A Sky Full of Stars // m.g.c. [COMPLETED]

I think I saw you

Aeryn stared at the stranger without blinking, confused on why there was a random boy in her house.

"Aeryn, don't be rude. Introduce yourself," her father pushed her. Timidly, she went up to the smiling blonde boy.

She stuck her hand out, purposely aiming for his face. "I'm Aeryn and this is my house."

The boy continued to smile, unfazed. "Hi! My name's Michael. Mummy said I'm meeting a new friend."

"We are not friends."

Their parents chuckled.

"Aeryn, behave," her mother warned.

Aeryn looked at him thoughtfully. "I have a toy I want to show you."

Their parents conversed as Aeryn lead Michael to her room. She plopped him onto the floor while she sat on the rug.

"I sit on the rug, you sit on the floor." Michael nodded gleefully as Aeryn showed him her wide collection of dolls.

She pointed to her dolphin plushie. "So, this one. I got it at Disney," she spoke slowly, remembering the day. "This one at the restaurant, this one from Mumma, this one from Daddy..."

That was how they continued for the next two hours; Michael listening to Aeryn babble about all of her thoughts until Aeryn's mother appeared in the doorway, telling the pair that it was time to go.

Aeryn stood up and said goodbye to Michael, but he engulfed her into a hug before she could say the second consonant. She scowled at him, but she didn't push him away.

"Bye!" Michael squeaked. The three went downstairs and they waved to each other as Michael and his parents left.

By the time the family visited for the fourth time, Aeryn wasn't as apprehensive. She learned that Karen—Michael's mother—was Aeryn's mother's highschool best friend, and that they had recently moved into Aeryn's neighborhood, just across the street.

They were six when they met that day, and grew up those two years together.

It was Aeryn's eighth birthday—Michael being eight and three quarters—when they had a small birthday party for Aeryn. The few friends of Aeryn that came had left by sundown, leaving Michael and Aeryn.

Deciding to take a little walk before the sun disappeared completely, they found out that the tiny playground down the street had a spectacular view of the sky. There were no trees to block their field of vision, and the moon lit up the ground around them.

They stayed there for hours, looking at the sky and talking about their week, memories they had when they were younger, and simple shapes they found in the stars.

"My mum said that when I was 5, we went to this farm and I had these pigs on my lap. For some reason," she giggled, "I chucked them at my dad. Mum had to tell me to stop."

They laughed at the story.

"Look at that!" Michael gasped.

"Look at what?"

"That! It flew!"

"A shooting star?"

"You've seen one before?"

"Of course, I've seen three of them before."

"Well, I've seen one," he laughed.

"I'm better," Aeryn giggled.

Michael turned to her. "Do you have a brother?" Aeryn shook her head. "Why?"

"Mum said I was almost taken when I was 4. I think that scared her too much."

"Taken?"

"Away."

"By the bad men?"

Aeryn nodded. "The bad men," she repeated.

It was silent until Michael blurted, "I like this."

"Like what?"

"Like you," he grinned.

Aeryn flushed. "I like you, too, and this star session."

"Star session?" Michael's tongue twisted with the alliteration.

"That's what this is, right?"

"Well, yeah, but star session sounds boring." Michael switched his position to lay on his stomach. "How about... constellation convention," he emphasized.

"Those aren't words, Michael."

"Dad told me about them. Constellations are shapes that stars make, and a convention is a large meeting. Dad goes to them once a month for work."

"It's only us two, not a large meeting."

Michael shrugged. "We could be our own large meeting." Michael searched for the right words. "Our own little big group."

"That doesn't make sense."

"Aeryn," he whined.

"Fine, fine," she laughed. Pondering for a bit, she agreed. They could be their own little big group. "Okay," she smiled. "Our own little big group."