Still Seeing Stars, Stargirl? ((Caitlin))

[Luke Dallan H7]

Luke quickly fell back down upon his knees, leaning the girl’s head forehead. “Caitlin?” he spoke clearly still holding her head in his palms. She didn’t respond at all. “Good job. You just knocked her out cold,” he murmured to himself sighing as he lifted her off from the ground. Her legs draped over his left arm while he held his other arm securely held the girl’s middle back. He carried her through the courtyard ignoring the odd, worried stares from everyone around him. Caitlin was incredibly light for a sixteen year old girl. Maybe she was short because most short people were on the light weight side. Her arms dangled at her sides which made Luke have to put them together so her finger tips wouldn’t touch the touch of the stairs. He didn’t feel like tripping over her arm and falling down the flight of stairs. Then there wouldn’t be anymore to carry them both to the Hospital Wing. Luke watched as the doors of the wing opened, a younger student coming out with their hands wrapped in some sort of a bandage. “Can you keep the door open?” he asked with a small smile. The boy nodded holding the door open with out a peek. Luke nodded thanks entering the small wing, his arms beginning to fall numb with the weight of the girl in his arms.

“Oh my goodness dear boy! What happened?” Madam Pomfrey huffed quickly making her way toward the two. Luke stood in the middle of the room looking down as he heard a slight mummer coming from Caitlin. “She accidentally got hit in the head with a quaffle…It was a hard blow…Where should I put her? She isn’t exactly the lightest person in the world,” Luke explained leaving out the part that mentioned that he had thrown it. He was still embarrassed, and it was taking all his will to keep his face from flushing read. Madam Pomfrey just huffed as she waved her arms toward the bed on the right. “Set her down there.” Nodding, Luke gently laid the girl out on the small clean bed. He stood frozen in his spot by the other side of the bed as the old woman began to check over the girl for any serious damage. “She’ll be alright. I’ll give her some potion to help wake her up, but nothing serious. There’ll a bruise with a headache when she wakes up.” With that Madam Promfrey huffed into her office where all the potions were kept. Noticing the sitting chair beside the bed, Luke collapsed in it. The door flew back open and out came Madam Promfrey with a clear glass in hand and some potion bottle in the next. “Dinner is soon boy. Get something to eat and stop by latter too check on her.” Luke looked at Caitlin sighing as his stomach gave a loud growl. Was it really that late?

With a nod Luke was already out the door heading toward the Great Hall. He didn’t eat much, but rather just sat down listening to Bryce talk about his day. Luke never had a friend who was so….outgoing? Girl crazy? Willing to flirt with almost any girl? Bryce was the outgoing one and Luke was just the calm, down to earth guy. Though, some of his friend’s personality was beginning to rub off him. With a short goodbye to his friend, Luke left the great hall knowing hat Bryce would already start a conversation with Weetzie who had been sitting just across from them. Luke quickly headed toward the Hufflepuff common room to change out of his uniform. He had changed into a long sleeved light brown shirt with jeans, and his favorite blue baseball cap. Quickly pulling the cap off his head, he ran his fingers through his dark blonde hair while making his way back to the Hospital wing. He felt bad leaving Caitlin behind, but she couldn’t be up just yet.

Entering the well-known Hospital Wing, Luke’s blue eyes fell upon the bed where he had dropped Caitlin off before dinner. She was awake and under the covers looking quite irritated. Smiling, Luke made his way over to her bed, sitting down casually in the chair. “You look positively happy to be here,” he greeted with a sweet smile while tugging the baseball cap back on his head. “Remember who I am, stargirl?”

((Hope you don't mind Bryce that I mentioned him in here.))

[Caitlin Martinez G7]

Tick. Beat. Tick. Beat. Tick. Out one day, out walking one day, out one day with you hallelujah.

