Celestial Worlds

Chapter Thirty-nine

“Daniel,” I say. I have already changed into a sundress and placed my hair in a bun. “Do you mind if I just grab something from the bookstore?” I reason out. I’m actually going to Jonathan’s and that’s nearby so I won’t need any king of transportation, just walking. I hope he doesn’t get sceptical because, who opens up a bookstore late in the evening?

    He looks at me sideways from the television. “Sure, Victoria. Have fun,” he says with a tucked-lip smile. I mimic his smile and I go out.

    Normally, he would ask me if I would need a ride, or he would ask me where or what bookstore am I going. He doesn’t even ask me when I’m going. He doesn’t talk to me anymore.

    I walk toward Northern Heights and I reach Jonathan’s door. I scan it again. It looks different than the last time I’ve stayed here. It smells the same, like moss and dirt. The house lights are open so I know they’re here and I can hear the television. I take a deep breath and press the doorbell.

    “COMING!” Jonathan’s muffled voice says. I can hear his footsteps from the gate since the gate’s really not that far from the porch. He swings the door open with a huge smile like he just came from a party, but it disappears the moment he sees me, like he wasn’t expecting me, which believe me, he wasn’t. Instead of being angry or shutting the door closed again, he goes outside and closes the door behind him, turning to me with a worried expression.

    “Victoria? Is everything alright?” He asks while opening the gate. The moment the gate opens I go to him and wrap my arms around his neck, sobbing. “What’s going on Victoria?” he demands.

    I pull back but his arms are around my waist. “D-Daniel hates me,” I sob. “He doesn’t talk to me anymore and he ignores me.”

    He pulls me inside the house and sits me on the couch next to him, lowering the volume of the television. He leaves me for a while and he goes to the kitchen, which, until now, haunts my memories. He comes back with a plate of lasagne and a fork, handing them to me. I mutter a dry thanks and dig in despite the macaroni Daniel cooked for me.

    “Where’s Debby?” I ask, feeling the slightest shade of better. My eyes hurt from the crying and I’m sure they’re red and swollen.

    A smile tugs up his lips. “Friday. Farm remember?”

    “Don’t you have work?” I ask, remembering the weekend he forgot to go to work.

    He shrugs and says, “Don’t want to do it anymore. It’s kinda nabbing at my schedule,” he says nonchalantly, like he’s done this a number of times.

    I furrow my eyebrows at him. “But all you do is stay at home.”

    He smiles a full smile and I can’t help but smile a little. “That’s the point.”

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We’re outside his house, in the backyard, lying on our backs and staring straight up the sky.

    “Do you like stars?” he asks me. His hands are behind his head and mine is resting on my stomach. He turns to me and I turn to him, our faces only inches away.

    “I like them very much,” I say, turning back at the sky. “My favourite is Orion. The constellation I always look for.”

    “I painted that once,” he says, turning his head back to the sky. “But it went missing, about two years ago.”

    Then that’s when it hit me. He was Carl and I remembered it just now. I found out about that when I was in his room, looking at his paintings, when he shouted at me.