The sunlight pierces through the window in my living room, lighting up the space in a serene. natural light. Little dust particles float around aimlessly as the air circulates with the air conditioning. In a room of complete silence, I lay on the couch with my headphones in, listening to Lo-Fi music as I read the morning away.
It had been a couple of days since Summer Break had officially started, but outside of going on a date with Ai after school, I haven't left my apartment. Seeing this as a chance to relax and catch up on the book series I fell behind on, I made absolutely zero plans and I don't plan on making any for the first week. I'm not a people person and nine out of ten days, I'd rather spend my time alone in my apartment than with people.
I let out a sigh as I close the book. "I'm so happy they finally got together after all this time. They definitely drew it out a lot longer than I thought they would've but that confession scene was perfect." I get up and put the book back on the bookshelf in my room.
I'm a sucker for romances when it comes to stories. Even a romantic undertone is enough to keep me invested as long as I like the characters. I'm a part of the group that loves the build up to the confessions more than anything. A properly built up confession can make a good story into a great story. Post confession is vital as well, but I don't find it as important as the build up.
I grab a drink from my fridge and plop in my chair in my bedroom. I'm part of a worldwide group that are stargazers. In our forum, everyone loves to post the photos they are able to grab during stargazing sessions. Some people in the group take some really nice, clear photos while others come out blurry and not as good. But not everyone is born with the ability to take good pictures or aren't graced with the presence of an expensive camera.
I sip my drink as I go through all of the recently uploaded pictures. The pictures differ from simple night sky shots with multiple stars, to pictures of the moon. Some even go to extremely remote places to get shots of the Milky Way galaxy. All of them, simple or detailed, always leave me feeling satisfied.
My eyes focus on one picture that has the entire sky filled with the Milky Way and other stars. I smile and close my eyes, imagining how cool it would be to have a sight like that on Eden. Everyone on Eden stops what they're doing for just a little bit to take in such a beautiful sight. The entire island chooses to go dark for an hour so we can see as many stars as possible. I see myself sitting at my favorite stargazing spot, but I feel the presence of someone there with me. I look over to my side and see a shadowy, womanly figure. The hair gives away it being a girl, but I can't make out anything else. I see her mouth open, trying to say something...
Bzzt bzzt
My eyes begrudgingly open to the sound of my phone vibrating. I reach over to my desk and check it. I see Jay's name and set it back down. He'll call me if it's something important...
Bzzt bzzt bzzt bzzt
My phone starts vibrating again. I sigh and answer it.
"What's up Jay?" I ask, making my annoyance.
"How come you put your phone back down after seeing it was me who sent the message?" he questions.
I flinch for a second and get up from my bed. I open my blinds and walk around my apartment to make sure there wasn't some hidden spy in here.
"I was just reading and the phone was too far for me to check immediately," I lied. I plop onto the couch after confirming nothing suspicious being in my apartment.
"Oh, I just kind of guessed it was what you did. Y'know, since you haven't really reached out to anyone since Summer Break started," he confesses.
I've been hanging around him for too long if he notices my habits without being in my vicinity...
"Anyways, what are you doing today? Noeri and I were going to grab some Korean Barbeque(KBBQ) and we were wondering if you'd like to come join us with one of your girlfriends?"
I don't have to be near him, but I can tell he has an evil smile on his face. I know how he is and this is his way of gauging who is leading in the race right now.
I sigh, "I'm not sure what any of them are doing right now, so is it okay if it's just m-" My voice gets cut off by a knock at my door. There's no way she heard that...
I slowly and quietly walk over to the door and look through the peep hole to see who's out there. On the other side of the door is a shorter girl with a baseball cap and her long brown hair in a ponytail sticking out the back. She's wearing a loose white shirt that exposes her shoulders and a black skirt.
"Who's outside your door right now?" Jay asks me. "It's Yume isn't it?"
"Are you like some magician or spy or something?!" I yell as I hold my phone away from me.
"I'm not! I just happened to hear your conversation through the door so I came over here as soon as I could!" I hear Yume's muffled voice behind the door.
"I wasn't talking to you!" I yell back at her.
"Hey! That's no way to talk to your potential wife!" Jay yells from my phone.
I can feel the gears in my head grinding faster and faster.
"Yeah! You're supposed to treat me with love and care!" Yume once again yells beyond the door.
