Shooting stars and flying planes.
On our way back from MacDonald’s. We are parked close to the airport. It is filled with green glowing insects, whispering and flying around. Time slowly flashing past us. We are both quiet. Charlie and I watch as most of the airplanes pass. As each plane passes, we tend to make a habit of counting them. It is quite fun, sitting, and not doing anything. I am also staring at the stars, patiently waiting for a shooting star to pass so I get to make a wish. How much I love seeing shooting stars. I know most people don’t believe in them. But I do believe in them a lot. As a little child,-mother would place me on her lap, making me look straight at the sky when it was night. When a shooting star passes, she would then tell me to make a wish within my heart. Just maybe, if I get to see a shooting star tonight, I would wish for mother to come back home to us. But then again, I can only wish on such things.
“Jamie,” I hear the call of my name from Charlie. I turn to look towards him.
“Yes, Charlie,” I answer with a questioning tone.
“Are you not going to eat your burger?”
“I am not hungry anymore.”
“But you didn’t even eat anything.”
“I know Charlie. I just lost my appetite. But trust me, I am okay.”
“So what’s running through your mind? I know you are always thinking of so many things. But the problem is, I can never tell what you are thinking about. Can you at least tell me one?”
“Are you that inquisitive to know what I am thinking about?”
“Oh, yes. I want to know everything about you.”
“Okay, then. I would tell you a bit, but promise me you would not ask me any further?”
“I promise CSP.”
“I thought you had forgotten how to call me that.”
“How could I?” Charlie says with a grin on his face.
“Anyways, I was thinking of my mother. I miss her,” I say.
“You never talk about your mother. The few times we have spoken, you only talk about your father. Is she alive?”
“Of course, my mother is alive. We hardly see her.”
Charlie seems to notice the sudden frown on my face. It seems like he knows how to read me a lot because he instantly changes the subject to something else.
“How about I tell you a story?”
I object immediately. Instead, I want to ask him something else.
“Who were you talking to some time ago on the phone? You sounded kind of mean. I am sure that person only means well to see you.”
I see a wild smile on his face, which gives me a puzzled look.
“Why are you smiling,” I say, looking at him with a straight face now.
“It was my mother, Jamie. She wanted me to come home for thanksgiving.”
“And you don’t want to go.”
“I do not want to go home. I would rather spend my thanksgiving with you.”
“And what makes you think I wouldn’t be with my family during thanksgiving.”
“I think I know how to predict where you would be from what I have noticed most of the holidays. You are usually in your room, doing some assignments. But please, Jamie, I want to spend this thanksgiving with you.”
Once again, I am impressed with the information Charlie knows about me. He does pay attention, after all. I watch him as he takes a gentle bite of the hamburger in his hands. Chewing it slowly like this is going to be his last supper. As he chews, his small dimple moves, making sure to match the rhythm of his mouth's movement. This causes me to smile as I keep watch on him eating.
As I keep looking at him, I suddenly hear the familiar sound of an airplane passing through the dark sky. I can see this one clearly, even though the sky is a bit dark. My eyes grin with excitement. As I quickly call the number three out loud.
“This is so funny, Charlie. We could do this all night.”
“We can?” Charlie says excitedly.
“No, we can’t. I should soon be on my way home. I have to be at Shirley’s by six tomorrow. You know some of us do work to pay our bills. We don’t have rich folks out there to hand them out to us.” As I say this, Charlie lets out a sad smile.
“I am just kidding, Charlie. I was actually kidding. You know how I like to tease you.”
“That’s not true. You never tease Jamie. In fact, this is the first time you are actually saying such.”
“Amazing. How well you know me.”
“Yes. I know so many things about you.”
“Tell me five things you know about me.”
“Well, I know you are very hardworking. You like to eat your salad without some cream because you feel the cream itself is not healthy. You love your father so much. You are very devoted to your job at Shirley’s. You don’t like to collect money from anyone who offers. You believe you need to earn every amount you spend. And finally, you love Art.”
