Catch a Glimmer of Your Star

Catch the North Star

Basil sat in the grass, observing the results of his latest water tests. His mouth quirked with frustration as the results returned negative. Quickly enough, his frown disappeared into a 'whatever' smile.

Sunny felt a sweet thrill as he noticed the bright, optimistic light that shone in Basil's eyes. Ever since that eureka moment in the car, Basil had grown so much more cheerful, reminding Sunny of the way everyone smiled back in their golden days. Now, just like then, Basil's eyes glowed with the most beautiful colors. And with his discovery that manganese was the element that poisoned these rivers, it seemed like Basil had grown confident in his purpose.

I hope I can find that feeling in what I do one day, too.

But, for the time being, I'm just happy to be by Basil's side, supporting him.

"Not this river," Basil said.

"Awwww," Sunny replied. "I guess it's three out of five."

"Yeah. It's okay—we found what we set out for."

And what they'd found was that, of the five rivers that supplied Coup de Soleil factories with their water usage, three of them contained manganese levels above what was considered safe for human consumption. Add in Peter's father's tragic story, and they had the data that they needed to bring the company's waste management practices to light, and hopefully, to the scrutiny of a lawsuit. Mincy had already replied to Sunny's email confirming that she had sent the story to her grandma's environmentalist group.

All that remained on their plate were the reports that Basil would have to write to please his parents. Sunny didn't claim to understand the science that was in those reports, but from what Basil had said to him, manganese poisoning in rivers provided plenty of fertile research into ways that life adapted to toxic conditions. With help from Marie, Basil could spin that into something about healing damaged cells, which would satisfy his parents and their obsession with escaping death.

Basil was a genius and Sunny loved that his boyfriend was so smart. Actually, he'd love Basil no matter what.

"So how long do we have to get back?" Sunny asked.

"About seventeen hours," Basil replied with a suspicious creasing of his lips. "Uh, that means if there's a traffic jam, we're doomed."

Sunny felt his optimism sapping out of him. If they went through all this trouble just to come back to a furious mom who was most certainly going to punish them for stealing her car...

"Then let's go!" Sunny said.

Basil and Sunny rushed back into the car, throwing all their supplies into the trunk. Basil swiftly drove out the river park back onto the road. Within minutes, they made it back onto the nearest highway.

Due to the day that they'd lost speaking to Peter, their schedule had been thrown into disarray. Basil could not guarantee that they would make it back to the airport in time. They had a fifteen hour drive ahead of them. They would also need to fill the gas back up to exactly where mom had left it; it'd be mighty suspicious if the gas tick was in a different spot.

I suggested skipping the last river, but Basil wanted to go there and run tests anyway.

Too bad the results from the last river were negative...oh well.

Basil had worked so hard this past week, there were dark circles underneath his eyes. He hadn't had a Spring Break. He'd had a Spring Marathon. And the last fifteen hours of this marathon were going to be the tensest part yet.

As soon as we get back home, Basil can call me his personal attendant.

I'm going to make his life as comfortable as possible for the next month!