STARDUST, aurora rising | f. de seel

□ Chapter Eight

I can't sleep that night. Understandably. Such a vivid day would only lead to nightmarish dreams I'd rather not have.

It's not my shift on watch yet, but I’m already walking towards the bridge. The door whizzes open and I find Scarlett sitting with her feet propped up on her console on her uniglass. She looks up at me, raising a brow.

“Hey, what are you doing up?” Her voice is gentle, as if whispering not to wake the others. Although, it's unnecessary. Everyone else is warmly tucked into bed catching up on well deserved rest.

I smile wearily, probably looking ridiculous with my sheets wrapped around my shoulders and hair mussed. “I couldn't sleep.”

“Ah.” Scarlett grins and shifts in her seat, scooting to the side and patting the spot by her hip. “I know exactly how to put you to sleep.”

“I don't think I'm going to fit there,” I laugh. The redhead shakes her head, insisting.

“Come on, share those blankets.”

I drape the sheets across her shoulders before squeezing into the seat beside her. My knees are up to my chin and we only just fit into the chair together.

“Maker, it's like hugging a stick,” Scarlett snorts, reaching her hands around to drag my head onto her shoulder before resting hers on top of mine. “Right. This is my miracle cure to put you to sleep. Ready?”

I sigh, grinning still. “Sure.”

She has her uniglass in front of her, her contacts open. “Ok. Marc de Vries. Ex-boyfriend number twenty-nine.” She explains. “Pros are he's built like a brick. Cons are is he's got bricks for brains too. Should I keep his contact or delete it?”

I laugh, and stare at the contact. “Uhm, do people usually keep their exes contacts?”

“I do,” Scarlett muses. “Now. Should I keep him or drop him?”

“Is he nice?”

“He was, but again, a bit thick.”

“Hm… Keep then.”

Scarlett presses and holds on the contact, pressing store. She scrolls back through her contacts again. “Tré Jackson. Ex-boyfriend number forty-one. Now, he looks like Adonis but he was very much aware of it.”

My nose creases. “Delete.”

Scarlett laughs. “That's brutal. But I'm glad we're thinking the same thing.” She deletes his contact and moves on.

“Ok, ok. Riley Lemieux, ex number sixteen. He was madly in love with me. Like madly in love.”

“Delete. Delete. Delete.” I gasp. “Gosh, I don't want to know what extremes he would go to.”

“Good call.” She's quick to press delete.

After the events of today, curling up like this with Scarlett is… oddly nice. I don't even know her that well yet, but I suppose she's looking to take her mind off things as much as I am.

Tyler’s a lucky boy having such a caring sister.

“Alex Naidu. Ex-boyfriend thirty-eight. He had some hot biceps. I mean hot,” She pauses, frowning. “I can't even remember why I broke up with him.”

“Huh? Store it then.”

She does. “Ok. Jesse Broder. Number forty-five. Nice ass, I must say.” She lowers her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “He was an asshole though.” With that she presses store and I scoff a laugh.