"I see you like a star in the sky
And I love it
Yeah, the light in yours eyes
And I wonder
When you're looking in mine
Do you see them
Like a star in the sky?"
—Like a Star by Britt Nicole

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before I could react, Sarah kissed me on the cheek. My mouth formed an "o" as she lowered herself, softly dropped her arms at her sides, and giggled. My face flushed.

"You really are cute when you're blushing, Jess," she said. "And again, thank you so much for the drawing."

"Y-you're w-welcome," I stammered. No one had kissed me on the cheek before, except for my mom and sisters.

"By the way, Jesse," Sarah said. "Can we take a picture together?"

"Oh, er, I'm shy whenever there's a camera." I remembered when Leslie had received her iPhone, she always took pictures of Terabithia and us together, which I'd been shy to do at first. I'd cover my face using my sketchbook. Leslie had kept insisting that a king and queen should have pictures together. She even had stolen shots of me! She'd put a password for the "Jesse's Stolen Shots" folder on her phone so that I couldn't delete them. I'd tried cracking the password, but failed. If only I had a camera of my own...

Sarah giggled, making me come back to reality. "Don't be silly. You look great. Please?" She gave me her puppy-dog eyes.

"Thanks, I guess. Okay, t-then," I relented eventually.

She positioned her phone in front of us. "I'll use the back camera 'cause it has a clearer quality than the front cam. Okay–one, two, three!"

I smiled when I heard the clicking sound.

The door opened and Leslie came in. She froze with wide eyes as I looked at her, like a deer caught in the headlights, and I didn't even know why. Then, I realized that Sarah and I were standing in close proximity. I suddenly backed away from her, though I think I was still blushing. Maybe Leslie thought it was indecent that her best friend was in that kind of position with her rival.

Leslie crossed her arms while raising a slender eyebrow. "Did I miss something special?" she asked darkly.

Before I could reply to her, Sarah answered, "Yes, Burke. But that doesn't concern you, does it?"

Leslie just glowered at Sarah, and by the look on her face, I think she was passing a warning to her that I couldn't decipher. Sarah smirked, like she just won a debate or something.

There it was again: the heat waves—or should I say, "hate waves."

"You two should stay here for dinner," Sarah decided while heading for the door. "I'll tell Elizabeth to prepare for dinner and talk to Lance."

"I called Mom and told her where we are, Jess," Leslie said flatly as Sarah closed the door. "I also told her to pass the message to your parents."

"Thanks, Les. Hey, you didn't miss anything special." I got the drawing on the bed, and then gave it to my queen to put her in a good mood. "For me, the drawing's not finished until you see it with your own two eyes. So, how is it?"

Leslie laughed, and I gave her a puzzled look, wondering what was funny. "Oh, er, nothing, Jess." Then, she beamed, her anger already forgotten. "Anyway, you really do have artistic hands, my king. The Dawn Treader looks alive." She paused. "Scratch that–it is alive."

I could feel butterflies swarming in my stomach as I bowed on one knee. "All thanks to you, my queen." Then we both laughed. I was glad she was feeling easy now.

"And look." I pointed at the upper right corner of the drawing with a crooked smile. "Sarah said to include your name, too. I'll bet she's secretly thanking you for your help."

Leslie smiled a little. "Say, did Diana call Bradfield?"

"Well, yeah. They probably talked about the costume and such for hours. Why? Did she call you, too?"

Her smile widened, and I didn't dare ask what was currently on my queen's mind. "Kind of. Thank you."

Lance opened the door, then grinned. "Dinner's ready, you guys."

╪ ╪ ╪

After dinner, we said our good-byes to Elizabeth, Lance, and Sarah at their front door. Elizabeth excused herself as she went inside. Lance and Sarah's parents didn't arrive yet, so Leslie and I decided to walk home instead.

"But it's dangerous to walk at this kind of hour," Sarah objected. It was almost nine o'clock when I last checked the time.

Leslie waved her off. "We're not scaredy-cats, Bradfield."

"I'm concerned about Jesse's safety. Not yours, Burke," Sarah scoffed.

"Such a caring heart," Leslie said sarcastically.

"It's fine, Sarah. Really," I assured her. "And besides, we don't want to be a burden to your parents by driving us home."

"It's not a burden," she insisted. "Even Dad, Lance, and Elizabeth like you already."

I blinked. "Huh?"

Lance ran to Leslie and hugged her knees. "You'll come to my birthday party, right?" he asked the two of us with puppy-dog eyes.

