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Chapter 4: No Gravity

Chapter 4

I look at her eyes. And how they stare at the skies. "What's freedom?" I ask. 

"What do you mean?" she said while looking upwards to the dark sky. 

"In your definition, what is freedom?", i ask. And then she takes a breath and let it go. 

"Freedom? Well, it feels like being in space. Where there is no gravity to hold you back. But when you're almost reaching out of the atmosphere, you can get suffocated to death." 

She looks at me, and say, "Well, the gravity is our parents, relatives, and friends that are trying to hold us back from doing what we want. But when they aren't there anymore to hold you back from doing what you want, you'll get in trouble. Sometimes we don't even know what's best for ourselves."

"Well, the 'suffocate to death' part is pretty intense." I said

"Well, we are all gonna die anyway in some point. Just don't know when"

i look at her, "Yeah."

For a moment there, we just lie down in silence. It's kind of a thing that we usually do. A couple minutes of silence, not talking to each other. And then someone breaks the silence and said random things.

I begin to speak up, "Lexa?" "Yeah," "Do you know star constellation?" "No. But I know what that is. i just can't read it. You can?" "Uh-huh" "Show me then" "Sure. When is your birthday?" "April 5th." "Okay then, your zodiac must be Aries then. The constellation of Aries is the ram." "Ram?" "It's a male sheep. So, well, the Aries constellation is kind of a simple small pattern. And it's around the east,between Taurus and Pisces." I look up to the sky and my eyes wandering examining the stars. I feel a hit on my arm, "Hey, i hope you're not making this up, " "I'm not!" I laugh. 

"Oh, you see there?" i told her as i pointing to the four dots in the sky.

"Where?"

"Right there. There are 4 shining dots of stars that make a line"

"Where?"she seems still confused about where I pointing. 

"Here," i take her hand and guide them to where the constellation is. "So, the Aries one has four dots that shape like a line, like a crab leg. See there? One... two... three, and... four." 

I can see her smiling when she found the constellation, "Wow". I look at her face, and then she laugh, "This is actually really fun. How do you know this kind of stuff?" She looked at me. "When i was a kid, i used to have this really big window in my room, right?. And sometimes, when i can't sleep at night, i used to go to that window and just stare outside. And that was when i started to see the shining dots in the sky. They shine more bright than the others. And that is when i found out about Ursa Major or the 'Big Dipper' for the first time." "Cool" she smiles. 

***

"Aiden!" i run out of my room quickly, when i heard my dad shouted. "Uhm, dad? you're looking for me?" I stop at the bottom of the stair, catching my breath. "What is THIS" my dad said, handing me a piece of paper. It's my report card. "YOU GOT A 'C' ON YOUR MATH TEST?!" "Dad, it's just a one C. All the other kids in class have lower-" "Oh, OH. there we go. so just because the other kids got a D or E or an F, that means you're allowed to get a C?! You got an A on your previous test, how can you got a C on this one?" "Okay, i'm sorry dad. I didn't prepare enough." "And why is that?" "I got home late last night" "Of course. From now on, you're not allowed to go to Sam's or anywhere else over 6pm." "What?! dad, are you serious? It's just one stupid test!" "Well, that one stupid test can get you to Harvard university. Every achievements count." "I'll get an A next time. I promise" "If you get straight A's until the next 2 months, i'll let you play with Sam again, all you want." "Hey, honey" Mom comes in from the dinning room. "I already prepare breakfast. What's that?" my mom ask when she saw a piece of paper in my hand. "It's his report card. And his score keep getting lower and lower!" "No, mom. i just got a C in a test. That's all. Dad just making such a big deal out of it." "You got a C on your test?" "Oh, mom. You serious? it was just a test for god sake." "It's not just 'a test', EVERY-" "...Every scores count. I know." I rolled my eyes. "Don't roll your eyes at your mother!" My dad complains, "Now get your butt to the kitchen and we'll meet you there"

Any other parents will get mad and ground you when you do something really bad. Like, getting drunk, skipping school, or use drugs, or even getting somebody's daughter pregnant. Well, me, I got grounded cause I get a C on one test. If Sam ever got a C on his test, he will tell everyone in school and brag on it. His parents will be proud, and his mother usually makes him this apple pie that she made. He's lucky to have a parent that actually appreciates what he has done. 

~~~

"Wassup, brother" Sam comes to my direction with a tray of food. "Hey," "So," he take his loaf of bread and put it in his mouth,

"You in for tonight?" he said with his mouth full.

"No, I can't. My parent grounded me."

"Dude! That's not fun! But, what did they grounded you for? Oo-ooh! Did they caught you while you're doing 'it' with Lexa?" he smirks.

"NO! what?! No, man. They grounded me cause I got a C on my math test." His eyes than wide open, which started to wrinkles, he laughs so hard. Of course. "A.C.! I always love your mother cause- well, she's really nice to me- but I never thought that she will ground you for getting a C!" "Me neither" "But you usually got an A on math test though. Smart-ass Aid." "I got home really late the night before, so I haven't study yet. And the math test was on the first period, so I was tired." "You hung out with Lexa?" "...Yep."

He start to smile,

"You like her huh?"

"Yeah, but, not in that way. in like, a Friendship kind of way" I said nervously.

"Well... She's hot, so, why not?" Sam said. "Even if I do like her, I don't think that I'm her 'type', you know." "A.C. you're like everybody's type. You're smart, you're kind of good looking, and you're rich. And you actually sees people in a good way. Their positive side. But, it's just, you are lame as fuck bro. Your style is lame, your fashion is lame, and your white pale skin is lame. You look like a vampire. And bangs? No, make it a quiff, like" Sam brushes my hair up with his finger and messed it up. "Hey, dude, what are you doing! You messing up my hair" "I am not messing it up. I make it look better and un-lame." "Un-lame? That's not even a proper English word." "Who needs proper English when you got slangs?" "Smart people might need it." "OK, so, continue to the next part, when I said your style is lame, the way you walk also lame. Holding books, like a freaking nerd. THIS is how you suppose to walk"

~~~

"Hey, Aiden Chris!" I shocked when I look at the sudden figure coming out from behind the tree. "Oh, god. It's just you" I look at her surprised, and then she laughs, " God, you should've seen your face" She laughs again. "Where's Sam?" She asked. "Oh, Sam is in detention hour right now, so I have to wait for him until he gets out." "Detention? What did he do?" "Well, he was trying to "teach" me how to do a cool walk, so he gets up from the chair and run across the cafeteria. He got his hair styled with his hand, and then walk backwards, with his hands swaying around in like a 'Cool' way. So, he put his dark sunglasses on. But then, Mr. B was walking with his coffee behind him, and Sam accidentally hit Mr. B, causing that old man to fell on his foot, spilling his coffee. Poor Mr. B. Well, and then Sam said, "Ay! Watch out old, man!" cause –well- he didn't know who he hit. And then he got into detention." "Your friend is weird" She laughs, "So do everybody else".