Caitlin’s eyes popped open as the song filled her head and buried itself. Now it would be there for a week. She groaned and sat up, feeling groggy and her head felt rather large. She put her hand to her forehead as she collapsed back onto the bed, trying to remember what happened. Oh. Right. Luke. She groaned again and let her hand drop so she could roll over on her side. Where was she? One look around the room and she realized she was in the Hospital Wing. How had she gotten here? A part of her told her that Luke had brought her, and then she began to feel rather embarrassed that she had passed out in front of him. Well, it was his fault that she had passed out to begin with. She sat up, anticipating the pain in her head, but not really caring. She was standing now, ready to leave the blasted Hospital Wing. Nearing the door. Almost there. “Stop! You aren’t going anywhere!” Caitlin groaned and turned around to face Madame Pomfrey. She had been in here twice before, and for reasons that made her stay for weeks at a time. She and Madame Pomfrey went way back. They were old, old friends. At least, that’s what Caitlin felt like.

“Now, Poppy, I’m fine, really! Look,” Caitlin did a quick spin and put her hands on her hips when she was finished.

“Oh, no you don’t, child. You get back to that bed this instant, and don’t call me Poppy!” Caitlin hid a smile as she reluctantly returned to the bed. She didn’t like the Hospital Wing, perhaps it was because she didn’t like hospitals. Either way, she hated being stuck in the infirmary with nothing to do or no one to talk to. Her stomach flipped as she thought about Colin. Oh, how she would kill for him to come and see her. He had been incommunicado lately, though, and Caitlin wasn’t sure why. She knew he was having problems with the attacks from last year, but… she was Caitlin and he was Colin. Hadn’t they agreed that he wouldn’t run from her? Even if things got rough inside him? Caitlin crawled under the blankets and pulled herself into a ball as she chewed on her lip in thought. She had felt so lonely the past couple of months, with no best friend to talk to. Colin had deserted her, and she was suffering from it. Noticeably enough, too. “Alright, Miss Martinez, drink this. Come on, drink up.” Poppy was waving a glass in front of her face. A glass full off what looked like really nasty green liquid. Caitlin gagged, but took the glass anyway and sat up. She knew that the reasonable thing to do was to just take whatever Poppy gave her and to get it over with. If only it would taste better.

“You’re trying to poison me, Poppy.” Caitlin muttered as she handed the glass back to the nurse.

“I am not! And stop calling me Poppy!” Another quick grin from Caitlin and Pomfrey was away with a swish of her robes. Immediately, the grin slipped from her face and she collapsed back into the bed and stared up at the ceiling. Her irritation growing even more. Honestly. How boring could this room get? She needed company. If Colin wouldn’t come, at least someone else could. Hell, she’d be happy if Luke showed up. It was the least he could do after all, putting her here and all. Caitlin crossed her arms and looked up at the ceiling, imagining it as the night sky. She could quiz herself over the constellations, even though the constellations weren’t really there. Hmm, there’s Pegasus. Gemini. The Big Dipper. The Little Dipper. Oh, for Merlin’s sake, this is dull! She dropped her gaze and looked at Poppy’s office with a glare. She needed something to keep her entertained. Just when she was about to open her mouth and call for Poppy to come and play charades, the door opened. And in stepped, none other than, Luke Dallan!

He spoke to her and Caitlin tilted her head with a smirk on her lips, “Oh, I’m euphoric.” She replied with sarcasm before turning her gaze to the ceiling and her imaginary constellations again. When he spoke again, though, it caught her interest. Stargirl? “Of course I remember who you are. You are the reason I’m in here, and Poppy,” Caitlin sent a glare toward the nurse who had entered in to give her dinner to her. Poppy met her glare with her own before bustling off again, “is the reason I’m not leaving.” Caitlin looked over the dinner that Poppy had set in front of her, and then pushed it away. Deciding she couldn’t eat, not only because she wasn’t hungry but because the thought of food made her nauseous. She looked at Luke and raised an eyebrow, “I don’t know if I should thank you, or scold you. I hate this place, but I probably would have remained out cold if you hadn’t brought me here.”

