Two Hearts Under the Stars

Damien was always the quiet type, ever since he was little. He didn’t like sports or games, and always preferred to seclude himself from wherever there was a rowdy bunch. Even though he’d made a couple of friends in high school, they hardly ever talked about stuff beyond their little shared interests. Damien had always preferred the company of books over other people anyway. And now, Damien’s moved to Moon for college. Unsurprisingly, his classmates do not share the same ideas he does, and so Damien is usually by himself. Eventually he got really bored just staying in the room he rented doing nothing all day, and needed a way out. Then one day, as if it was a blessing in disguise, he overheard some students’ conversation mentioning something about a bookhouse nearby. His interest piqued, he decided to seek it out himself.

“Starlight Bookhouse, huh? Not too far off campus either. I just hope there won’t be too much noise there.” Damien found the bookhouse on the internet and plotted his route from his campus and had arrived at his destination, the Starlight Bookhouse, and steps inside. He is greeted by a collection of books so large it’s as if it were a fraction of a library. Damien was stunned. He’s finally found a good use of his time for the remainder of time spent in college. “This is it! I’m gonna come here every day if I can!” he thought to himself. Already, he began to think about how to get the maximum amount of time he could spend here. In his delusion, he suddenly heard someone’s repeated calls. Snapping out of it, the girl in front of him asked, “Umm, excuse me? D-do you need help?” “No, no, I’m fine. Just a little, bedazzled, is all.” Damien replied in an awkward tone. The girl then said in a timid voice “W-well if you need anything, j-just call!” Suddenly, seemingly out of instinct, or perhaps because he was still recovering from shock, Damien said “But how can I call you if I don’t know your name?” This sort of unprompted question from Damien made the girl blush slightly “U-um, m-my name is Astra. N-nice to meet you…”

From then onward, Damien would visit Starlight every day, which meant Astra got to see him every day too. At first, they were distant with each other, Damien sorting through all the literature he could find there, not wanting to disturb Astra, who seemed really shy and stammered a lot when she spoke. But as the days went by, they managed to overcome that barrier of unfamiliarity, and while not necessarily socializing, they began to get along better, evident by Astra eventually losing her stammer whenever she spoke with him. (The same could not be said for when she spoke to other customers, however.) And through his frequent visits, Damien learned that Starlight was owned and run by Astra’s aunt, Jenny. He also learned that Astra also moved to Moon for college and is currently staying with her aunt while helping her out with her business. Also, sometimes he’d arrive at Starlight and Astra would be in the process of reading a book of her own, which Damien hoped to bond with her over. With each visit to Starlight, Damien could feel that he would never tire of spending his time there, as if he’d become infatuated with the place. “Wait a minute, there’s pretty much nothing there except books! And it's definitely not the books that I’m feeling this attraction to, what else could it be? Unless…!” Right then and there, his head swirled with weird thoughts. He tried to deny them but eventually he’d come to face it, he was crushing on Astra!

Today, Damien decided to go to Starlight as usual, only this time, he wasn’t thinking about what books to read. As he stood at the front door, he hesitated to go in. He realized he wasn’t ready to say anything to her yet. In this state, Damien unknowingly spent a bit of time motionless at the door. Suddenly, the door opened, scaring Damien. However, the one behind the door was not the girl he expected, but her aunt, and owner of the store, Ms. Jenny. “Oh, it’s you,” she said to Damien. “I saw you on the camera acting all stiff, come on in.” At her invitation, he follows her inside. “It’s rare to see you running the counter, Ms. Jenny.” Ms. Jenny replied “Well, if you’re looking for Astra, she’s been holed up in her room the whole day since she got back from school. She got her hands on a brand new toy and she’s been playing with it all day.” “A toy? Astra still plays with toys?” “Don’t believe me? I’ll call her.” Damien replies “That won’t be necessa-”

“ASTRA!!!!! YOUR FRIEND’S HERE TO SEE YOU!!!!!!!”

Ms. Jenny roared so loud Damien could feel his heartbeat. Soon after, Astra descended the stairs and turned to Ms. Jenny and saw Damien was there with her. “Oh! Damien. Hello, welcome…” Astra looked a little bashful upon seeing him. “Astra, your friend here wants to see your new toy. Why don’t you take him upstairs?” The two of them get flustered, and in perfect sync, reply “No way!” “Why not, Damien? I thought you were curious! And Astra, you should be excited to get to show it off to others! After all, you afforded it through your own hard work. It’s something to be proud of!” Again, the two, in unison, say “I don’t know…” Ms. Jenny then looks Astra in the eye and says “If you do it I’ll buy you that thing you were asking for.” Astra immediately responds “Deal!” and snatches Damien’s arm, dragging him upstairs, leaving him utterly confused.

