You Are the Shell to My Tortoise | ✓

47

It was freezing on the roof, and I had no clue why I was even up here in the first place.

The sky was so clear tonight that the numerous stars in it were doing more than twinkling—they were sparkling.

I smiled at the beautiful sight.

Okay, maybe I did kind of have a clue.

My gloves and my coat were thick, but my face was still exposed to the almost frigid night air. I pulled my muffler up to my nose, sighing at the temporary relief that was its delicious warmth.

It had been a while since the last time I came up here, and I'd forgotten that the rooftiles were a little uncomfortable to sit on.

I pulled out my phone from my pocket. It was time to snap some photos. I'd have an excuse to text Nolan if I took them, too.

Not, the tiny voice at the back of my mind reminded me, that he needed any excuse to text you.

That thought brought a smile to my face.

Something creaked. I turned around at the sound to see the trapdoor on the roof open. Immediately, I recognized the light brown hair the moment a head popped up from the opening.

Ryan raised his eyebrows when he saw me. "Hey. You're still awake?"

"Yup," I said. "So are you, you know. You don't have to look so shocked."

"It's normal for me to be up this late," he said, shutting the trapdoor behind him. "I've never seen you out of bed after one."

I snorted but said nothing.

Beyond astonished would be an understatement to describe him if I told him that I was now capable of staying up until five in the morning.

"What brought you up here, then?" he said, settling down on a spot beside me. "I used to have to drag you up here, but now you're actually here on your own volition."

Now that he was sitting here right next to me, I could see the pair of binoculars slung around his neck.

"Don't start crying tears of happiness now," I said, lifting my own pair for him to see, "but I've actually been using your binoculars at school."

As expected, Ryan totally ignored my jab at him when he heard the second half of my sentence. "You have? You've finally started nurturing an appreciation for stargazing. To think I was almost about to disown you. You really are my little sister after all!"

Yeah, despite going away to college, Ryan still hadn't changed. He always got this enthusiastic whenever we started talking about this topic. Even as I rolled my eyes, I could feel my mouth curving upwards.

"I made this new friend at school who is really into astronomy like you," I started, turning on my phone camera. "I ended up stargazing a lot more, too."

It definitely helped that there wasn't much else to do, apart from admiring the trees around us, when Nolan and I were in the forest. Ryan didn't need to know that, though. Also, it wasn't like I ever disliked observing the stars. It was just that I had grown to appreciate them much more after spending so many peaceful nights under them.

"Wow," he said, raising his own binoculars to his eyes. "I really need to thank this friend of yours for helping to refine your tastes."

"Hey! Your hobby isn't superior to all other hobbies, okay!"

"You can have your own opinion, of course. I just want you to know that your opinion is wrong."

"Now that opinion of yours is really wrong!"