tom hunched himself over his oak desk. brown rings of where coffee had spilled over the rim of his mug, staining the wooden surface.
an assortment of different assignment papers were splayed messily beneath
the stressed student's swollen elbows.
school. what was the point?
clank.
tom's head whipped around hastily to
find the source of the sudden noise.
something hitting against his
window pane.
he slid open the creaky window to be
met with the same boy from earlier.
tord had one leg slung over the window ledge, dangling above the fatal drop and another inside his room. his back was pushed against the slick red frame, a clear plastic bag of jelly beans sitting between his split legs.
this time his flower crown was gone,
his hair was tied back into a pathetic little ponytail. he wore sky blue denim shorts and a matching blue sweater that hung off one shoulder, revealing a black strip from the vest he wore underneath. his jewellry had been stripped and his bright smile seemed dimmer.
“hey, kittyboy.” tord practically yawned the sentence but his words were still clear as day.
why was tord still awake?
“tord.” tom icily replied with the trace of a scowl. he was surely exhausted from the mountains of work, yet he found himself settling down on the window sill to have another conversation.
“what are you doing this late? it's
midnight.” tord's expression quickly
flicked to concern.
“revision. don't you have school too?”
“nope. domestic college tuition.” the norwegian grinned proudly.
“huh?”
“my tutor comes to my place to teach.”
“woah.”
“yeah. i'm pretty cool huh?”
“don't get ahead of yourself.”
tord sighed and reached to grab
something out of sight. he retrieved a
metallic coffee flask, holding it with
shaky hands. it had miniature stars
printed up the sides in rainbow colours.
tom scoffed at the design and arched a
questionable brow.
"stars?"
"lame."
"lame? stars aren't lame. they're so
cool."
tord practically jumped towards
the window as something sparked in his eye. was it passion?
tom shook his head in disagreement whilst his neighbour angrily blew the wisps of steam rising from the starry spout.
"do you believe in stars?"
"excuse me?"
"some people believe when you die you become a star."
tord's eyes widened as he stared at
the dark blue sky, pierced with a
over million diamond specks. tom followed his gaze and glimpsed at the
scattered stars.
it wasn't like they were new. they were always there.
"yeah. whatever."
"stardust flows through our veins."
"really?"
"yup. we are all stars in our own way."
"i wouldn't really consider myself
a star.
"i sure would, tom. you are pretty dazzling."
tom felt a faint blush warm up his
face at the compliment but quickly shook it off.
a human star.
tord. the only way tom could describe him. bright, full of energy, practically
radiating light. he was a star alright.
tom sighed contently as tord outstretched his hand to the sky. a finger was pointed straight upwards.
"you see that really bright star?"
"they're all bright."
"no. the particularly bright one."
tom squinted and noticed the one star that was larger and glowing more than the rest.
"mhm. i see it."
"it's called sirius a. or dog star."
"why dog star?"
"cause it's part of a constellation called canis major. which means greater dog in latin."
"so the brightest star is part of an
astronomical dot-to-dot of a large dog?"
"exactly!"
"weird."
silence filled the air between the two.
tord gingerly sipped the contents of
his starry flask and snuck a quick glance over at tom.
"y'know tom. you're a good guy."
"i am?"
"mhm. you're the first friend i've
had in a while."
"oh. well. i'll try to be a good friend."
"im sure you will be." it was a normal
sentence. but why did it sound so
bittersweet when tord said it?
tom flicked off the lamp illuminating his gloomy bedroom. tord unhooked his leg from the ledge and slipped back into his room.
the two maintained tired eye contact
for a brief moment until they wearily
retreated towards their beds.
"good night, kittyboy."
"good night, tord."