[Luke Dallan H7]

Luke still had a small smile on his face as Caitlin seemed to quite enjoy having him there. “Don’t like hospitals much, Stargirl?” he asked a small smile still on his lips. She didn’t seem too comfortable with being in the hospital wing. Well, who wasn’t? It was a place where people went when they got hurt. Full of needles, sickness, and death. At least Hogwarts Hospital wing wasn’t anything like the big wizarding ones. Looking up at the ceiling wondering what was so special about it that was making her look up there. “Well do you want me to go on my knees like before, begging that you’ll accept my apology?” he commented on her remark watching the aggravated face of Madam Pomfrey when Caitlin called her Poppy. “I don’t think she likes that name very much Caitlin. I wouldn’t call her that, or she’ll just keep you here to just torture you,” he whispered leaning back into his chair. Caitlin had ignored the food that was given to her. Why was he so worried over this girl? “Aren’t you going to eat?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. “I wouldn’t even think twice about leaving you there in the cold. After all, I am the one who knocked you out senseless. I’m just a bumbling idiot who has horrible aim, and trips over invisible objects,” a small playful smile appeared on his lips as he shook his head. “Does that make you happy to know that?”

Standing up from the chair Luke walked to the nearest window, leaning his head against the cool stone wall. “I take it that I irritate you easily,” Luke pointed out looking back at Caitlin’s bed wondering if she would climb out. “You barely even know me and right off that bat I can push your buttons.” Luke smiled at the idea looking back out the window, his blue eyes scanning the dark night. He could makes out the Quidditch pitch in the corner, and some trees on the other. The thought of the wizarding sport made Luke remember about his father and brother and how they both wanted him to become a professional Quidditch player. Yes, that was what Luke wanted, but what if some part of him wanted something else. Shaking his head to get rid of the thoughts, Luke leaned one hand causally on the wall, looking at Caitlin’s bed. “I really am sorry for hitting you like that. Normally I have better aim.”

Walking back to the chair, Luke sat back down in it, his eyes never leaving Caitlin’s. “So what would make you stop complaining so much?” he asked looking around the room. He didn’t know too much about the sixth year, only that she liked stars. That’s it. “Would boring me with all the facts about you know about stars make you somewhat happy? I have my ways of bringing the comfort of the outdoors inside?” Luke took out his wand showing Caitlin clearly what he meant.

[Caitlin Martinez G7]

Stargirl. There was that nickname again. She merely smiled, “I hate them. Hospitals have always been a fear of mine, since I was younger. I have two phobias. Hospitals and water, well… boats specifically.” Caitlin tucked her hair behind her ear and sank further into the pillow she had rested her head on. She looked over at Luke when he asked if it would be better if he were on his knees begging her to accept his apology. “As tempting as that sounds, I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t do an ounce of good. You’ll just have to pay me off with chocolates or something. Maybe after about ten boxes I’ll accept your apology.” She sent him a teasing grin, as she began to slip into a comfortable state. It was refreshing, being around someone who wasn’t depressed and was just able to talk with her about silly unimportant things. Not that she had been talking to anyone lately, but… all her most recent conversations centered around Colin and the aftermath of the attacks. Her gaze flickered back to Luke as he mentioned Poppy not liking being called Poppy. “Oh, she loves it. She only puts on the act of hating it because you’re here. Poppy and I are old friends, we go way back… to first year, isn’t that right Poppy?” Caitlin grinned as Poppy merely shook her head and closed her office door. Her grin slipped away, though, when Luke mentioned the food in front of her. “No, I’m not very hungry. I haven’t felt like eating for awhile, the last meal I had was yesterday’s breakfast. I’ve had snacks, of course, but every meal I saw made me feel sick.” She shrugged before reaching over and grabbing the roll from the dinner plate. She tossed it into the air and then caught it as Luke spoke again, this time about having horrible aim and tripping over invisible objects. She grinned and caught the roll before turning to look at him, “Maybe slightly, but it’s always amusing to see someone who’s on the Quidditch team shoot a rather bad shot and knock a girl out.”

