Decemberland

Chapter 29: Eyes Like Stars

“So you had a brother too?” said Nico, finally deciding to break the ice. Trust, who had been looking lost for the past ten minutes since they left the McFeener house, broke his trance the moment she spoke up.

“Yeah. He was my twin. He and I were close. Like you and your brother.”

“And… what happened to him?”

Trust stared down at the ground, the same glossed over look in his eyes as when he looked at the picture. “He’s gone.”

Her chest throbbed lightly hearing his answer and she looked down at her feet as walked. It was just as she suspected, and part of her regretted asking.

“But he made me happy like no one else could make me,” he said. Surprised, she looked back up at him. He wore a small grin, the same kind of grin that lifted her spirits whenever she saw him. The same grin that made her smile, too.

“Really?” she asked, “How?”

“The way he smiled.” And how ironic it was that he had the very same smile. They made their way to the girl’s school dorm onto the third floor of exterior corridors where her room was and stopped right in front of it.

“Tell me more about your brother,” Nico requested, “Since you got to know so much about mine, after all.” Trust grinned at her and chuckled.

“He used to talk about weird things all the time with me,” he said, “For example there was this theory he had about the stars. He looked at them every night like something was out there, waiting for him. When I asked him what he was looking at, he said ‘the gods.’ Then he went on to explain that every star in the universe is like a small part of our gods, and all together they made its complete body. We all just live on one small, microscopic part of that god.”

He looked down at her, his red eye shining under the light of the moon. “Imagine, your body is full of millions of trillions of stars, all of them burning bright so you can live. It’s pretty amazing isn’t it?”

It became hard to speak for her. She had never philosophized in her life before since due to her limited imagination. The idea was like brilliantly shiny platinum coin in the center of her mind, and she wouldn’t let it go.

“My brother was my hero,” he said, breaking the short moment of silence, “He gave me my name. Said it was because he trusted me more than anyone else. I thought it was stupid. And at the same time I loved it.”

Trust had never talked about family or friends before. Listening to him now, looking so vulnerable, made her chest swell with emotion more and more. She clung onto every word he spoke.

“He had these brilliant blue eyes,” he said, “They were brighter than stars. Every time he looked at me, even if I was in the worst mood, I became happy.” He looked Nico in the eyes and smiled. She almost though that his eye was watering up. “Your eyes are kind of like his. Blue. And full of stars.”

Now she began to blush like she did back in the basement. On top of her burning chest and the light lump in her throat, if he said any more she would hyperventilate.

“Trust…” she said, her voice quivering, “How do I say this…” She struggled for the right words to say in her head, but it only came out one way. “You’re an amazing person. I don’t know why but, I feel like I can make a change for the better when I’m around you. That maybe… maybe I can make myself into someone better. Move beyond the need for thievery and live in a better world.” She slowly inched closer to him and his head didn’t seem so far away from her anymore.

He looked away, clearly wishing he hadn’t heard those words. “That’s… not true. I did absolutely nothing.”

“You made me feel welcome.”