Rainbows in the Night Sky

The Stars

It was midnight on a cool evening. I remember it was May, and it was a few days before my 15th birthday. Me and my best friend, Jackson, had snuck out of our houses in the suburbs and were sitting in the middle of a field not too far away. I laid back, admiring the stars overhead, like we did every night. 

"Found it," Jackson stated. I sighed. He had found the big dipper, a constellation that we raced to find each night. 

"You got a head start. You were peeking before we arrived," I playfully nudged him. "What's that one?" I asked, pointing to a constellation that I had never noticed before. 

"That's Aquila. It's supposed to be an eagle, and contains one of the closest stars to earth, Altair, which is only about 17 light years away." he informed me. I liked learning about the different types of star formations, but I never could understand how he knew so much. 

"What about that one?" I asked again, this time pointing to a larger one. 

"Lupus. It's a wolf. It contains a star bigger and brighter than the sun," 

"Wow," That was all I could say. 

"I'm sorry, I'm a big astronomy nerd," He said, sitting up. 

"Like I can't tell?" I laughed and sat up as well. But Jackson didn't laugh. He looked out at the field, his body stiff. 

"It's the one thing I know I can rely on. Other than, of course, you," He looked and me and smiled. "But I can freely vent to the stars, and I don't get judged, or made fun of. They don't make any statements, or offer any advice. But they listen," After a few moments of silence, neither one of us knowing what to say, he continued to talk. 

"I figured that they know enough about me, that I might as well get to know some stuff about them, you know?" I nodded at his statement. 

"I plan on working in the field of astronomy when I grow up. There, I can always be near the stars," He sighed. "What about you?" 

"I don't know. I'm only 14..." 

"Almost 15." He interrupted. 

"Okay, almost 15. But it's not a big priority of mine in figuring out what I want my career to be," I explained. 

"You've always been good at writing, Hunter." He stated. I smiled at him. 

"Really? I wouldn't say that I'm that good..." I started. 

"Are you kidding me? You're great! I could read your stories for ages," He happily exclaimed. "I can really see it being in your future." 

"I don't know, Jackson. It seems kind of hard. You have to go through publishers, not to mention write a decent book that will sell..." 

"So you've thought about it?" He asked. 

"I mean, a tiny bit. But it's probably not going to be a suitable career path for me."

"Whatever you say," He stood up. "Ready to head home?" He held out his hand and pulled me up. 

"Sure," Once I was standing, I brushed off my pants, but didn't let go of his hand. I could sense something was bothering him. 

"You know, my mom was an author," He stated after we had walked for a bit. 

"Of course she was. Your mother could do practically anything she set her mind to," I assured. 

"Except for beating cancer." He gave a small laugh at his dark joke. He had stopped walking. 

"I miss her. There's not a single day that goes by where I don't regret losing her. She was everything to me. She would encourage me to follow all my dreams and passions, and didn't think that loving the stars was gay," 

"Whoa, who ever said that liking astronomy made you gay?" I asked. 

"Those pesky jocks at school. They tease me for it everyday," He sighed

"Don't worry about those jocks, their brains are smaller than a pea," Jackson laughed, and we continued to walk. 

"Well, uh, I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow?" He said when we arrived at his house. 

"Yep. See ya bud," I stated as he opened the back window. 

"Bye, Hunter." I couldn't help but notice that he was blushing. He climbed inside, and I continued to make my way back to my house. I couldn't wait to do this again tomorrow.