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I nod slowly, unable to take my eyes off his tense profile. “The maze…”
“It didn’t sound right. But I wasn’t certain, and by the time I looked it up—confirming it…” He shrugs, flitting me a glance before returning his gaze to the starless night. “I don’t know if I forgot about it, or didn’t see the point in telling you. So I just…put it to the side. It felt…trivial given everythi?—”
“Jeremy,” I cut in softly.
He blows out a sharp breath. “Right. Sorry,” he mutters. Clearing his throat, he inhales deeply, and says, “The ones we can see on a clear night with our naked eye…they’re too close to have already burnt out. A couple might be gone already, sure, but…but the likelihood that the majority you see at night are dead…Well, it’s pretty slim.
“Stars live for billions of years after all. Humans have only been around for, like, hundreds of thousands—a blip compared to the shelf life of a star.” He gives his head a little shake. “They’re too close.” He pauses. “I can’t say the same for the ones you need a telescope to see. But the ones you used to talk to and make wishes to? No, they’re not dead.”
I stare at him.
And keep staring at him.
Jeremy. Jeremy…
Jeremyjeremyjeremy—
Everything is quiet, except for his name pounding like a drum in my chest.
It’s there…it’s right there…just look a little closer…
Let it in.
“Are you serious?” I whisper.
He glances at me, then does a double take, pushing off the building, his eyes growing wide . His face is a blur—everything’s a blur—and it takes me a second to realize why…
And suddenly, I’m six years old again, on the verge of tears, willing myself to be tough.
To hold it together.
Be strong…
Because I am crumbling.
“Mase…What?—”
“There you are,” a voice calls out.
We both startle at the interruption, and whirl around find a figure jogging toward us.
Lanky limbs.
Curly dark brown hair.
A breathless grin.
Gabe.
Jeremy’s not on socials, but he is. Not to mention that glimpse I got years ago, when he answered my video-call.
“Well, my oh my,” he drawls, just as Jeremy rushes toward him and all but blocks him from getting to me. Jeremy mumbles something, but Gabe just grins wider, eyes twinkling with humor and something sharper. Something like a warning…
One aimed my way.
“Hey there, blue eyes.”
Clearing my throat, I blink away the lingering moisture. “Hey, Gabe,” I say roughly. We’re a good five feet apart, but my voice carries all the same.
