Starstruck

For the next few days, I continued to drift in and out of consciousness, and he stayed by my side, leaving only after my mother had gotten home from work, and even then, she insisted that he stay for dinner. She was glad that I had company, and thought it was incredibly nice of him to stay. Even if he was missing school.

My mom was cool like that.

But on Saturday, I was able to stay standing for more than a few seconds without a head rush. Still, he had come over bright and early, no matter how much I insisted that I was doing better. So we sat together and talked.

Until I had a sudden, jolting realization. “Coll! I haven’t called Coll! Oh, he must be worried sick!” The sudden outburst was more than my poor voice could handle- all of the coughing I’d been doing had made my throat raw and sore. My voice might as well have been, to use the old cliché, a toad’s. To his credit, Costi didn’t laugh.

“Relax, Aura. He’s fine, I promise. And he calls here every day for updates- you’re always sleeping.” I knew I looked confused. After all, I’d seen the way Coll looked at Costi during lunch and French, the one class we all had together, and knew that they weren’t exactly what one would call friends. But I decided not to push it.

I walked around, taking down the covers over the windows. I was starting to feel incredibly hot, in a way that said my fever was as good as gone. When I finally turned back to Costi, he was looking worried.

“What is it?” I asked, absentmindedly going over to him and putting my hand on his cheek.

“Well, you know I normally have band rehearsals on Saturdays. Actually, I normally have them on weekdays, too, but Ma’s banned them. The weekend’s all I’ve got left. But I don’t want to just leave you here.”

It was in that moment that I realized that I was hopelessly in love with him. He could be so selfless, so attentive… so Costi.

I drew myself back to the conversation and laughed. He was fretting like an old woman. “Go! Really. Go and have a great time. Go and don’t hurry back. You’ve got to be so sick of me by now- pardon the pun.”

“I’m not sick of you. Not at all, Aura. I just don’t want to let them down. You know we have that concert coming up- which you’d better be going to.” He looked hopefully at me.

“Well, I can’t really afford tickets, and I’m fresh out of birthday favors.” At this point, I was sitting on the bed again, and crossed my ankles delicately.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re my… friend. You’re getting in for free. And you’ll be with us backstage before and after the show. Of course.” He tugged on the end of my braid.

“Are you sure? And the guys, they won’t mind?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he repeated. “They bring people, too. I never have, but… I want you there.” He grabbed my hand, squeezed, then stood up. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Until then, goodbye, Aura. Try to get some rest.”

I snorted. “I’ve already reached my sleep quota for the month!”