12
l i g h t s

WALKING OUT OF the diner and into the summer night, I turn around to face the "Lola's Diner" sign. I'll probably never return to this town again in the future, but we always leave traces when we visit a place, even though we're just one in a million. Letting out a soft sigh, a corner of my lips rises.

When I turn away, Noah is already leaning against his car. "Ready?" he asks, jerking his head to the Volkswagen Jeep.

I walk toward him, and our eyes meet midway. He doesn't smile nor scowl; he just looks at me, his face without any emotion. I swear his eyes are a darker shade of brown now. There's a brisk moment when his gaze softens as he breathes in deeply, but he returns to his intense stare after that.

I hold my breath. I don't know if the Noah in front of me is still the same Noah I met this morning—I can't find a single shred of energetic Noah in him now. He's still in his early twenties, but subtle creases already appear at the corners of his eyes. This is the first time that his mask has entirely slipped; the traces of his past have engraved on his face.

Everything feels oddly still in the brittle silence around us. My heart hits my ribcage rhythmically as I clutch the brim of my shirt. Finally, I pick up my pace again and arrive next to the car.

"Hey," I say.

He blinks and glances down in a flash. When he looks up again, we both stay still for a few seconds.

"We uh—" my voice sounds shallow "—should get into the car."

"Oh, yeah." He nods. "Yeah, let's go."

I climb into the car, settle myself down and wait for Noah. When he hops in as well, we both let out a sigh out of tiredness.

"Where should we go now?" I ask, not wanting to call it a day.

Noah starts the car and peeks at the rearview mirror. "Wanna explore?"

"Explore?" We're in a town in the middle of nowhere, where could we possibly go without driving for another two hours?

He nods. "Let's see where we could stop." His tone sounds flat. He tries to get the cheerful mood back, but the bits of fragility are still slipping out when he speaks.

Taking a deep breath, I look out of the car window. After a while, our car is sprinting on the highway again, heading toward the unknown destination. I stare up at the dark velvet sky; the moon hangs full beneath the river of twinkling stars.

"Wow," I admire the constellations uncovered from the clouds.

I feel Noah glances up at the sky behind me as well.

"Tonight is beautiful," I state.

"It sure is." Noah's voice rings behind me.

I continue to appreciate the night sky outside our moving car as silhouettes of low scrubs along the highway appear one by one. The land stretches behind them, endless and desolated.

Gradually, the view outside freezes. Noah has pulled off the car.

"Let's get out," he says, drawing my attention back to him. "Stargazing should be fun."

I give him a grin, delighted that we both find the starry sky gorgeous.

When we both step out of the small space of the vehicle, I dash to the highway fence at the side, gaze upward and do a 360-degree turn—the boundless ocean of stars hovers on top of me—before landing my eyes back to my front.

We're standing on a cliff. Without our car, trees and roads, I'd believe you if you told me that we were in space. The galaxy is orchestrating a symphony around us, with shimmering stones and crescents that adorn the dark blanket in an intricate pattern.

"How's the view, city girl?" Noah jokes, nudging me. His humor is back again.

I roll my eyes, but smile as well, mildly amused by his words. "Duh, I've been travelling for a year, remember?"

The sky is indeed, really different from the city. Without the streetlights, neon lights, traffic lights... there're only starlights.

"But this is astonishing." I breathe out.

"That's why nature is the best architect." Noah turns his head to me. He wears a smile, even though I can't see it clearly in the dark. "Even the lights are natural."

"I still like the city of lights," I say. "But I love highway of lights more."

We stare at each other and choke out a laugh. Summer night breeze whispers as some of his hair blows in the air. There're some subtle sparks in his eyes, perhaps in my eyes too.

"That's a nice way to put it." Noah looks back at the sky.

I smile, leaning against the fence again.  "Have you ever seen comets?" I ask.

"No, not yet. They can be seen from Earth every twenty to thirty years, so you'll have to be pretty lucky," he explains.

I nod, my eyes still glued to the stars. "You know, there's a movie called Comet."

"Oh?" He turns to me with interest.

"Yeah, but it's not about comets."

A car passes by behind us, a woosh slices through the still air.

I continue, "It's a romance movie, but it takes place in a parallel universe. It shows flashbacks that are not in chronological order, just like how a comet jumps back and forth between the two characters."

"That's interesting," Noah says.

Nodding, I decide to tell him more about the movie. "There's a scene at the end, which the guy tells the girl that he doesn't belong to a universe where they can't be together. You know, since they're in a parallel universe, so maybe they did end up together in our universe, or in other parallel universes."

Noah doesn't say anything, but based on how he bites his lips, he's probably mulling over the things I just said.

"So, you believe in parallel universes?" he asks after a while.

"I mean, why not? Maybe they do exist. We'll never know."

Does the Riley in another parallel universe meet Noah as well? Maybe she does, or maybe she meets him in a different way. Maybe they don't have to separate after a day.

I look at Noah, and this is the moment when I can't manage to tear my gaze away from him. And I don't understand. The way he speaks, the way he talks, the way he gives me his watch—all of them make my heart warm up, as if a stream of syrups has poured into my body. 

He stares back. Knitting his eyebrows together slightly, he scans my face and takes in a shaky breath. I'm not sure how to react now, so instead of diverting my gaze away, I trudge closer to him.

When we're only inches apart, I look up at him, his eyes so close that I can see the beautiful shade of dark brown in the dark. God, they're mesmerizing. His breath fans on my nose, brushing it gently.

"Noah, I—" When I start speaking, I realize that I don't know what to say. The proximity of our faces makes me speechless. This is like a dream.

"Thank you," is the last two words that I manage to push out of my throat.

Keeping his eyes on me, he leans over to the left of my body, his body slightly pressing against mine. He grabs my wrist that has his watch on, sending a million tingles to me that make my heart thumps aggressively.

Brushing on his watch with his fingers, he says, "Thank you, Riley."

My breath becomes labored. "Why—"

I stop, simply because he stares at me again. Everything goes silent. Like the moment between lightning and thunder.

His hand slowly raises, his finger tracing down the side of my face and tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear.

Screw it, he's right in front of me.

So, I lean even forward. After a beat, he pulls my arm toward him. Our eyes meet for the very last time before his lips collide with mine.