"okay, so why are you crying?" the voice asks.
"well, it's a lot. i can't believe i'm letting some random boy know this." i laugh shakily to myself.
"it's okay. you can trust me." his hands still touch mine.
"well, okay. basically, i just moved here to this apartment complex to live with my aunt and uncle. i had to leave behind all of my friends at my old school. but not only that, it gets worse," i tell him.
"i'm listening," he murmers.
"remember how i said i have to live with my aunt and uncle here? well that's because my mom has always had a drinking problem, but it recently stared getting really bad. it started interfering with her mental health more and more, until she couldn't support having a daughter anymore. so that's why i can't live with my mom anymore and have to live here with my aunt and uncle. i also don't have a father to live with because my mom was a single mother. i don't even know who my father is." i start to sob even more.
"i'm so sorry," the voice says. "it must be so hard for you right?"
i nod, but i realize he can't see it. "yes," i whisper out. i start to cry even more and more, until it's full breakdown mode.
"please don't cry," he says.
no use. tears keep falling down.
the boy starts to hum a gentle tune. the melody is sweet. as i listen, it calms me down, until eventually, the tears stop.
"thank you," i say to him. "for listening to me and letting me vent. it helped a lot."
"anytime. but mystery girl, since we aren't revealing names or identities, what can i call you?"
i look out ahead of me. stars. i see stars. "how about stargirl?" i say.
"okay stargirl. i like that." he says. "then you can call me starboy."
"but starboy, now that i've revealed this to you, can you tell me about yourself?" i ask.
"there's nothing special about me," he says. "i'm an ordinary highshool student."
"you just kind of revealed your age," i say, letting out a slight giggle. that's the first time i smiled since i moved here.
he lets out a quiet gasp. "whoops," he says in a small voice.
"it's okay. i'm a highschooler too. but i'm not going to tell you which school i enrolled in." i say.
"fair enough."
"but still, starboy, tell me about yourself."
"hm..." he says. "here's a funny story. today i thought the complex next to mine was mine. so i kept trying to open it with my key, and it didn't work. so then i just started knocking and knocking on it really hard. it literally would not open so i kept trying for 30 minutes. and then the owner of the complex i was knocking on comes home... and she's like 'honey what are you doing?????' and i'm like 'uhhhhh what are you talking about lady' and she's like 'you live next to this one' and i'm like 'uhhuhhuhuhuuhuuhuuuhuhh righttttttt' bro it was so fricking awkward."
i laugh out loud for the first time since i moved here. i can't stop laughing, even though it's not even that funny.
"see? i told you i could make you happy." he says.
"shut up," i playfully say.
"how long have we been talking for?" he says.
i checked my phone. it was close to midnight. "i don't know, but it's almost midnight," i say.
"we have school tomorrow. no big deal though, i stay up till like three am anyways," he says.
i laugh again.
"but tomorrow's your first day at a new school, right?" he says.
"uh huh..." i say.
"okay then. i'll go first, then. don't want to keep you up too late," he says.
"goodbye starboy," i say.
"byebye stargirl. good luck at school tomorrow."
i hear shuffling and footsteps until the rooftop goes quiet. i slowly look behind me. he's gone; and we did it all without seeing each other.
