The Science of Paper Airplanes

"I guess my idea wasn't so original after all," said a voice to my right as another telescope was set down in the grass. I grinned, brushing my hair away from my forehead, and glanced up at the source. His San Fransokyo Ninjas cap was pulled down over his eyes, but failed to mask his slightly overgrown ears, which I supposed made him seem a bit more endearing. "Great minds think alike."

"First clear night in weeks," I said. "Figured I may as well take advantage while I can." I stopped fiddling with my lens cap and stuck my hand out to the boy. "I'm Nova, Nova Spiers."

He flicked his hat up and raised an eyebrow at me, a smirk already forming on his thin lips. "Your name is Nova, and you enjoy stargazing?" he asked point-blank.

"Can't say I haven't heard that one before."

He laughed and took my hand. "Tadashi Hamada, at your service."

The name rang a distant bell, but I only shook my head at him, still smiling, and returned to what I was doing. Polaris seemed brighter than usual. "Do you go to SFIT?" I asked in an attempt to make conversation. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched him take off his cap and balance it carefully on his knee.

"No, I'm still in high school. I was in your Economics class last year," he reminded me. He failed to hide his smile.

I grimaced as I finally recognized him. What a way to make a friend. "Sorry, I haven't really paid much attention." He shrugged it off with good humor, turning a knob to stabilize the legs of his scope. "Do you plan to go when we graduate, then?" I tried.

"Naturally," Tadashi said. "I'm considering medicine, but probably will end up in robotics. You?"

"Aeronautics. I'm all about planes." To prove my point, I pulled a small, folded piece of paper from the pocket of my sweater and tossed it in his direction. It landed neatly in his lap.

He stared at the plane, impressed. "It didn't even veer at all," he said in awe. "How did you do that?"

"It's all about the balance," I said proudly. "Factor in wind speeds--there isn't much of a breeze tonight--and the weight of the paper, and that should do the trick if your aim isn't completely terrible and you've folded it properly."

Tadashi tried returning the plane to me, but his hand had been turned a few degrees too far to the left and it had crashed nobly into the grass. "I'm hopeless," he groaned exaggeratedly.

I stared at him with as serious an expression as I could muster. "He died a hero's death." The boy blinked at me in confusion, then, as if on cue, we both erupted in giggles. "You can practice," I told him as we clutched our stomachs and gasped for air, "and I can help you, if you'd like."

"Well then, Miss Spiers, this looks like the start of a wonderful friendship." Tadashi held out a pinky expectantly, and I couldn't help but notice that his wind blown dark hair fit his face nicely, and there was the littlest gap between his front teeth when he smiled.

I mirrored his gesture, and we tugged on each other's fingers lightly. "That it does, Mr. Hamada."