As Luke stood from his seat, Caitlin dropped the roll on the plate and pushed the tray away. “Don’t flatter yourself, Dallan,” she told him as she stood from the bed and pulled her jeans on underneath her nightgown. She then looked over at him quickly, making sure he wasn’t looking before she turned away and pulled the nightgown off and placed her shirt on in its place. “People irritate me easily,” she ran her fingers through her hair before she pulled it up into a messy bun with the pony tail holder she had around her wrist. “Especially lately. It’s just not everyday one of those people who do irritate me hits me with a Quaffle.” Caitlin grinned again and then made the bed so she could sit on it, her legs crossed, and try to eat her dinner. She picked up the goblet of pumpkin juice and took a sip as Luke turned around to look at her and apologize again for hitting her. “Don’t worry about it, no harm done. I’ll have a nasty bruise that can be covered up with make up or magic, and that’s it. I just have one question,” she set the goblet down and picked up the fork; spearing a piece of chicken with it, “Do you normally get girls to like you by hitting them with Quaffles?” She raised an eyebrow before putting the chicken in her mouth and chewing. She took another sip of the pumpkin juice and followed Luke to his chair with her eyes. When he asked her what it was that could make her stop complaining, she grinned. Her grin grew into a smile when he mentioned the stars and then took out his wand. Instantly the room was filled with stars and Caitlin forgot about her food. She looked at the brightly coloured stars and at how bright the stars seemed to make the pitch black room.

She pushed the tray away as she stood from her bed and moved across the room. “I know this spell,” she told him quietly, “the last time I used it was to help a friend.” Caitlin reached over and grabbed a star in her hand as she thought about Colin, tears sprung to her eyes as she looked at it. She brought it up to her face and blew on it, causing it to fly toward Luke. A tear rolled down her cheek and she quickly wiped at it and smiled, “They’re amazing, stars. They hold so much life in them, it’s breathtaking.”

[Luke Dallan H7]

Luke nodded his head in agreeable manner when Caitlin explained her reason for not liking hospitals. She mentioned about phobias of hospitals and boats which made Luke wonder what happened to her as a child to cause such a fear. He wanted to ask her. His mouth even parted slightly, ready to ask. “Why are you…?” Luke stopped himself as he realized he was being too pushy. Luke hardly even knew this girl. So why ask something so personal? “Just ignore that. My big mouth was trying to talk on endless again.” Smiling at her he looked around the wing noticing that there was nobody even there. There weren’t even sick kids at all in this school? “At least you don’t have a bed mate next to you. You can expect a peaceful night of non snoring neighbors,” Luke added crossing his arms over his chest, leaning into the chair more. Boys were the worst when it came into annoying sleeping habits that kept others up at night. There were a handful of boys in his dorm that Luke wanted to put a cork in their mouth or some silly shaving cream prank. When Caitlin said he didn’t have to go on his knee and plea a relieved smile spread across his face. “I guess I’ll have to send one box a day for ten days…Take it that you like chocolate?” Luke’s eyebrow rose slightly. It would be funny if he actually did send her a box a day. Would that irritate her more than get him on her good side? “Don’t make me take you up for that offer,” he smiled his playful teasing smile as he leaned his elbows on his knees. “Because I will.” Looking over at Madam Pomfrey Luke tried hard to fight the urge to call her poppy. That would be Caitlin’s thing not his. “I still don’t believe you that she likes it. Clearly you can’t read people’s faces easily.”

