The Galaxy Meetings

twelve

"Chase!" Leila shouts. For a minute I just stand there at the bottom of the hill, quite in awe of the joy and beauty on Leila's face, but then when she came running down the hill I smiled. She did something which she never has done before. As if I was a family member or someone she missed so dearly, she flung her arms around me into a tight hug.

"I know you flunked on me before last night, but I really got worried last night." she pants, groaning with some sort of pain.

"What's wrong?" I ask her. Leila just points to the crutches and her ankle. I hug Leila again and shake my head. "Seriously? You ran down the hill like you were in a horror film with a foot injury?"

Leila just shrugs. "I've been through worse."

I smile. The way she was so strong when even I would be struggling could only be admired. "You crazy girl."

As we walk up, me half lifting, half dragging Leila up the hill – I notice the stitches on her forehead. "Jeez, did you start a war while I was gone?"

Leila laughs, consciously bringing a hand to her forehead. "N-no, hah – I was shoved about in the underground station on my way home. Stupid rush hour. It's nothing. But what about you? You just ran off yesterday."

I look down to my lap. "Well, as you can see I obviously have a problem with trusting people, but... You're different, I think. I thought about it last night. And I'm sorry. Once again – you're right."

She leans on her side into me like a big nudge. "I'm always right."

I chuckle. "You're such an idiot." I pause to look up to the sky. "What's the verdict for tonight?"

"Huh?"

"the weather. How is it for star gazing?"

Leila's face instantly lights up. "Perfect."

"Do you want to just do that then? As you were on your own for the last two years, you're probably a pro by now. And bored with it."

"The stars change and move into different shapes and create different pictures every night. Never can you get bored if you have an interest with stars to begin with." She sweeps her hand across the grass behind her before lying down.

When I don't lie down to follow suit, she places a hand on my chest and and pushes me down. I land with a thump and my head instantly hurts. But it's worth it. She's worth it. "You definitely are strong."

"Inside and out, as Lisa used to say."

I had no clue who Lisa was, but I didn't put much thought into it.

"See? That's the big dipper. And that's my favourite little constellation..." I zoned out after a while but Leila was so happy, I didn't stop her. Even though she was talking about complete and utter nonsense it didn't matter. Just her voice to drone on in my ears was enough.