Starry Night

The midday sun rose high in the sky while I hid under the security of my comforter. Hands clasped behind my head, I stared out the window, watching the world pass on without me, and I was glad.

"Stacy! Are you going to spend all day in bed? You need to get your stuff ready for tonight."
I groaned, "Do I have to go to dinner with them? I mean, we barely know them."

"That's the point," my mother said, opening my bedroom door wide.

I squinted at the hallway light, "But—."

"You're going, now get up."

It was impossible to fight my mother's defiant tone, and it was one of those things that only moms had. Shaking my head with annoyance, I stood up.

“Wear blue,” suggested my mom, as I stood, clueless in front of my closet. “It brings out your eyes.”

She casually leaned in the doorway, a smirk perched on her face. “It’s only Connor and Mrs. Wheeler, Mom. Nothing special,” I retorted.

“Does that mean you dress less fashionable? Nope.”

“Why do you always have to be right?”

“Because I’m your mom, Stacy.” And before I could reply, she was already walking down the hallway.

* * * *

I tugged relentlessly on my cardigan’s sleeves during the entire car ride. My heart was pounding in my ears as always, and my nerves felt like live wires.

“We’re here. Oh, there’s Emily right there near the entrance,” my mom said, excitement hidden subtly in her voice.

A small sign was carefully hung above the doors, swaying back and forth with a persistent squeaking, “Welcome to the Shamrock Restaurant & Pub.” Laughter filled the air from inside and soft rock played from the live entertainment. Somehow, it had a sort of hometown feeling, as if everyone in Dalton came here one time or another, like an unwritten tradition. And I was now part of it.

Emily Wheeler stood with a big smile on her face as she greeted my mother, and not for the first time. With a hat on her head, it was hard to tell exactly what she looked like, but one thing was for sure. A pair of beautiful green eyes were bright with happiness as she embraced me with a hug. “So nice to meet you!” She squealed.

I returned her smile, “It’ll be nice to actually get to know someone here.”

She had a laugh that was almost musical, “Oh I know! Well, let’s get inside, it’s freezing out here.”

In my side vision, I could see Connor roll his eyes, and he looked as if he was dragged into this just as much as I was. “Hi,” was all I managed to say. He merely looked in my direction and nodded, not a word escaping his lips.

Once we were inside, my mother and Mrs. Wheeler were talking merrily by the restaurant’s front desk, like they were old friends from high school. Connor and I were left standing in the waiting area, just the two of us, as waiters hurried around with trays full of plates and delicious-looking food.

I sat down in the comfy sofa, cradling my head in my palm. He did the same and studied the small, hectic pub as I did. Connor’s eyes were sparkling, but they had a certain frustration to them, as if he were trying to figure something out. His peach-colored lips were tight and his perfectly chiseled jaw was clenched. Everything about Connor seemed to be flawless.

The moms went to get a drink at the bar for the wait, and the band started to play one of favorite songs. I lightly tapped my foot to the beat and sang the song in my head.

“You like this song?” Connor asked unexpectedly, turning his attention towards me.

I nervously pulled my sweater’s sleeves over my hands and said, “Yeah. Do you?”

“It’s okay, I guess…” He thought for a moment, but didn’t say anymore, although I knew he wanted to.

I smiled and combed through my side bangs with my fingers. “What?” I asked.

Connor smiled back, with subtle dimples forming on his right cheek. “You wanna go and see the band up close?” I was startled by his sudden hospitality, but nodded my head anyway. Somewhere inside me, I knew that he was planning something…I just didn’t know what.

As we walked over to the entertainment, it was awkward staying so close to him when we weaved in between people. Connor’s arm was lightly wrapped around my shoulders to keep me in the right direction, and the smell of cologne poured off of his warm touch. It was comforting, in a way.

Eventually, when we made it over to the small stage, the song had ended and the lead singer came on the microphone. “Okay, let’s have a nice young lady on the stage to enjoy her choice of song!” His voice rang throughout every corner of the restaurant and his eyes searched the crowd, as if looking for his next victim. “You, in the blue sweater!”

Connor nudged me in my side and I could feel my face turn bright red. I shook my head at him and tried to walk the other way, but he just grinned and pushed me forward with the same arm that he once held me with.

My heart began to beat faster and my breath was ragged, “No, no, no!”

“What’s your name?” Asked the singer, putting his arm around my shoulders. I shrugged out of his grip and muttered angrily, “Stacy.”

I glared at Connor through the slits of my eyes and he just laughed his harmonious laugh. “I think that I’ll let Stacy here play the drums for this next song. You look like the musical type…?”