His mind was racing from one thing to another as he stared at the Quidditch pitch in the distance. When he heard Caitlin mention his last name, Luke just sniggered. “Going on by last name basis now I see, Martinez?” Her maiden name sounded Spanish but she didn’t look Spanish. Luke decided not to mention it, just continuing to look out the window. He heard her mention about how people infuriate her easily, which made Luke wonder. Would people just running into her in the hallway set her off? Or maybe even just talking to her. That sounded quite like a bitter Gryffindor. “How do people irritate you so easily?” he asked looking over at her noticing that she had changed into a different pair of clothes. Shrugging it off Luke could tell that those gowns looked quite uncomfortable. Luke didn’t want to end up in one of the gowns and took good care of him self not to. His father would have a heart attack finding his son in the hospital. Ever since the Dallan’s mother died, Luke tried hard to not make his father worry. It was for Julien, because he was a worrier. Caitlin had criticized about his way of making girls like him. Tilting his head to the side, Luke’s lips tasked as he shook his head. “What makes you think I’m trying to get you to like me? Remember I irritate you.” Sitting back down in the chair Luke leaned back comfortably. “I usually go for the knight and shinning armor technique you see. Did I cover that category well, Stargirl?”

With just a flick of his wand the whole wing went pitch black. One by one each little star lit up around them. Luke smiled as Caitlin seemed to forget about her food, ecstatic about the simple spell. “I know quite a lot of useless spells and charm that would maybe one day come in handy. Just like this one.” Watching as the girl touched on the stars he frowned noticing that something was wrong. Was she crying? Taking an attentive step forehead he smiled as the star blew his way. Taking the cat off of his head, Luke ruffled with his blonde hair before snatching a couple of stars in his cap. Walking toward Caitlin he dumped the shinning stars on her head making it a rainfall of falling stars. Setting the cap down on her head he grinned ticking his tongue again. “Blue isn’t your color.”

[Caitlin Martinez G7]

“Ah, first names are too personal, Dallan.” She told him with a smirk on her face when he mentioned her calling him by his last name. It felt so weird to someone besides a professor call her by her last name, though. To everyone else she was Caitlin, not Martinez. She shrugged, at his next question. “I’m rather temperamental lately. You see, my best friend’s been avoiding me. Or at least, it feels like he’s avoiding me. Colin’s been through some tough stuff and well, I understand why he wouldn’t want to talk to people… but I’m me, and I’m amazing.” She smirked again, knowing full well she sounded arrogant, but also knowing she was merely joking and didn’t really mean it when she said she was amazing. “You know, I don’t see why he’s gone into hiding. I think, he’s got this mindset that no one can harm him if he’s by himself. He doesn’t realize that, he can get hurt a lot easier when he’s by himself than if he was with friends like me. Because like I said, I’m amazing.” Her smirk turned into a grin as she ate some more of her dinner. When Luke commented on her question, she laughed. “Well, you’re right, you haven’t said anything to insinuate that you are trying to get me to like you… and you’re also correct when you said you irritate me. So, forget I asked. Even though I was just curious.” She shook her head and took another sip of her pumpkin juice as he said he usually went for the knight in shining armor routine. She shrugged as he asked if he covered that category well, “You’re asking the wrong damsel in distress, because she doesn’t fall for her knights in shining armor.”

As she moved from the bed to the stars that Luke had brightened the room with, her mind was back on Colin. She continue to flick the stars here and there as her eyes lit up every time she passed a cluster of the pretty little specks. “Luke, this spell isn’t useless. It can help with Astronomy, look.” She pulled out her own wand and waved it before flicking and the stars moved to form the constellations of the night sky outside. She grabbed his arm and pulled him over to a certain constellation, “This is Gemini, it’s my favourite constellation. And then that one over there, that’s Pegasus.” She looked up at him and smiled; “This is how I ace Astronomy papers, you know the killer ones that Miller gives us?” Caitlin smiled even brighter, before it dimmed to a sad one again. She was watching one of the constellations that she had been looking at the night Colin had looked up at the makeshift stars with her. Her mind was pulled back to the hospital wing when she felt something get plopped on her head. Stars rained down in front of her, and she laughed as she realized Luke had put his hat on her head. He then proceeded to tell her that blue wasn’t colour. She raised an eyebrow and then took the hat off her head and pulled out her wand, “Then let’s make it a colour that is,” she tapped the hat and instantly it changed a deep purple. She put it on her head and nodded, “There. You’ll never get this hat back now, besides,” Caitlin smirked as she put her hands on her hips and tilted her face to the right like a model would, “it looks better on me anyway.”

