Watching for Comets

Wednesday

Wednesday afternoon, as I waited for Jason, I practiced how I was going to ask him to the night sky viewing. The pressure I was feeling seemed out of proportion to the event itself; with other people there, it wasn't even a date, and if he declined, I already knew it wasn't me he was rejecting.

I started with, "Did you have plans for us this evening?"

He hummed pensively, which coming from him sounded like music. "Nothing specific. Did you have something in mind?"

"Well..." I told him about my professor's plan to set up the fancy telescope, letting the question of whether or not we should go see it hang silent and implied.

"Is your ex going to be there?" Jason asked.

I winced, a little embarrassed he got there first before I could preempt him. "Yes. Can you manage to be around him without starting a fight?"

Jason didn't seemed pleased at that, but nonetheless agreed.

"And one more thing..."

"Yes?"

"You know how I said I wasn't in the closet, but wasn't exactly out either...?"

"Hands off. Got it." Again, in spite of the fact that he didn't hesitate to concede to my request, he clearly wasn't happy about that either.

"If you're not comfortable with that, we don't have to go," I quickly offered.

Just as quickly, he shook his head. "If you want to go, we'll go. I want to experience things you like, too."

And so, at sunset, I walked him over to the lawn behind the science center. As the crowd of people came into view, I let Jason's hand slip from my fingers. As soon as Henry spotted us, his glare honed in on Jason, scrutinizing him from head to foot.

Jason leaned in and whispered to me, "Is Henry the one staring me down?"

"Yeah," I grumbled, glaring back. It took Henry a solid minute to notice and turn back around. At least Jason found it funny. I wondered if he was questioning why I didn't introduce him to anybody. "Looks like the professor is still setting up," I told him, hoping that was a good enough explanation for why were standing out of the way.

"That girl," he spoke up, "she saw us holding hands the other day."

"Krista?" She was helping the professor calibrate the telescope. "She won't say anything. She doesn't say much at all, actually."

"Really? She was talking to me."

"About what?" I tried not to sound jealous.

"About you."

I felt my muscles tense. Krista normally kept her opinions to herself, but... "What about me?"

Jason seemed surprised at the cutting edge to my tone. "Nothing bad, I promise. Why would you assume that?"

I quickly shook my head, averting my eyes. "Nothing," I muttered, and waited for him to answer my original question.

"As a matter of fact," Jason continued, "she was only saying great things about you – like how smart you are, and dedicated, and kind..." As he trailed off, a teasing lilt in his tone caught my attention. I hazarded a glance back and found a pointed stare with a matching smirk.

"What are you saying? You think she's into me?"

"That's one explanation for why she was upset when you took my hand."

I grimaced. I was hoping he hadn't noticed. However, I had assumed it was because she had wanted something to do with him.

"Have you thought about asking her out?"