"How can you even hear him?! He's not on speaker!"
After calming myself down from hearing them go back and forth, I stand in my kitchen while Yume makes herself at home and lays out on the couch. I told Jay I'd let him know when we were on the way so now it was just the two of us.
"So?" I question the girl lying comfortably on my couch.
"So, what?" she answers, tilting her head to the side in an attempt to look innocent.
"No, no. How did you even catch any of the conversation? I know the walls aren't soundproof, but there is absolutely no way you heard any of our conversation." As someone who has had loud neighbors, I know just how thin these walls can be, but my volume wasn't anywhere near the volume to exceed the wall's limits.
"Well, let's just say this wasn't an on-the-spot plan. Jay and I may or may not have been planning this for a day or two..." her voice trails off. "But I was the one who originally suggested the idea."
I walk over to the small table in the living room and take a seat, facing Yume. "And why do you suggest asking him and keeping me out of the blue?"
"Well, you haven't reached out to anyone since Summer Break started and I thought if I had invited you, you would've turned me down without a second thought," she expresses. She doesn't look me in the eye and instead just looks down at the floor. "I was really hoping you would've invited me out to do something..."
I hang my head and point to the open window. "You see that? That's the sunlight. The sunlight is bright and hurts if you stand in its light for too long. Along with the deadly sunlight is the heat that drains people of their energy almost instantly." I move my finger to point at my bedroom down the hall. "My bedroom has none of those issues. If anything, it's cooler, quieter, and darker which makes it way more appealing to me than going outside does."
"Stop being such a homebody and come hang out with us!" she yells as flails her arms in the air.
"Well stop acting like a child and let me get ready at least!" I walk to my room and close the door behind me.
After a few minutes, I walked out wearing a white T-shirt and black pants. Very casual and plenty comfortable for me. I'm not a fan of shorts and find them uncomfortable.
Yume gives me quick look and walks around me. "Alright, I'll give you a passing grade." After taking a few steps back, her eyes widened. "Actually, you did extremely well. I'll give you an A+."
I look down at my outfit, not quite understanding why she randomly bumped my grade up, but I'm not going to dig into it so I just let it go.
Yume took the lead as she knew where we headed. I knew there were some KBBQ places on Eden, but I always got the impression that it was meant for bigger groups and not just for going by yourself. It's a lot of food for one person especially, so it just never caught my attention. I often go out and eat by myself, but not once had I seen anyone go into a KBBQ by themselves.
When we arrive, Noeri and Jay are standing outside. They both wave to greet us, but then both of their eyes narrow as they look at us. Jay puts his hand under his chin and smirks. Noeri, who is generally pretty expressionless, smiles slightly.
"Did Yume pick out that outfit for you or did you pick it out yourself?" Jay asks.
"I picked it myself?" I answer, confused by his question. "Why would you assume she picked it out for me?"
Jay chuckles and turns to walk into the restaurant. "No reason, I was just curious." Noeri follows close behind him.
I look over at Yume who has the biggest smile on her face. "Is what I picked to wear that good or something? Or did you guys just think I had zero sense in fashion?"
Yume laughs. "I'm sure you'll find the answer to that soon enough," she teases as she happily skips into the restaurant.
We get seated at a table. Noeri and Jay sat on one side while Yume and I sat on the other. The waitress brings us some side dishes and sets up the grill in the middle of the table. She grabs our drink orders and walks away.
Jay grabs the tablet at the end of the table and holds it in front of me and Yume. "Alright, so this tablet is where we are going to be doing all of the ordering from. They have everything we can order on here and we can order as much as we want for the next two hours. However, everything we don't eat, will get added as an extra charge."
Yume and I nod in acknowledgement and look through the items. Of course there is a lot of meat, but they also have a good selection of vegetables as well. I can feel my mouth start to salivate as I imagine the food cooking in front of me. Yume was just as excited as me as she was looking through it with me. Her eyes are shining with excitement and curiosity.
"Have you ever eaten here before?" I ask her. I assumed she had with some school friends or something.
But to my surprise, she shook her head. "Nope, I've always wanted to come here, but I didn't have a group to go with so I just never stopped by."
Same reason as me... I can't help but smile as I hand the tablet back to Jay.
"Have you decided on what you want? I suggest choosing the ones you want the most first, then mix in some thinner ones after that. We can always add any vegetables you guys want as well, but I figure we'd just be getting meat this time around." He went ahead and picked what he wanted first.
