Eye on Orion (2 page)

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By adjusting the legs of the telescope just right, I could set it up on the roof pretty easily. The slope wasn't too steep, yet I could lie back comfortably and see more of the sky than down on the lawn. It had taken some fancy talk to convince my parents it was safe if I moved slowly, but they finally agreed to let me stargaze from here. After setting the telescope up, I looked down to see Jai and Amira approaching the house with him in the lead. Jai stopped at the sidewalk and looked up at me. His eyes stared into mine like he wanted to know what I was thinking. Amira looked up as well when she saw where his gaze was. She touched his arm and stepped lightly around him.

“Hello, Holly,” her voice chimed. “Are your parents home?”

“No. They just went out.”

“I felt like I must invite you to dinner on Wednesday.” She paused and glanced at Jai out of the corner of her eye. Amira held up a fancy envelope. I couldn't help thinking back to the paper plate and the plastic wrap held together with tape.

“Gimme a second. I'll be right down.” I slipped through my bedroom window and rushed down the stairs. By the time I reached the door they were on the front porch. Amira handed me the envelope.

“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 these 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.