I Hate This Stupid Town

7. S T A R C R O S S E D L O V E R S

The convention was the talk of the town for the astronomy nerds everywhere online, one of the biggest space exhibits being so close to their town, Craig was bouncing with excitement. The tickets were pricey and very scarce but Token had his parents pull some strings to obtain them, no poker face was going to hide the stars in Craig's eyes, there was even a skip in his step. 

The others tripping over themselves to keep up he was practically jogging. The outside of the building looked older than dinosaurs and smelt like piss, but Craig couldn't care less about what the outside looked like. The inside was the only thing he was interested in.

they all rounded the entry, handing over their tickets before entering. the lights inside were dimmed to an orangey glow, only in the front entry and the place looked huge they were bound to get lost. 

"So according to the pamphlet, there are multiple exhibits, planets, and constellations, physics and engineering, they also have a- Holy shit! they have an anti-gravity machine!" Ken says enthusiastically. "I think we should split up and meet back up later." Token suggests with a shrug.

They all agreed to split up, Ken going to the physics and engineering department, Craig going to the constellations and planets department, leaving Token and Tweek together. The two headed off towards one of the more boring exhibits, the children's area. 

Token was struggling to keep up with the highly caffeinated Tweek, the blonde was bouncing between interactive computer games to moon rocks and pictures. " Jesus Christ Tweek, relax we have all day." Token drags his feet as he grabs the blonde's hand tugging him along. 

"S-sorry! it's just- Craig tells me everything he learns about this s-stuff, it's just crazy to see it all in p-person." Tweek flushes in embarrassment. "What do you mean? It's just space." Token drawls out boredly. 

"Well y-yeah, but- I don't know, I guess I'm always so in my h-head I just f-forget there's so much o-out there," Tweek explains with a shy smile. "Okay, that's a little deeper than I wanted the go." Token laughed as the two continued wandering the building.

____________________________________________________________________________

Craig was taking his time walking deeper into the building, taking in the lights illuminating the structures of the planets hanging from the high ceiling. He was mesmerized by the sun structure and the orange-yellow glow shown around the dark room, almost making him feel as if he was the only one being looked upon.

He walked to the last one in the room, earth, the rounded shape, colors, and glow were so realistic. The glow of city light could be seen, glowing with a yellowy tint, and the blues of the ocean blended nicely with the green of the land. 

After analyzing everything in the room there were a set of double doors in the planet exhibit, a sign hanging above.

                                                                           

                                                                                         CONSTELLATIONS 

Finally, he had found it. The room was completely dark, the only light coming from the live projected images of the stars all around the room, the walls, and ceiling was covered in stars. The room was empty aside from one other person. Craig did a full turn, taking in as much of the room as he could before his eyes settled on the figure of the only other person in the room. 

It only took a glance to know who he was looking at, the golden blonde locks giving him away almost immediately. Craig slowly stalked his way over to him, suddenly feeling a bit shy. Standing beside Ken he chanced a glance at his face, and he couldn't help but stare. his face... 

Fuck...He looked pretty. Unreasonably pretty,  his eyes shined in the light, the lights. The lights of the stars kissed his face, lighting it in a pretty glow as stars danced across his freckles. 

"You know.. I didn't think stars could look like this." Ken hushed out, voice as low as a whisper. Fuck.. Craig's face heats up as he realizes that Ken had caught his staring. Of course, he did, he always does. " So star boy, tell me. How are stars made, what are they really?" 

Shit, now he's asking him about space? GOD! he's so fucked. What is he playing at? is he trying to make him fall in love with him?  

                               

                                                                                                    What?

What is he thinking right now? Craig shifted his weight leg to leg till he took a seat beside the blonde. "W-well, um it's basically made of gas and helium, and uh- well it shines from the gases that release hot energy. It's called nuclear fusion." Craig stammers fidgeting with his hands. "Hmm, wow, you just have that memorized? That's impressive actually."

" oh? uh- Really?" Craig asked dumbstruck, watching as Ken lays back on the floor staring up at the ceiling. "Yeah really. Now go on" Ken encourages watching the stars. "well, they can die."

"Jesus Christ!" Ken laughs "damn I honestly didn't expect that, really?" the blonde smiles up at him. "yeah, when there's no more gas left the star collapses and creates a supernova explosion. After that, they become either black holes, neutron stars, or white dwarfs." Craig explains smiling down at Ken's bewildered expression. 

"wow.. that's almost poetic, I mean dying and destroying everything around you," Ken says with a sad laugh. "... What's wrong?" Craig hesitantly asked. he had never been good with empathizing with people's emotions- let alone his own. but he felt the need- urgency to not let the conversation end with Ken being upset.

Something must seriously be wrong with him. 

"It's nothing." Ken fidgets with the strings of his hoodie. "You can tell me if you want-" Ken paused at this, giving Craig a long look over before he looked away. "Well, um.. I was talking to my therapist about- um- about my sister." Ken spoke in a quiet, timid voice as Craig laid down beside him, shoulder to shoulder, staring up at the star-covered ceiling. 

"You have a sister?" Craig asked in an equally quiet voice, almost as if he was to scare away an animal if he were too loud. "Yeah, I do, her name is Karen." the blonde said with a smile.

"What's she like?" Craig asked as the images around the room switched to actual constellations. "we haven't seen each other in a while, but she's- she's kind, sweet. I'd do anything for her." He with a relaxed smile.  "I remember we used to fight a lot, she would say she hated me a lot of the time. but in the next twenty minutes, she would be begging me to take her to the park." 

"I can't stand my sister," Craig said with a laugh. "That's because she's not my awesome sister!" Ken stated laughing, Craig joining him with a snort. "Okay! Okay... tell me what that one is called." Ken pointed.

      

    "  S U M M E R   T R I A N G L E  -  also called  -  S T A R   C R O S S E D   L O V E R S  "