[Luke Dallan H7]

Luke shook his head as Caitlin called him Dallan again. It felt weird hearing people his age calling him by his last name. Well, it wasn’t that weird, just coming from someone he didn’t quite know, it was strange. Most of his friends called him by his last name in the hallways to get his attention, and Professors as well, not people like Caitlin. “Until you call me by my first name, I’ll keep addressing you as Martinez.” Luke grinned wondering if he would remember that next they saw each other. He didn’t have the best memory, forgetting things rather easily. That why he wasn’t ever good at History of Magic. History was all about memorizing, which was something Luke didn’t do so well in. Listening quite attentively when Caitlin began to talk about her best friend Colin, Luke could hear a hint of sadness in her voice. Was this the Colin boy that was into taking pictures? He had seen her around with him, but that was before he hit her in the head with a quaffle. “Maybe he’s trying to stay away from your selfish self?” he suggested, a small teasing smile playing on his lips. He wondered if that would hurt her anyway. He knew what it was like to have your best friend avoid you. “So don’t you just tell him that?” he asked when she went on explaining her reason for Colin shutting her away. “If you don’t think he needs to be alone then maybe you should just confront him. Though, I do understand his reason to want to be by himself.” With a nod Luke leaned back into the chair so only two legs were on the floor. “Either you can just confront him and tell him what you told me, or wait until he comes around. Human beings can’t go on long without human interaction.” Smiling when Caitlin denied his knight tactics he shook his head. “I don’t get a rating at all? A one through ten maybe? One being the lowest and ten being the highest?”

He watched as Caitlin walked around the dark room, her brown eyes lighting up at each star. She really wasn’t joking about liking stars. It was like his obsession with painting. This would be a perfect portrait idea. Keeping that lock in the back of his mind, Luke followed Caitlin as she began to make constellations with her wand. “I was never really good at Astronomy. Just good at taking guesses on the test and essays.” It was true. Astronomy was not Luke’s best subject, and when his sixth year came by, he was happy to drop the course. Smiling as his blue eyes traced the constellation shapes Luke twirled his wand around between his fingers. Caitlin had changed the color of his cap into an ugly purple color. “That’s no fair! I don’t look good in purple,” he pouted laughing as she turned the cap around backwards to make it look more hip hop. “You can keep it. I’ve got plenty of other blue ugly caps back at home.” Turning the cap back on right Luke turned away from Caitlin, his wand out in front of him. The stars slowly moved together in a straight line as he guided the chain to circle around Caitlin before all the stars shot away spreading across from the room. “Feeling any better?”

[Caitlin Martinez G7]

Caitlin merely smirked when he suggested a reason for Colin avoiding her. “That,” she replied with a nonchalant shrug, “or he’s too afraid to think that maybe he’s in love with me.” She was completely joking, but a part of her wondered what would have happened if they had continued going at the rate they had been going. They were more than friends, that was obvious, but she didn’t know what they were. It didn’t matter anyway. Colin was missing from her life. As much as that sucked, Caitlin had to get on with her life. She still had another year of Hogwarts left before she could give up on life completely. “I can’t tell him that, Luke,” she stressed his first name as she sent him a look before continuing on, “Colin… he’s been… difficult. You say people can’t go long without human interaction, but trust me… it’s possible. I’ve done it, and Colin and I are like two peas in a pod. We’re almost the same in a lot of ways, it’s uncanny.” Caitlin shrugged again as she thought about how true that statement was. She pulled her hair out of its messy bun and ran her fingers through it before snapping the hair tie around her wrist again, deciding to just let her hair fall down. “I’ll give you a rating,” she told him with a teasing grin, “you get a ‘not even on the scale’ rating. Take that as you being too amazing to fit onto a scale of one to ten or take that as you being too horrible to fit onto the scale… it’s your choice, and this way you’re happy.” She stuck her tongue out at him before flicking another star in his direction.

