The Brightest Star

Chapter 3

Three✬

From the kitchen, Will could hear his mother greeting the guests. Ever since the encounter at the movie theater, he could not get the mysterious girl out of his mind. Her grey-green eyes enticed him, desiring to stare into them forever. However, he had been thinking about it, and had no idea what to say to her. After all, he had been taken away from others since he was three years old. He has had no contact with anyone but his parents and his dog, Sirius.
Think of the devil and he shall appear, he thought, hearing the jingling bells on the collar of his shaggy black dog. Smoothly, he lowered himself off the granite counter and knelt beside the dog, ruffling his fur and scratching him behind the ears, Sirius panting gratefully. With the sound of clicking on the hardwood floor, Will knew his mother was leading the guests into the kitchen. He stood, looking at the company. His eyes immediately darted to the girl.
Her slim frame was covered with a logo he wasn't familiar with. He could have sworn it was from Sherlock on BBC, but the smiley face was red and more menacing than the happy yellow smiley face that adorned Sherlock's wall. She wore black leggings, similar to the ones she wore at the movies, possibly the same ones. He realized, moments after it was awkward, that he was staring. He forced a smile, like his parents told him to do, and strode back over to the counter to retrieve the plates. He set the table with the plates and the proper silverware and napkins. He noticed the girl awkwardly take a seat at the table, obviously not knowing what else to do.
He decided to sit across from her. They sat in silence and he started counting in his head. In ten seconds, there was a passage of three shy smiles between the two of them. Every time Will tried to meet her eyes, she would look down at her lap, obviously nervous or afraid.
Throughout his mind, he thought of what he wanted to say to her. Hey, so um what's your name? Everytime he thought he was going to say it, he choked on his words, swallowing them back down, and getting a sense of regret in the pit of his stomach. What's that on your shirt? Hi I'm Will, who are you?
He took a deep breath, and the words drifted out of his mouth, in a low whisper. "So, I um... what's your name?"
She finally looked up at him, her beautiful, vivid eyes piercing his own. With an equally low whisper, she replied:
"Mirabelle."
Will tried the name out in his mind, Mirabelle. But then realized he had said it aloud.
"Mirabelle." She looked startled by the softness of his voice but he decided it was best to keep the conversation going. "What is that on your shirt?" She looked down subconsciously at her shirt. She glanced back up at him with a sheepish smile and replied, "It's from a TV show, The Mentalist."
"Oh," Will responded, "I've never heard of that. Is it good?"
She nodded before speaking again. "It's a crime show," she began, looking into his eyes for any sign of disinterest or disgust. Since there wasn't any, she continued. "The main guy, Patrick Jane, he is like a psychic and he can solve crimes really well. His methods to solving them are really interesting but it's good. I mean, I like it."
Will nodded and said, "That sounds really good."
Mirabelle smiled appreciatively at him and he grinned back. He was about to open his mouth to say something else but the parents decided then that they wanted to sit down. He shut his mouth and Mirabelle gave him a knowing look.

