My Little Stargazer(Adopted by Remington Leith)

(11) - Stargazer

I woke up sometime later. It was obviously still night because the lights were off, it was dark out and it was really quiet. I had a headache and I needed to piss. I slid out of my bunk and walked down to the bathroom. While I was in the bathroom I heard a quiet thud. I didn't put much thought into it. It was late and I was tired. I finished in the bathroom and went back to my bunk. Cherry wasn't there. I started panicking. Until I heard quiet voices from the front of the bus. I walked down the hallway. Emerson was sitting on the couch, sketchbook open in his lap. He had one earbud in, the other was in Cherry's ear. He asked her a question. She giggled and nodded before yawning. She leaned against his side and closed her eyes. Emerson smiled down at her and then went back to his sketching. I stood there for a few minutes, contemplating what to do before shuffling back down the hall to my bunk. I fell asleep quickly and woke up a few hours later when the curtain was pushed back and Cherry was laid beside me. The curtain closed and Cherry curled into my side. I fell asleep again and didn't wake up until eight the next morning.

———

Things took an interesting turn around eleven. We had to do an interview and I didn't know what to do with Cherry. She didn't want to stay with Curcio because she didn't know or trust him.
"What do I do?" I asked Sebastian. He raised his eyebrows.
"These are the kinds of things you should've thought about before becoming her foster parent." He said.
"Not helping." I glared at him. After much discussion and deliberation I decided, since Luis was coming too, she could come with us and stay with him while Emerson, Sebastian and I did our interview. In my head this all made perfect sense and would work just fine. In reality she didn't really like the situation at all and well, I guess I'll just tell you the story.

———

   We were sitting there, answering questions, making jokes, typical interview stuff. I kept glancing at Cherry. She was standing behind Luis, thumb in her mouth. She wasn't happy, but she could see me and that seemed to appease her. Until Luis had to go do something and he couldn't take her and she didn't want to stand there alone. Before he could grab her she came running towards me. She climbed up in my lap and buried her face in my chest.
"I'm sorry." I told the interviewer. She smiled and assured me that it was fine. One of the behind the scenes guys came and tried to grab her from me. That was a really bad idea. She shrieked and panicked. The guy looked horrified and dropped her. Dropped her. She landed in a heap on the floor and burst into tears. I wanted to punch that guy and if there hadn't been a camera right there I probably would have. Anyway, I slid off the couch and pulled her into my lap. I comforted her and tried to get her to stop crying. It took a long time, but eventually she stopped and just sat there with her face pressed against my chest. I decided we were done and left. I apologized to the interviewer and walked out with Sebastian and Emerson following me. That interview was scrapped and no one ever saw it because there wasn't much to it. Luis apologized way more than he needed to and said he'd try not to let it happen again. Cherry took a nap when we got back to the bus and then refused to eat for the rest of the day. She got very crabby and irritable towards the end of the day and I finally managed to get her eat some fruit before bed.

———

I woke up around two am and had no idea why. I wasn't hungry, I didn't need to use the bathroom, I didn't have a headache. Then I realized that Cherry was gone. I slipped out of my bunk and walked down toward the front of the bus. There I found her on her knees on the couch staring out the window. She humming softly to herself as she stared at the stars.
"Whatcha doin'?" I asked her. She looked at me for a few seconds before answering.
"'Ookin' at da thaws." She whispered. I sat with her and looked at the stars until she fell asleep against the window. I carefully picked her up and took her back to the bunk. It was shortly after that that I took to calling her my little stargazer because I soon discovered that she loved the stars. I found her by the window so many nights. But it made her happy and I wouldn't take that from her.

Dedicated to aliyssaa and KarinaKnight! I hope you enjoyed it!

Avery L.