As she moved in and out of the stars, she listened to him talk about how he just guessed in Astronomy. Caitlin smiled softly and stopped walking to look up at him, because now she was standing directly in front of him, and since he was a good few inches taller than her she had to incline her head to look into his blue eyes. “I’m amazing at Astronomy.” She said in a hushed voice before reaching to her left without breaking eye contact with Luke and plucking a single star from the air. She brought it in between them and raised it so they could both look at it without having difficulties. “This little guy here, is Castor. One of the brightest stars in Gemini. Castor has a brightness of 1.6 mag and can be split up into three different components.” She grabbed Luke’s hand and placed the star into his palm before reaching out for another star and pulling it toward them, “This is Pollux, the second brightest star in Gemini. Pollux is a red giant of 1.1 mag.” Caitlin’s smile brightened as she took Castor from Luke’s palm and then threw the two stars into the air above them. Her eyes went from Luke’s blue ones to the swirling stars above them, “See? Amazing.” She turned her gaze from the stars when Luke mentioned the cap and then turned it backward to make her look more hip hop. She laughed before she put both hands on top of her head and pushed the hat further onto her head, “Yippee! I get to keep a dirty, smelly, hat that was worn by Luke Dallan. All my girl friends will be overjoyed.” She let her arms drop so she could cross them over her chest as Luke turned the cap right around. He then turned away from her and waved his wand, causing the stars to line up and then swirl around her before breaking out. She grinned before answering his question; “Do you mean with the head? Or do you mean with the depression you’re slowly helping me get over?”

[Luke Dallan H7]

Luke looked away from Caitlin as she talked about maybe Colin being in love with her. Reaching out for one of the stars, he caught in his palm, its shinning brilliance lighting up his face. “Are you in love with him?” Luke asked looking up from his palm, a questioning look on the features of his face. He didn’t like it when Caitlin talked about Colin in a relationship way, and Luke didn’t understand that. There was just a…odd, unexplained feeling that he felt when she talked about that. Maybe it was jealous, but what was there to be envies about? He and Caitlin were only just going to be friends after this night. They might not even talk again. Smiling when she stressed his first name, Luke’s eyebrow rose. “I still don’t understand why you just don’t go and find him to tell him what you’re saying right now.” His blue eyes searched on her face, a small friendly smile never leaving his lips. “If you’re his best friend, then he needs you more than anything at the moment. You can’t let him shut out the world and be afraid of everyone, and with each day passing you’re going to lose him more and more.” Nodding his head his small turned into a frown as he remembered what happened to the Colin boy. He had been kidnapped by Death Eaters just last year. It had to be hard, but Luke didn’t understand when anyone went through something that traumatic how they could be alone. People reacted to things different. When someone wanted to stay away from others, Luke wanted to be around his closet friends. “So what are you going to do with the Colin boy situation?” Luke asked as he watched Caitlin take her hair out of its messy brown. He didn’t say anything to Caitlin’s off scale rating. Instead he just smiled.

Staring at Caitlin as she was now standing in front of him, he looked down at her wondering what she was doing. Groaning when he started to hear her give an Astronomy lesson, Luke debated whether or not to pay attention or zoon out like he did in that class. “I really not good at Astronomy. I barely passed that class.” Watching as Caitlin plucked a star from midair, Luke stared at it thinking it looked the same as all the others. When she stared to explain it, he listened, staring down into his palm where she placed it. Looking up when she showed him another star, Luke tried to put the names into his memory. He remembered reading about the constellation in a textbook, but didn’t remember much about it. Smiling as the two stars floated up in the air she shot Caitlin a boring stare. “For you, it’s amazing. To me, they all look the same,” he spoke looking back down into her brown eyes. “Though I may not know the names, it doesn’t take a babbling idiot to not enjoy the beauty and presence of stars.” Laughing as Caitlin seemed so excited about keeping his hat, Luke winked at her. “All the girls will surely be jealous, because look at me,” he said gesturing his hand to his face. “I’m just too good looking.” Bursting out laughing he shook his head sending Caitlin a look that he was only joking.