He passed the tablet over to Noeri and she picked what she wanted. It then got passed across to Yume and I. I still hadn't decided what I wanted because I was stuck between the pork belly and beef bulgogi meat. I look over and see Yume stuck between the same two options. Maybe we are more alike than I believe.
"I'll get the one you don't order," I whisper to her. "I was trying to figure out which of those two I was going to get."
"Oh, okay well that makes things easy." Yume picks the pork belly. "Were you actually debating between these two?"
I nod as she hands me the tablet. "Yeah, they just caught my eye more than the rest." I go ahead and select the beef bulgogi and hand it back to Jay.
"Okay, everyone good with what they got?" He asks, all of nodding in agreement. "Alright, I'll go ahead and send the order in. They will bring the food uncooked when they are ready and then I'll show you the basics of working it on the grill."
The waitress returns with our drinks, and very soon after, the food arrives. On four big plates are the four different meats we ordered. We set them off to the side to make sure we still had enough space for everything else.
Well, for our first time guests, I believe we should cook your guys' first, then after yours Noeri and I will do ours," Jay suggests. "By the way, its not like you can only eat the meat you ordered, we can all share and split everything."
"I mean, I kind of figured that's what we were supposed to do," Yume chimes in. "At least in all of the pictures and videos I've seen, that's what they did."
I hand Jay the pork belly and he throws it on the now hot grill. The sizzling sound of the meat fills the silence as all of us just stare at the food as it gets grilled. The smell of the meat fills my nose and my mouth starts to salivate. I take sips from my drink to try and calm myself down, but the sight and smell of the pork belly is too much.
After waiting for the pork to fully cook, Jay grabs a pair of tongs, and starts to make sure they're good. He cuts the meat into pieces and splits them all on four separate plates. Yume and mine had more pieces than Noeri and Jay's.
"Since this was your order, you guys get the majority of it. If you want more, just let us know and I'll give you some of the pieces from mine. I'm trying to save room for my food anyways," Jay comments.
All of us devour everything we order and by the time our two hours are up, we are all stuffed and our bellies have been rounded out. All of the meat was so juicy and tender, we were all struggling to wait for the meat to cook. We ordered ice cream to top it all off since it was included in the meal, but we all barely finished it. All four of us were leaned back in the booth, trying to relax and make space for our stomach.
"So, what did you guys think for your first KBBQ?" Jay asks and he rubs his belly, satisfied with everything he had eaten.
"It was a lot better than I thought it was gonna be." Yume looked the most full out of all of us. She had also eaten the most out of all of us which really surprised me considering how small she is. "All the meat was so good!"
I nod in agreement as I rub my belly. "Yeah, I had high expectations already and somehow it was better than that. The only thing I don't like is having to wait while we watch it cook. No matter how much I had eaten, just watching it cook was enough for me to make room in my stomach."
I truly don't understand how we ate that much food in the span of two hours. We ordered twelve twelve plates of meat altogether and not a single speck of meat was leftover. It is pretty incredible what the body can do when it wants food.
Noeri groans as she scoots over to lean on Jay's shoulder. "I don't even think I can walk home after eating all of that." She looks so exhausted, but so happy at the same time. I'm sure if Ai was here, she'd be going through another crisis.
The waitress comes back and shows us the bill on the tablet. We split it four ways and dragged our food filled bodies outside. It was still daylight outside, but the heat had mostly dissipated.
"Alright, well thanks for coming out to KBBQ with us! We definitely have to do this again before the school year starts up again," Jay suggests as he stretches his arms and back. "I'm gonna walk Noeri back to her place, so I'll see you guys later!"
"Yume, if you ever want to go out and do something, just us girls, let me know. I don't usually do anything, so don't be afraid to reach out," Noeri shyly, and happily calls out to Yume.
There was a slight pause, but eventually Yume nodded. "Okay, and the same thing goes for you! Don't be afraid to reach out to me yourself."
All four of us wave good bye to each other and we head back to our apartments. There isn't any wind besides the wind created from the passing cars and buses. The distinct smell of the ocean tickles my nose as we walk along the coastline.
"Man, that food was so good!" Yume exclaims next to me. "I really didn't think I was gonna eat that much. I don't know what came over me, but I couldn't help but eat whatever was being cooked. It was like my stomach had taken control of my brain and just kept asking for more."
