NEIGHBORS.MARK

four

The two left the grocery store and walked a few streets over to a cafe. They entered and quickly ordered their beverages before sitting in the corner of the cafe, closest to the window.

"We should have gone to the cafe first." Mark admitted as he lugged the groceries in his hands.

Ava laughed at him and shrugged her shoulders, "It's okay. I'll help you carry them."

"No, I wouldn't want you to-"

"It's the 21st century, women can do the same shit men can do." Ava argued as she took two of Mark's bags and set them on the floor near her feet.

Mark laughed at her comment and watched as she took out her phone and snapped a photo of herself with the window behind her. After several more minutes, Mark started tapping his foot on the table which made Ava look up from her phone.

"You okay, Thumper?"

"Thumper?"

"Yeah? The rabbit from Bambi? He's always tapping his foot?" Ava explained as Mark finally realized what she was talking about.

"Haha funny." He said sarcastically.

"Thank you, I'll be here all week." She joked as she turned off her phone and rested it on the table.

"So Mark, what are you gonna study."

"Well, Ava - Neighbor, I'm gonna be studying business management." Mark explained.

"Ohhhhh, you want to be a millionaire." Ava lightly joked as he started to chuckle.

"Something like that."

The lady from the cafe came and put their drinks down. They each said thank you and began drinking their orders. "What about you, Ava? What are you here to study?"

"Astronomy." She smiled.

Mark could tell that something just about the word made her heart bubble. It was like the tough girl Mark was getting used to had just disappeared. He laughed, the glint in her eyes quickly slipping away, "What?"

"Nothing, just never pegged you to be an Astronaut." Mark answered as she put her drink down.

"Not an Astronaut, an astronomer."

"What's the difference?" Mark asked.

"An astronaut is a space explorer while an astronomer is a space researcher." Ava explained the differences in a way that Mark could understand it.

He nodded as he came to understand the terms, "And what makes you so interested in Astronomy?"

Ava gave an unsure noise, "Well, haven't you ever wondered how large the universe is, or how many galaxies there are? Or what the moon is made out of? And why the stars twinkle? I think about that a lot- why the stars twinkle. I think the stars are the most fascinating part of space. They're so big but appear so small. And we often romanticize stars but they're literally hot balls of helium and hydrogen. And they twinkle because they're passing through our atmosphere which makes the air bend the light, thus, making them twinkle. Isn't that cool, air bending light?"

Mark sat in a silence induced by awe. To hide his admiration he gave a quick chuckle, "Oh my god, you're a nerd."

Ava laughed, too. "You're right. But I love it. I love space and the moon and the galaxies and the universe. They're so mysterious and so luring."

Mark smiled at her as she geeked out. He wished he had something to be that passionate about. Or even someone. He wanted to have what she has. He wanted that fire for something that made life impossible to not think about it. He wanted to think about something or someone and wanted his mind to spiral out of control. He wanted that badly.

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This is how I feel about forestry 🥺🥺 I love Forestry so so much. I'm such a nerd

-Mames