Page 5 of Wild Skies

We set up the equipment in a loose circle, all aimed up at the first stars as they wink from the darkening sky. The sun is almost gone now, the horizon glowing pink as higher up, the sky turns navy.

“Coffee,” one girl declares, setting out a picnic blanket with a flourish and adding three enormous thermoses, along with a stack of little metal cups. “No falling asleep, people.”

Head lamps flick on as the darkness grows, their beams of light zooming around our makeshift camp. I help to set out little folding chairs and a pile of blankets for if people get cold. One guy jogs a way down the path, yelling about the call of nature. Our whole group buzzes with excitement and nerves.

Then, once the equipment is set up and the sun finally slips below the horizon, we huddle around the telescopes, look up at the sky, switch off our head lamps… and wait.

The guy who ran off to pee comes back, uneaten by bears. My nerves ease a tiny bit.

And we wait.

And wait some more.

The girl who set out the coffee station sighs and trudges over there to pour herself a cup. After a whispered exchange, another pair of girls follow. The sound of pouring liquid is amplified by the quiet.

The wide open sky overhead darkens slowly to black, with thousands—no,millions—of stars winking down at us. Evenas the others get restless, whispering together and wandering around our small site, I keep staring up at the sky, frozen with awe. My eyes go dry from forgetting to blink, and my neck gets stiff.

These stars… this sky…

This view isinsane.

We don’t get night skies like this back on campus. Not with the light pollution from all those buildings and street lamps. Up here on this mountain peak, we’re closer to the stars than I could ever get back home—with nothing around us to block the view.

It’s beautiful.

Standing on this mountain, staring up at the galaxies above, I feel… small. Tiny, in fact, but in a good way. Like I’m part of something huge and ancient and mysterious, beyond all worldly comprehension.

“The meteors could be a while yet.” The professor’s voice is lowered, his words just for me. Ifeelhim come to stand beside me. My pulse registers his presence, picking up speed, and my nerve endings go all tingly beneath my clothes.

It’s always like this. As this man gets closer to me, my body goes haywire with anticipation and longing. She hasn’t gotten the memo yet that professors and students don’t mix.

“I don’t mind.” The cold breeze tugs at my hair under I huddle deeper into my sweater, still gazing up. Without turning my head, Professor Carter is just a dark shape beside me—a patch of warmth that blocks the worst of the easterly wind. “Even without meteors, this is beautiful.”

He gives a low noise of agreement. Then a hand presses gently against my back, right between my shoulder blades, his warmth seeping through the thick wool of my sweater. He’stouchingme, and it’s innocent but I’ve forgotten how to breathe. The professor guides me to a nearby telescope.

“Look here.”

My boots scuff against the rocky ground as I shift in front of the telescope, lowering my head to look through the eyepiece. At first everything is blurry, but as I twist the focus dial, the universe sharpens into high definition.

“Oh.” My voice is wobbly. Overwhelmed. “Oh, wow.”

“I know,” Professor Carter says. His hand is still on my back, warm and steady. “It can be a lot to take in.”

There’s so much more up there than I ever realized. So many more stars, whole galaxies that I couldn’t see with the naked eye. So much wonder, and I’ve been tripping around down here, going about my business with no clue of the vast worlds overhead.

The hand on my back rubs in small circles. My teeth dig into my bottom lip, and I try not to pant and fog up the eyepiece.

When I straighten up, I’m glad of the steadying touch on my back. I’m dizzy, kinda lightheaded, and it’s instinct that makes me step toward the professor’s dark shape. His arms slide around me so naturally, cradling me close to his body like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

My belly swoops, and my chin tilts up. His minty-fresh breath puffs against my cheek, and the professor’s arms tighten.

Yes.

He feels it too?

Then a whoop echoes across the mountain, and someone else lets out a small shriek. The other people here, all the dark shapes of the students I had completely forgotten existed, hurry to the telescopes and camera equipment as high above, pale meteors streak across the sky.

Professor Carter clears his throat and lets go of me, stepping back. The sudden gust of mountain wind against my front is freezing cold, seeping right through my clothes to my overheated skin below.

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