Starry Eyed

A quick note:

To celebrate the completion of my latest novel — TRANCE, Inc. — I wanted to release a fun commission project that I wrote for my friend/reader Mercedesbens.

This is Day 3 of my five-day release schedule.

Lots of love,

JC

* * *

"I can't believe I almost walked in on that!" My best friend laughed and leaned back in her chair, the sounds of her mirth blending into the background fabric of the cheap, packed pizza parlor. Her jean jacket fell open over a simple, white babydoll top that clung to her rounded breasts.

I had to crack a little smile myself as I watched her and felt my tension melt away. It was nice to talk to Cass about stuff from my life. I felt like I could tell her anything.

"It's just an off day," I grumbled, gesturing with my slice and then putting it back on the plate.

As soon as I'd thrown on a shirt, I had bundled my newly-arrived friend away from the house and out to dinner in order to give Janet some room. I'd barely even stopped to take my prototype out of the box and show it to her. Which, if I was being honest, was one of the main reasons I'd wanted Allen to deliver it today. Who doesn't like to brag to their best friend about their awesome science project?

I shrugged, only a little embarrassed. "I've been really spacey thinking about this new venture. I even forgot that she and I had a date planned."

"Damn, dude." Cass calmed down enough to sipped her soda. She was that weirdo who used a straw to drink from the glass soda bottle and, like I usually did, I ignored the way the straw slid so smoothly between her full lips. "When was the date?"

"Tonight."

Cass winced, then brushed wavy golden hair back from her face. Her blue eyes met mine for a second, then she glanced away. "Did you cancel because of our party?"

Well...

"Only partially," I lied. "Janet also had this cooking video she wanted to film. So, you know, it kind of worked out."

There was silence for a moment. The background hum of the parlor couldn't quite fill it.

"Seriously, man," Cass told me, setting down her drink. Her eyes looked a little uncertain when she gave me a rueful smile. "Your girlfriend rocks. I'm sorry if I came between you."

I shook my head. "No, you didn't. She and I are good. Just an off day, like I said. And besides, it's nice having the chance to get out of the house with you and just relax."

She nodded, not seeming to know what to say. "What were you guys planning on doing?" she asked.

"Not much." I shrugged. "Couple-y things. Probably just relax, eat some cheap pizza, talk about work..." I trailed off as Cass glanced around and raised her eyebrows, then hit me with a level gaze.

Kind of like what you and I are doing right now...

I swallowed.

"So how's work?" my best friend joked.

Our laughter once again broke the tension, but this time it didn't disappear completely. Even later, sitting together in the cab of her spacious, modern pickup truck, I could feel it between us. It stretched taut, silent but not forgotten.

I never remembered how hard it was to be Cass's friend.

I texted Janet that we were on our way home, but she didn't respond. I couldn't be sure if she was in the middle of dinner, and thus hadn't seen it, or if she was irritated and giving me the silent treatment until she felt better. Either way, I suggested that we head straight out to the back of the property.

"We have everything," I said. We'd grabbed a six pack of beer on the return drive from pizza, and Cass already had a big thermos of hot cocoa tucked into the seatback pocket. "And I know you always keep extra blankets and sleeping bags under the seats. I'll open up the side gate and we can just drive on back without disturbing her."

Cass gave me a look. "No offense," she teased, "but you're being a total wimp."

I gave her a narrow-eyed look in return. She'd never been on the receiving end of Janet's death glare. "At least I'm a living wimp," I answered, only half joking.

The cute blonde snorted and rolled her eyes. "Go open the gate, you dork."

* * *

The stars were bright overhead, and the sky between them was dark, dark blue. The lights from the house, more than a quarter of a mile behind us, were mostly blocked by a stand of tall pine trees.

Cass sat with her back against the cab, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. I lay on an old sleeping bag and tried to follow the woman's finger as she directed my attention between several constellations. As far as Cass was concerned, that was the correct viewing window where I should expect the blazing star rocks to fall.

My belly was warm with hot cocoa, and my chest was warm with a dull heat of alcohol. I almost never drank, so a beer and a half in I was starting to feel the buzz. My eyes started to drift shut, and I had to yawn and shake my head to keep them open.

"Sorry," I muttered, when Cass glanced down at me. "I've been working like mad on this visual therapy machine and every time I lay down it seems like I fall asleep. I drank an espresso earlier and then conked out on the couch just afterwards." I frowned. "But no matter how hard I work, I still can't seem to definitively beat that Danielli bastard."

I wanted to get fired up, but my eyes slowly started to sink closed once again. I contented myself with settling down on my back, a little bit closer to my friend. I felt her hand brush easily across my forehead, pushing back several stray hairs.

"I swear," she said quietly, musingly. "That guy must be even crazier than you are. I don't know a single person who works as hard as you do, Braillen, but Georgio really seems to push you to the limit."

"Mmm..." I agreed. Her fingertips felt nice, running through my hair like that.

