often at night, though. I have a balcony on my apartment, so most nights I just sit there and stargaze.”

Luke sighs. “I’ve always loved the stars. They’re just so beautiful and mysterious. And you know, no matter how big I may feel in my life, I can always count on the stars to put me in my place. Looking at them makes me feel so small, and sort of insignificant.”

I’m impressed at what Luke said, and also pleased that I found someone else who seemingly likes stargazing as much as I do. “So you stargaze often, then?” I ask him.

He shakes his head. “No, not really. Not as much as I used to, anyway. Back home-I’m from Australia, by the way-I used to go stargaze a lot. We had this big telescope in our garage that we would bring out almost every night, and I would spend hours just looking up at the stars.” He gave a tired sigh, looking away and not meeting my eye. “I miss home.”

“Why did you come here, then?” I ask, curious. He sure seems to miss his home.

My only immediate answer is a huge sigh.  After a few moments of silence, Luke sighs once more, answering, “It’s a long story.”

“I have time,” I shrug. He looks at me, eyebrows raised, shakes his head, and continues.  “It was because of a girl,” is the only thing he says.

I wait a second, expecting him to say more. “That’s it?” I exclaim. “C’mon, Luke, there’s gotta be more to the story than that.”

He sighs again.  “There is, I guess.  You sure you want to hear the whole thing?” I only nod, and he continues.  “Alright, well.  Her name was Andie. She was a typical girly-girl – flowy, flowery shirts, skinny jeans, pretty auburn-colored hair, you know.  She had these beautiful, piercing brown eyes that I fell in love with the first time I saw her.  I met her on a trip to LA the summer of my eleventh year in school.  Found out she was visiting there, too, on a vacation of sorts, and actually lived just outside of Denver.  So when I finished school, I came back here to be with her, even though my family didn’t want me to.” He sighed. “And that’s about it.”

“Wow,” I said. We sat in silence for quite a long time, and I reflected on what he had said.  He moved all this way to a completely different country just to be with a girl he met on vacation? That’s dedication.

“Does she still live here?” I ask timidly after a while. 

Luke sighs (again), shaking his head. “No. We dated only a few months, then she started becoming more…distant, I guess you could say. We broke up, and I haven’t seen her since. She lived right in your apartment building, but she moved away a few months ago. I kinda really miss her.” He stops, takes a deep breath, and looks at me. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this, Maiya. We did just meet, after all.”

I tentatively reach out and set a hand on his arm. “It’s okay, Luke, I won’t tell anyone. And thanks so much for trusting me enough to tell me.”

Giving me a small smile, he looked up once more at the stars. “It must be that I can just trust someone who likes stars as much as I do.  Andie never really liked stars. Celebrity stars, sure, but not nighttime, twinkly stars. She was on a TV show with some boyband, and I don’t think she ever shut up about it. I always wished she had a deeper appreciation of stars.”

I giggle a bit at his statement, but otherwise remain quiet, removing my hand from his arm. He looks down at me and smiles, turning his body so that he faces me. “Hey, Maiya, would you be my stargazing buddy?”

I stare at him in surprise. “Uh, okay, sure! That would be fun,” I smile. He sits back on the bench, smiling back. “Hey, and if you want, maybe sometimes we can use my balcony to stargaze. It’s my favorite place, after all.”

 “Sure, Maiya, that would be cool,” Luke agrees with a laugh, standing up. “Shall we meet back here tomorrow night?”

I shrug. “Sounds good.  A little weird, but good.”

“I know,” he sighs. “But I’m so happy to have found someone who likes stars, just like me.  You know, I don’t think I’ve ever met someone like you before.”

“I hope that’s a good thing,” I reply, standing up and straightening out my hoodie.

Luke laughs, turning to walk away. “Believe me, Maiya, it’s definitely a good thing. See you tomorrow at midnight!” And with that, he walked off into the night.

I take a deep breath, smiling up at the stars one last time before making my way back to my apartment. Tonight was quite an interesting night. But hopefully I’ve gained a friend after it. 

See, midnight is a lucky time, after all.

Hola! Hope you enjoyed the chapter :) Thanks so much for reading it!

So the whole chapter takes place three years before Chapter 1, when Maiya and Luke first meet. I'm going to have quite a few flashback moments in this story, I hope it won't confuse anyone!

Please comment and vote on this story, and check out some of my others! I'd really appreciate it :) Have a great day/afternoon/night, wherever you are! xx