The Stars Upon Us

Promises

Monday, August 10th
I opened my eyes as my vision and all my senses slowly came back to me. I slowly turned over to the side of my bed as I struggled to find my phone on the desk in the middle of the room. I eventually felt my phone in my hand and clicked the power button. The brightness of the screen blinded me as I mumbled oh fuck and shut my eyes closed. I turned down the brightness and checked the time. The white letters on my phone read 12:38am. It's already late, I should just go back to bed. I stayed silent for a moment as I stared at my lock screen which was Lee, AJ, and I in front of Times Square in New York. We all looked so happy together, I begin to wonder why Lee wanted to cut our time short by sending me to this school. Suddenly the light flickered on and I immediately covered my face with my blanket. "Who's there?", I questioned with my red and black blanket still shielding my face. I lowered down the blanket once my eyes were adjusted to the light and turned towards the door and saw Violet. She had a purple fluffy sweater on with blue jean overalls over and black and purple converse on with her blonde hair down. "Oh...hey Violet", I said tiredly as I sat up in my bed. "H-Hey Clementine...", Violet stuttered. "I didn't mean to wake you up, I just came in hear to escape Louis playing the same song on his piano". "I thought he played football", I said as I then remembered Louis saying how he'd rather be with his piano rather than in the football field. "Yeah, he does play football but he's also a piano player," Violet replied as she walked in and sat on her bed which was about 10 feet away from mine on the other side of the room. I got up from my bed and stumbled my way into the restroom and began to wash my face. I left the door open as I glanced up at the mirror and saw Violet looking in my direction. I turned around and Violet immediately turned away once again. I dried my face with a towel and walked back out and sat on my bed. Violet and I sat in silence for a second before she broke the silence. "So...how was your nap? You fell asleep pretty quickly", she said. I looked at Violet and she turned away and avoided making eye contact. "It was okay", I replied still looking at Violet. "That's okay, I guess", she said as she finally looked at me. We stayed staring at each other for a moment before I broke the connection and looked outside the window. I lifted my arm and opened the blinds slightly as I looked up at the sky. The sky was a dark shade of black with shining stars that filled the sky. I've always been fascinated with the stars that lie upon us. There's just some connection that I begin to feel when I gaze upon the stars. I slightly turned towards Violet who was also staring through the blinds at the stars. I turned my head forward back at the stars as I asked Violet, "Until what time are we allowed out?". Violet stayed looking at the window as she replied, "We're supposed to be in our dorms by 9pm...why?". I turned away from the stars and turned back towards Violet. "I wanted to go out and look at the stars", I replied with a slight frown knowing I couldn't leave the dorm. Violet got up from her bed and turned towards me then told me to get dressed. I gave her a confused look and she repeated herself, "Get dressed." I stood up and reached for blue skinny jeans, a stripped yellow and white shirt, my baseball cap and my boots. I went into the restroom and took of the clothes I was already wearing and put on the new clothes. When I finished getting dressed I looked up at the mirror and took off my cap to fix my hair. I put back on my cap and walked out of the restroom and put my clothes on the bed. I turned towards Violet who was waiting by the door. I grabbed my phone and put it in my back pocket as I walked towards the door. Violet opened the door and looked down the empty hallway with only one light on. Violet peeked her head out of the hallway then she turned back around at me and put her pointer finger to her mouth as a signal for me to stay silent. I gave a confirmation nod as she gave a small nod and whispered to me, "You're gonna see the stars, I promise". I gave her a small smile as she turned off our room light and closed the door then began walking down the empty hallway. I followed Violet out of our dorm down the hallway then down multiple staircases.

