Starry, Starry Night - A Short Story

 "Did you know that there are 100 thousand million stars in our galaxy, and we can only see about 2000 on a clear night?"

"No, but that's fascinating."

I smiled at the amazing man lying on the grass next to me.

We lie there for what seemed like eternity, but in reality, it was only ten more minutes. Finally, I break the silence.

"I should go, it's getting late."

"Well then I should take you home," he stands up quickly and grabs my hand.

"It's too dark for you to be driving home alone."

We walk down the hill together and get into his car. We can come back for my car in the morning.

The drive home is silent. Even though we don't speak to each other, I feel like we are. There are unspoken words passing between us on that silent drive home.

Charlie leaves me at my front door. I step into the house, and it is so warm and inviting. I don't even bother to change my clothes, I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.

I dream of sunflowers. Of sunny skies, warm nights, melty ice cream, and the ocean. I dream of beautiful things. Things that made that dream perfect.

I wake up to the smell of bacon. Dad is in the kitchen. Mom is still in her bathroom getting ready. I sit down at the counter and wait for the bacon to be served.

My dad notices me and starts talking about things. I don't know what things because I wasn't listening. I was too preoccupied thinking about the perfect night I had experienced. I wished there could be another one just like that. I wish that I could go back and do it over and over and over again. But now isn't the time. Now I have finished my bacon, and it's time to go to school. I don't even think about what I am doing. The next thing I remember is leaving my house. I must have packed my backpack and my lunch, got dressed, and put on makeup at some point because when I finally come to my senses it's all there.

I arrive at school, and I immediately know something is terribly wrong. There are two ambulances and a fire truck there to greet me after my short walk to school. Suddenly, I am forced to come back to reality. I am forced to stop thinking about my perfect night and come back to reality. I jog over to a picnic table that my friends are sitting at. Everyone is outside, and there are people everywhere. There are people in the parking lot, people in the field, people on benches and at picnic tables, and I'm not sure, but I think I see a news reporter.

I take a seat at the table my friends are at.

"Heidi, where have you been?" my friend Kaylah asks me. I look at my watch, and I realize that school started a half an hour ago. How did I get to school late?

"I was just running late." I lie. "What happened?"

"Amber had a seizure or passed out or something. I don't know the details, but I know it was really bad."

I freeze on the spot. Amber is my best friend.

"When did that happen?" I squeak. My eyes are welling with tears.

"Just when school started."

I can feel hot tears running down my face. How could I have had such a good time last night? I had been thinking about my perfect date, while just a mile away my best friend was in critical condition. I am a terrible person. Yesterday, I didn't even say goodbye to Amber when I left school, and now she may die without me getting to say that one simple word.

The ambulance that has Amber inside is pulling out of the parking lot. We sit around at the picnic table for about an hour more. The staff are trying to figure everything out, and the ambulances and fire truck leave. We don't say anything to each other, but unlike last night, I don't feel like we are communicating through unspoken words. I sit there, no longer crying, but simply in shock.

After an hour and a half, the teachers come around and tell us that school is canceled, and we can go home.

I don't feel like leaving. I want to sit there at that picnic table until I know that Amber is okay, and if she isn't ever okay, I want to sit there forever. But I know that that would be dumb. I stand up and say goodbye to each and every one of my friends at that picnic table. Then, I run through the massive crowd of people to find Charlie. I don't want to be with anyone but him right now.

At last, I find him. He pulls me into an embrace that is like none other. This embrace speaks to me. It tells me that he loves me, he cares about me, and it tells me that it is all going to be okay, even if it knows that everything won't be okay.

He drives me home, but I don't want to go inside, so I sit on my front porch, and I open up my phone to text Kaylah. Before I can get to the text app, I see that a news story has popped up in my notifications. The headline reads:

ILLINOIS TEEN DEAD FROM EPILEPTIC SEIZURE

I open the news story, hoping for a name that wasn't Amber's, but it is. I cry. I cry harder than I have ever cried before. My best friend is dead, and I never said goodbye, and I was so wrapped up in my own dumb life that I never even gave her a second thought. When my tears finally slow, I open my eyes, and I see that Charlie is sitting next to me. I feel embarrassed that he saw all of that.

"How long have you been here?" I ask feebly.

"Only about a minute." He replies.

He reaches out to grab my hand, but I pull it away. I don't want sympathy, I want my friend back. I turn my back to him, and I grab my phone again. I see that I have no more and no less than fourteen messages from Kaylah, and 18 total from all my other friends.

Suddenly, I am mad. I'm mad at my self for not saying goodbye to Amber, I'm mad at Charlie for taking me on that date last night, and I'm mad at everything. I'm just mad.

I punch the pillow that I was sitting on. Charlie just sits there, calm.

Charlie reaches out to grab my hand again, but this time I don't stop him. He lifts me up from my chair and take me to his car. I know I got in, but I don't remember doing it, I'm filled with too much grief. We drive. I don't know where we are going, but we are going. When we arrive at our destination, I get out and let him take my hand again. He leads me up a hill, and suddenly I realize that it's dark outside. How long was I sitting there crying? We get to the top of the hill and lay down on the soft grass.

I'm looking at the stars.

"Did you know that there are 100 thousand million stars in our galaxy, but we can only see about 2000 on a clear night?" He asks me.

I look into his dark eyes and laugh. I don't know why, but right now I feel good. I feel like everything is going to be okay, even though everything isn't okay.