The Radiant Reira

6. A Constellation

"Reira, some boy is here to see you" Her dad called out.
He was waiting by the door to be greeted by her father, he saw a nice middle class home with a modern touch. His voice was a bit shaky, he had the feeling that he was meeting a girlfriend's father for the first time.

"Hey Ryan!" Reira exclaimed.

"Hey, uh actually it's-" He said as he then was interrupted by her father.

"I didn't know you're going on a date today Rei?"

"Daddy it's nothing like that!" She blushed. "We're just working on a big project today for Geology" She smiled.

"Alright" Her dad said with a tone of silly suspiciousness, "I have to go back to work, I love you and good luck on your guys' project"

He walked in a little nervous but admired the look of the house, he also admired the way she looked today. She was dressed up in a sundress with less makeup, and she invited him to the basement where they would brainstorm ideas and eventually start the project.

She had a whole set up, she had a couple of cameras and a poster board right there.
"Uh I thought we were going to brainstorm ideas." He smiled shyly.

"We are! But I have a concept already."

"Why are there cameras? Are we taking photos of the sky?" He laughed.

"No silly! We're going to relate daily life to the stuff that happens in the universe. We'll make it poetic and visually appealing." She explained.

He was confused. "And it'll be a stand out piece!" She added.

He had absolutely no idea what he got himself into, but all he knew was that he had to run with it. They started working on creating an outline, the plan was to take photos of significant life events and relate it to events in the universe. That involved a lot of metaphors and similes, and it wasn't going to be easy, they also had to write an essay and present it to the class.

The first comparison she had involved was "The Big Bang," a person who has all the charisma and materials to create something but lacks the glue to put everything together, finally realizes the kind of power they have and decides to own it, which creates a big explosion that generates something powerful.

"That is quite interesting." He told her.

"We can use that and elaborate on the more scientific part of it!" She exclaimed.

"What is the message though? Like why do you want to tell these deep stories for a science project?" He asked.

"Why are you so negative Ryan?" She asked.

"Actually my name isn't-"

Reira let out a big sigh and he looked into her eyes. "You are weird." He said with grin

Reira smiled, "Was that a genuine question or were you just being sarcastic again?"

"It was a real question, I'm sorry I came off as rude..." He said.

"I just want people to see that the universe is experiencing itself through you..." She took a pause and looked right into his eyes, "You are the universe and these 75+ years we're living aren't even close to how long it's existed and -"

"I am going to ramble on and on. Also, why are you looking at me like that?" She blushed shyly.

He looked at her in awe, he adored her passion for the study of the universe, even if she didn't make a whole lot of sense to him.

"Nothing," He smiled.

"I'm thinking we can do another comparison, like a constellation and its origins, then we can elaborate on science." She insisted.

"What constellation?" He asked, interested in what she'd say.

"Hmm... What about Cygnus or Carina?

He's never heard of those constellations.

"Or Orion." She suggested.

He laughed which resulted in her looking at him, confused. "You know how you've been calling me Ryan?"

"Duh, it's your name." She said awkwardly.

"My name is actually Orion but you keep calling me Ryan." He told her.

She was silent and shocked, she immediately started apologizing and felt bad for misnaming the boy she supposedly was quite fond of. She did find it cool that he was named after a strong demi-god, it actually made her more attracted to him.

"We could always tell your story." She said.

He was surprised she would suggest implementing a story about him in the project because there really wasn't any story he wanted to tell. He didn't view himself as the memorable Orion who was a famous huntsman and god, he was a 16 year old boy who spent most of his time doing homework. Nevertheless, she asked for his story, wanting to learn about who he was, after a couple hours of outlining and creating two comparisons, they took a break and sat on the couch. Now, there was no kissing or getting all cozied up together, he was a gentleman and she was genuine with her curiosity in who he was. Reira was so open, she told stories about her travels, her parents, and what she enjoyed doing in her freetime. She made him feel comfortable, he felt that he could let loose and talk about the things he likes. He really enjoyed taking photos for the yearbook, he enjoyed skateboarding, he enjoyed reading, and she could relate a lot to him. It was clear to Orion that Reira is who she is due to her loving parents, it was clear to Reira that although Orion didn't give himself the credit, he was a fighter, no matter what obstacle he came across. He was hardworking, kind, and she was surprised he opened up to her.

"Any dreams?" She asked.

He felt that he was on a drug that made him feel extremely calm and unafraid, that drug being Reira. "I don't actually wanna be a doctor, the last thing I wanna do is look at blood and tell people they're about to die on a daily basis." He laughed.

"Well if you could be anything..."

"A photographer." He said with a smile, "I actually really appreciate the art but people would rather have me do something that brings in the money."

"You should pursue it, there's a lot of directions you can go into." She said.

He shrugged with a faint smile.

"What're your dreams Reira?"

"My dream is to one day have a constellation named after me."