Leslie bent down and ruffled his hair. "Of course, Lance."

I gave him a high-five. "We won't forget."

Lance beamed. "You'll also give me a gift, right?"

Sarah, Leslie, and I shared knowing looks. "Yep," Leslie answered.

He shouted "wohooo" before running into their house. Sarah rolled her eyes.

"Good-bye, and thanks again for everything. Take care, especially to you, Jess," she said.

I chuckled awkwardly while Leslie smirked. "By the way, Bradfield. I learned that you peed in your pants at a dental clinic when you were six years old, and that's when you realized there was a restroom not ten feet away from where you were sitting."

Sarah blinked for a few seconds before realizing Leslie's message. She screamed "Lance!" in frustration and rushed inside the door, but not before giving Leslie a death glare.

Leslie laughed out loud and, again, I gave her a confused look.

"Don't worry," she said as we started walking away from the Bradfields' house. "Lance already knows what to do."

Minutes went by and we were now walking beside each other at the side of the highway. Hardly any cars had passed the road. Overhead, a crescent moon grinned down at us behind the ragged wisps of clouds, helping the street lights to guide our way safely.

"So, how was your time with Lance, my queen?" I began while putting my hands into my pockets.

She giggled. "Oh, quite fun, actually. We talked and exchanged stories for hours! Lance's such an intelligent child, unlike her sister. I learned from him, and he learned something from me. We even took pictures together on my phone. I'll show them to you later."

I laughed. "Don't say that. Sarah's also intelligent," I said. "Hey, you and Lance should exchange books."

"Yeah, we already planned that, but not for now. Then Lance shared an embarrassing moment of his sister—the one you heard a while ago. But I'm not gonna share it with other people; I'm not that evil."

I made a face. "That's the problem with siblings; they'll tell you anything! Good thing you knew my embarrassing moments from me and not from my sisters. That'd be horrible and super embarrassing on my part if that happened."

Leslie and I had exchanged some of our embarrassing moments years ago, and we'd only kept them to ourselves, of course. That's what best friends do, right?

But she gave me a sly smile. "Actually, your mom shared with me an embarrassing moment of yours that you didn't tell me."

I froze in my tracks as my jaw dropped to the ground.

Did I hear her right?

Leslie also stopped walking, a few steps ahead from my position, and turned around to look at me teasingly. "It was two weeks ago, the day when you were watering the plants outside of your house," she continued. "I was waiting for you in your kitchen so that we could go to Terabithia together after you were done with your chores. Mrs. Aarons was cooking that time, and then she started talking about when you were just three years old."

My eyes widened in fear. I knew this one!

Oh, no, no, no!

"She said you and your family were attending your cousin's birthday party," Leslie said with a mischievous look on her face. "You were in their living room watching TV, and then you started dancing and trying to sing when the music video of 'Barbie Girl' showed up." I tried to block her voice, which was very pointless. "Then everyone in the room started laughi—"

"I was three years old back then," I defended. "I was still innocent to the world. And that song was Ellie and Brenda's favorite before. They'd always play it at our house and it became my...er, what do you call it these days? Last song syndrome or something?"

My queen burst out laughing. I scowled. I hadn't told Leslie that, because it was my most embarrassing moment. Well, I hoped that that would be my last most embarrassing moment in my life. I hadn't even expected Mom to share that with anyone.

Now I wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

"Why did you not share that with me, Jess?" Leslie dramatically said, putting a hand over her heart. "I feel betrayed."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm sure you also have your most embarrassing moment that you haven't told me." Suddenly I had an idea, smirking at her. "Yet."

Leslie noticed this and read my mind. "Nuh-uh, Jess. I'll tell my parents not to share my most embarrassing moment with you."

I scowled again. "I'll bribe them with my awesome drawings, if that's the last thing I have to do."

She stuck her tongue out at me, and then sang the freaking evil chorus.

"I'm a Barbie girl, in the Barbie world
Life in plastic, it's fantastic!"

"You are so asking for it, Les," I threatened as I took a step toward her.

Leslie's eyes widened in fear as she realized what I was about to do, and then she ran away from me at full speed while I followed suit.

The air was so refreshing, and the moon shined brightly tonight—perfect for an evening marathon run. Later, we were both laughing while running.

Leslie's running speed had decreased because of her laughter, and I immediately took advantage of this.

"Gotcha!" I cried as I wrapped my arms around her waist from behind and started tickling her on the ribs, armpits, and stomach, which were her ticklish spots that I'd accidentally learned a few years back—when I heard May Belle ask Leslie about it. Since then, I tickled her on those spots most of the time. Leslie rarely got her revenge, though.