After many turns and stairs, Violet and I finally ended up in the main hallway of the school. Violet stayed in front of me as I stayed behind looking to make sure no one was following us. I saw a figure walking down the staircase and I immediately turned to Violet. I tapped on Violet's shoulder rapidly. "What is it, Clementine?", she whispered continuing to walk forward. My phone suddenly began vibrating in my back pocket. I felt my heart drop as I looked at Violet who's eyes were wide open. "Turn it off!", she whisper shouted to me. I rushed to my back pocket and saw that Lee was calling me. I turned my phone on silent which rejected his call then put it back in my pocket. I'm sorry Lee, I'll call back soon, I promise. Suddenly, there was a loud booming voice that came from the stair case. "WHOS OUT THERE?", the figure said as they flashed their flashlight down the hallway. I grabbed Violets hand and ran into an open classroom as she followed behind me hastily. The figure began to walk down the stairs and into the hallway. I stayed by the door in a crouch position peeking my head through the opening to see what they were doing. I turned towards Violet who was next to me also in a crouching position. "COME OUT HERE", the person demanded. I recognized their voice but I couldn't exactly put my finger on it. The person turned their flashlight towards our direction as Violet let out a small gasp I used my left hand to cover her mouth. Violet and I backed away from the door and moved towards the side still crouching as we leaned against the wall. "If you're in there I'm not gonna say anything, I just want to know who you are", they reassured us. I moved my hand from Violets mouth and gave her a reassuring nod and mouthed to her stay here as I began to stand up. Violet shook her head and mouthed no way as she squeezed my hand and tugged me downwards. The person walked in and looked down at Violet and I on the ground as they shined the light in our faces. "Louis!", Violet exclaimed, "You scared me you dipshit!". "Um...did I interrupt something?...", Louis said as he glanced down and Violet and I still holding hands. Violet and I looked at our hands then back to our faces. I never let go of her hand. I hesitated and let go of Violets hand as she put her hand back by her side. "If you guys were doing something I can go-", Louis began saying before Violet cut him off. "We're just going to go outside into the school yard, that's it. Now can you stop shining that light in our faces?," Violet said as she stood up and turned around to extend her arm to help me up. I accepted her offer and took her hand as she helped me off the ground. "Ah, such a gentleman—or gentle woman?...", Louis said as he looked at Violet helping me off the ground and lowered down his flashlight. Violet gave Louis a small glare as I stood next to her dusting myself off. Violet brushed the dirt and dust off herself as she turned back around at Louis. "What are you doing up so late anyways?," Violet asked as she made eye contact with him to attempt to intimidate him. Violet was small, maybe around 5'2, but she sure as hell could give a stare that could scare someone straight. "Yikes, no need to give me that death glare Vi, I just left the piano room and was wondering around the halls when I saw two figures walking which happened to be you two", Louis explained as he put his flashlight back in his pocket. Louis looked from Violet to me as he said, "Ah, orange, I didn't know you were such a trouble maker, never would've guessed.". I looked at Louis as I said defensively, "Guess that's why I'm here, right?". Louis gave me a confused look as well as Violet. "You know I was just joking right?...", Louis said as he gave me a concerned look. "Y-Yeah, sorry, let's just go back to our dorm Violet," I stuttered as I began to turn to walk out of the room. "You know I'm not gonna tell anybody, right?", Louis began saying as I turned back around, he continued, "My curiosity was just inevitable and I began wondering around, but whatever you guys were up to, you should continue". I gave Louis a small smile as he returned a warm reassurance smile. Violet looked at Louis and said, "Maybe I underestimated you Louis Smith". Louis gave a small smirk back as he said, "I'm pretty sure I got the right idea about you Violet Blackwell". Violet playfully punched his arm and turned back towards me and said let's go. All of us walked out of the classroom as Louis went a separate direction from Violet and I. I began walking down the hallway once again when I turned around and saw Louis walking up the staircase. I turned back towards Violet who was already looking at me. I looked at her but she still kept looking at me, I smiled and she smiled back then we both looked ahead of us. We reached the front of the school which was two big doors in front of us. "Ready?", Violet asked giving me a small glance as she held onto the doorknob. I nodded my head and replied, "Ready".