“Yeah,” I said through my clenched jaw. The previous drummer stood up and handed me the sticks. I sat down thankfully, but the anxious feeling didn’t fade and only became worse.
“One, two, three…!” The lead singer called, and his hand strummed the electric guitar to a song I had heard on the radio once. The mallets felt like weights in my hand and everyone looked at me, waiting to see what I would do.

As I was frozen in place, another guitarist turned to and mouthed, “Come on! Start playing!” My fingers held onto the mallets tightly, until my knuckles were white. Slowly, I caught onto the beat and began to hit random drums. Boom boom chst, boom boom chst, and repeat. The years of band had finally paid off.

I smiled and looked Connor right in the eye, as if saying, “And you thought you could make a fool of me.”

When the song had finally finished, the lead singer gave me a quick, awkward hug and sent me off stage. I didn’t even glance at Connor when I was walking away. Although everything had turned out all right, I was mad at him for making me go up in front of everybody and play an instrument I haven’t played in years.

“Hey, hey, hey!”

I rolled my eyes and turned around, half expecting to see Connor. “Sick drumming skills,” a guy complimented. He looked a year or two older than me, deep brown eyes that resembled a pit with thousands of secrets to tell.

“Thank you. The only practice I’ve had with drums was in middle school band, and well, that didn’t turn out too well,” I laughed. “I’m Stacy.”

He stuck out his hand and said, “Danny.”

“Well, thank you fo—,” I began.

“Stacy! The table it ready,” my mother called.

Danny smiled, “You better go. I just wanted to say nice song.”

“Thanks again,” I called over my shoulder.

At the table, Mrs. Wheeler and my mom sat next to each other in the booth, continuing their previous conversation. This, regrettably, left me next to Connor. That gloating smirk was still perched on his lips and he tried hard not to laugh out loud at me.

I simply said, "You're going to pay for that." My eyes were focusing on the menu in front of me because if I looked at Connor, I would say something I didn't mean.

"Oh, really? How do you plan to manage that?" His voice was taunting, but still had warmth to it. "You won't even look at me."

The menu slipped out of my fingers and I turned to Connor. "How's this," I whispered. His green eyes danced with the dim light hanging above us. They turned from emerald to lime in the matter of seconds, and they reminded me of something, something I couldn't remember.

Connor nodded his head slightly and said, "You did play pretty well up there."
I snickered, "That's what people tell me." As always, my heart drummed in my ears whenever I talked to him. My breath was uneven by the slightest bit and I think he noticed. I combed my bangs away from my eyes and picked the menu up again, blocking Connor's stare.

"Anything appear tasty to you?" asked Connor's mom kindly.

I looked up, startled from my thoughts, and said, "I'm thinking about the steak, but I don't know, Mrs. Wheeler…"

"No please, call me Emily. The steak here is very good. You should try it."

“Okay, I will.”

The small talk made me realize how awkward this moment really was. No one else was speaking, not even my mother, and Connor was staring off into space, still frustrated. The waiter came over, then.

“Hello everyone, my name’s Danny and I’ll be your server tonight. Can I get you drinks to start you off?”

My head shot up in surprise to the name, and a familiar pair of dark brown eyes looked back. “Danny?”

“Stacy!” He laughed casually, “Apparently, I haven’t seen you enough today.”

“I guess not,” I chuckled back. I could almost feel Connor tense next to me and his jaw clenched even tighter. Those bright green eyes would have told volumes if he would just look at me, but of course he wouldn't.

“Who’s this,” my mother asked.

“This is Danny. I met him coming back from seeing the band,” I tried to explain this quickly, before she got any ideas.

She nodded her head understandingly while Danny mentioned my “amazing drumming skills.”

“Can we just order,” interrupted Connor, annoyance strong in his voice. I smiled. Connor had been a jerk to me all night, so I was happy he was irritated at Danny’s friendliness towards me.

“What do you want to drink, Stacy,” Danny asked, almost automatically. He ran his fingers through his wavy, ruffled brown hair and smirked as the tension between Connor and I rose.
“Sprite?”

He nodded and continued around the table, scratching down the orders on his pad.
“What is your problem,” Emily asked once Danny left.

“I don’t have one,” Connor’s tone was as cold as ice, “I’m going to the bathroom.”

I got up quickly to let him out of our booth, and scooted next to the wall once he was gone. “I think I’ll go too,” my mother said, getting up. “I’ll wash my hands at least.”

Now it was just Emily and I, waiting awkwardly for someone to come back.

“Stacy, can I tell you something,” she asked quietly.

I nodded my head slowly, and turned my attention towards her.

“I see how he looks at you, and I just think…someone will get hurt. Connor will break your heart, no matter how much he cares, no matter how much he will try not to. Please just promise me that this won’t happen with you guys, that you two are different from everyone else.”