Yeah, congratulate me. Thank you.

Leslie couldn't stop laughing, screaming and squealing. She even tried to escape from my wrath to no avail. "J—Jesse! T—that's—not—f-f-fair!" Leslie screamed at the top of her lungs between laughs and squeals.

"Boo! Cry me a river. Life's unfair," I said as I kept my balance from her wriggling. Thankfully, no cars still had passed on the road, or else we'd be accused as hooligans or something much worse.

After a few moments of giving Leslie her torture-but-in-a-fun-way, she suddenly faced me, causing me to catch my breath. Her skin and hair were glowing under the moonlight, just like the time when I woke up that early morning to discover her sleeping next to me. Her beautiful forest green eyes seemed like they were laughing, too.

She looked up at me, smiling sweetly while regaining her breath. "Why did you stop tickling me, my king?"

"Y-you surprised me, my q-queen," I stuttered.

Leslie cocked her head to the side in a cute way, then gazed past me to the sky. "Leo."

I turned my head slightly upwards to look where her attention was, then frowned. "I don't see it."

"There." She pointed at the stars and traced what looked like a disfigured obtuse triangle.

I grinned down at her, indicating that I already saw it. Leslie continued to gaze up ahead, looking for more constellations.

She's one of the stars in the sky, I thought. Oh, crap. I couldn't stop looking at her sparkling eyes!

I caught my breath again as I realized how close our faces were–her lips just a few inches from mine. If I ducked my head just slightly, I'd kiss her. I was also hugging her around the waist, and her hands were gently resting on my shoulder blades. Leslie didn't move; she just continued watching the night sky with a faint smile, unaware of my inner struggles and burning face, I hope.

I gulped thickly, tore my gaze away before Leslie noticed that I was staring at her, and released her from my arms. "We s-should get going. Who knows what will suddenly appear around here."

I think I saw her frown for a second. Leslie raised an eyebrow. "Race you till the path to our houses, my king?" she challenged.

I smirked. "You're going to lose this time, my queen."

╪ ╪ ╪

After fifteen minutes of running, we reached the path that led to our houses, and, well, Leslie won again.

"Did you drink Gatorade earlier?" I asked while panting for air.

"No. Wait, give me a moment." Leslie inhaled deeply, and then exhaled. "Gosh, that felt so good! We haven't run like that for a long time."

"Les, we just ran like that last Wednesday during our track practice," I pointed out.

"Well, that's already a long time."

"For you, not for me." I gave her a mock frown. "And I lost. Again."

"Turn that frown upside down," she sang, making me laugh. As long as I was running with my queen, I really didn't care if I lost or won.

"Jess?" Leslie started as we reached the front of her house.

I looked at her. "What, Les?"

"Want to continue stargazing?"

My face lit up a smile. "Sure."

After going home to put my bag in my room, drink water, and ask permission from my parents to go out again, I met Leslie at the center of the cow pasture. We could hear a hoot from an owl somewhere in the forest and see fireflies swaying on the field and near the trees.

"You sure are excited, huh?" I said as I lay down next to her on the blanket she'd prepared for the two of us, facing the stars.

Leslie's eyes were shining. "The stars are beautiful tonight, that's why."

"They're always beautiful." Like you, I mentally added.

"You're right, Jess. Hey, talking about stars, this is a perfect song to play right now." Leslie fished her phone from her pocket, tapped something on the screen, and a music started playing through the speaker. "'Like a Star' by Britt Nicole," she informed me.

We listened for a while in silence while gazing at the stars. Then Leslie started singing with the singer when it was the chorus.

I closed my eyes in content. Listening to her sing was really a wonderful feeling.

You're like a star in the sky to me, Les. And I love the light in your eyes. Then I smiled sadly. Do you feel the same way about me, though? I guess you're a star that I can't reach.

When the song finished, Leslie showed me her pictures with Lance Bradfield, and I couldn't stop staring at her face in the pictures. Even with her wacky expressions, she was still gorgeous.

Someday, Leslie would be the death of me.

After that, she pointed at the different constellations that could be seen in the sky. "There's Orion. In the Greek myth, Orion was a gigantic, supernaturally strong hunter of primordial times, born to Euryale, a nymph, and Poseidon," she explained. "On the left, I can see Gemini. Its name is Latin for twins, and is associated with the twins Castor and Pollux also in Greek mythology. They're the children of Leda and Argonauts both. Pollux was the son of Zeus, who seduced Leda, while Castor was the son of Tyndarus, King of Sparta and Leda's husband. And, well, it's a long story. We'll be here until midnight if I tell you every bit of it."