“Why are you so sad stargirl?” Luke asked when she talked about him curing her depression. Caitlin didn’t look like a girl who would be depressed. She was rather pretty, but did have that sad look in her feminine features. Taking a step forward toward the girl, Luke took her right hand in his, twirling her around. The stars spun around her making his blue eyes twinkle in their light.

[Caitlin Martinez G7]

“Are you in love with him?” Caitlin’s eyebrows arched high up when he asked that question. “Personal much?” the question wasn’t a ridiculous one. After all, Caitlin was very close to Colin and she had started to develop rather more than friend feelings for him… but she couldn’t say she was in love with him. She looked at Luke for a second and then shook her with a small smile on her face; “No, I’m not in love with him. I mean, I care about him, a lot. He’s my best friend I kind of have to, don’t I? And yeah, I’ll admit that over the past two years we’ve grown really close and I started to feel like I care about him more than a best friend, but I can honestly say that I’m not in love with him. And I can honestly say that I think those feelings I did have for him are fading like he is.” Caitlin snatched a star out of the air as Luke then went on to say he didn’t see why she just didn’t tell Colin all the things she was telling him. It was complicated. She and Colin were complicated. Colin alone was complicated. Then he asked what she was going to do about the Colin situation. Caitlin looked down at her hands as she picked at her finger nail polish; “What if I don’t mind losing him? I mean, he’s amazing and I care about him a lot and he’s the best friend I’ve ever had. He understands me and we can relate to each other, but I don’t think I can deal with being shoved aside because of whatever he feels he thinks I can’t handle. And… besides,” she looked up at Luke with a small shrug, “he’s graduating this year anyway. I’d only be saving the heart break of when he leaves.” She ran her fingers through her hair tiredly before thinking of an answer to the question he had posed. “I’m going to deal with it, like I always do. I’m not going to wait around for him, either. If he wants me as a best friend… or whatever, he’ll have to approach me. I’m not the type of girl who waits around for one guy; no matter what they mean to her.”

As she stared up into Luke’s blue eyes, she felt a smile cross her face before she let out a laugh when he said all stars looked the same to him. “I guess that’s understandable. I mean, in the night sky all they are is white dots, right? But you’re right,” she told him as she looked around the room at the stars he had brought into it, “it doesn’t take someone who loves the stars as deeply as I do to appreciate the beauty of them. Bumbling fools like you can do that, you just need to be accompanied by a pretty girl and you’ll see anything as beautiful as she wants you to.” Maybe she shouldn’t have said that, but Caitlin had seen some of her friends fall prey to that plenty of times. She was certain Luke wasn’t like that, though, and that was something that made Caitlin look at him differently than she would any other guy. Besides, she was completely teasing him anyway. She was having a good time, even if he was being cocky. “Oh, now who’s being arrogant? What makes you think you’re so good looking?” She said this with another teasing grin on her face, keeping to herself that he was actually quite good looking. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing that she thought that, though.

“Why so sad Stargirl?” Caitlin felt her breath leave her as he reached over for her hand and twirled her around. When she faced him again, she felt something inside her that she hadn’t felt in months. She looked up at him and then took her hand away before reaching past him for her book bag, “Sadness kind of controls my life. I’ve got to go,” she searched for an excuse. Any excuse to get away from him, to get away from the desire to just reach up and kiss him. What was wrong with her? She had literally just met him. “Um… Astronomy, study group. I’ve got… thanks, for this. Bye.” And with that, she rushed past him and out the door, down the corridor with her book bag pressed to her chest.