When Charlie is done talking, I am amazed at how much he does know me. Even if we started to talk a few months ago, he surely does pay attention to me. I am lost in thoughts, still thinking about what I just heard Charlie say. But then, as I raise up my face, I can almost feel his eyes burning through me. The atmosphere suddenly feels serene. It feels like a scene in Hollywood movies. Scenes where I watch where the main actor or actress finally plants a kiss on the lips of their love interest. I instantly know that’s where Charlie is heading to. My heart suddenly starts to beat fast. It can almost come off my chest. I am nervous because if Charlie is going to kiss me, this will be my first kiss. In a matter of three seconds, I notice the slow movement of Charlie’s face coming close to mine. I am still. Looking at his eyes. But then I immediately shut my eyes. Closing it very tight, because in most movies I watch, the actors always close their eyes. With my eyes still closed. I take my inner lips in to soften them with a bit of my saliva. I can feel the breath of Charlie’s nostrils on my face. I know any minute from now he would kiss me. My heart is pounding a lot, much faster than usual. But now, the sound I hear makes me open my eyes immediately, causing me to turn away from Charlie. It is the sound of my Lana Del Rey ring tone. “Dark Paradise.”
With my phone still ringing. I gently raise my head to look at Charlie. From what I see, he has a bit of a disappointing look on his face. From this, I know he really did want to kiss me. I actually want to kiss him too, but my phone ringing out immediately spoils everything with my phone still ringing. I roll my eyes once before picking my call from an unknown caller.
“Hello,” I say to the unknown number.” At the other end of the line, nobody says anything. But I can actually hear the breath of the party calling. “Hello,” I say again. But there is no response. I finally put down my phone. The atmosphere has changed. It is no longer the same as the way it was before picking the call.
“I should drop you home now. Since you would be heading to work very early tomorrow.”
“Oh yes, Charlie,” I say almost immediately, breaking our awkward silence.
Our drive home towards my hostel is quiet. Charlie seems very cold. He doesn’t say a thing causing me to break the ice.
“Charlie. Are you okay? You seem to be so quiet.”
When I call his name, a smile suddenly appears on his face. Making me feel relaxed.
“I am okay, CSP.”
I come down from the front seat of his car. Walking slowly towards Mrs. Briggs's front gate. I do not turn back, but I can feel the burning eyes of Charlie staring at me. Something tells me to look back, but then I don’t. I continue walking towards my staircase. Hoping Charlie is not mad at me for blowing him off with the kiss. When I am at the staircase entrance, I hear the familiar sound of Charlie’s engine, driving away. With this, my beating heart calms down. I can relax properly.
When I get into my room, I immediately pull off my clothes and hop into the bathroom to shower. Thank goodness I left the heater on. The water would be boiling. As I step into the hot shower, the hot water pierces through my soft skin. The harsh burn leaves red patches on my skin hurts, but then I am good at bearing the pain. Whenever I come out of the bathroom, my body is always burning red. I towel myself before putting the food Charlie got for me at the restaurant into the freezer. I do not think I would be eating that any moment from now. But then the MacDonald’s burgers stares at me. This I would eat. Naked, with only my towel covering my belly button to my knee, I sit on my reading table, with one hand on my burger. Eating it bit by bit. At the same time, my other hand is on my computer. As I scroll through the assignments I should have done today, instead of going on a date, I silently curse myself. I head over to my web page. Google always does the magic on my researches. The topic I am to write on today is photosynthesis. It’s actually the assignment of a first-year microbiology student as I start to read the assignment's essentials. The familiar tone of my phone rings again. When I check, it’s still an unknown number. This time I do not pick. Instead, I pick up my phone and turn it off. I need to focus on working on these six assignments, which are due tomorrow. This also means one thing. I would spend the whole night working instead of resting.