I was speechless. At first, I thought that Emily was worried about me having a broken heart, but she needed the security of a promise that no one will get hurt, and I can’t promise her that. I still loved Brandon, but felt a pull towards Connor that I couldn’t avoid. “How can you say this…?” I asked, hoping for some type of direction that would help me choose which road to take.

Emily smiled a heartwarming smile while her green eyes jumped with hope. This was her promise to me. “You love him, you just don’t know it.”

My heart skipped a beat and I could barely breathe. “No…I don’t know it.”

When Connor returned to the table, I couldn’t look at him. My fingers wrapped around Brandon’s necklace, which had served as a promise to me to never let go, but now it didn’t feel like anything. It wouldn’t bring me closer to Brandon and it wouldn’t change the way I felt about this.

With Connor right near me, I couldn’t focus on anything else. His arm brushed against mine, and his voice was soft. “Who gave you that necklace?”

“A close friend…a very close friend,” I answered almost lifelessly, still not looking at him.
“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I lied.

Danny arrived with the drinks then, and I knew he could tell something was wrong, he just never asked what. “Two Sprites, lemonade, and a Coke. You all ready to order, or do you still need a few minutes?”

“Just a few minutes,” Emily said, “Nicole still isn’t back from the bathroom.”

Within a blink, Danny was gone and I slurped at my soda noisily, intent on forgetting what Emily said to me. You love him, you just don't know it.

"What did I miss," asked my mother, sitting back down in the booth. I looked up from my drink unexpectedly and rolled my eyes. "Nothing, you were gone for five minutes, mom."
She waved a hand at me, and said, "Oh, Stacy...never mind." And she started talking to Emily as if nothing had ever interrupted their conversation.

I shook my head and leaned my back against the wall, pulling my legs onto the seat. "So Connor..."

"What," he asked, in his normal, annoyed tone.

"That first day...when I bumped into you, why didn't you let me leave when I had the chance? You held onto me..."

"Hey, I did not hold on to you," Connor's cheeks turned slightly pink, but his eyes and voice were fierce. "I wanted to know who you were because you were new. And you could have very well let yourself go, but you didn't choose to."

I raised my eyebrows, "Really, and how did you suppose I would do that? Make a fool of myself pulling at your hand?"

"You could have done that, yes. Now I'm thinking that you wanted me to hold on to you." That taunting smirk appeared on his face as if he knew he'd won whatever we were fighting about.

My heart pounded with anger, but a smile still spread across my lips, as if whenever he grinned, I did too. "You couldn't be more frustrating."

He leaned closer to me, our faces only inches away, and whispered; "I could say the same about you." His breath was sugary from the Coke, but still smelled of mint from the gum. “I’ve been trying to figure you out from day one.”

I didn’t say anything more and that’s when Danny arrived. Connor straightened back up in the booth and I could tell that they were both annoyed at each others presence.

While I glanced at the menu quickly, I interrupted the awkward silence and asked, "Does the steak come with French fries?"

Danny looked up, startled, and nodded his head. He took the pad of paper out of his pocket, "Is that what you're having?"

"Yeah."

He scratched down our orders, and rushed into the kitchen. Once he was gone, my mother asked me how school was.

"Um..good, I guess. Already had to go to the nurse..." Connor snickered and I pinched his arm.

"She hit herself in the head with a baseball bat," Connor said, bursting into laughter.
"Yeah, but if you threw the ball over home plate, this wouldn't have been an issue," I said, trying to hide my own smile. I took a sip of my icy drink while Connor's perfect white smile beamed. "It's not funny. My head still hurts!"

He just poked one of my freckles and laughter washed over me like a wave. "I'm worried about leaving you alone for the rest of the weekend. You'll be in the emergency room before I know it."

"Not funny," I repeated through chuckles.

The rest of the night was full of laughs and teasing, but it all had to come to an end eventually. Outside, the sky had turned pitch black and the crescent moon was dominant on the dark canvas. Tiny stars outlined constellations I had never seen before and the cool winter breeze swayed the bare tree branches.

"It's nice, isn't it?" The voice startled me, but its softness was calming. I turned around and Connor was staring up, too. His blonde hair was shining silver in the moonlight and those green eyes were gleaming with the sea of white light.

I nodded as he looked down at me, a smile subtle on his lips. "I'll see you Monday, Connor."
He ruffled my hair, and smirked, "Can't wait." I sighed as he turned his back and walked farther into the night. My heart raced.

Before Emily started to leave too, I pulled her aside. "Look, I can't promise you anything, but..." I hesitated, "If anything happens—."

Emily's eyes shimmered in the darkness and she embraced me in a hug. "Thank you, Stacy."