The Story of How We Met

Chapter 4

"I am starting to believe something is going on between those two." I squinted my eyes, thinking about it. I thought Mary Angel liked Julien, but she barely spoke to him, while she would look at the ground whenever Gary said something to her.

"Oh, yeah. They have a thing for each other."

We were walking in a straight line through the roadside, and I tried not to think about coyotes or horror movies.

"Hey, it's getting cold." Julien put his coat over my shoulders. "The stars will show up in a little while." He stared at the sky. "I'm still having fun after all."

"Me too. It could be worse."

"I could be a douchebag."

"That would suck." I laughed.

"This was such a stupid idea. I owe you an apology. Although the original idea was not mine, I am the one who challenged him. I didn't think he would do it for real. I mean, if it were not for Gary acting as a medieval warrior whenever he is close to Mary Angel, I am sure he wouldn't have done it." Julien rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. "Sorry to drag you into this."

"I got in the car on my own. You didn't force me, so yeah, no problem," I added with a smile. "But yes, it was a shitty idea."

"Having stupid ideas and acting impulsively is a family tradition for us. At least it works to impress girls, according to him."

"Well, it seems to be working out just perfectly for your brother. I hope he doesn't break her heart. She is a nice girl."

"Yes, she seems to be. Alana doesn't like her though. Do you know what happened between them? I don't want this to become a problem for Gary."

"More or less. I forgot half of the drama, but basically they were friends until they were not, and nowadays Alana can't stand her. But you know, she is your girl, so you should talk to her."

"Yes, I guess we are dating, aren't we?"

"Are you asking me?" I couldn't help but laugh at him.

"It was so sudden. Gary is the hot brother; I am the nerdy one." He sighed. "I am not used to having a girlfriend, let alone it happening so fast. I don't understand it very well, not to mention the 'do's and don'ts.' Gary is the one 'guiding' me, but now I am starting to wonder if he knows how to deal with this." Julien stuck his tongue out.

"The flowers were a good idea." I shrugged. "I am not an expertise on dating, but I can give you some tips."

Damn it, Sarah, I said to myself. Here was I, in the middle of nowhere, discussing someone else's relationship and offering help!

"I've been reading some books about it, they were not exactly what I would call helpful." He gave me a half-smile and pulled his glasses off to clean them on his shirt. "So yeah, I could use some tips."

Julien winked at me, and I doubted the "Oh-no-I' m-a-nerd-help-me-please" speech. He was cute, and he definitely knew it.

"Look, there you go. They are starting to show up." He pointed at what to me looked like a star. "But it's not a star though, it's a planet. That's Jupiter."

"Really? It looks like a star to me." He smiled without taking his gaze from the planet or star or whatever the little shining point in the sky was.

"Jupiter cannot ever be one. Some scientist says it's a failed star, but I don't like this terminology. Did you know Jupiter is rich in hydrogen and helium but doesn't have nearly enough mass to trigger a fusion reaction in its core? It would need more than seventy times its current mass." He seemed to shine while talking about the stars.