lost | jariana

13

Ariana sat in her backyard, staring up at the stars from the lawn chair by her pool, and sighed. The sky was clear that night, and the stars lit up the roof of Earth in such a beautiful way.

She eyed the Little Dipper, and then tried to remember what her dad taught her about finding the other constellations. Her eyesight was never that good, so staring at the stars to find a specific pattern was straining her eyes. She just liked looking at the sky, and space in general.

Suddenly, a young boy's face blocked her view, and a grin broke out on her face.

"Jason!"

"Hey," Jason greeted, hugging the smaller girl back as she jumped up from her laying position to throw his arms around his waist.

"I haven't seen you in such a long time."

Chuckling, Jason let go of his best friend and motioning for her to scoot over on the lawn chair so he could squeeze in next to her. She willingly moved over, allowing Jason to lay down on the chair. He stretched out an arm for Ariana to rest her head in, and she snuggled against his body.

The two stared up at the sky, making conversation as Jason tried showing her where the Cancer constellation was. After minutes of trying to explain and point, Jason gave up.

"You need to get glasses or something, because your eyesight is horrible."

Ariana giggled, pressing her cheek against Jason's chest. "I'll talk to my mom."

A comfortable silence fell upon them, as they looked at the stars above them and enjoyed each other's company. Ariana's mind raced though, the idea of them being out here like this made her nervous. It was so public, so romantic.

Just as fast as they noticed it, a shooting star flashed across the horizon, making Ariana perk up. She immediately closed her eyes, making a wish, and Jason looked at her, a loving smile on his face, knowing exactly what she was doing.

Her big doe eyes fluttered open, a satisfactory grin on her face as she turned to face Jason. "Did you make a wish?"

"Was I supposed to?" Jason joked, which earned a smack from Ariana's little hand.

"You don't see a shooting star every day, you're supposed to make a wish!"

Jason shrugged, pulling Ariana back in his arms as they laid back down. "I wish every day, I don't have to see a shooting star to make a wish."

Ariana curiously looked up at her friend. "What do you wish about?"

The boy made eye contact with her, chewing on the insides of his cheek as he thought of his answer. "A normal life."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know, that's why I want know. I wonder what it would be like if my parents were 'normal'," Jason air quoted the word, briefly letting go of Ariana. "If my dad was like, a business man or something, and my mom owned a plant nursery. She always liked gardening."

"Do you wish that that was your life instead?" Ariana didn't want to sound selfish, but she was afraid that this was Jason's way of saying that he didn't want this life, this life with her.

"Not really, I just wish I knew, you know? Like, I just want to know what it would be like, to go to school, see you in the hallway, and talk about normal kids stuff, like whether we should go to the after-school club or see if Sarah and Jack wants to have a playdate."

A relief rushed over Ariana, hearing that he did still want her in his imaginary life, but she scolded herself. Way to make it about her. "Sarah and Jack?"