Like a supernova, I left in less than one hundred seconds.

My exit was sudden—the same way those stars increase in brightness because of a catastrophic explosion. It was also unexpected and gorgeously poetic if you think about it... A wildfire of sorts would be the right way to paint it. Leaving scars left and right—that part is not something I like to think about, if I must confess. Then again, it isn't like I had it all mapped out that way.

Who would have thought it would end up being me, the first one to go? A boy so rooted to his life, his weirdly amazing friends, and even to the unkempt backyard with the rickety tree house where all three of us would hang out every time life got too real?

No one guessed it or saw it coming. Not even me. One moment I had every star up there looking in my direction, blinking just for me and him, and the next, I had them all fading in the same night sky that saw us unfolding.

There are certain things in life you can't control; and just like car keys in a sofa, or your wallet in the back seat of that bus you took to nowhere in particular, you blink for longer than expected and realize you've lost grip.

Crazily enough, these damn stars held the secret to everything I've wanted in my life. They are the ones that helped me make friends with the idea that it is better to combust than slowly fade away... And since there is very little to do apart from thinking it over and over, I've decided to spend all my time basking under the warm color of after...