In Between The Stars

A New Day

"Hey, Jess!" I greet the tall girl standing by her locker as I make my way to my classroom.

"Hi, Akira." She waves and flashes me a lovely smile.

I'm unbelievably happy today. And that's because Dylan bought a new phone for himself and we text each other all the time! I love you technology!

We had an exceptionally interesting conversation this morning (that's because I was a part of it and dumb people always make conversations interesting).

Me: Dylan! You're the algae to my lichen!
Dylan: Baby? Are you calling yourself fungus?
Me: Ok bye! I'm gonna go kill myself.
Dylan: Nah. You're too cute. I won't take you. I love you.
Me: I love you so much! It kills me!
         PS: See what I did there?
Dylan: Yeah. That was sophisticated. I had to read it twice to understand :p
Me: Shut up. I gotta go now. Bye, sweetpumpkin.
Dylan: I'll miss you. Bye cutepixiepuff, yumraddish, bluemuskymuffin, sweetpotatopins and a million other meaningless words.

So yeah. We're officially in a relationship.

I walk in and find no one but Kriya in the class. She's wearing a deep frown and is rapidly texting away on her phone. I tiptoe to my seat, quietly place my bag down and walk back to the door. I'm about to exit the room when I hear her yell and I turn around.

"Damn you!" She hollers and flings her phone at the wall. It shatters to pieces and falls to the floor. I rush to her and ask her if she's okay.

"Why do you care?!" She snaps at me. "Just get the hell out of here and leave me alone!"

"Fine!" I growl and take a few steps away from her. She pulls her knees up to her chest and hides her face in between her thighs. I'm about to give up and walk out the door when I hear her sobs.

I shuffle to her side and lay a hand on her head. She doesn't respond for a moment and then she leans against my torso, wraps her arms around my waist and begins crying into my shirt. I rub my hand in soothing circles over her back as she lets whatever is bothering her go through her tears.

She continues to weep as a few students file into the classroom; they offer me weird looks but I successfully ignore them. When she's finally done, she lets go of me and flops back onto her chair. I prop a hip against my table and watch her.

"Will you tell me now?" I ask her briskly.

"I don't know..." She snivels.

"Cut out the crap and just tell me."

She retrieves a napkin from her pocket and blows her nose and I realize that it is both fascinating and terrifying to see Kriya with her guard down.

"Nick and I....we've been going out for months now." She says and I roll my eyes. Months? I should've known. "Yesterday, I called him to ask if he wanted to go out for dinner and he said he was busy helping his father out with some online banking stuff. So I went out with my cousin. And as soon as we entered the restaurant, I saw..."

The rest of her words are incoherent as she speaks them into her kerchief.

"You saw what?" I ask her and she looks up at me with her red, puffy eyes.

"I found him in the restaurant with my best friend." She wails.

"So maybe they were just.... You know.... I don't know...." I try to console her hopelessly.

"He had his hand on her thigh." She blubbers.

"I'm really sorry." I say and mean it.

She looks up at me again and says, "No. I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For everything, Akira. Especially about what happened at the theater." She says and takes my hand in hers. "Sit down." She orders and I comply.

"Back in seventh grade I had a.... I had a crush on Nitin." I listen to her words in utter shock. Nitin?! "When he asked Trisha out, I was broken. But I thought that maybe they wouldn't last long; that it was just silly infatuation. But they remained strong and I had to take it out on someone and I couldn't bear to hurt Trisha, I couldn't hurt someone he loved. So that's why I chose to pester you, because you were her best friend and I hated you just as much. I know that I've been reckless and that I don't deserve your forgiveness. But I have to apologize. I'm really sorry, Akira. You're a great person and I'm sorry that I failed to see that."

I let out a long breath after her speech as I realize that the smiles she's been flashing me these past few days have been actual smiles and not sneers.

"You'll never be able to pull them apart, you know that right?" I ask her.

"I know. And I have absolutely no intention to do it."

I offer her a smile. "Forget about Nick. You deserve better. He was a pig anyway."

She wipes her nose with her handkerchief and beams back at me.

***

"Dylan?" I call as I walk through the battered door of his house. I had asked him yesterday if he knew anything about the first time we'd met, back when I was a baby. And he'd said that he could recall nothing but one word that kept tearing his mind apart whenever he tried looking back on that time: Run! And I had grudgingly dropped the topic.

"Dylan?!" I holler once again with a tad more impatience when I reach the living room.

"He's up in his room." A curt voice says from the couch.

"Tristan?" I ask. I can only see the back of the ghost's head from where I stand.

"No." He replies and turns onto his belly and peers at me over the armrest of the couch. It's Ahaan.

"Oh. Okay. Thanks." I say and just stand there like an idiot.

He stares at me fixedly as I fidget with the hem of my shirt. I freak out and snap at him. "What are you looking at?"

"No, nothing. You just remind me of someone." He says and flips onto his back.

I don't respond to that as I make my way up the stairs. And then I shuffle back down.

"Which is his room?" I inquire him.

"Third one to your right." He answers in a cross tone and I pivot and bounce up the stairs once again.

I slowly push the door open to find a blue room which is completely empty but for a reading table, a chair, a wooden shelf heavily stacked with different kinds of paper and a modest closet.

He is sitting at the table, his back to me and his feet propped up on the windowsill. As I move closer, I find that he's busily scribbling something onto a small notebook.

I quietly snake my arms around his neck and he starts and hastily shuts the book.

"Akira? What are you doing here?" He asks as he gets to his feet and takes me in his arms.

"I came by to meet my boyfriend. Have you seen him?"

"Oh, that loser? Why you would love someone like him is beyond me." He says as we sway from side to side.

"Because I'm the only one who can." I quote him and he smiles.

He leans closer and I bite my lip as his cool breath tickles my skin. I rise up to the tips of my toes and it's about to happen. Oh, it's finally about to happen!

"Dylan!" I hear someone yell from downstairs. I think it's Grace. I curse under my breath and let go of him. I take a few steps away from him when he grabs hold of my hand and pulls me back.

"Next time." He whispers into my ear and my breath hitches in my throat. "I promise."

He steps back and moves to the door. He turns to me with his hand on the knob. "I want to meet your family." He tells me and I blink to imply my approval.

He smiles, that lopsided charm, and leaves.

I, however, stay frozen.