Eye on Orion

by Laura D. Bastian

  “Thank you,” I mumbled. “I'm sure my parents would love to come.” I stood there trying to think of something else to say, watching the two of them looking at each other. The only sounds were the cars driving down the street our block branched off from. I turned the envelope over in my hand. Amira cleared her throat. Jai shook his head just barely.

  I watched as Jai and Amira both looked up at my telescope. Eventually Jai asked, “Is that yours? Do you use it often?”

  “Yeah, I bring it out a couple times a week.” Great, I just admitted I have absolutely no social life. I turned the envelope over.

  Amira smiled at me then almost glared at Jai. Jai looked like he was trying to ignore her.

  “Do you want to check out the stars tonight with me?” I asked, wondering if that’s why they were hanging around still.

  Amira grinned. “I am sure Jai would love to.” Amira spoke as if giving him an order.

  Jai frowned. “Let me walk Amira back home. I will be back in a moment.”

  They only lived two houses down on the opposite side of the street, but Jai kept close to her as they returned home. They gestured with their hands as they walked away, but I couldn’t hear them talking at all.

  I hurried into the garage and carried the ladder out, almost dropping it in my haste. There was no way I was going to take him up to the roof through my room. Jai reached my house just as I set the ladder against the side of the house.

  “Thanks for the invitation.” He didn’t meet my eyes, instead focusing on the ladder in front of us.

  “No problem. It should be a pretty good night for stars. The moon won’t be up ‘til later, so we won’t have the light from it to interfere. Last night it didn’t come over the mountain until just before I went inside.”

  I climbed up the ladder and scrambled over the edge. Jai moved slowly as he climbed and when his head peeked over the top of the house I saw him close his eyes. He took a fast breath and climbed over, staying low.

  He crouched with his hands out as he walked over to me and sat down carefully, as if not trusting the roof to hold him. He looked back toward his house. I followed his gaze and saw Amira on the front porch.

  “You sure Amira doesn’t want to come over?”

  Jai whipped his head back to me. “No.”

  “But why is she standing out there watching us?”

  Amira went into the house as if she’d heard my question. Jai stared at me. He cleared his throat. “Besides starwatching, what do you do?”

  I looked up at the sky, unsure what he was asking.

  “Do you have a job?” he asked as if clarifying.

  “Yeah.”

  “What do you do?”

  “I work at my parents’ nursery.”

  “What do you do there?”

  I shrugged. “I help with the plants and weeding and watering. Sometimes I run the cash register.”

  “Both your parents work there as well?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you have friends?”

  I blinked. I couldn’t believe his questions. “Some.”

  “Do you hang out with them often?”

  “It’s summer. We don’t see each other much. My best friend moved away. You moved into her house actually.”

  Jai glanced back at his house again.

  “Do you spend a lot of time with any particular person?”

  “What?” I leaned back. “Why?”

  “I just want to find out more about you.”

  “By grilling me?”

  Jai blinked then shook his head. “I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable.”

  “Right.” I moved closer to my telescope and examined a boring patch of sky. There weren’t even any planets to look at right then, so I focused on a small cluster of stars. What is his problem?

  Jai cleared his throat. “Crazy how that light burned out just as we arrived at the house last night. Would you agree?”

  I turned to him and closed my mouth when I realized it was open. It seemed such an odd thing to say. “Very strange.”

  He nodded. “Do you know who we should call to get it repaired?”

  I shrugged. “I’d have to ask my dad.”

  Jai didn’t speak for a moment. He eyed me then the telescope.

  “Do you want to have a look?” I asked as he peered into the dark sky.

  He moved closer to the telescope slowly and adjusted the knob a little. I looked again when he moved away and was surprised the cluster was clearer.

  I aimed the telescope at a different section of sky, and we took turns looking through the eye piece without any conversation. The silence dragged on. There weren’t even any cars coming down the road to break the monotony. I never thought I’d wish for Curtis to show up, but anything would be better than Jai acting like he didn’t want to be here.

