Thousand Paper Cuts

Twenty-two : stars on the ground

Skye :

The night was going flawless, the way they both were alive in the livley city, overwhelmed by the feeling anonymous to most people.

While they were heading towards the national stadium, her phone rang, and she woke up from the infinite dream. It was Adam.
"Who's it?", he asked.
She turned off the phone, and simply said,
"Mia, my buddy."
"Why don't you pick it?"
The stars were aligned in the night sky. She breathed slowly.
"Because", she started nervously, " I just want it to be you and I tonight."
He grabbed her cold hand and kissed on top of it, and her whole body was fully aware of his soft touch ; like a butterfly flying against the wind. Something so fragile wrapped in a strong feeling.
"Who was that old man, though?", he asked out of nowhere.
"He's the librarian, and my good old friend. He's such a nice old fella."
She wanted to tell him about James, how he'd lost someone once. She wanted to lie down beside him and whisper his heart-stopping story, to make sure he would never do that. To make sure he'd never go away.
But she didn't say it out loud, because all those warm feelings she felt from inside would always come out as a gobbledygook from her mouth. Maybe that was the reason she wrote her feelings.
"You have many friends", he replied.
It wasn't quite true. She remembered back till High school, only Mia had been with her through the odds, the same way Adam was. Then there was also James, but that's all.
She didn't have many freinds, but being with him felt like she would never need anybody else. (Except Mia, she was irreplaceable)
"Don't you have friends?", she asked, while lightening up her American cigarette.
His grip somehow tightened on the steering wheel, and for a long time, he didn't say anything, and even in that silence, she noticed a beautiful light from his green eyes that would make everything better.
"I don't", he said, and continued, "Maybe because I'm not cool enough."
"Cool enough?", she giggled, "Well, I think that you can easily win over people. You're like James Dean, and every girl will love to be yours. Every girl wants you, because they think you are sexy."
He smiled.
"And, how can you know this, Skye?"
She looked at her lap for a moment. In her head, she was already writing :
Boy with beautiful green eyes who doesn't know he's pretty. Even the stars aligned themselves, just to get closer to his galaxy eyes. The boy who smiles like thousands of butterflies have entered his soul.
She leaned back comfortably and said,
"Because...when we were back at the hotel, there were many girls staring at you, but God, you were so unaware."
"You know", he softly said.
"Know what?"
"That I only have eyes for you", he replied, sounding like they were in a film.

When they were almost near the stadium, there were loud voices and music amid the frost air.
"JESUS!!", Mark shouted.
"You've figured out, haven't you?", she said while staring at the beam in his eyes.
He smiled flawlessly at her and asked,
"But....how will we get inside ? We don't have the tickets. GOD, CAN'T BELIEVE I'M HEARING STARDUST RIGHT NOW!!!!"
She flashed a crooked smile and told him to just park the truck outside the stadium, just like she'd planned.
Once they had parked, they could only hear the band's voices on the road, coming far from the opposite side of stadium.
They stayed in the parked car for a while. She could smell roses and perfume, and she wondered whether he slept in some rose bed every night.
His eyes were so happy, like a kid seeing sun rise for the first time. It reminded her of this poem her grandma used to read :

His eyes, bewitching, concerned
On me,,
And I can't tell
If it's my heart, or my soul
Tearing apart, coming home

"You go out, I'm coming", she ensured him.
When he stood out, on the road, just hearing the music, she took out her phone and read series of texts from Adam. He was saying that he was just outside her home few minutes ago, and it was his last day in New York. He would be going for the tour which was finally happening, and would be back after few months. She texted him back and told him she was far from home, and in all her lies, she felt an ache in the middle of her heart. But perhaps it was the last night she was lying to him.
"You coming?", Mark asked from outside, while standing on lonely road under road lights and stars.
She jumped out of the truck and felt a rush of cold air, but it felt real good. Everything felt good with him.
She stood next to him, and they were facing the walls of stadium. They couldn't see anything, but could hear beautiful old lyrics.