Priceless

“I’ll keep her company,” were the words that left his mouth. My eyes actually widened at that, as I was quite surprised upon why he wanted to keep me company. It was not as if I was assuming he liked me or something, I was just really wondering...but it probably meant nothing—maybe he just wanted to stargaze and be quiet for a while, too.

Yeah, that was it.

“Okay,” Josh said. “Try not to fall of the roof.” He winked at us, and then he and John started climbing down—noisily, I must say, for Josh was yelling curse words at John non-stop, saying John’s feet was on his face, etc.

I tried to relax in Stephen’s presence, but I couldn’t help but feel awkward. He was silent, and I almost felt like I was alone, but at the same time I knew he was there.

I still hadn’t recovered from my shock that he had chosen to keep me company when there came another one. “I do this a lot,” he said, and I slowly turned my head to him to make sure he was actually talking to me, although it was pretty obvious that he was because there was no one else there. He wasn’t looking at me, he was just looking at the sky, but people don’t talk to skies, so I became sure that he really was talking to me. “I climb up in my own roof and just stargaze for a while. It’s like a whole other world here—it’s peaceful and calm and a nice break from everyone and everything else.”

I nodded, understanding where he was coming from, as I brought my gaze back to sky. “It’s so serene here,” I said. “It’s like no one’s watching you when you’re up here. And that’s a good thing.”

“Why are your parents like that?” he asked. “I’m sorry if I’m prying—I’m just curious.”

I sighed deeply. It wasn’t because I thought he was prying, it was simply because of my parents being like that. “I’m not really sure,” I murmured. “What I know is that I love them, that’s why I’m doing this.”

“You love them that’s why you’re sneaking out, or...”

I laughed softly, “I love them that’s why I’m a different person in the morning.”

He just responded with a short laugh, and after that, it fell silent for a while. I didn’t mind this time, though. I didn’t feel awkward anymore.

I just continued staring into the sky, looking at each star, and wondering what if there were fairies up there who listened to people’s thoughts and made their wishes come true. I didn’t actually believe in fairies, let alone wishes coming true, but it just entered my head at the moment. Maybe I was losing my sanity, but I had no problem with that. I’d read somewhere that only insane people don’t get hypnotized, and I sure hoped I was one. I was pretty sure that if my parents knew how to hypnotize, they wouldn’t waste any time anymore, they would hypnotize me right away and I would literally be their robot. Daddy’s Robot Princess, and Mommy’s Moving Barbie Doll.

His voice broke into my thoughts yet again, but this time, it was what he said that caught me off guard the most.

“Make a wish,” he said, and I had to blink before it registered in my mind.

“You want me to make a wish?” I asked, astounded.

“It’s 11:11.” I could almost see the smile on his face from his voice.

“You believe in that?” I asked as I turned to him, completely surprised. He didn’t look like he was the type who believed in that thing.

He looked at me as well, a smirk on his face. “No, but you look like you need it,” he said. “Go on, make a wish. And then let’s go down,” he urged.

I pursed my lips into a pout as I furrowed my eyebrows, “I don’t think wishes come true.” They didn’t. They really didn’t. I stopped believing they did about eight years ago, but I just stopped making them about two years ago.

He sat up and I could see his face clearer this time. He still had that smirk on. “Just make one. It won’t hurt you,” he said.

But it would. I knew it would just hurt me because it wouldn’t come true.

Nevertheless, I closed my eyes and for a moment, racked my mind for wishes that I’d already made. I ended up choosing that simple one, which I knew wouldn’t come true anyway, even if it was that simple. Although I knew I would just waste a few seconds of my life, I risked it, just to satisfy Stephen.

I wish my parents could give me their love and acceptance and not just their money.

There was that feeling tugging at my heart called hope—that was looking forward to that wish coming true, but I tried to shake it off as I looked up at Stephen who was now standing up. He offered his hand to me and I took it, and as he helped me up, I could almost feel the sense of serenity slipping away from me, but it wasn’t because of him. In addition to that, I also felt disappointment, knowing one, solid thing about the wish I just made:

It wouldn’t come true anyway.