I Can See the Stars

Chapter Five

"Hey, so my dad is out with his colleagues and I was wondering if you wanted to come over and—"

"Nope. I'm not doing it."

"You don't even know what I want."

"Yes. Yes, I do."

"Oh, right. I forgot that you had the ability to tell the future. So you do not want to come over and watch the stars with me on my roof?"

I paused. He just completely outplayed me. "What's in it for me?"

I heard him laugh through the phone. "Well, I have some popcorn, a bunch of red licorice, a twelve-pack of soda. We can grab a bunch of pillows and set it up, grab some blankets if you get cold—"

"Alright, alright, Brightly. I'm putting my jacket on." I checked myself in the mirror. My hair was pulled back into a ponytail, Matthews jacket did not have any stains, and my lipstick was not smudged. I looked okay.

When I got to the address that Brightly texted me I saw him waiting on his front porch. He lived farther away from Chicago so the sky was a lot darker. His house was a one-level home with a larger slanted roof in the front and a lover slanted roof opposite of it. It had a navy blue door with a stained glass window in the middle. It was built with red brick all the way around and there was a brick path all the way to the door.

I walked up to him and he led me inside. There was a kitchenette against the back wall with a two-person table. There was a small hallway to the left with two doors and a living room to my right. Above the living room, there was a loft bedroom with a ladder. It looked like Brightly's because of the posters.

"It's not the nicest house in the world but it's. . . My dad's."

"Yeah, well I live in Greenstone Trailer Park so. . ." I studied Brightly's appearance closer. He was now wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants. He wasn't wearing his sunglasses anymore. . . But now I know why he was. He had a black eye. And where his sweatshirt was earlier today there were now a few bruises and I could even see a couple of scars.

"Holy, shit. Is someone hurting you?" I reached up and started to touch his bruised eye. Then I realized how close I was to him so I backed away.

"Yeah" —he ran his hand through his hair— "my dad is a real piece of work. He, uh, drinks a lot."

"Oh, wow. I'm sorry." The house suddenly felt a lot less homey.

"Eh, it's fine. Come on, the sky awaits us." He beckoned me to follow him up the ladder.

"Um, where are we going?" I asked, suspicious about the fact that we were headed to his bedroom.

He pointed to his bedroom window, which, right then and there, I noticed that it led to the back roof. "Well, how else do you think that we are going to get on the roof?"

I rolled my eyes and followed him up the ladder. When we got to the top he opened the window. He jumped on top of his dresser, which was under the window, and crawled out. He reached back in and helped me out of the room.

Wow. Brightly had set it all up. There was a huge black comforter laid out with pillows all around it. There were two bowls of popcorn on either side. There were multiple cans of Coca-Cola, Sprite, and Dr. Pepper. I also saw a bag of Twizzlers that caught my eyes.

Brightly walked over and sat down on the far side of the comforter. He patted the seat next to him. I walked over, slipped off my high tops, and sat down. He handed me a bowl of popcorn and we laid down.

I could see a lot more stars at his house. There were so many. I could see a plethora of constellations that I have only seen in photos. I did not know what to say. It was incredible.

"Speechless? You?"

"I've. . . I've just never seen so many stars before." I cleared my throat. "The only memory that I had when I woke up, it was about my great grandmother."

"What?"

"It was a story. A story that I hope is true."

"What's the story?"

"A long time ago, long before any of us were born, all of the gods of death were arguing. They all wanted to claim humans souls for themselves. Satan, Hel, Hades and Thanatos, and some dude named Mictlantecuhtli. Then Mother Earth made a decision, that when humans die, their bodies will be consumed by Mother Earth herself and their souls will go up into space and create new stars. . . My great grandmother's up there somewhere." I looked up at the Ursa Major constellation.

"What is your great grandma's name?"

"Diana," I say, looking at him.

He looked at the sky. "Hello, Diana."

I laughed and pulled a piece of licorice out of the bag. I split it in half and tried to hand one to Brightly.

"Oh, no. I don't like Twizzlers."

"Then why did you buy them?"

He sat up and ate a piece of popcorn out of his bowl. "I have a source that told me what your favorite candy is."

I sat up too. "Who?"

"A junior named Coralline Williams of all people."

I laughed and took a bite of my Twizzler. I laid back down and looked at the sky. "So, where did you live before this crap town?"

"The Florida Keys. We moved because my dad had a job offer and. . . Um, my mom—"

"Uh-oh, is this a sad subject?"

"Yeah."

"You don't have to—"

"No, no, it's fine. My mom. . . She died when I was six. There was a hurricane down near Florida. Since we lived in the Florida Keys, we either had to evacuate or stay down in our storm shelter until it was over. I, um, was young and didn't really understand how dangerous hurricanes actually were. So, I asked her if she would go get me a box of Poptarts from the store. Obviously, there was a huge chance that they didn't have any, but my mom. . . My mom couldn't say no to me. The hurricane was calm at the moment so my dad let her go even though she was pregnant. But right when she left, it, um, it picked up again,"—he wiped under his non-bruised eye. "she was hit with some debris. She was killed. I lost my sister and my mom."

"Fuck, man. That's rough. I mean. . . Sorry, I'm not good at comforting people." I grabbed his hand. I quickly tried to pull it away, thinking that I did something wrong, but Brightly kept his grip firm.

After a while, we both laid back down and watched the stars. I thought that my life was pretty bad but. . . Gosh, someone always has it worse. His father hits him, and his mom and unborn sister were killed. He acts so bright and happy at school. But It might just be the fact that he is trying to hide his home life.

I lifted my hand up to point to a star. Brightly also lifted his hand and laced his finger with mine. I felt my face go warm. He pulled me on top of him and kissed me. And I don't think that I knew how much I wanted—how much I needed that kiss from him. My eyes fluttered shut. His smooth lips fit perfectly into my chapped ones.

When we pulled away, Oliver spoke, "You know, I have been wanting to ask you something."

"Oh, yeah—"

"Yeah."

"—And what's that?"

He let me lie back down on the comforter and turned to face me, holding his head up with his elbow. "So, I know that it's cheesy and stupid and you probably are going to say no. But do you want to go to that lame Halloween dance?"

"With you?" I laughed.

"Sure. Why not, Frankie-Sue?"

I pecked him on the lips. "'Sure. Why not?'"

He kissed me again. This time it was better, less unexpected and more passionate. My hands found their way to his neck and he wrapped an arm around my waist.

When we pulled away, we spent the rest of the night laying there. Talking, laughing, crying (just a little bit), and sometimes, kissing. All under the stars.