Under The Stars (JoSi)

Chapter 1

Sienna sighed. The first day school was what she needed right now, but the guys at her school were jerks and one could never predict the level of torment they would give her and her friends on a daily basis. It had been exactly 395 days since she moved from Cunningham Dominican Collage to her new school, and it was safe to say she was enjoying it somewhat. As much as one can enjoy school at this age. Year 10 at Minnivale Collage was quite the experience, everyone was rather proper despite not being crazily rich. It was a nice balance, and Sienna didn't mind it at all.

She quickly donned her forest green uniform, making sure everything was neatly tucked and the bottom of her dress sat on top of her knee quite comfortably. She began to walk away from the mirror on her nightstand before remembering to untuck a thick strand of hazelnut brown hair either side of her face. He once told her it looked nice when she did that.

And by he she means her long-time best friend. If they were best friends anymore. They had only been nine or so when they met and started to hang out, but back then they were both at St. John's Knightswood and times were a lot simpler. It was around that time she knew their bond had a certain tune about it, it felt like sweet music that only they could hear. Well, only she could hear at the moment. Sienna hasn't been too sure on his take of their friendship, as it had been left to collect dust during the first couple years of the moving school situation when they lost touch.

As Sienna fed her cat Brownie she remembered the fleeting kiss he planted on her cheek before she left St. John's for Cunningham all those years ago. She smiled, that kiss never quite left her, rather imprinted itself onto her heart where it has remained ever since. But now its Year 10, and she's left to simply wonder if her presence makes his heart flutter just as his makes hers. She quickly snapped herself out of it, it was time to go to school for the first time since 'the incident'.

She had just been going for a nice relaxing walk along the river before lunch when she saw this beautiful gum tree. It had reminded her of a hand reaching out to something, or someone. And in the palm of its hand was a beautiful boy. Long black tendrils of hair framed his paper face carelessly, she remembered thinking he looked like a piece of fragile art. As she got closer she could start to see the feathery freckles adorning his cheeks and the way his closed eyes flickered with the sunlight wavering in time with the slight breeze. He was perfect, and he was delicate. She had wished she could stay right there and stare at his beautiful masterpiece all day.

She really wished she hadn't stepped on that twig, she really didn't. The harsh crack of its breakage seemed to fill the air as she watched the boy's eyes fly open and his delicate peace shatter like glass. He seemed frantic, lost and almost scared. But she was too taken aback to take note of it. Those eyes, those ocean blue eyes she had seen before. Seen them sparkle with joy, anger, love and sadness. Those were the eyes that haunted her dreams and left her in a daze of wonder when she was reminded of their depth and of their beauty. She knew those eyes, and before she knew it she was calling out the name of the owner of those majestic ocean eyes.

"Josh?"

Looking back on it now, she knew that her simple call would be one of the best decisions she could make. Once their eyes connected, it was like the world stopped breathing, the songs of the birds halting and the whispers of the trees holding their breath as the movement of the wind froze in awe of the bright display of fireworks she could feel in the pit of her stomach and the bottom of her heart. She was seeing threads of rainbow, but most of all she could see beams of blue. Josh blue. And there in that moment she could live forever as emotions continued to crackle and fizz around her head.

Their moment was abruptly interrupted by the shrill call of the magpie she could see resting in his hand delicately. It wasn't too long before she had climbed into the palm of the tree to take a closer look at the broken magpie chick. Just a wing, she had thought, thank god for that.

They had sat in that tree for hours, not talking. Simply staring at the wonderful view around them, appreciating the sweet melodies of the various bird calls that echoed throughout the sky.

"Josh..." Sienna had started nervously. It had been partially her fault they had lost touch. She did try, but they had left things on awkward terms and eventually she had taken too long to make the first move. And the stresses of Cunningham's tragic social hierarchy had left no space for the courage to reach out. She figured the same thing had happened to Josh, they were both quite similar. But ever since she came to Minnivale she noticed that he had changed. He had started to grow his hair out, he was taller and not quite happy. He hadn't been in any of her classes, but sometimes she saw him lurking in the background of the hallways and she would realise just how much she missed him.

"Hey." He had murmured softly, looking up at her through his lashes and staring uncertainly in her eyes. She took that as her moment to finally say what she needed too in the past two years.

"I'm so sorry," she had started with a sigh. "I know it's been a while since we talked, I ... I meant to text you but I ..." she stared down at her shoes. This was harder than she thought. "I know it's been a long time but I miss you, I miss our friendship, I miss the summer days when you would come over to swim at mine, I miss the days we would just laugh and roll on the grass, I miss going to the movies to watch stupid kid movies, I miss everything, I miss us."

Josh had looked ... relieved? Happy? She couldn't tell exactly, but his positive reaction gave her the strength to finish.

"I'm so sorry it turned out like this, but can we give us another chance?"

There was no time to hold her breath or scour his eyes for uncertainty because the next thing she knew she was being sandwiched in a hug. She melted instantly; head buried into his shoulders as she breathed him in as if it was her last breath.

As she pulled away she couldn't help but notice, "Since when do you wear cologne?"

He let out a small chuckle, and it was music to her ears. His voice was deeper than she last remembered, but it felt warm and his smile felt like home.

And there they had sat for the next hours up until lunch, laughing and catching up with each other and everything that had happened in their lives over the past couple of years. She could confirm some of what she already knew from her mild stalking; Josh had joined the volleyball team and enjoyed all the same video games Sienna did. Sienna had talked about her experiences at Cunningham and how she picked up the piano. She felt that they could talk for hours on end and never run out of topics. She couldn't remember the last time she had smiled that wide and laughed at that many bad jokes. But she was happy, and she had her friend back.

But as all good things do, eventually the sun reached its peak in the sky and the prospect of lunch split them apart once more. However, she had managed to snatch his number before she left and spent all day Sunday talking to him about everything and nothing, particularly the soft-feathered magpie chick that he took to the local animal shelter. He had even hopped online with her and they played a few games on discord together. The perfect weekend, she liked to call it. She couldn't wait to tell Lila, Renée and Tahlia about it at school. They would share her excitement; she just knew it.

But the reason her stomach filled with thousands of butterflies and twisted with nerves rested with none other than a certain blue-eyed boy. As her car pulled up to the green hedges of the school entrance, she couldn't be more unaware for the year that was to come.

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it's nearly the end of term two and they still aren't together

i'm going to slap josh if i it comes to that