I laugh as I look at her looking down at her stomach. "Yeah, I got the same exact feeling! Like I didn't want to eat that much, but I couldn't help myself."
"Oh yeah, we were really synced up in the meat we wanted," Yume brings up. "Every single thing I was contemplating ordering, you ordered yourself."
"I could say the same to you! Every time I was debating between one thing and another you'd get one of them so it made my choice easy to make."
Yume laughs and moves closer to my side. "Maybe we are more alike than we originally thought..." I can feel her hand graze mine.
I instinctively look down at it. "Yeah, I think we might be..." I grab her hand and we entwine our fingers. I catch a glimpse of her looking down at our hands. Such a gentle and wholesome smile. Her cheeks were red, but I'm pretty sure mine were the same.
When we arrive back at the apartment, we stand awkwardly in front of my door. We held hands the entire way back, but it doesn't seem like Yume wants to go back to her room yet. To be honest, she isn't the only one feeling that way.
I open the door and Yume follows in after me. I was leading us to the living room, but she looked a little disappointed. I change the direction toward the hallway, and just I feel her hand grip on my hand tighten.
We head into my room and she takes a seat on my bed. I go back to kitchen and grab us some drinks. This kind of reminds me of the last time she was in my room, except the mood feels a lot more... intimate.
When I come back to the room however, that sense of intimacy is lost when I see her rolling around in my bed once more, just like last time.
"Why do you insist on rolling on my bed every time you are in my room? I mean it's only been twice, but you've done both times you've been in here now," I voice as I enter my room.
Yume's head pops back up and I can hear her click her tongue. "I thought you would've taken a little longer than that..." she mutters under her breath.
"What was that? I can put your glass back in the kitchen and you can go grab it yourself if you want?" I remark, turning back around to walk.
"No, I didn't say anything bad! And I'm thirsty from the walk so can you please bring the drink over pretty please?" she begs.
I sit down in the chair in front of my desk, set both glasses on my desk, and turn on my computer.
Seeing that I wasn't going to hand it to her, she gets up and picks up one of the glasses from the desk. "Thanks for the drink I guess," she says as she elbows my arm. I open the forum for the stargazing group I'm a part of. "Oh, what's this? Are you part of some stargazing group?"
I explain to her about how the group works and how everyone in the group loves to share photos from their stargazing sessions.
"I've been part of this group for a little bit. I've never posted a picture on it myself, but I do like looking at the pictures everyone else takes." I scroll through some of the recent photos and show her some of my favorite ones. "See, like ones with the Milky Way in the background are so cool! If there ever comes a day where I can get a sight like this, I think I'd remember that night for the rest of my life."
Yume leans in close to me to get a better look at the pictures. "Oh, I never even knew we could see the Milky Way like that. Every time I saw a photo like that, I figured it was photoshopped or something along those lines."
"Yeah, it's pretty hard to believe but in areas that are far away from artificial lights and other kinds of light pollution, it is possible to see the Milky Way." At least that's what I heard from a documentary I watched when I first got into stargazing. It looked professional enough to make me believe it at least.
Yume sighs and walks to my window. She moves the curtains and stares off into the sky. "I bet a view like that would be possible here."
I pause my scrolling and turn to look at her. "What? You think it'd be possible here on Eden?"
"I mean yeah?" she responds, sounding surprised like I had never thought of that. "We are in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and there is literally zero sources of light pollution except for what is here on Eden. If we could get everyone to turn off their lights for maybe an hour or so, I bet the entire island could see the Milky Way."
"Yeah, but how would we be able to convince the whole island to turn off their power for an hour or longer?"
Right as we were sitting in silence trying to think of anything, both of our phones go off from a notification.
"Please remember to think of any ideas for the festival later this month! We will be having our vote for deciding what the school will do next week! If you have any ideas, be sure to submit them in the link sent and the staff members will discuss and decide if it is worth voting for. Remember, no idea is a bad idea! We hope to see some creative things!"
I'm not one to think too much about coincidences. People who say it's "fate" or that it's "a miracle" are more on the optimistic side, but I'm more of a reasonable and logical thinker. It really does come down to luck my head. There's nothing we can do about it except be ready for when luck strikes.
We both look up from our phones with the biggest smiles on our faces.
"The festival!"