Constellations

Chapter 9

It's 9.30 am in a lovely Saturday morning, and Ara still hasn't gone out of bed.

Her blanket is pulled all the way covering half of her face, with only the top of her head and her eyes peeking out. Under the blanket she was hiding one of her widest smile that she could ever remember. At the moment, even the silent whirring of the clock sounds like music to her ears. A beautiful melody.

Her eyes blinked rapidly for a while, adjusting to the bright light starting to shine through the window. Her grip tightened on the blanket. She knew that she's not going out until Mrs. Taylor comes to tell her to go have breakfast.

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"You know, Ara is the name of one of the 88 known constellations," Timothy said, his eye still on the telescope. "The name means 'altar'. I've never seen it, however. It's usually only visible on July and from a certain height."

"It's a small constellation compared to the others, like you. If a constellation could be small and short, it would be this one," he continued, which she replied to with a snort and a jab on his side. "But... it's just as bright as the others, and beautiful. Perhaps more."

She was silent for a while. Inside, she was thankful for the fact that the night has gotten dark at the moment, and the lights in his room has gone off; as she was trying hard to hide her smile. "Did you really mean that?"

"I won't say it if I don't mean it. And, well," he continued, moving away from the telescope, "what I'm actually trying to say is... take care, alright." She stared at him for a while, asking for an explanation.

"I heard Derek talk shit about you earlier today, after the game. I still think it would be better if you don't attend the party," he stopped talking for a while after she sighed and took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to discourage you from going... I just don't want you to get hurt."

"That's exactly what you're doing right now. It's okay, though. I understand, but I can take care of myself. Besides, there's gonna be Vikki with me. I'm gonna be fine."

"If anything makes you uncomfortable, go home right away. Call me, I'll pick you up," he said. "I mean it," he added after seeing her reaction.

"I don't want to trouble you, you know. I'll be fine," she said. "You're being unusually kind. Is something up that I don't know about? If this is because you want me to do your Mathematics assignment, then you should know that I'm just as clueless as you are."

He laughed hearing her reply, scratching his head. "If it's something about school, I'd know better not to ask for help from you."

"Rude!" She frowned, but joined his laugh afterwards. "What is this about, then?"

At that point, she could barely hide the excitement and slight nervousness in her voice, but none of them paid attention to it.

"I... I, um..." He seem to be reluctant to continue at first, averting his gaze from her. She couldn't help but smile a little, her eyes were still fixed on him. She would never admit it to anyone, but she loved watching every small mannerisms he made when he's nervous. She found it somehow endearing.

"I took your last pack of chocolate chip cookies."

Ara, who was currently sitting on the side of Timothy's bed, fell to the side and covered her face with his pillow.

"Oh God, you're kidding me! That was my lifeblood!" She exclaimed, but couldn't contain her laughter. "That's not gonna be enough, you know. You owe me three more packs if you want me to forgive you."

"Whew, man, that's a lot," he replied, "Can't it be just one pack and orange juice?"

"Deal," she snickered.

He chuckled after a minute of silence. "Except I'm just kidding," he admitted. "You can check in the cabinet, it's still there."

She snorted. "Quit telling me lies. Wait, you're serious?" She asked after seeing him smile.

"What, you want me to pick it up for you now?"

"Aw man, no extra box of juice for me," she whined, frowning. "Alright then, so no particular reason whatsoever? Thank you, really. You're too kind."

"I don't want anything bad to happen to you," he said. "That's all."

She stared at him for a while, as if she just noticed something. He looked away from her, trying to avoid her gaze and calm his racing heartbeat down. "That bruise under your eye wasn't there today during the game."

"What happened?" she asked him. There was a slight change of tone in her voice; there was concern.

"I, uh... I got into a fight. Nothing serious," he replied.

"You sure you're alright? It must've hurt. Have you applied an ice pack or something like that?"

"No, I'm fine, really," he assured her. "It's gonna go away eventually."

"I hope it's not because of Derek again or because of what he said about me," she sighed. When she noticed how silent he was, she added, "Please don't get yourself in trouble because of me."

"It bothered me. It's been a while since he started doing that, you know. I don't even understand why, it's not like you've been in trouble with him at all."

"He's always been a jerk, you should know that more than I do. Just ignore him," she said. "I don't think it matters as long as he's not spreading rumors about me."

She rolled on to her side, still lying down in Timothy's bed. "It's really comfy here," she commented.

"A lot smaller than your room," he said.

"But still big. Well, my room back home is around this size and I have to share with my sister."

He moved away from the telescope, choosing to sit down on the side of the bed. "How old is she, anyway? Is she older or younger?"

"Older, 2 years from me," she replied. "She's in college now, though; I don't see her around that much anymore. Always busy with organizations and stuff like that."

"I never knew how it's like to have a sibling," he remarked.

"Not that fun for me," she said, grinning, "I have to share everything. Most of the clothes I have now were once hers. And it gets annoying sometimes."

"You did say that I'm like an annoying sister you never had," she added.

"It doesn't feel that way anymore," he said, lowering his voice.

"I'm sorry?"

"Uh, it's getting late," he said, clearing his throat. "Maybe you should go get some rest. Today's been pretty busy."

"Oh, right," she said. She propped herself up and sat next to him before getting out of bed.

"Thanks for letting me try out your telescope," she giggled. "And that bit about the constellation, I honestly never knew that; pretty interesting."

"Although... I'm sure that if the part that you said about it being a small constellation is correct, it should've still been less bright than the others."

"Good night," she said one last time with her hand already on the door handle, smiling a little before disappearing outside.

You'd still shine so much brighter than everyone else in my eyes, he thought as he smiled back and said the same thing to her.

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She wasn't sure what happened last night. She wasn't sure of what he meant when he talked about the constellation that she apparently shared a name with; especially when he talked about how it shines brighter and more beautiful than the others. She wasn't sure why it felt so comforting when she was so close to him like that. She wasn't sure why she gets so giddy whenever he smiled at her or laughed when she said something silly.

What she was sure about, however, is that her smile grew wider whenever she thought of it again.

"Ara!" Mrs. Taylor's voice called from outside of her room. "You're awake yet? Go have breakfast, dear."

"Be right there!" she replied, still smiling.