The Best of Us

seven

OCTOBER. 2014.

EVERYTHING ALWAYS WENT okay as long as we made it to the planetarium before ten thirty. The last show always ended between ten and then, and we liked to make it before closing time just to keep the working students from waiting around for us.

Our most recent break from the planetarium had been the longest we'd had since we first started going. It was Thomas who first took us, back when we were freshmen and he was a senior, with his best friend at the time. Their years long friendship had come to an abrupt end and he was never interested in talking about it.

I'd tried, for a while, to ask him about it in the hopes that it might make him feel better. Sorely, he snapped at me, his jaw tight and his eyes dark, and told me to leave it alone. Imagine, he glowered, how you'd feel if you lost Bradley. When I murmured, somewhat ashamed, that my whole world might collapse in on itself, he informed me, bitterly, that his already had.

Since then, I hadn't asked him about it. He became very touchy when you tried to get him to talk about things that he didn't want to talk about. The same might be true for anyone, but Thomas was worse. His temper flared impressively and he became completely enraged, a violent fury that burned so intensely inside of him that nothing remained of his rational self but ash.

But, back when they were still inseparable and stupid with inside jokes and old stories that I knew as well as they did, they had brought Bradley and me with them to the planetarium.

The two of them had been going together for two years by then and never invited or allowed anyone else to go with them. It was a very private affair that happened to work out for them because of their constant nosing around. Even in high school, they didn't shy away from college parties and found themselves acquainted with many of the students at the university, who allowed them to hang around because of his best friend's older brother (a well-liked and pretty gifted athlete).

It was late into their sophomore year of high school that they encountered a group of astronomy students who often worked shifts at the university-ran planetarium, who they convinced (very tirelessly) to let them in after hours so that they could watch the shows alone. After that, it was an irregular though not rare occasion for them to come by for a free show with the students, which was usually promised as long as they didn't show up too late.

Over the years, it became something of a tradition. They weren't supposed to let people in for free shows but a long time of not getting caught (and their easygoing professor) inspired a great deal of confidence and, by the time Thomas had graduated, Bradley and I had already familiarised ourselves with the students that worked there. One day, we figured, we would tell Bradley's brother, Brandon, about it and bring his best friend along with us to keep the tradition going.

We didn't see many of the students around. They often spent their time elsewhere, sometimes even leaving and coming back to shut everything off later in the night. Bradley and I typically left through the fire exit when we were ready, and didn't see our advisors until the next time we came, but it was always on Fridays. The astronomy students didn't mind hanging around so much when they didn't have morning classes to attend on Saturdays.

Occasionally, some of them joined us for the shows, always sitting in another part of the theater and whispering to each other. When we did see them, they liked to ask about Thomas. He hadn't shown his face once since the great falling out with his best friend. Surprisingly, this had caused more devastation in the astronomy group than I had expected, but I supposed there was always something sad about watching the deterioration of a friendship as close as the one Thomas had had and I understood their dismay.