Catboy

14: lloyd

Apart from the whole issue of trying not to kiss Julian, Lloyd thought that he was doing pretty well at this whole vacation thing.

He was somewhat inexperienced- his parents hadn't exactly had the time to take him places when he was younger. Once his little sister was born, whatever small time he had been afforded was stripped away. But he didn't mind all too much- he preferred to do his own thing anyway. The only issue was that, back when he was twelve, he didn't exactly know how to drive. Getting to soccer practice (twelve kilometres away) was a hard enough walk.

Getting to this place... now, that would have been an adventure.

He was lying on his back, staring at the stars. Julian was by his side. Even though it was cold, he couldn't feel it- wrapped up in a winter coat and sweatpants, he was free to just lay there and look up at the sky.

And that was the way he liked it. His parents had always said that he liked stars- when he was growing up, they told him, he would always try to pester them to go out at night. We tried to stop you at first, but if we locked you upstairs you'd just climb out a window and sit on the roof. We decided that it was probably safer for us all if we just let you out.

He didn't know what it was, but there was something so... cool about those stars. Like each of them contained an infinity. He'd read somewhere that living things contained a chemical only produced in stars. That meant that part of him, no matter what part, had come from stardust. That meant that part of him was special, magical. That meant that, maybe, he wasn't just the background kid anymore.

Of course, he knew that everyone else was made of stars too. It was just a fact- astrology, or some other branch of the kind. Physics. He wasn't quite sure.

But he was sure of one thing, and it wasn't backed up by any kind of scientific fact.

Some people have more of the stars in them than others.

And it was true. Some people, he'd noticed, waltzed through life with an easy gaze and a simple flick of their wrist. Some people were gently given everything in the whole world. Some people were blessed with every opportunity, with every chance, with no mistakes and no blemishes. Some people were lucky.

Those people were stars, but nothing more.

"Julian," Lloyd said out loud, and he felt the other boy shift next to him. "Did you know that stars explode a lot?"

Julian gave a short laugh, the kind that sounded a little bit like not this again. "Yeah, you've told me."

"But when they do, they make massive supernovas. And those are prettier than every other star, because they're bigger and brighter and stronger, even though they were formed under an enormous amount of pressure and destruction."

Julian had rolled onto his side and was now facing Lloyd, their faces inches apart. "Yeah, so?"

"Some people are like stars," Lloyd said, "and some are like supernovas."

Julian laughed. "That's deep, man."

"Shut up," Lloyd replied, but he was smiling. "I was just trying to be poetic."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Julian smiled. "Well, which one am I?"

Their faces were so close. A single movement would close the gap. A single movement would mean a kiss. A single movement would mean a kiss, a fear alleviated, a smile and a much lighter world.