I Hope You Like the Stars I Stole for You

I woke up late and threw on a grey knit sweater with black skinny jeans and Vans. I didn’t care if I looked “emo”, I just wanted to look decent. I looked in the mirror at myself- I was average looking. My hair was decent, it was kind of an unusual light brown color and fell in waves to my ribs, I had clear skin and a good nose. My eyes were my favorite thing about myself, they were always very bright; they were a charcoal grey-blue color that I felt contrasted oddly with my hair, but I would take what I could get. Some beauty is better than none. I debated between skimping on the makeup or not doing my hair, and I ended up doing full makeup and leaving my hair natural.

I left my music off on the bus ride to school this time, and I gained no disapproving looks from anyone on the bus. So far, so good. After first hour, I subtly looked around for Vic on my way to my second class. I was disappointed when I never saw him, and I ended up almost being late to class. I rushed to my seat, only to find no other than Vic sitting right next to me. “This is a pleasant surprise .” I commented, and he smiled at me. “Are you stalking me ?” I joked. “Actually, yes. I’m glad you noticed,” He retorted playfully. “Why weren’t you in class yesterday, obviously you were at school.” I asked, genuinely interested. He smiled again, he must be a really happy kid. “I skipped, but if I’d known you were in my class….” He trailed off, and left it to my imagination.

Halfway through the class, someone threw something at the back of my head. It was a crumpled paper ball, and I opened it up to find “Emo boy and emo girl” written inside, with a picture of Vic and I, listening to ‘screamo’ music and wearing Vans. I rolled my eyes and showed Vic, and he shook his head, tossing it in the trash. I turned around to see who had thrown it, and it looked to be a boy with a lip ring and some tattoos. He was sitting next to the girl on the bus who had told me to turn my music down. She was flirting with him heavily, and he was doing the same. I shook my head, and focused on the lesson.

It bothered me all day that people were starting to spread rumors about me already. I heard a couple other whispers of “emo girl” in the hallways, and I was starting to get pissed. Just because I liked metal-core music didn’t qualify me as a freak. This was some of the same stuff that had happened to me at my old school. So I wore Vans ? They’re just shoes, what did they even have to do with anything ? And another thing, how was Vic emo ? He was one of the happiest people I knew !
I was quiet during lunch and fourth and fifth hour, trying to keep to myself. I was ready for the day to end, and I rushed out of school. I slowed down when I reached the point that Vic had met me yesterday, and pretended to search for something in my bag, trying not to make it obvious that I was waiting for him. A shadow next to me told me that he was here, and I looked up. “Hey.” I beamed. “Hi,” he replied, grinning back. A couple people shouted at us, poking fun at us. “Ignore them,” He told me. It looked like it didn’t even phase him. “I knew I shouldn’t have worn this outfit, “I grumbled. “Why ?” He looked surprised. “You look really nice today.” I looked at him, blushing. “Really ?” He nodded. “Well…it sounds stupid, but I guess it makes me look kind of ‘emo’.” I put air quotations on the word, shrugging. “Nope, it just makes you look cute.” He told me, chuckling a little. I squeaked out a “Thanks,” flattered by his compliment. We walked in silence after that, and I tried not to stare at him. He looked great today, his hair was straight now, and somehow he looked like he was glowing. If only I could be beautiful like that… We reached my house, and bid farewell.

I knew as soon as I walked in that my father was in a bad mood. My mother was gone, she always had some social event to go to, so I was to fend for myself. My father was already drinking, watching sports in the living room. The house was a mess, and when he was pissed, he would wreck our house, that’s just what he did. He looked at me with glassy eyes “What the fuck do you want ?” “Uh…nothing.” I said, confused. “Then get the hell away from me !” He yelled, tossing an empty glass bottle my way. It shattered on the wall behind me, and a few shards ripped into my side. I hurried away before he could throw something else, heading for my bathroom. Two considerably sized chunks of beer bottle were embedded in my side. I pulled them out with a yelp, then carefully pulled my sweater off. I dressed the wounds, then shuffled into my room to start my homework. I couldn’t concentrate with my side throbbing, but I managed to get most of my homework done anyway. I jumped as my door slammed open, and my dad stumbled in. “Turn that shit off !” he yelled, referring to my music. “It’s not shit, its music !” I shrieked, angry at everyone ripping on my music lately. He lunged for me and grabbed my collar “What did you say ?” He slammed me against the wall. “Are you sassing me ?” I didn’t reply, and he shoved me against the wall again. “Huh ?! I’M TALKING TO YOU.” His face was near inches from mine, and I was terrified at how drunk he was, usually things didn’t get this bad. I still didn’t say anything, and he let me down, then smacked me across the face. He stumbled out of the room once more, slamming the door so hard the walls rattled. I hurriedly locked the door behind him, still shaking. I had thought this hell was over with….so much for my fresh start.

The rest of the week passed in a blur of classes and walking home with Vic. I went through the same routine every day, of muddling through classes just waiting until I could see Vic again. I would walk home with him and then come home to find my mother gone and my father ignoring me or hating me. On Friday, Vic turned to me as we were walking home and said “I should get your number.” I smiled at him, “Uh, y-yea.” I pulled out a sticky note and scribbled the number to my cell and handed it to him. “Thanks, I’m going to text you, alright ?” I nodded happily, ecstatic. My hand wandered to my side absently, where one of my wounds had refused to heal up. I looked down at my hand, there was blood on it now. “Shit !” I said out loud, without thinking. Vic looked down at my side, where blood was soaking through my blue shirt. “Whoa, are you okay ?” He sounded genuinely concerned. He stopped me and crouched down, looking at the wound. I cleared my throat, “I’m fine….thanks.” I hurried into my house without further explanation.

Up in my room, I cursed myself for not letting him help. I collapsed on my window seat, looking out over the street. Vic was still there, standing outside my house. My movement caught his attention, and he looked up then waved. He held up the sticky note and motioned “Call me.” I grinned and waved, watching him walk down the street. He was so nice to me, I should have just let him help me. At this new school, I had Emma, Reid, Sydney, and Ella, but I would definitely consider Vic to be my best friend. He was the one I talked to the most, and we could talk comfortably about anything. My phone lit up with a text from an unknown number- Vic.

The text read- “Meet me at the park by my house tomorrow at noon.” I jumped up and down, flapping my hands. I was developing the most massive crush on Vic.