Astra walks Damien to her room entrance, and says “Sorry, but my aunt can be very persuasive sometimes. And honestly, you’d be doing me a huge favor.” Damien is even more confused now, just what on earth is this family talking about? Damien asks Astra “Just what is your hobby, exactly? I realized after all this time I’ve known you, I actually barely know you at all.” Astra replies “Well, that’s because I’ve kinda kept it a secret from everyone. But I think you’ll see just why.” She opens her room door to go in, and across the room, upon her bed, Damien sees a telescope in the middle of being assembled. Damien is immediately surprised by this, and spends his time taking in the various space-themed decorations all over the room. “So, yeah, this is my room, and that telescope on my bed is my ‘new toy’” Astra says, straight to the point and kinda embarrassed. Meanwhile, Damien could not believe his eyes. He says “I had no idea you were into this kinda stuff! How long have you been doing this? Do you know anyone else into this? What got you into it?” Damien’s questioning was relentless, and Astra struggled to give an answer. “I've just always liked this stuff, but ever since I was little, no one else really felt the same way, and I didn’t really like anything else, so over the years, I learned to keep it to myself.” Hearing this, Damien felt a little guilty, as if he’d just violated her privacy. “Sorry, I stepped out of line, I should’ve known…” Damien apologized, seeing Astra’s downcast expression. “No, no! It’s no big deal, really. I’m just a little embarrassed, letting a boy into my room for the first time…” Astra says and blushes harder, and so does Damien.

Unable to suppress himself any longer, Damien speaks up. “Astra, I have something I’d like to say to you. To be completely honest, I really enjoyed the time we’d spent together in the past. So much so that, well, I uh,” Damien now found himself to be the stammering one. Astra looked at Damien and sighed. “I get it, you preferred if i just kept to myself and not tell you about this stuff, right? Most people feel the same way, so no hard feelings-” “No! That’s not it! Not at all!” Damien cut her off before she went into full self-depreciation mode. “What I’m trying to say is that… I… like… you…” Astra goes completely silent, then says in a warbly voice “C-could you r-repeat th-that…?” “I LIKE YOU! A LOT! I can’t get you out of my head! I’ll be honest, I came today to ask you out on a date. I didn’t think that your aunt would’ve pushed us into this position, but it’s finally gotten my to say it!” Damien feels a giant weight off his chest, and a burning sensation in his face and ears, and it seems Astra is feeling it too. Gathering all her remaining courage, she asks “Aren’t you afraid I’m too weird? Or too much of a loner to be with you? And what about my hobby? That doesn’t weird you out?” “Not at all.” Damien says. “I know what it’s like to be interested in things other people aren’t too fond of. To be ostracized by them and to walk your own path alone. And now that I see you’ve been down this path too, maybe we don’t have to be alone anymore. Plus, I gotta say, I think your hobby is really cool.” Hearing his words of encouragement, her mood improves drastically. “Well, in that case, I could use some help with my new toy. Wanna help?” With their feelings all sorted out, the two spend all evening setting up and studying the telescope, telling stories about their hobbies, and waiting for the night time to come to properly test out Astra’s new telescope.

Dusk had come, and the pair had had the time of their lives learning about each other, forming a tight bond between them. Now, they awaited the right hour for observing Astra’s favorite constellations. As it turns out, stargazing is a hobby that requires patience, planning and even a little imagination, at least according to Astra. Certain stars in the night sky can only be observed during certain hours of the night, so Astra had always been diligent in planning her time to watch the amazing night sky phenomena. So much so that she’s written them all down in her phone’s notepad. And after she’s done observing the sky, she writes down all her feelings about the things she saw that night, along with sketches of the stars and formations observed. She showed all these things to Damien who studied them carefully, seemingly lost in thought at times. And once Damien finished reading everything Astra had shown him, he said to her “I’m completely blown away by all this. Before, I’d always just seen you as the shy girl working at some bookstore, but now, knowing this side of you, I’m just so thrilled I got to meet you.” “Thanks, I’m glad we met too. I never knew sharing my hobbies with someone actually felt this nice. And I’m glad you listened to everything I had to say.” Astra says. They stare at each other, feeling an odd sensation of comfort and discomfort at the same time. But before either one spoke, an Astra’s phone began to sound. Pulling them out of each other’s gaze, Astra suddenly remembered “Oh! The meteor shower is coming!”

The pair head to the windowsill to observe the meteor shower. And while not his time seeing one, it was his first time doing so with someone so passionate about them. And what a sight it was. Something about the situation made them look even prettier than before. Then, out of curiosity, Damien asks “Have you made a wish on a shooting star that came true?” Astra laughs, saying “Don’t be ridiculous, shooting stars don’t grant wishes!” “But I’ve always made wishes when I’ve seen a shooting star! To prove it to you, I’ll make a wish right now!” Damien protested. He closed his eyes, tilted his head toward the meteor shower, clasped his hands, and made his wish. “What did you wish for?” Astra inquired. Damien said “Normally you’re not supposed tell other people, but I wished I could experience this day all over again. Today was truly eye-opening, and I really loved spending time with you.” Astra blushed at his words. “I’m flattered. And honestly, I feel the same way.” Their earlier silence and sensations came back. “So, does this mean we’re, like, dating now?” Damien asked bluntly. Astra lets out a scoff. “You’re such a goofball.” They laughed and resumed their observation of the night sky. Finally, the day had concluded, and Damien bade farewell to Astra, but secretly longing for the next day to arrive.

