Among the Stars

Four

Contact between Milo and Rei had been stiff from that first conversation on. They didn't have a lot in common and Rei seemed far ahead mentally from Milo and all the other kids in their class. Conversations between them wouldn't go further than the usual small-talk about the weather. Even as soon as it seemed like it was moving toward that direction, both of them made effort to stir the subject towards something more general, to avoid awkwardness.

It wasn't until a few months later when they found a similar interest. The last block before lunch break had come and on this occasion their teacher always read a chapter of a book to the class. As they had just finished the last book yesterday, it was time to start a new one. Miss Gazzan took it out of her bag and showed it to the class before flipping it open. The cover immediately drew Milo's attention, it being almost entirely black, with a few white, light blue, and red dots and a title in large, white letters.

"Out of this World," read their teacher "is the title of this book."

"It is about a young girl who wants to become an astronaut and travel space when she's grown up."

In the first chapter, the girl, called Eli, had become obsessed with space. She dreamt about flying in rockets and spaceships and discovering the universe all the time and decided she couldn't wait until she was old enough to become an astronaut. Her plan was to sneak into a rocket just before it would launch so she could go to space.

Milo already liked the story and listened mesmerised, while Miss Gazzan read the first chapter. Halfway through, Milo realised he wasn't the only one interested in the story: next to him, Rei held a fascinated look in his eyes as he stared at Miss Gazzan. The boy had always looked so rational and stern to Milo, but at this moment, he was showing clear emotions.

Milo could see Rei was touched by the story and it even seemed like he lost his shield for a while, giving Milo direct access to his feelings. This was the moment that gave Milo hope again that they might become actual friends. However, the moment Milo had fully turned his head towards his classmate, Rei figured out exactly what was going on and, to Milo's discontent, shut his mind off again.

Over time, as the story progressed and the girl got found out by the crew of the spaceship, their friendship didn't progress and Rei only became more careful. Again, Milo had given up all hope to become friends with him and gradually started to think that maybe it was just him. Maybe, just maybe, it were his own poor social skills. On his side, he thought he could see Rei flash a little smile at him, one that was soaked with pity. Quickly his facial expression changed back to normal and he pushed his glasses up, as to say it was a mistake.

When the story came to an end, their friendship had in no way become more than it already was, no matter how emotional Rei got every time their teacher read a chapter. It was a shame, as Milo was really interested in his personality and it seemed like they both didn't have many friends. When Rei was introduced to the class for the first time, he had hoped that maybe, just maybe he could become Milo's first real friend.

Time went by and they spoke to each other less and less. While at first, Milo had regretted wasting his only chance to become friends with Rei, slowly he could see that he wasn't the only person at fault. Rei had done just as much effort as him to start a friendship -maybe even less- so he could be blamed just as much.

The only thing that still bothered him, even as months struck by, was that Rei didn't seem that bothered by the fact that he was always alone. Milo didn't like sitting on his own at the cafeteria at lunch, he didn't like walking home without anyone to talk to and he didn't like sitting in class like he was transparent to literally every other person in the same room. Still, Milo was sure the situation was exactly the same for Rei, but to Milo it looked a lot like he couldn't care less.