  “Why do you do this every night?” he asked.

  “I don't do it every night,” I said, feeling defensive again.

  “What are you looking for?”

  “I’m just looking at the stars.”

  “Why?” He seemed genuinely curious. It was hard to see him in the dark, but something about him made me comfortable all of a sudden.

  I sighed. Maybe he wasn’t trying to be a jerk. Maybe he was just nervous being up high. I was so unfamiliar with guys I had no idea how to read him. I turned back to the sky again. “When I was little I’d sit with my grandpa on his front porch when we’d go visit him. He lived in a small town with gorgeous clear skies. He’d tell me all about the stars and the constellations. How they got their names, and the stories behind them.”

  “That sounds interesting. I had a tutor who drilled my stars into me for tests. All kinds of formulas on how to figure the distance and location in the universe… This is much more enjoyable.”

  I looked at him, unsure about how to take that comment.

  “It's still amazing how far away they are,” I said. “You know the pole star is like three hundred light years away. It only takes a little more than eight minutes for the light from the sun to hit us. The light we see from Polaris left the star three hundred years ago. Who knows what the sky will be like in another three hundred years.” I blushed when I realized I was rambling.

  “Who knows what you’ll discover out in the universe in another three hundred years,” he said quietly.

  I sighed in relief that he didn’t seem annoyed. “Wouldn’t it be cool to find out there was life on other planets?”

  Jai looked at me with an unreadable expression. Maybe he did think I was nuts. Eventually he said, “It definitely would.”

  We stayed silent for a bit, studying the stars. “Do you have a favorite constellation?”

  He paused for a moment. “Um, Orion, because he is a soldier.” Jai looked into the sky as if searching for him.

  I wondered why he'd called him a soldier. He was a hunter in the stories I knew. “He can’t be seen in the summer here. He’s only visible in the winter on this side of the world.” Did he actually know anything about astronomy?

  “Oh, I didn’t remember studying that.” Jai frowned. “What is your favorite constellation?”

  “I like the Scorpion. It’s over there to the south of us.” I pointed to it. “In the daytime, Orion is in the sky but you can’t see it because of the sunlight. When you see Orion in the winter, Scorpio is in the sky during the day. The Big Dipper and Cassiopeia are almost always visible here. The winter is the best time to see the sky. It’s dark so much earlier and there are more stars and constellations out, but it sure makes it hard to see many of them when you live in a place with snow.” I trailed off when I noticed Jai looking at me funny.

  We sat quietly, just looking at the stars for a few minutes.

  As I started to ask where they had moved from, Jai interrupted, “Tell me the stories about the constellations your grandpa told you.”

  I couldn’t read him at all. Why did he act annoyed when I talked about the stars, but then asked me more? At least th
ese questions weren’t as personal. “What should I start with?”

  “How about the Cassy-opi one?”

  “Cassiopeia is the one shaped like a W over there. Grandpa said there was an Ethiopian queen named Cassiopeia. She was married to Cepheus.” I pointed him out. “He is just above her and it looks kind of like his face is a square, and he has a ponytail there, and he has a triangle hat on. See?” I leaned in close to him to make sure he could see where I pointed.

  He glanced at me and smiled before turning back to the stars. “I think so.”

  “They had a daughter named Andromeda, and she is under the two of them there. You can only see a bit of her because the house is in the way.” I continued telling him about how Cassiopeia had bragged about Andromeda being so beautiful the sea nymphs got jealous and asked the god Poseidon to send the Whale, another constellation we couldn’t see the full view of, to destroy Ethiopia's coast. To appease the Whale, her father Cepheus had Andromeda chained to a rock to be eaten by the monster whale. Then the hero Perseus came along, killed the Whale, freed and married Andromeda, and the two took off on his winged horse Pegasus, another constellation.

