Chapter 4

~Zayne Beckett~

Ever since Aurora promised that she would tell me when the time is right, it occurred to me that, after a couple of weeks, the time was never right. Every time I tried to talk to her, she would always be with someone chatting about the latest homework.

I thought about the fact that I grabbed her the last time we talked. Was she hesitant about talking because she didn't feel comfortable around me? Would I have to make her get comfortable? How in the world was I supposed to do that?

The event of having my scratches healed within a day was scary enough. If I learn about how she did it, maybe that would be even scarier. Did I really want to know what she did to make it heal so fast?

One day, my teacher wasn't in school, so I decided to continue my book hunt in the school library. Of course, I searched for books on careers. To my surprise, there weren't many books about careers. Wasn't school supposed to teach you how to know what job is good for you? I kept in mind to look for novels about friendships too, but I didn't get much luck with that.

Peeking through the shelves, I noticed there was a class going on. The teacher talked on and on about something that I hadn't been paying attention to at all. But from the corner of my eye, I saw Aurora with a look of strong interest in the subject.

I walked out a little to see the small class a little more properly. Leaning on the wall, I decided to listen in for a bit. The teacher asked, "Who can tell me what are stars?"

The sound of his voice was new to me, and maybe a little too young to be a teacher. When I looked, he appeared amazingly young; as if he was fresh out of three years of college.

A student raises his hand. "Stars are balls of gas and dust, mainly made of hydrogen and helium," he answered.

It took me a moment, but I had managed to realize that it was an Astronomy class. A class that shouldn't exist in the first place. Had she really gone out of her way to establish an entire subject class? For what reason? What good reason was there?

I wasn't too fond of the idea of studying anything out of this world. It would always bore me to sleep. Just listening in this class was so boring. The only thing that kept me awake was the fact that Aurora was here. I thought that if I took some interest in her hobbies, she'd be comfortable.

The teacher asked the students to list the names of some stars. Why would someone name stars? They went around the table saying the names of stars they know of, what it meant, and why it was called that. When they reached Aurora, she smiled as she said, "Arcturus, which means 'bear warden ' in Greek. At night, it looks like it follows The Great Bear."

Having no idea what she was talking about, her nerdish nature for naming stars made me smile unconsciously. She seemed so classy answering with nothing but confidence and passion in her words. It almost made me jealous.

Realizing what I did, I lightly shook my head and continued to listen to the weirdly diligent class. I hadn't remembered any of the other stars, but I did remember someone saying Betelgeuse. The pronunciation was literally just beetle juice, and my immature ass automatically snickered.

The entirety of the small class heard my dumb laughter. Even the teacher. Although all of their eyes were on me, I just couldn't stop giggling.

"Can I help you, sir?" the teacher asked, annoyed by my interruptance.

"No, I was just leaving," I grinned slightly before I left.

The school bell rang just as I exited the library, grinning like a dork. I let out one more chuckle before sighing and walking to my next class. Beetle juice, I thought. How stupid was that?

While lost in my thoughts, there was a faint call of my name in the background. I ignored it, as per usual, but it was consistent. Everyone who knew about me understood that I would never answer anyone who calls me unless it was someone who is a part of my friend group. Why did they even bother to try?

"Do you have a problem?"

I jumped out of my skin, hearing the same voice who had called my name appear right next to me so suddenly. Her pink hair instantly caught my eye, and I caught my breath. "What problem?" I ask her.

"Intruding my class? Does that ring a bell?" Aurora asked calmly.

I turned away smugly as I shrug. "I don't know what you're talking about~"

I glanced over at her, seeing her wanting to say something, but she stopped herself. As I walked off, she stopped me by standing in my way. "Are you following me?"

I couldn't help but scoff. "Now why would I follow you?"

"You're lonely."

My smile dropped. "Thanks for pointing that out, but I'm not following you."

"Okay. Then do you have a problem with Astronomy?"

"Yep," I answered immediately. "It seems useless to learn about something you won't be able to see often."

Aurora kept her blank expression as she stared at me. "Don't you want to know how the universe was formed? What happens if the galaxy was sucked into a black hole? Not even how nebulae consist of so many different colours?"

"Nope," I rolled my eyes. "Go study your beetle juice, I'm sure it's very interesting," I smiled as I walked off.

My plan to make her feel comfortable around me slipped my mind completely. Only when I had turned the corner did it come to mind. And of course, I regretted it more than anyone.

I thought I wouldn't see her again until the next day. I would have given a proper apology the next time I saw her. That would be when I officially began my progress toward having her be comfortable.

Don't mess this up, Zayne.

◇◇◇

Later that night, I was awake late to finish the last bit of my homework. It was annoying, given the fact that the question had absolutely nothing to do with the description. When I was finished, Carter called me.

"What's up?" I asked, packing my stuff.

"Hey, what are you doing right now?" Carter asks over the phone.

"Just finished homework. Why?"

"Meet me at the park near the school, I have something to show you."

I stood up straight, confused. "Now? On a school night? Is this really you, Carter?"

"Yes now. Hurry up!" he yells at me, then hangs up.

Bewildered by Carter's words, there was just that one thought saying he was drunk. What was so important that it couldn't wait for tomorrow?

