When the Stars Align

A Night on the Town

"How are we supposed to get in? We're not 21," I said stating the obvious.

Jake was already taking four cards out of his wallet. He passed them out. I looked down at mine. It read:

Clara McKeown

DOB: 8/19/96

I had always liked the name Clara, so I was okay with my fake name, but how was I supposed to pass as 22 years old? We entered the back of the line to get in.

"Jake, how did you even get these?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I have a guy."

Jake is one of those people that "has a guy" for everything. We were getting closer and closer to the bouncer.

"Just follow my lead, okay?" Sophie said looking at me. Then she glanced at Alec and Jake. "Also, we're not together until we're inside."

Finally, it was our turn. The bouncer was already looking a little skeptical. My palms began to sweat.

"IDs please," he said.

Sophie handed hers over. She twirled her dirty blond hair flirtatiously. He handed hers back and looked at mine.

After looking at it for a moment, he let us in. Alec and Jake followed seconds later. The club was packed. Music boomed from all directions.

"You want to dance?" he yelled loudly in my ear.

I nodded as he led me onto the dance floor, Sophie and Jake behind us.

"I need a drink," I said after a few songs.

Jake nodded. "I'll be right back."

Song after song played. The neon lights above us lit up the room.

"Anyone cute you see in here?" Sophie yelled over the music.

I hadn't really noticed the people around me other than the couple devouring each other's faces in the corner. I looked around and spotted a dark-haired boy off to the side. He was sitting alone at a table, but he was staring right at me. His eyes were this beautiful brown. Most brown-eyed people wished their eyes were another color such as blue or green. I personally loved brown eyes. They were huge, sweet, and innocent.

His dark brown hair had a single streak of silver in it. When he noticed me looking at him, he held my gaze for a second before dropping his head. I turned back to Sophie.

"He's kind of cute," I said pointing as subtly as I could to where the boy was sitting.

"Where?" she asked.

"At the table over there," I replied being more direct.

He noticed me pointing and started to look alarmed.

"I still don't see who you're talking about, but you should go say hi," Sophie encouraged.

I nodded and took a deep breath. I pushed through the tightly packed people. He was only a few yards away from me now. I tried my best to glide gracefully across the floor, but I ended up looking more like a giraffe in heels. He gripped the edge of the table as if bracing himself as I neared.

"How did you get that streak of silver in your hair?" I asked him dumbly.

I could've asked him what his name was or something, but no, I asked him about his hair. I'm such an idiot. He looked taken aback by this. Sophie and Alec came up behind me before he could respond.

"Who are you talking to?" Alec asked.

"What are you talking about?" I said nodding in the boy's direction.

"Nova, you do know that there's no one there, right?" Sophie asked concerned, as if I was a child.

The boy with the silver streak watched the scene before him unfold without saying anything.

"Is this a joke?" I asked her.

"You have a lot going on right now, maybe we should just go home," Alec said.

I looked at the boy, confused. He raised one eyebrow at me looking very unimpressed. Jake returned with four shot glasses.

"It took me forever to find you guys," he said putting them on the table as if he didn't even notice the boy.

"We're going home," Sophie said to Jake.

"What? But we just got here," he replied.

"It's not a question," she said as they led me towards the door.

I looked back. The boy was watching me silently as I stepped onto the dimly lit streets.