  We waited through another long silence while my mind raced for things to talk about. He seemed to like the stars enough I figured I might as well ask if he wanted to do more. “There’s supposed to be a meteor shower on Friday. Do you want to come up the mountain with me to see it? My parents won’t let me go up by myself, but if you and Amira came with, I’m sure they’d let us go. We could even do a hot dog roast or something too.”

  “We will have to see.”

  I blinked at his tone, surprised I felt crushed that he didn’t seem interested. I was sure I’d bored him with all this stuff about the stars. Guys were so not worth the effort they took. I was relieved when my parents pulled into the driveway a couple minutes later.

  “I should go.” Jai looked at the ladder but didn’t move.

  I smiled at his obvious discomfort, careful to not let him see. I nodded and walked over to the edge and waited for him. “I’ll hold the ladder as you go over.”

  Jai stood slowly and walked with his knees bent, crouching over with his hands out ready to catch himself. He fumbled worse with it than before, but eventually made it over the edge and down the ladder. I followed him down.

  “Thank you for letting me examine the stars with you.”

  I pulled the ladder away from the wall. Jai reached to take it from me. “Let me help.”

  “I’ve got it.” Why did guys think we couldn’t do things they had just seen us do? Jai stepped back as I carried the ladder around the front of the house and into the garage. He followed me in and helped me lift it onto the hooks along the wall without asking. I had to admit it was easier with his help, but still.

  “I will check with Amira about the meteor shower.” Jai reached his hand out. I took it to shake it, but he surprised me when he brought it up to his lips in a quick kiss. My hand tingled again. He released it, and I couldn’t help feeling disappointed.

  “It was nice to visit with you tonight.” Jai bowed and turned to walk away. “I hope to see you again soon.”

  I stared at him. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to see him or not. Oh, who was I kidding? Of course I did.

  Chapter Three

  Shopping

  As I came up the driveway after work, I spotted Amira on my porch swing. She bounded down the stairs as I got off my bike.

  “I have been waiting for you to get back.”

  I smiled at her a little awkwardly. “Hey Amira. What’s up?”

  She glanced up at the sky, then looked back at me and replied, “I wanted to know if you would go shopping with me tomorrow. I was unable to bring much with me and must supplement my wardrobe. Since we are the same size, I think you would have a good idea where to shop.”

  “Why couldn't you bring your clothes with you?” I asked.

  “Oh.” She looked toward her house, making me turn too. Jai sat on his front porch watching us. Great, he knows I ride a ten-speed. Amira cleared her throat. “My mother and father are separated. Most of my belongings are still with my father. It is not easy to travel with a lot of clothes, and we are not sure how long we are to be here.”

  “Where did you move from?”

  “We came over from Scotland.”

  “Really? Your accent doesn’t sound Scottish.”

  Amira shrugged before saying, “Can you take me shopping?”

  “I doubt shopping with me would be very beneficial.” Even if we tried on the same thing, I’d probably look bad and she’d look fabulous. Her clothes were nothing like my typical baggy T-shirt and shorts. Maybe she could give me some tips. I fingered my shirt and found a small hole in the front.

  “Please,” she almost begged. “I would love to go shopping without Del— I mean, my mother. And definitely would like to go somewhere without Jai.”

  “What?” I looked toward her house at Jai. He was staring at us like he was trying to hear what we were saying.

  “Jai trusts you after talking with you last night. If you will come shopping with me, he will not have to come.” She leaned forward and confided. “He went shopping with me once, and it was awful. He did not want to let me have enough time to try everything on. He has good taste, but I cannot ask him how my buttocks look in jeans. He gets annoyed.” She looked toward her house.

  “Why does he—” I started before she interrupted.

  “My mother can drive us into the city to go to any mall we want. She has to do some errands in town. I desire to have a friendship with a girl my age, and I have a small amount of time to be a normal teenager. I really had my heart set on shopping.”