◇◇◇

I reached the dimly lit park with no Carter in sight. In my mind, I swore that if he didn't show, I would've punched him so hard he wouldn't be able to see the light.

Not wanting to stand around like some kind of stalker, I sat on a bench and played a game on my phone for a while. I was so curious as to what Carter wanted to show me. Was it a human-sized bag of Doritos? Or maybe it was a goose he'd find at a lake or something.

Carter's fun and all, but he's weird. I'm not complaining, though.

It was near midnight when the park lights shut off. The blinding darkness fell over the park and my chest moved with it. I hate to admit it, but it scared me an awful lot. When I realized it wouldn't come back on for a few seconds, I immediately put on the flashlight on my phone.

"Carter, if you're pranking me, this isn't funny," I warned him.

Yes, I was scared shitless. There was no light at all in the park. The closest light source - other than my phone - was from the school nearby and streetlights on the perimeter. What if something in the dark was going to kill me? What if Carter was going to kill me?

I looked around frantically until I spotted a familiar face moving toward me. Though it wasn't Carter, but Aurora.

"Hey, what- what are you doing here alone? It's not safe," I told her.

She stared at me. "But you're here."

"Because... I can fight."

"Really?"

There was a hint of doubt that struck me. "At least, I think I can."

She smiled before glancing around and back at me. "Come with me."

I gave her a questioning look. "Why? Are you gonna kill me?" I took a step back. "I'm sorry for saying that about your class! I didn't mean it!"

Aurora studied me with a smile that made me feel at ease. "I appreciate you saying that, but still, come with me."

"Why? Where are you going?"

"I do this every night," she began walking backwards while keeping her smile. "Don't be so scared."

I hesitated, not sure if I should go or not. Carter wasn't there, maybe Aurora knew where he was. So, I went with her, not knowing the trap she has gotten me into.

This is stupid.

◇◇◇

Aurora kept telling me to take off my phone's flashlight as we walked in the dark. I was uneasy about taking off the only source of light we had because I was with someone who strangely knew how to speed up the healing process of minor injuries. So, I kept it on until we stopped walking.

Eventually, after long minutes of walking through the huge dark park, we arrived at a telescope that was set up to point at something in the sky.

"How long has this been here?" I ask Aurora.

"It's mine. I bring it here every night." She opened her mouth to say something, but I cut her off.

"Then you must be strong by now," I examined the telescope. "This looks heavy."

"It's quite light, and I don't suggest you try to lift it," she placed her hand on the telescope. "Now can you take off your phone light?"

I felt suspicious about it. Narrowing my eyes, I asked, "Why should I?"

"It will be worth it. I promise."

I stare at her for a moment. I had to keep telling myself that she had to be comfortable around me. Maybe if I listened to her, she would possibly begin to. With my self-argument aside, I reluctantly took off my phone's flashlight.

"Now look into the eyepiece."

I eyed her hesitantly. "Are you giving me an astronomy lesson? Am I going to witness you blow up a planet?"

"What?"

"Hey, I've seen you use something to heal my scratch, it's not too far from the truth."

"Zayne," she called to make me shut up. "You're the only one I've ever trusted with this telescope. If I somehow managed to blow up a planet, I wouldn't show you."

My gaze was stuck on her. Was she that serious? "Are you sure you want to trust me with this thing?" Aurora nodded sternly. I stared at her for a moment, seeing how serious she really was. Finally, I sighed and gave in, looking into the eyepiece.

"What do you see?"

"A white and orange ball... is that a planet?" I ask, holding onto the telescope.

"Yes, that is planet Jupiter." She paused as I kept examining the details of the planet. "Feel free to turn it."

I carefully turned the telescope a little, kind of interested to find more planets. "There's a red ball. Is that Mars?"

"Yes, that is Mars," Aurora says with delight.

Looking around some more, I saw another planet. "What planet looks so white?"

"I believe that's the moon you're looking at," Aurora giggles. I felt the blood rush to my cheeks as I pulled away from the telescope. "The moon is not a planet, actually."

I look at Aurora surprised. It hit me that I never really wondered what the moon actually was. "Then what is it?"

"The moon is the Earth's only natural satellite, which orbits around the Earth. But, you probably already know it does that," she smiles awkwardly.

Suddenly interested in outer space, I began to look around with the telescope more than I intended to. When I turned to ask her a question, there was an impression of satisfaction on her face. It was actually kind of cute. "Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked.

"What do you think about astronomy now?"

It was an astronomy lesson. But it was great. I was really interested in astronomy from that moment, but I chose not to show it. Instead, I drove my hands into my pockets and shrugged. "It's cool."

Aurora's smile slightly dropped as she tilted her head to the side. "Just cool?" I nodded slowly in response. Her smile came back, as she pointed upwards.

I bent my head back, seeing millions of stars sparkling in the night sky. My jaw dropped, seeing the beautiful shimmers in the sky, gleaming in its place. Never have I ever seen so many stars before, and it really looked beautiful.

I almost tripped over myself as I stumbled back a little, shocked by the number of stars there were, just to the naked eye. It was even enough to make me smile, which was already uncommon on its own.

This is amazing.