[ON HOLD] - Sweet Creature - [Outer Banks] - [JJ]

Grand Paradox

Song of the Chapter: Hot Wax by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

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About an hour had passed and any evidence of the sun had disappeared fully as well as all of the whiskey from the bottle that laid discarded in the sand. The sky was dark and the stars were out on full display. Remi sat against the tree John B and his pretty tourist friend had left a while ago. The bark scratched her back and she sat in the sand, her head tilted up to the stars as she gazed, captivated by their beauty. Beside her, JJ stared at the sky as well, trying to follow along to her every drunken, slurred word.

"-And there's this theory, that if you could taste the dust from a nebula- which you probably shouldn't do, I don't exactly know why but it feels like something you shouldn't do- anyway, if you taste the nebula, scientists think it would taste like raspberry. Which is like-really weird. But, it's because their chemical compounds are so similar. How weird is that?" The words spilled out of her mouth faster than JJ could fully comprehend. A light sheen was on Remi's skin, the hot North Carolina air making all of the teenagers sweat a little.

"Yeah." He muttered, actually listening.

"Space is just so weird! Its crazy how earth is the exact right distance from the sun to sustain life, any further or closer and nobody would be alive. And the stars- they're all like ghosts because if-if you think about it, their light takes millions of years to reach us so really, they're all dead! Like- they've all collapsed and it's like looking back in time!" She explained, her eyes never leaving the twinkling lights that had enchanted her thoughts. JJ glanced over, amazed by her intelligence. He'd never admit it, but he loved when she would ramble. She was the only one who could go on for as long as him. And she rambled a lot in his company. It was only exaggerated by the beer she had drank that night, loosing count of how many refills she gotten. She appreciated that he let her carry on, spilling every thought that had been stored in her mind from reading about all kinds of topics. Boys that she had been with and dated had always shushed her, having other things on their mind and never wanting to feel inferior to her intelligence. She was thankful that she had a friend who would always listen.

And listen, he did. It was like all of his worries faded away and she was the still point of his rapidly spinning universe.

"Weird." He simply said, looking back up at the sky. His eyes were squinted slightly, something he did when he had drank a lot.

It was rare that he didn't have anything to say back, so he just sat there, feeling swimmy from the alcohol. Remi's eyes stayed stuck on the sky, dancing over the Ursa Minor constellation and the Cepheus and Cassiopeia constellations, taking them in.

She remembered the late night she had spent at Sarah Cameron's house long, long ago. They had gotten onto the roof of the unnecessarily large house, staring up at the stars with snacks by their sides. Both girls had known that if Ward and Rose Cameron knew they were up there, they'd see no end to their punishments. Despite them being in elementary school, Sarah had been the one to tell Remi most of what she knew about the stars, random facts that she still knew. Now, Remi's eyes were stuck on the same stars she had seen that night. The memory was bittersweet.

Her eyes drifted down from the sky, feeling unsettled as if someone was staring at her. She glanced to JJ, yet the boy was watching the crowd. Looking to her right, she noticed Sarah Cameron standing with Topper and his friends. The girl was already looking back at her, and they both felt frozen in place. Remi knew Sarah had caught her staring at the stars and by the look on the girl's face, it must have hurt a little. Maybe she regretted shutting Remi out all those years ago.