I don't mind, Les, as long as you're the one who's talking. Even if you use an alien language, I'll still listen to you for the whole day. Instead, I just said, "Nerd."

Leslie punched me playfully on the arm. "There's nothing wrong with being a nerd. Besides, I've been doing this since I was a kid, you know. Stargazing, I mean. I just missed it."

"Figures."

Leslie let out a dejected sigh. "Too bad there's no shooting star tonight."

"Yeah. I haven't seen one in my entire life yet," I confessed.

"Really? I have. Only once yet, though."

"Did you make a wish?"

Leslie giggled. "Of course, Jess! It's a rare opportunity; you have to make the best of it."

Curious, I asked, "Will your wish come true? When you wish after seeing a shooting star, I mean."

"Well, my wish came true, so yeah, even though there's a quote by William Shakespeare that says: 'It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.' You just have to be patient, though."

"What did you wish for, then?"

"That I'd have a best friend for the rest of my life," she softly answered.

My eyes widened and I turned to Leslie. She was looking at me with a soft, heartwarming smile that'd make guys go crazy–including me, of course.

"I'm glad your wish came true, Les," I said honestly.

Then she tackled me suddenly in a crushing hug, crying. I was taken aback, but suddenly recovered. Hugging her back while combing my fingers through her golden hair, I joked, "Are you crying because I'm not the best friend you've been looking for?"

Leslie shook her head. "The heck, Jess! I'm crying because of happiness! That we moved here five years ago. That I met you. That we became friends, then best of friends. And that we shared so many adventures, even now," she listed.

I buried my head into her hair and could smell her signature strawberry scent. "Same here, Les. Same here," I whispered in a soothing tone as my eyes started to water a little. Should I confess my feelings to her now?

But she only loves you as a best friend, my pessimistic side reminded me.

Crap.

Leslie leaned against me, and I held her quietly as she cried herself out. We stayed like that for many minutes, just enjoying the nature and each other's company.

I could feel her shaking against me, her heart thudding against my chest. It felt...so good...to hold Leslie like this, and that I was here to comfort her. Her small body fitted perfectly against mine.

"Sorry, Jess. I got your shirt wet," Leslie said when she already calmed down.

I wiped a tear from her eye with my thumb and smiled softly. "No problem, Les. I don't mind."

We stared at each other's eyes for a moment, and I was debating whether I should lean in or not.

Unexpectedly, Leslie yawned and removed herself from the hug. I was kind of disappointed that our hugging session was over.

"All that running made me tired already, though," she said. "How 'bout you, Jess?"

I was feeling tired now, too, but missed the feeling of Leslie's body against mine. I just nodded in reply. We both got up, and I helped Leslie fold the blanket.

"Thank you so much for everything, Jess," Leslie said as we stood at the front door of her house.

I gave her a lopsided grin. "Les, do we really have to say 'thank you' to each other, like, all the time?"

She rolled her eyes. "Hey, I almost forgot to ask–what did you and Bradfield do while I wasn't around?"

I'd totally forgotten about that. "Oh. We just talked about random stuff. Then Diana called her on her phone, and she went to the balcony to talk to her while I drew to my heart's content for hours."

"Before I came in," Leslie put a lock of hair behind her ear, "you two were standing so close to each other. Did she sexual harass you or something? Be honest, Jess."

A laugh escaped from my lips. "What on earth were you thinking, Les! That sounds so wrong. She just took a picture of us together and, er, kissed me on the, um, cheek. I guess it was also her way of saying thanks for..." I faltered as I saw Leslie narrowing her eyes. But I had a feeling the glare wasn't aimed at me.

"Left or right?"

I stared at my queen dumbly.

"Did she kiss you on your left cheek or right cheek?" Leslie asked patiently.

"Um, right—" I didn't get to finish my sentence because Leslie suddenly wiped my right cheek with her handkerchief furiously, her patience vanished.

I rubbed gently at my assaulted cheek after she was done with the wiping. "That kinda hurt, Les," I complained.

"I'm sorry, Jess, but I really had to do that."

"Why?"

Leslie shrugged while restraining a smile and said, "Good night, my king." Then my queen went inside with a wink before I could say "good night" to her.

"What was that all about?" I asked myself as I stood outside of the Burkes' house like an idiot.