Out Of Bounds

21|Under The Stars

It was the tenth day after the cabin commotion, and everything was back to normal. Owen was always waiting for me after the bell rung to pick me up for another adventure around town.

Except for today. Today was different.

He has plans after school with Audrey and Curtis. I didn't dare ask what those plans were. Gladly, Natalia offered to buy me french fries after school. One can never deny free food, so here I was eating french fries at McDonald's. I zoned out as soon as she started talking about her past boyfriends.

It's not because I wasn't interested. It was because I was greatly distracted by the cute little boy sitting two tables away from us. He was gobbling down the remainder of his chicken nuggets as his parents were talking. To live a life without problems is all I ever wanted, and perhaps the only way to achieve that is to become a child again.

"We broke up a month ago, and he's still trying to win me over. I still have feelings for him. I don't know what to do." She dipped her last french fry into the Oreo McFlurry she still wasn't finished devouring.

"Trevor?" I asked, hoping to mask my terrible listening skills.

"Oh God no. Trevor and I are like water and oil." She wrinkled her nose in disgust. They both tried to refuse they admired each other, but it was clear that there was something there. "I was talking about my latest ex-boyfriend."

"Bryan?"

"We never dated. We had a fling to make someone jealous."

"Isn't he like a college guy?" I asked remembering the lunch conversation we had about what Bryan was majoring in college.

"Yeah, he's a friend of a friend," she explained. "But that's not the point, do you think I should get back together with my very determined ex-boyfriend?"

It shouldn't be complicated; if you love someone, you should be with him. And for whatever reason, if that can't happen, you have to fight for it because love is worth it. If both parties are in love with each other then why beat around the bush and play games and try to deny it?

"Are you in love with him?" I asked.

"I don't know," she replied before scooping the partially melted McFlurry and plopping it into her mouth.

"This might sound like some damn cliché, but when your heart knows the clear answer to my question, you should act on that answer."

•••

I thought I was going home after our little french fry eating-get-together, but she drove me to her house. I haven't been to the De Luca household in a while. Though nothing has changed, I did pick up on the fact that there were two familiar sets of shoes at the door. Audrey and Curtis were here.

"Owen's in the backyard waiting for you," Natalia beamed. Now I started to catch on; she was sent as a distraction. When I passed by the kitchen, Audrey and Curtis were smiling oddly at me.

"Hey guys," I greeted.

"Hey Stella," Curtis answered.

"I'm not walking into some trap am I?"

"No just a perfectly planned date courtesy of your very thoughtful boyfriend," Audrey said.

"We helped," Curtis said.

"Actually Curtis, you didn't do shit. You were more of a distraction," Audrey rolled her eyes. They had a love-hate relationship going on, the latter more than the former. Which was proven when she randomly leaned in to kiss him on the lips.

As soon as I walked into the backyard, I was met with the aroma of flowers and Owen staring right at me. There was a small dark green tent set up behind him and an assortment of recently picked flowers in his hand.

He handed them to me, "never trust Curtis with the task of picking up flowers from the florist."

"They're beautiful and thoughtful all the same," I smiled accepting them. I noticed that the flowers I held in my hand matched the ones from the front lawn.

"Remember what you told me four days ago?" He asked.

"Oh, the fact that I thought the moon used to stalk me when I was younger during car rides?"

He smiled a smile that reached up to his eyes, showcasing his teeth and the small crinkles that started to form around the corner of his eyes. "No."

"Okay what? You know I'm not good at guessing games." I mocked him.

"You said you missed camping out and watching the stars," he gestured to the tent behind him. "Ta-da!"

It was the middle of the afternoon. No stars were out, and the sun was shining brightly. With Owen, there was always something interesting in store.

"Just guarantee me no bears will attack," I said as I unzipped the tent door. When my family used to camp every summer, my dad would always tell me scary stories about how bears sneak into the tent and slowly nibble on your toes. For quite a while, I believed him.

"The closest thing to a bear is Curtis," he joked.

There was a mountain full of pillows and blankets inside the tent. There were chips, fruits and peanut butter sandwiches cut into stars. I remembered telling him how I haven't eaten a peanut butter sandwich since elementary school. He was a keen listener. The thing that surprised me the most was the projector at the back of the tent. Now I understood how we would watch stars.

"As you can see we couldn't find star-shaped cookie cutters," he pointed out. Most of the sandwiches were deformed, and the points were lopsided.

I picked up the most messed up looking star, "this one's my favourite."

Owen opened the projector, and a bunch of stars and constellations filled the ceiling of the tent.

"This is very thoughtful of you," I said as I looked up. He actually remembered what I said and kept it in the back of his mind. It was sweet.

"Anything for you," Owen wrapped his arm around my shoulders as I leaned against him. The small amount of light that came through on the thin material of the tent slowly became darker, and our eyes heavier.

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