The next day, Damien returns to Starlight, all giddy and excited to meet her again. He walks inside, but like yesterday, Ms. Jenny is behind the counter. “Hey Ms. Jenny. Is Astra upstairs today again?” “Yes, you wanted to see her?” Ms. Jenny asks. “Very much so.” Damien said. Surprised, Ms. Jenny remarks “Well someone’s an eager beaver, aren’t they? Alright I’ll call her down.”

“ASTRA!!!!! YOUR FRIEND’S HERE TO SEE YOU!!!!!!!”

Exactly the same as yesterday. Damien thought it was a funny coincidence. Astra descends the stairs and sees Damien. “Oh! Damien. Hello, welcome…” Damien noticed she was acting nervous, and thought that Ms. Jenny was still in the dark about what happened last night. Out of consideration, Damien suggested that they go upstairs to her room to talk. Astra turned bright pink, saying “H-huh?! I’m not just letting anybody up there!” Ms. Jenny with a sly grin on her face, looked at them and said “I can take a hint, kids, I’ll get out of your hair. You lovebirds just make sure to watch the store too, okay? I’m headed out to get some necessities.” Just like that Ms. Jenny was gone, and the two were alone together.

Astra, starting to panic, asks “What did you tell my aunt to convince her that we were dating?!” Damien says in his defense “I just said I wanted to see you very eagerly.” Astra, a little confused, says “Okay, but why did you suggest we go to my room of all places?” Damien says “I just wanted a little more privacy! And I wanted to check out the telescope a little more.” Astra was baffled. “How did you know about my telescope?” “Um, because we assembled it together? Just yesterday? And we stayed up past midnight observing the night sky and the meteor shower?” Remember that?” Astra was at a loss for words, but managed to say to him, “That…didn’t happen.” “Huh?” Damien says in disbelief. “My telescope is still unassembled. And the meteor shower is scheduled for tonight, not yesterday.” Damien tried to rebut, “But we shared so many stories! I even confessed I had a crush on you! What do you mean it didn’t happen?!” “Y-you have a crush on me?!” Astra was impressed and aghast that he had the audacity to say that nonchalantly. “Look, my point is, something doesn’t feel right, its almost as if…!” Damien’s face lit up. “What is it now?” Astra demanded an explanation. “My wish! I wished that I could relive this day again during the meteor shower!” he said. “Don’t be ridiculous, shooting stars don’t grant wishes!” Astra says in response. “You said that too last night! Look, I get that what I’m saying doesn’t really make sense, but please believe me, we spent the whole day together talking about the stuff you like, and we really enjoyed each other’s company.” Unable to bear it any longer, Astra says to him “I’ve never shared any of my hobbies with anyone before, so stop trying to think you understand. If this is just some weird confession ritual then I’ll have to ask you to leave.” Damien starts to regret making that wish now, seeing as it only damaged her image of him in her eyes. But he complies, leaving Starlight.

That evening, Ms. Jenny finally returned from her errands. She finds Astra collapsed on the table, with a dour expression. “What happened to you?” she inquires. “I don’t wanna talk about it.” Astra says in a defeated tone. “Did you finally confess to him? You’ve been saying it for weeks now!” Ms. Jenny prods. “He said some weird things today, like we already started dating yesterday. He even knew about the telescope!” Astra says, frustrated. “Yikes, some people can find out anything these days huh? Well, here, I bet this’ll cheer you up.” She hands Astra a box. She opens it, and inside it was a pair of necklaces made of meteorite, that when joined together made a heart shape. Astra’s eyes widened. “Huh? Didn’t you say I would only get this once I found a boyfriend?” Ms. Jenny replied “Well, I really thought he was gonna be the one. So I went out to get them for you. But now I see you all broken and sad, well, I couldn’t stand it.” “Thanks, Aunt Jenny.” But there was still doubt in her heart. Later, during the meteor shower, she watched it soar across the night sky. She wore one necklace and joined it with the other one to complete the heart. “If what Damien said was true, then I wish I could remember the time we spent together.” With her wish made, all those memories she’d lost from her date with Damien suddenly came back to her. It was true! They did spend all that time together! They did fall in love! Astra shuddered, and gently wept to herself.

The next day, Astra was at the counter, watching the store. Damien came into the store as usual. “Hey, are you still mad at me for what I said yesterday?” Astra hands him the meteorite necklace. “What’s this all about?” He asks. She replies “You’re such a goofball.”