The Idea of Stars

Elliot would wait all day for night to come. He would sit on the balcony outside his window and look up at the night sky with the beautiful stars. He heard the stars whisper to him that this was only temporary the pain that he felt. Elliot trusted the stars; he could hear them speak life into the hurt he was going through. His mom would have to come into his room and get him to sleep, if not he would stay out there all night getting lost in the beauty of the night.

The following morning Elliot got ready for school. He took a shower and stared in the mirror and really took himself in. Over the last year he had been suffering from depression. His dad left the family for a career change about a year ago. He watched his mom struggle to take care of herself and four children. Their dad was the only one working and Elliot’s mom was a stay at home mother. He did his best to help seeing as he was the eldest child.

“Stop Emily, that was my pancake!” Sam screamed. Elliot walked into the kitchen and saw his twin sisters arguing over the food.

Their mom was on the phone scheduling another job interview. She was working over night shifts as a cleaner, but that was not enough to pay for bills and keep the family going. Elliot went to the fridge to take out more frozen pancakes to get the twins to stop fighting. Jason, Elliot’s seven-month-old brother started crying because his bottle fell. “Three o’clock on Thursday works fine, thank you so much,” Elliot’s mom said hanging the phone up. She walked over to Jason and picked him up and the bottle.

“Elliot, I need you to come straight home after school Friday, I cannot miss this interview,” his mom said. Elliot just nodded. He grabbed the pancakes from the toaster and placed them in front of the twins. He said goodbye and grabbed his backpack and headed out for school.

On his way to school he would try and think about the stars. He knew they were always there, but during the day they were not visible. He entered his first class and sat all the way in the back at his usual desk. Elliot kept his head down until the teacher was ready to start class. He looked up and there she was Tabitha Mitchell. Elliot had a crush on her since the second grade. Tabitha never paid any mind to him. He never spoke to her or anyone for that matter.

Her desk was right in front of hers and he could smell her peach and vanilla perfume. She had long jet-black hair with orange dyed tips. Elliot wished he had the courage to talk to her. She was quiet herself only hung out with one other girl and was never involved in any drama. They have been in the same classes since the second grade. She only spoke to him once when he wasn’t looking, and they bumped into each other. Tabitha apologized to him even though it was clearly his fault.

“Hey, were you able to get good notes yesterday?”.

Elliot was removed from his thoughts. He realized he was daydreaming and focused his attention on Tabitha who was speaking to him. He blinked a few times unsure of how to respond.

Tabitha asked again, “Elliot the notes, from yesterday do you have them?”

She knows my name he thought. They continued to stare at each other until Elliot found his voice. “Yea, yes I do”, he stuttered. He reached in his backpack and took out his notebook for class and gave it to her. She took out her cellphone and snapped quick pictures of the pages.

She returned the notebook with a smile. “Thanks”, she said.

He smiled back at her. Elliot was still in awe that she knew his name. After all these years he finally got her to notice him. So many thoughts rushed through Elliot’s head. Should I ask her to have lunch? Should I ask her to hang out after school? He thought to himself. Deep in thought he did not hear the bell ring for class dismissal. He noticed the classroom was empty and ran out. Elliot searched the halls, but there were too many bodies to see were Tabitha headed off to.

The next day Elliot got up extra early to find a decent outfit and do his hair. He rushed downstairs said goodbye to his mom and siblings. On the way to school he saw Tabitha walking and he got nervous. He started thinking if he should walk with her or wait to see her in school. She was crossing the street, so he pretended to tie his shoes.

“Elliot?”, Tabitha asked.

“Oh, hey Tabitha,” he said. “W-what’s going on?

“On my way to school like you.”

“Yea, sorry I just never seen you walk to school this way.”

“My family just moved to this neighborhood, that’s why I wasn’t at school the other day.”

“Cool, maybe we can hang out sometime,” Elliot said nervously. Tabitha smiled and they walked the rest of the way to school making conversation here and there. Once they arrived at school they parted ways as Tabitha spotted her friend by the entrance leaving Elliot to walk in alone as he did every day.

The rest of the day went normal, until Elliot noticed Tabitha by her locker crying. He was not sure if he should approach her or just leave it alone. She looked sad and he thought maybe he should just make sure it was nothing too bad.

“Are you okay?”, he asked.

“Yea I’m fine just leave me alone Elliot,” she said angrily slamming her locker. She turned and went into the bathroom and Elliot was shocked. He went to his last and final class still concerned when he noticed Tabitha didn’t come to class. He saw her best friend Nia and wanted to ask her but figured he should just leave the situation alone. The bell rung meaning school was over and Elliot packed his backpack and headed home.

When he got home, he saw his mom rushing to get ready for work. The twins were arguing as usual and his mom looked like a deer caught in headlights. He went to the twins and grabbed the toy they were fighting over and put it on the shelf. They both looked at him and crossed their arms sticking their tongues out at their older brother.

“Elliot, I’ve already made dinner just put it in the oven,” his mom said running pass him looking for the car keys. She gave him more instructions and she headed out the door. He put a movie on for his siblings and gave baby Jason a bottle and went into the kitchen to start his homework. Later, that night after dinner he got all three children ready for bed so he could clean the house up for their mom. It was around 8:30 when he heard a knock on the door. He wasn’t expecting anybody, and their mom didn’t mention anyone was supposed to be stopping by.

Looking through the peephole he saw that it was Tabitha. He started to get that nervous feeling in his stomach. She knocked on the door again and Elliot took a deep breath and opened the door. She was standing their smiling at him holding a tray of cupcakes in her hands.

“Hey, Elliot, how are you?”, she asked.

“I’m doing good, what brings you over here?” he questioned.

“I just wanted to stop by and bring you these cupcakes and apologize for being rude to you earlier.”

“Do you want to come inside?”, she shook her head and he stepped aside to let her in. They walked into the kitchen and Elliot unwrapped the cupcakes and handed one to Tabitha. He asked her if she wanted to sit outside and talk.

They both went out and sat on the patio eating their cupcakes and talking. Tabitha explained that she saw her best friend Nia kissing her crush. Elliot didn’t know how to react, so he hugged her. She was caught off guard but hugged him back. They let go of each other and Elliot got up and went to lay down on the grass. Tabitha quickly followed and Elliot looked over at her.

“Whenever I get too overwhelmed or start having sad moments, I come out here and look at the stars”, he explained.

“The stars are always talking to me, and telling me how life gets better,” Tabitha said.

At that moment it seemed as if all Elliot’s problems disappeared. The two of them continued looking up at the stars in the beautiful night sky. Talking to each other about random things they have never said aloud to anyone before. It felt like all was right at that moment with the stars looking down on them.