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My spine straightens Kyle said everyone at school laughs at me Why would Razor be an exception? I release hih of a shove that he retreats

"Are youfun of me, too?"

He’s silent and I clearly hear the answer Yes, he is Yes, he thinks I’m a freak Yes, I definitely made a fool out of myself

"No," he says "Is that why you bolted fro shit?"

Yes Yes, he was I throw my head back and appraise the stars I could tell Razor everything Tell him how Kyle demanded I write his papers Tell him how he offered me the ability to be seen in a way that won’t be an encore of et est we’re friends, and besides the people who belong to the Reign of Terror, he has never done friends, not even in sixth grade

The stars twinkle in the darkness and they renificant I am I ca reminded It all feels rather hopeless "Did you knoe live in the outer edge of the Milky Way?"

His eyebrows rise like I’m crazy, but, hey, I probably am "Astronomers think there are over a hundred million stars in the Milky Way and they also think there are anywhere between one hundred billion and two hundred billion galaxies, so that means there are"

I pause because I should be able to add a hundred alaxies, but ht floats away Maybe I am drunk "That there are"

"A shit ton of stars"

"Yes" I point at hi else?"

"Sure"

What row is how his blue eyes that are always frozen slightly thaith this brilliant light that soirls inside the bar, but the type that lends itself to warm fuzzies

"The closest star to our sun is Alpha Centauri, but it’s not the brightest star"

"It’s not?" Razor appears honest-to-God interested and Ihie Not even Addison

"Nope, that’s Sirius"

"Gonna be an astronomer?"

"I don’t knohat I want to be yet, but whatever I do, it won’t be in Snowflake"

Razor reclaims some of the space between us but leaves rooate, then lazily hooks his thumbs in the pockets of his jeans