The Shadow of Stars

Thirty One

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K

Micah tilts his head back and roars with laughter, his chest shaking with mirth. I can't stop my own body from shaking, so much laughter erupting from me that it almost becomes hard to breathe.

"Hey! Not fair, okay Olive is clearly just not good at interpreting my skills."

"Oh shut up," Olive snaps at James from the couch, Ben nearly falling from his seat as he roars with laughter. So far, Olive and James had two points in a game of charades. Two.

Micah and I were literally killing it with nearly sixty, but two was abnormally bad. Mainly due to James' awful acting abilities. "Okay, okay, laugh all you want," he says, bowing to the crowd before turning to Benny. "I think we should win handicap considering you are all mates."

"Alright, I'm going to tally up the scores!" Kelsey announces, detangling herself from the arms of her giant mate, paper in hand. It takes her a mere moment before she rushes to stand in front of the couches. "So there are two awards tonight. Award one goes to the best performance, this persons perfect impersonation of a chicken was not only incredible but inspirational to all chickens everywhere.  Everyone please put your hands together for Xavier!"

Laughter bounces off the walls of the small room as James just gapes, throwing his hands in the air utterly defeated. Xaviers chicken impersonation was not at all impressive but he gets up anyway and kisses Kelsey straight on the mouth, beaming at her all the same. He remains standing next to her and snakes his arm around her waist, drawing her into his side. Total cuddle bear.

"Okay and for the winners!" She proceeds, and we all lean to the edges of our seats. "With a total of fifty nine points, a new charades record—Athena and Micah!"

Both Micah and I jump from the couch like we have just won the lottery, our cheers not at all humble as the others solemnly clap. Micah's slightly shaggy hair whips to me as his lips stretch into a perfect smile and we crash into a hug, my body singing at the contact.

He leaves one arm slung around my shoulder so that I rest into his side, the action so small, so casual, but so significant all the same. "Thea so deserves all the credit," Ben announces and I smile because he's right—I do. Henry and I are literal masterminds at charades.

When we were younger and had no other games to play outside of a worn deck of cards, we'd write out our own games and charades was a top pick. If he was here, we would have wiped the floor.

"I dunno," I respond, giving Micah a mischievous nod. "This guy has some pretty good acting skills."

James laughs. "Yeah right, I'd like to see that. Where were your skills tonight, big boss?" He teases.

"It's true! He was about to be given a scholarship for his shakespearean performance today." Micah winces but his smile remains.

"Ohhh we don't need to talk about that," he says gently to me, grinning through the embarrassment.

"Wait! Is that why you were in the changing room in the theatre? Did you actually go on stage?" James blurts, his wide gaze piecing it all together. And then he erupts in laughter once more. "Athena. Athena please tell us," he basically begs.

My smile only grows and I join James' laugh. "You are looking at the best Romeo this campus has ever seen."

James loses his mind laughing and the rest of them join in. "Can I be your Juliet?" James asks, closing his eyes to fake kiss the air, getting a rise out of everyone, including me. Just the thought of James in a wig playing Juliet... I would pay good money for that.