She stood, moving to the window, looking up at the stars. Not as many as the
blanket that covered Golden Grove, but a few. Just enough, maybe. Just one, even.
Her own Lucky Star.
It was there, somewhere, shining out with blue eyes and a crooked smile.
She wanted to reach out and grab it, pull it in, never let it go again.
But did she have the courage to take that chance?
* * *
The old gym at the Community Center was the way Peter remembered it from when he was in high school. A little smaller. Still the same dank, slightly musty
smell every old gym has from decades of PE and sweaty basketball practices.
The carnival that had been held here seemed like years ago, already.
The homecoming dance had been rolling for at least a half hour. A DJ in bright pink louvered sunglasses was pounding out eighties music from a pair of
speakers set on either side of the stage, trying to get the kids excited.
And they were. A crowd of them, dressed up in what the Internet told them
people in the eighties wore, were bouncing on the dance floor in the middle of
the gym. Leg warmers, skinny ties, teased-out hair, humongous shoulder pads, ripped stockings. He had to smile. It was all overblown, but it was fun.
The smile faded. For the kids, anyway.
A disco ball spun up by the retracted basketball hoop, rolling out fragments
of sparkly light across the gym floor. Students paired up and began slow dancing, most of them awkwardly, not looking each other in the eye.
Why were people always so afraid?
“Nice turnout.”
It was Lucius who had sidled up to him, sipping from a plastic cup of pink
punch.
“Not bad. I think having a theme helps.”
“I didn't think you'd be here.”
“Have to be. I'm one of the chaperones.” He smiled and waved at another teacher walking by.
“Hmm.” Lucius folded his arms, watching the students rotating in pairs on the old gym floor. The music reverberated from the concrete block walls. “Can I
tell you a story?”
“Oh, geez, Lucius, I can't handle a story right now.”
“It's a short one.”
“Is it about how some knight saves a princess and ends up with you telling
me to go after Kate on my white horse?”
“So, you've heard it before?”
“I've heard them all before.”
“Well, you were pretty close. The knight is a lonely chemist and the white horse was going to be a red mustang.”
“Great. Just as long as they don't fall in love and live happily ever after.” He
picked up a pretzel from the snack table and bit it. It was stale. He wasn't hungry anyway.
“Yes, funny thing about love.”
Peter snorted. He'd never found anything funny about love in his life.
“What's that?”
“It's unpredictable.”
