Stellar

Chapter Seven: Quality Time with Simon Dorito

Note: Character art of Lucine above :)

***

 She spent the entire day searching for a goth and a dorito.

After declaring the science hall fixed and the school safe from more 'accidental' explosions, Little Rock High School reopened its doors that Monday. From what Lucine could tell, many students hadn't bothered coming back that first day; the hallways seemed far less chaotic than usual.

For some reason, she had expected to easily find the goth girl with her holographic lipstick and undead skin pallor. Throughout the day, though, not a single flash of her phone-stealing existence showed itself. By the time Lucine trudged into her last hour class, she had basically given up and turned her sights to the dorito kid.

She couldn't actually remember the boy's name, only that it sounded like Simon Dorito. And that was good enough for her. All she knew was that the golden-skinned boy she had tripped over at the Roller Space and Dine was definitely a Stellar--possibly a universe-destroying one.

Astronomy class--the class she had been dreading ever since her father had handmade his daughter's schedule--was exactly how she envisioned it: cringey. Cheap star stickers plastered to the paint-chipped walls. The carpet was a mixture of swirling Jupiter colors and what looked like toddler vomit. The air smelled of aromatherapy--probably the type that was supposed to make you relax.

The tension in her shoulders said otherwise.

Her eyes slid over the room, ping-ponging between the seats. Unlike every other class with their characteristic desks and stiff chairs, beanbags patterned like planets had been scattered about the room--five of them exactly. Three were occupied already. On Neptune sat a dark-skinned girl twirling her black pigtails with dagger-like nails. As though sensing Lucine's stare, the girl's eyes snapped up to Lucine. Bright crimson eyes glared back at Lucine, seeming to glow.

Lucine immediately turned away with a shudder and shuffled toward the nearest seat. She plopped down on Venus, her weight sinking into the plush surface.

The teacher sat at his desk, his finger poking a baseball bobblehead back and forth. He was a skinny stick-of-a-man wearing tight-fitting jeans and a neatly-pressed buttoned shirt. The light of his computer screen flashed across his narrow-framed glasses. The more the man poked his bobblehead, the less invested in reality he seemed to be.

Lucine sighed. This class was going to suck.

Movement stirred beside her. A blob of dark brown moved across her peripheral vision, making her tense. How hadn't she realized she had sat directly next to someone? Already, she felt the grip of her social eclipse creeping in, there to curse her with eternal awkwardness.

A light tap pecked her shoulder. Lucine flinched, eyes jumping to the person beside her. At the sight of familiar honey brown eyes, every ounce of tension fled her body.

Astro cocked his head at her. "Sorry, Solo, didn't mean to scare you or anything."

She smiled back, relieved. "Thank Orion you're here. I thought I was gonna have to endure this dumb class all by myself."

"Yeah, well, we're not alone," Astro said, a sudden growl in his voice. She followed the trail of his gaze over her shoulder and onto the figure of the third person in the room. He sat tall and proud, his skin seeming to meld into the Sun-patterned beanbag.

Instantly, her mind bucked back to only a few days ago, when she had ended up in a bodily tangle on the skating rink. The boy's face was unmistakable.

"It's Simon Dorito!" she whispered. Astro cast her a surprised look.

Could she just approach him right now and ask? Hey, are you by chance related to a star, which would give you enough power to destroy the universe?