Wishing for a Star

"Happy Birthday tooo you" sang a choir of voices. The restaurant's waiters all clapped as Izora blew out her candles and made a wish. Giselle, her best friend since middle school, plucked the candles off of the cake.

"So what'd you wish for?" asked Giselle taking a bite.

"My own cake!" Izora joked. As she took a bite of their dessert she thought about her wish. Of all of her past birthdays, she'd never made a wish. They simply didn't come true. But this time she wished for someone. Someone to hold her hand and care for her. Her grandmother had died 7 months ago and since then she'd become lonely. Sure she had Giselle, but Giselle was a socialite. She was quirky but everyone loved her because she was so nice and easy to talk to. Izora on the other hand was more self kept. She'd prefer to spend quality time with people close to her, rather than going out and getting to know more people she couldn't remember the names of.

Izora wanted someone who would be a constant in her life, someone who wouldn't leave. She'd always been a hopeless romantic but she knew it was unrealistic. Love simply didn't happen in the world nowadays.

"You ready to head out?" asked Giselle. Izora looked down and hadn't noticed that Giselle has finished her cake while she'd been deep in thought. Smiling, she nodded and got up, as Giselle paid for their dinner.

"So now what? There's a club a couple of blocks away or a bar. Ooo, and they have gravy fries!" Giselle exclaimed.

"We just ate!" Izora giggled. Her friend loved to eat, which made it easy to get her presents. "Let's go to the club, I'm in the mood to dance" she linked her arms in Giselle's.

As they walked down the few blocks to the club Izora couldn't help but look at the night sky. Starless as usual. She loved living in the city but she couldn't see the stars that were often the center of her grandmother's stories. She missed her so much. Her grandmother, Delphine, had been like a mother to her after her parents died when she was just two years old. She was very close to her. Even in college Izora would call her grandmother frequently. After she died Izora just buried herself in her schoolwork, but now that finals were over, she'd either have to get multiple jobs, or face her loneliness. Giselle offered to let her stay with her family over the summer but she didn't want to impose.

"Ooo this looks fancy" breaking her train of thought, Giselle opened the door and Izora walked in nearly bumping into an angry redheaded woman.

"Watch it!" she snapped at Izora and pushed past her.

"What's her problem?" asked Giselle leading Izora to the dance floor. She shrugged and followed noticing a young man. She couldn't help but stare at him and had almost stopped walking if it weren't for Giselle who was holding her hand and pulling her into a crowd of people. He was the most beautiful man she'd ever seen. His features were overall fairly plain but his jet black hair and green eyes with, what she could have sworn was silver in them, took her breath away.

"Hello, Earth to Izora" Giselle waved her hands in front of Izora's face. "What's up with you, you've been out of it all night."

"Sorry, I've just been thinking about..." Izora trailed off, knowing Giselle knew what she was thinking. Giselle hugged her and smiled.

"I know, I'm sure your grandma would want you to have fun tonight though. C'mon let's go get something to drink." She pulled her towards the bar and got two shots of Vodka. Izora drank it although she always hated the taste of alcohol. But she could use some distraction tonight. She did want to have fun. Tonight was the last night Giselle would be in New York before she went home for the summer. Izora downed another and soon enough began to feel a bit tipsy. She didn't usually drink so after the third she was feeling much happier. They went back to the dance floor and lost track of time. After a few hours of dancing and a few more drinks Izora started feeling sick. She headed for the bathroom and bumped into someone. Looking up she saw those green, silver specked, eyes from before. Speechless and stared at him mouth gaping. He looked back at her curiously before his eyes widened in realization. He opened his mouth and started to say something but at that moment she felt someone yank her arm away.

"Th-there yooou are!" Giselle slurred she pulled her back onto the dance floor and again Izora lost the beautiful man in the crowd of people.