When Stars Align

1.

Closing time at the observatory is always my favorite time of the day. I smile as I gently usher the final guests out into the parking lot. The keys jingle in my hand as I turn them and lock the doors. Before I go to turn off the lights, I do what I always do. I go to the room that we reserve for big parties and turn on the overhead show. The constellations light up the room and I watch them dance across the sky. A soft tune plays in the background: the chorale from Gustav Holst's 'Jupiter' from his greater work 'The Planets'. The lights above me stop and with them exits the music. I grab my bags and finally shut the building down, which causes a small pull at my heart every time I have to leave.

As I begin the three block trek back to my dorm, I hear talking coming from near the observatory exit. My head turns quickly and is met with four people going to the dumpsters with their skateboards. I could be bold and tell them that they need to leave before I call campus security, but being bold isn't really my strong suit. I let out a small sigh and decide to go ahead and make the journey back to my dorm. The only thing keeping me sane is the promise of a beautiful night's sleep at the end of this journey. With all of the lights coming from the city, it's very hard to see the stars as clearly as I would like to on nights like these.

At last my dorm building comes into view. I swipe my key card and put in my access code. The door doesn't unlock. I let it recalibrate and swipe my card again. I wait a few seconds and punch in my access code again. To my dismay, the door doesn't unlock again. "Here, let me try," a husky voice says behind me. I tremble slightly in the cold as the stranger swipes his key card and punches in his four-digit code. The door chimes and unlocks, allowing both of us into the dorm building. "Thank you," I say timidly, "You really saved me from a cold night." He chuckles slightly and smiles at me as he holds the door open for me to walk in. The light from the dorm lobby hits his eyes and I see an ocean of green. "I'm Benedict Mills," he says extending his hand. I meet his hand with mine and quietly reply, "I'm Ivy Park."

The walk upstairs to my room feels strange. How could I have never seen him around campus before? He had to at least be in my year, if not a year ahead of me. I turn the knob to my dorm-room and am greeted by my roommate, Natalia. "Hi, Nat," I say softly, "How was your day?" She smiles at me from her bed and says, "Same ol', same ol'. Very boring and very unproductive. How was the observatory?" My smile grew wide and I told her all about how amazing it is there and how happy I am to have gotten this job at the beginning of this school year. She laughs at how excited I am over working and how happy I am that it's about something that I love.

"Also," I add oddly, "my keycard didn't let me into the building tonight, so some guy let me in." She jolts up straight in her bed, "A boy?" I nod lightly and laugh at her excitement over the subject. "Go on," she says sassily. "His name is Benedict and I had never seen him before tonight," I say with a smile tugging at my lips. "A new transfer, probably," Natalia says with an edge of certainty. I smile and nod at her as I grab my pajamas and slip off my work clothes. "So," she says cheekily, "was he cute?" My cheeks begin to burn as I process her question. I think back to his deep green eyes and his sandy blonde hair all tousled and messy. His glasses that sat perfectly framing his face and the freckles that tattered his cheeks. "I guess so," I say embarrassed. Natalia takes the hint from my tone and turns off the lights for us to finally go to sleep.

The next morning I wake up bright and early for my next shift at the observatory. My eyes light up as I see the sun shining when I begin my walk to the observatory. There's a bit of a pep in my step as I think of how today will go. I work the morning shift on the weekends and it's exciting to see all of the parties that show up. So many little kids love to have their parties at the observatory so that they can see the stars and learn about the constellations. I go to my usual place as I await the first group of people to come inside and ask me to set up a room for them. The electronic bell sounds and I turn with a smile to greet the first few guests.

To my surprise I'm met with a familiar face. "Ivy Park," he says to me smiling, "what a pleasant surprise." I smile back and him and softly reply, "Benedict Mills. What on earth are you doing at the observatory at ten in the morning on a Saturday?" He chuckles softly and pushes his glasses back up to their original position with his index finger, "I have an assignment for my astronomy class and I thought that my inspiration would come easier if I came to the source." I smile softly as he hands me his debit card and I quickly hand him back his receipt. I then check him into one of our private showing rooms. I slide in the projector's disk and play the show for him. Forty-five minutes just for one astronomy assignment. He must be really dedicated to his studies.

I go back to my post and watch more people come and go, but all I can think about are those green eyes. Finally his forty-five minute show ends and I see him appear from the small showing room. He comes up to my post and I can see the smile forming on his face. "So," he says gingerly, "when do you get to leave today?" I smile lightly and say, "Actually, I have to leave in about twenty minutes or so." He smiles and his eyes dart away from mine. Is he nervous? Why would he be nervous? "So, Ivy Park," he begins quietly, "would you like to go for a walk with me when you get off of work?" My heart pounds in my chest. I grab my hair furiously and begin to run it through my fingers. Finally I respond to him, "Actually, I have a lot of schoolwork to catch up on and I try my best to do that before I can have any outside activities."

I look at the floor so that I don't have to catch a glimpse of those soft green eyes. "That's quite alright," he says sweetly, "I hope to see you around! Also, here, I don't need my receipt from the showing." He hands me the short piece of paper and leaves the observatory quietly. When my eyes trail down to the paper I see that he's written something on the back. 'Ivy - I had a feeling that you'd turn down my proposal, so instead here's a gentler and smaller offer. Here's my cell phone number in case you'd like to chat about the stars. Regards, Benedict'. My heart beats faster for a second and I think of nothing but those last few words, "in case you'd like to chat about the stars." And again the only thing on my mind are those soft green eyes.