I Believe In Us - (McPricely)

Chapter 10

   Soon afterwards everyone left to rest for the night, with Arnold following Naba home to sleepover at her place (who knew how that was going to go over with her father), Connor was quick to scoop Kevin up and force him outside.

   "Come on Kevin!" Connor laughed as he dragged Kevin by his wrist down the stairs, mosquito net in hand.

  "You're sure that thing's gonna work? The bugs get really bad," Kevin suspected as he nearly tripped over the last stairs, due to the pace in which Connor was dragging him.

   The two arrived at the large reddish colored rock outside the window of Connor's room, where Connor immediately began to climb on to it, pulling himself up with ease. It was the perfect size for the two of them to sit comfortably, facing away from the village and up to the stars. "Yes Kevin, it's going to work! The stars are going to be gorgeous."

   Kevin pulled himself on to the rock next to Connor. He immediately noticed the dust that coated his hands as he scooted up next to him. "Gosh I'm going to be a mess. I didn't even change out of my normal clothes before we came out here, and there's so much dirt," he rambled, immediately receiving a loud shush from Connor.

   "Live a little, it's gonna to be worth it," he reassured Kevin, wrapping the net around them like a blanket, and pulling a can of bug repellent out of his pocket.

   "Since when did you have th—" Kevin began to protest before he was silenced by Connor spraying the can above them, causing Kevin to cough on the particles that fell into his mouth. "Gross! My hair going to smell like that for weeks!"

   Connor groaned at Kevin's dramatic reaction as he popped the cap back on the repellent. "It has lavender in it and stuff, you'll be fine," he rolled his eyes. Connor pulled Kevin closer to him so they were both covered, their arms brushing against one another. "Just look at the stars, they're gorgeous," Connor breathed.

   Kevin glanced up at the skyline to see the dark sky dotted with flecks of white, like paint splattered across a canvas. Behind the stars glowed a warm shade of grey, gorgeously blending into the black void of the sky. "Wow, looking up like this makes you feel small, doesn't it?" He observed.

   "It does. It's beautiful, but also scary," Connor replied, as he too stared at the stars. The sky was endless, as if he could get lost in it.

   "Does that have something to do with your fear of flying?" Kevin guessed.

   Connor chucked at him. "No, no, don't over complicate it. I'm just scared of the plane crashing. Or normal heights, both are bad," he reiterated.

   "Heights too? Did you fall or something? Or was this just like an as long as you can remember kind of fear?" Kevin questioned, truly invested in his response.

   Connor's smile grew even larger. "Am I about to tell you a musical theater story right now?"

   Kevin laughed lightly at his enthusiasm. "I guess you are, I'm excited to hear it."

   It wasn't the most positive story, but engaging nonetheless. He could remember the story as if it happened yesterday. "Well, at this music and arts summer camp I went to when I was 15 or so, I played Bert in Mary Poppins," Connor said, trying his hardest not to brag. The program he went to was quite esteemed. His parents had only agreed to let him skip the usual Bible summer camp he went to because he was granted a high scholarship. "It was fun, and I had to do stage flight. So during a rehearsal I was up really high, and then all of a sudden I just hear this loud kind of metal clacking and the next thing I know I'm dropping from like 15 feet in the air." Connor could vividly recall the moment, his heart feeling as if was launched into throat at the sudden drop.