~•~★~•~

The meal was good. Will could tell his mother had gone to a lot of trouble to make it that way. She didn't usually cook, only purchased frozen dinners and fast food. Only on special occasions did she cook. Like for his birthday, she made his favorite meal, Mongolian Chicken with fried rice.
Throughout the dinner, he and Mirabelle didn't speak again, worried the adults might interject. He wasn't exactly sure how old she was, but she couldn't have been much younger than him. He finished and stood up for a moment, excusing himself. He had shoved an unused napkin in his pocket, and now he was searching for a pen.
Will rummaged through his bedside drawers, tossing aside scrap paper and gum wrappers and a glasses case from the sixth grade. Finally, he encountered a simple black pen at the bottom. He grasped it, clicked it opened and tried the ink on the heel of his palm. A stream of ebony ink squiggled across the bottom of his, giving him knowledge that the pen works. He couldn't help but grin to himself. He uncovered the napkin from his pocket and set it down on his desk, smoothing out the creases. Will scribbled legibly his cell phone number onto it, making sure that Mirabelle could read it.
He sighed at his handiwork and signed his name at the bottom. Shoving it back into his pocket, Will padded down the stairs to meet his family and the guests. They were all still sitting at the table, all except for Mirabelle. She was in the family room kneeling down by Sirius. He grinned beside himself and strode over to her, sitting down beside her.
She jumped a bit when he sat which made him worry, but she quickly recovered, smiling up at him and then returning her attention back to the dog, scratching behind his ear and on his tummy.
Will thought through so many ways to give Mirabelle the slip of paper. Not one of them ended well in his head. All he could think about was how embarrassed she would be if he actually gave her the note. He didn't want to see that. He took a deep breath, glancing at Mirabelle who still had her attention on the dog. Maybe I would like to see her reaction to her getting my number, he thought. It was possible that she would take it well.
He continued to sit with Mirabelle, studying her movements and her reactions. It was only until his mother called them to the kitchen for dessert that he moved. He let her go first, leading them both into the kitchen. The placemats were set with small plates with cream filled delicacies, melted fudge drizzled over top of them. He and Mirabelle sat in the same places the had been previously.

~•~✩~•~

Mirabelle could feel Will's mother's eyes on her. She took a small bite from the dessert and smiled appreciatively up at the woman. It was truly good. The soft, delicate texture of the treat melted in her mouth with each bite.
It took a while, but the parents finally left. Mirabelle had been waiting for them to leave so she could strike up a conversation with Will again.
It seemed they both had the same thing in mind. Mirabelle opened her mouth and Will did as well. No real words came out, just a jumble that sounded something like, "Showdyalikethemeal"
"Oh, sorry. You go ahead," Will offered sheepishly.
"Oh uh okay. So uh what kind of books do you read?" Mirabelle deftly held a strand of hair in hair hand, unconsciously twirling it around her fingers.
Will looked surprised to be asked the question. She watched as he pondered the question.
"Oh I read all kinds of books! I've read Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Percy Jackson, all sorts of different books! What about you?"
"I've read all the ones you mentioned and Divergent, The fangirl . . ."
"The fangirl?" He asked, surprise painting the defined features on his face. Mirabelle laughed a little.
"Yeah, The Fangirl." She paused a moment before adding, "you do know what a fangirl is, right?"
Will laughed too. "Yeah, of course I do! You can't go around having a Tumblr without knowing what a fangirl is!"
Mirabelle was utterly shocked. Will Spencer had a Tumblr! "You have a Tumblr?"
"But of course! Where else would I voice my much required opinions on fandom related things?" Mirabelle gazed into his brilliant green eyes and couldn't help but smile at his play on humor. "Here," Will began again, holding out his hand, "Let me see your phone, I'll show you."
Without question, Mirabelle pulled out her phone and placed it delicately into Will's hand.

~•~✩~•~

Will couldn't resist.
Mirabelle gave him her phone. He smiled despite himself, thinking of how similar Sherlock's first encounter with John was to this one of his own. She so willingly handed over the device, just as John had.
He shook himself out of his reverie and returned his attention back to the phone. He scrolled up, so that the search bar came up and typed in "Tumblr". The blue icon appeared and he tapped it. The app opened to Mirabelle's dashboard. Quickly he typed in his account Professional_Fandom_King and clicked follow on his account. He clicked to the messaging tab and began a conversation with:

Hey Mirabelle, it's Will!

then sent it. He closed out of the app, turned off the blue-cased phone, and handed it back to Mirabelle.

The two spoke more for the next half hour. He told Mirabelle about his obsessions with Doctor Who and Sherlock and she told him more about the Mentalist and the Fangirl. When the parents had called it a night, Will walked to the door, with the Samuel family's coats, and watched as Mirabelle left, the grand yellow light shimmering off her long, straight hair.