  A normal teenager? Of course, it could have been lost in translation. I doubted English was her first language. Maybe she meant average. And Jai trusts me? That seemed odd given our conversation last night. Why would he have to go with her in the first place?

  “I’d have to check with my dad and see if I can get an advance on my paycheck.” Not that I need anything fancy because I never go on any dates. I looked over at Jai on his front porch, still staring at us. But maybe Jai and I could go do something. I blushed when Amira caught me looking over at Jai.

  “Then you will go shopping with me?” She started bouncing on her toes.

  “Sure. When did you want to go?”

  “Tomorrow if possible,” she said with a big smile.

  “I could probably manage that.” I felt myself smile in return. “I’ll let you know for sure later.”

  ****

  When Amira picked me up in front of my house, I was surprised to see Jai in the driver’s seat. I couldn’t help feeling excited and nervous at the same time.

  “He insisted on coming,” Amira said as she opened the back door and climbed in. I followed her in after she slid over to the other side.

  “Mother was busy,” Jai said.

  Amira glared at him for a moment then turned to me and smiled. “No matter. We will still have fun. He will just stay in the food court and read his book.” She turned to him again. “Won’t you, Jai?”

  He glanced at her in the rearview mirror but didn’t respond. Maybe coming was a bad idea. I almost made an excuse to get out, but Jai pulled away from the curb and Amira started talking.

  She jabbered the whole ride to the mall, but I had a hard time focusing on what she said. I was too busy thinking of Jai. When we got there, he opened the car door for Amira and stayed close to her side until we stepped into the building. The hot, dry air made shopping inside an air-conditioned mall perfect.

  Amira leaned over and whispered, “I am so excited you came with me. This will be fun.” She watched the shoppers wandering up and down the center of the mall like she'd never seen it before. She looked up to the second floor, her eyes sparkling as if she couldn't wait to see it all. Jai stood next to Amira until she gave him a look. If he’d had a tail, I’d have expected to see it between his legs as he moved over to a bench in the cente
r of the walkway. How did she put him in his place like that? Must be a brother-sister thing.

  Amira stepped up to the first store and seemed to hesitate as if not sure what to do. How often has she been shopping? I went in and examined the clothes on the clearance racks first. I didn't expect to find anything good, but my budget demanded caution. When the salesgirl came up to offer help, Amira read her nametag. “Yes, Janice, I need a new wardrobe.”

  I watched as Janice looked Amira over from top to bottom. Amira exuded self-confidence, and I could almost see Janice calculating how best to get Amira to buy as many clothes as possible to boost her sales for the day. Her eyes lit up, and she beckoned Amira to follow her to the newest arrivals.

  Another hopeful sales girl with the name Madison on her tag walked over to me and asked if she could help.

  “I’m mostly just browsing. She’s the one here to shop.”

  “Let me know if there is anything I can help you with.” She walked away to join Janice and Amira.

  As the salesgirls started pulling clothes off the racks, Amira looked like she was having a ball. She touched the clothes they offered, rubbing the fabric between her fingers. She picked out some she liked and turned her nose up at others. She would go in and try on the clothes, then have the salesgirls bring her accessories — jewelry, belt, scarf, or hat.

  When she removed a scarf, I caught sight of her necklace. A thin, braided leather chord held a black stone circle. Just like the one on Jai's wristband. Matching jewelry? That’s a little weird.

  Everything she tried on was amazing. The salesgirls couldn’t stop gushing about how great she looked. I peeked in the mirror at my plain green T-shirt and denim shorts and cringed. I couldn’t believe the feelings of envy and inferiority my reflection produced. I wished I knew how to dress like her.

  Amira walked over to me with a look of concern. “Will you buy nothing?”

  “Oh, I haven’t found anything yet.”

  “Have Madison and Janice find you something. They have found me many great things.” She smiled at the two girls still eager to sell. They grabbed things off the racks similar to the ones Amira liked and thrust them at me.