The stars shine dimly from above, illuminating your features with startling clarity. My fingers itch towards yours, but I clench my fists instead.
You tilt your head towards me, a smile wrought across your face.
"They're beautiful." It takes me a second to realize that you are talking about the stars, and you can tell that my response comes too late, taking the importance from the moment.
"I better go, my parents are expecting me home." I know that this isn't true, for you had said a mere hour earlier that you were free all night.
I watched her walk away, brown braids blending in with the darkness. In a last attempt, my hand flies through the galaxy and brushes yours. Your head turns, the surprise evident on your face.
"Tha-thanks," I say, words wobbly on my tongue, "for coming. It means a lot." I release my grasp, and you step back. I don't miss the way how your gaze is distracted, focused on the lights of some forgotten car. I bite back the words that are levitating on the tip of my tongue, and let your footsteps carry you outwards, towards the unbending night.
You don't even say goodbye.
~
I will think of this moment for the rest of my life. It will be my debate of the century, whether this was the time when my life was changed, or if it had happened before. My friends had all been slowly departing (not that I had a lot of friends to begin with) as my sophomore year wore on. That summer had been when it all started, there was no particular event that began the inevitable chain reaction, but even for years after, I would ponder whether there really was an event, or if it was all in my mind.