Cass had never met my arch rival, but I talked about him so much that it felt as if she had. To be fair, no one had met Georgio Danielli in years, or even seen him. No one except for Mr. McIntosh, the lawyer who represented Georgio to investors and to the public. The man was the textbook definition of a reclusive genius. Sometimes, though, I felt as if I knew him. Like through our work, and despite our rivalry, we could communicate.

"You keeping your eyes open down there?" Cass's voice was gentle.

"Mhmm." I nodded, blinking several times with exaggerated care.

"How's the view from that angle?"

I looked away from her moonlit face and up into the sky. "Amazing." Drowsily, I shuffled sideways on the spread out sleeping bag and tugged at her wrist. "You can lay down here with me," I murmured. Then, an instant later, when a flash of worry clenched my chest, I added hastily, "If you want..."

But Cass didn't seem to notice my hesitation as she slowly shifted and scooted her way down next to me.

We lay on our backs next to each other in silence for a while, until the first flash of light illuminated the darkness.

The meteors rocketed across the sky, one after the other and all together. Instant after instant, they painted the dark sky with lines of brilliance and then faded away. I turned on my side toward Cass, grinning. I wanted to revel in the moment, to share a smile with my best friend as the light of broken stars burned far above us.

Cass was very close to me. I hadn't realized quite how close. And she was looking over into my eyes, just as I was looking over into hers. I heard her soft intake of breath. Her voice was quiet. "Braillen," she whispered.

"Cassiopeia," I murmured. My friend had such a pretty name. I never really got to say it.

Silence for a moment. Just staring into her eyes, barely lit by the distant radiance.

Her next words were even quieter than before, barely a wisp of breath. "You can kiss me... if you want."

The words slid through my thoughts almost without resistance until my conscious mind froze and recognized what they meant.

Wait... What?!

But I wanted to. I couldn't deny that I wanted to. I couldn't deny that, laying this close, I could smell the slightest scent of her perfume and it made me crazy. I could almost have said it was the same perfume she was wearing when we met, but that couldn't possibly be true. Why would she still have it, after all this time?

My breath was harsh in my throat. "I..." I whispered. I couldn't tell if an hour had passed or less than a second. Cass's blue eyes were big and clear and so close.

Mwaaah! Mwaaah! Mwaaah!

The sound of the loudest, most obnoxious phone alarm blared out of my pocket and shocked both of us. In that instant, we twitched away from each other and I jammed my hand down under the blankets after the offending device. As I lifted the screen toward my face in the darkness, I registered an angry red glow and the logo of my home security company flashing above a growing stream of notifications.

Unexpected visitor. Facial scan result... Subject is masked!

Initiating home defense...

Doors and windows have locked automatically. Please confirm visitor.

Front Door: Unlocked.

Please confirm visitor to deactivate home defense.

Another notification popped up as I was reading.

If there is no reply within 120 seconds, Torrance Security will contact local law enforcement.

"Holy shit, Cass!" I swore, scrambling to my hands and knees. I banged my knee against the hard truck bed but I didn't care. "Someone's breaking into my house! We need to get back there. Now!"

The truck threw up gravel behind it as it raced down the long drive back towards the house.

I wanted to yell at Cass to go faster, even though it was a thirty second drive, but I didn't want to distract my best friend. Her wavy blonde hair was a mess around her face, and while it would normally look cute now her dark eyes made her look more harried and concerned.

Instead, I frantically swiped at my phone, trying to figure out what was going on back in my home.

How did the front door get opened?

I wondered.

Did Janet open it?

And then, I was possessed by a strange desire to rationalize.

What if she invited someone over to hang out while Cass and I were busy? What if it's actually someone we know, just wearing a hood or an extra large turtleneck?

I didn't have much experience with the app. There was supposed to be a feature that allowed me to access the closed-circuit security camera feeds within my home, but before I could find the right tab Cass slammed the brake and we jolted to a halt right next to the back lawn. Light flooded out from the windows and across the wide stone porch, but my friend had parked us just outside the radius of illumination.

When I started to shove open my door, Cass's hand latched onto my wrist. "Braillen, wait!"

I threw her a confused, frustrated expression. "Cass," I hissed. "Don't you understand? Someone is inside my house! And

Janet

is in there!"

But my friend held on. She tried to hide it, but I could read the nervousness in her face. "What if they're armed?" she demanded. "And what if they haven't even run into Janet? It's a big house. And I'm sure Janet will have gotten the same alarm on her phone. She could hide. The burglar has only been in your house a minute or two at most. Maybe he'll get what he came for and leave. Why don't we just take a second and think about this before we dash into anything?"

Cass was a reasonable person. So, she made the request reasonably, her tone earnest and her eyes sincere. She even loosened her grip on my wrist.

The last was a mistake. I wrenched my arm free and gave her a stern glance. "Take this," I held out my phone. "If the security people call, tell them what's happening. I'm going inside to find my girlfriend."

* * *

Thanks for reading!

I'll see you tomorrow for the next publication:

Starry Eyed -- Ch. 4.