Cassiopeia

Rooftop- Aaron

My heart was beating way faster than it should've been. I opened up the window and felt the cool air on my face. Just fifteen minutes earlier I thought I'd never do this again.

Naiomi was driving me home from therapy, I was staring out the window. Naiomi was blasting some meaningless pop music about love or heartbreak, they are so similar it gets mixed in my mind.

"Benji is still at home." Naiomi said.

"Oh really? Does he know where I was?" I asked, hoping he didn't.

"Nope, he's hanging out in the guest room." She replied. "You are both introverted losers." She laughed.

"Jump off a cliff, also Benji's an extrovert." I said.

"Wait really? Wow, he must just hate me." She smiled.

"Makes sense, you're very hateable." I responded. We drove along as the song changed to something about betrayal, the song sucked. We drove up the hill and closer to the house.

"Aaron." Naiomi said once we got to the house.

"Mhm?" I replied while unbuckling my seatbelt. I was only half paying attention to her.

"You should go to the roof again, but with Benji." Naiomi said. I paused and leaned back in my seat. I didn't really want to go to the roof, I didn't really want to stare at the stars again.

Then again, it would be different this time. Benji would be there, so maybe I should go to the roof. I looked up at the sky for a second and took a deep breath.

"Okay." I sighed.

"Wait really?" Naiomi said, surprised. "Well have fun!" I nodded and took another breath before getting out of the car.

So here I was climbing onto the roof, the wind blowing my hair in my face. Benji was following behind me, and looking up at the sky.

"Wow it's a really good view from here." He said.

"Yeah." I said but didn't look up, I just kept staring at the city. I sat down and looked at the twinkling lights and cars driving. I kept looking forward, making sure that I couldn't see the stars.

"Over there!" Benji exclaimed. I looked towards where he was pointing and my heart skipped a beat. I felt my palms get sweaty and everything felt like a dream. It was a grassy field that looked beige from here. It was nicknamed Lover's Field, because couples liked to go there.

"W-what about it?" I asked.

"It's where I saw the stars for the first time." Benji smiled.

"Oh." I responded. I was trying to calm down, but it was hard. Maybe everyone else knew the field as a great date place but when I see it all I can think of is stars. A car flipped on its side, and my eyes glued to the stars, so many stars.

Benji laid down and stared straight up. "You're not looking at the stars." He said.

"Oh, uh, sorry." I responded.

"Why don't you like the stars anymore?"

"I don't not like the stars, I'm just-" I didn't know how to tell him the stars were a nightmare I had to deal with everyday.

"There it is." He said.

"What?" I asked, still staring forward.

"Look up." He said, and the second he said it I looked straight up. I don't know what made me, but I wanted to see what he was talking about. And there it was, the paintings in the sky. The intricate patterns that made up the entire black canvas.

"Cassiopeia." I whispered.