Chapter 5

Michael

What was that?” I asked, bewildered.

“What was what?” Angela asked.

“That,” I pointed behind me with my thumb. I drove carefully through the desert on a narrow road, searching for another spot to set up her telescope.

“Oh that…” She chuckled. “Yeah, that was fun, huh?”

“Fun? I can’t believe you pushed him like that! And threatened him to a fight! Do you know martial arts or something?”

“No, not at all. It was all a bluff. He probably would’ve toasted me in a real fight. I’ve met tons of jerks like him in New York, New Mexico, and everywhere else I’ve lived. I knew he wouldn’t fight me because it would insult his pride too much, and that would just be devastating for him.” She feigned sympathy for him.

“A bluff?” I said, amazed. “Well… that was awesome!”

“Thanks,” she said with a grin.

“Just so you know, though. You don’t need you to go picking my fights for me. I could’ve handled him myself.”

“Mm hmm.” She gave me a sidelong glance. “Looks like Ray’s not the only one whose pride got hurt. Besides, didn’t he beat you up the last time you fought?”

“What? That was because Doug hit me from behind. Without him there, I would’ve beat Ray for sure.”

“Right… but wasn’t Doug there tonight too? There were four guys surrounding Ray, ready to step in if needed. I just saved you from a world of pain, my friend.”

I sighed. I didn’t want to admit it, but she was right. She was absolutely right. “Well, thanks for saving me from another black eye then.”

“Anytime. Call me if you need me.”

I parked the car. “Here we are,” I said. “It’s not as open as where we were before, but it’ll do.”

Angela leaped out of the car and grabbed her telescope. “Alright, let’s do this.” Before Ray had shown up, we’d only had a couple minutes to look at the night sky. We hurried to set up the telescope as fast as possible. The meteor shower should start soon.

“So, what makes this comet so special, again?” I asked.

“You don’t know?” She gaped. “Didn’t your parents tell you?”

“I heard them talking about it a little, but never caught what makes it different from Halley’s Comet or any other comet.”

“There are a few reasons why Newel’s Comet is special.” She spoke while assembling and fine tuning the telescope with obvious expertise. “First, this will be the closest comet flyby in history. Second, it carries a lot of debris with it, so a huge meteor shower is expected—it’ll look awesome! And third, it has an unusually large orbit: two thousand years per one trip around the sun.”

“Wow. That is long. Fifty to a couple hundred years is more common.”

“Yeah, and get this, Ptolemy recorded a similar comet that passed by earth about two thousand years ago. The theory is that it’s the same comet.”

“Huh.” I thought for a moment. “Ptolemy. Wasn’t he the first guy to chart out the constellations around 100 AD?”

“Yeah.” Angela tightened the parallax adjustment. “Which is a mystery in itself. Did you know that no one really knows where he came up with all of them? Ursa Major, Cassiopeia, Draco, Cygnus, Orion? They seem to fit the stars so perfectly. How did he do it?”

“I thought he combined a bunch of Egyptian, Greek, and other ancient astronomical records and then deduced the best fit for each shape in the sky.”

Angela nodded as I spoke, looking impressed. “Yes. That's the main theory taught in school.”

“But what’s your theory?”

“I think he had help.”

“From who?”

“I don’t know.” She bit her lip, not meeting my eyes. “All set! Now let’s find that comet!” She pressed her eye to the eyepiece and fiddled with the adjustments.

“So, this meteor shower,” I said. “It’s just going to be a lot of shooting stars, right? No Armageddon rocks?”

She laughed. “No Armageddon. Don’t worry. Sure, some meteorites will probably make it to the ground—that’s what my dad is hoping for at least—but the chances of getting hit by a meteorite are close to impossible.”

For a moment there, I stopped listening and just watched her looking through her telescope, admiring her enthusiasm. I’d never met someone outside of my family who would actually enjoy stargazing as much as—or maybe even more than—me.

“Got it!” Angela said while looking through the eyepiece, breaking me out of my thoughts. “Oh, it’s beautiful! Its tail is huge!”

I looked up at the stars, trying to spot Newel’s Comet with my naked eye. It was barely visible, like a dim fuzz of blue light, painted onto the night sky canvass by an artist’s thumb.

“Take a look, Michael,” she said, stepping away from the telescope.

I looked through the eyepiece and gasped. It had to be one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen. Its light was brilliant. Its tail was massive. It had to be hundreds of miles long. Chills ran down my spine.

“Wow!” I said, turning to Angela. “It’s amazing! And your telescope is awesome! Thanks for bringing it, by the way. And thanks for coming along.”

“My pleasure,” she said. “If not with you, then tonight would’ve just been me and my dad in our backyard, and he probably would’ve been asleep by now.”

“Really? I thought he’d be as excited as you to look at the comet?”

She shook her head. “He just likes to study meteorites after they’ve landed on the ground, not while they’re in the sky. He’s more a geologist than a true astronomer. He gave me this telescope for my tenth birthday because I kept asking for one.”

I tilted my head. “So, if he’s not interested in telescopes and stars, then why are you?”

“Well… oh look!” she said, pointing up. “A shooting star! The meteor shower must be starting!”

I followed her gaze, noting that she changed subject on me. I let it slide though. This was the first date, after all. Don't want to get too personal.

Another streak of light shot across the sky.

“So,” Angela said, while watching for the next shooting star. “Why do you act dumb at school?”

“What?” So much for not getting personal! I thought. I folded my arms. “I don’t act dumb.”

She chuckled. “Yes, you do. You obviously knew more about nuclear fusion than you gave on. Your answer was sophisticated enough to get Mr. Gerald off your case, and dumb enough to maintain your reputation as a cool guy at school. I think you’re just afraid of giving in to your nerdy-ness. Why is that?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I am not a geek!”

“Right,” she said skeptically. “Because only geeks know what an archeoastronomer is, who and when Ptolemy lived, and the average orbit length of comets, and get goosebumps just by looking at one.”

“I didn’t get goosebumps!”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Okay,” I admitted. “Maybe I like some things about astronomy, but that does not make me a geek.”

She laughed. “Whatever you say, Michael. Just so you know, I think nerds and geeks are awesome! I like guys who are smart, like you.”

My heart did a summersault. Did she just say that she liked me in a cryptic way? It was like an insult and a compliment at the same time.

“Funny,” I said. “I thought girls liked guys who care more about sports and nice cars than whether a star is red shift or blue shift.”

She smiled. “Not me. In fact, I think most girls care about what goes on inside a guy’s head than what type of car he rides.”

“Well that’s a relief, because you’ve already seen my car.” We both glanced at my brown, beat up, 1998 Toyota Corolla—side mirror missing from Sarah’s attempt to back out—and laughed.

We looked back up at the sky, spotting a couple shooting stars. “I’ve never met anyone like you,” I said. “Girls like you don’t know all the constellations.”

“Girls like me?” she asked, sounding defensive.

“Yeah, well…” I had to be careful with my words. “Come on. Most girls as pretty as you are more focused on cheerleading or becoming the homecoming queen. Why are you so different?”

“Sounds like you’ve stereotyped what a ‘pretty girl’ is.”

“Maybe I have. But, you still seem… different.”

“Because I’m not pretty?”

“No, because you are! In fact, you’re beautiful! And smart!”

She bit her lip. “But don’t smart girls intimidate guys?”

“Maybe to some guys, but not to me.”

“And why not?”

“Well, because… I….”

She smirked at me. “Say it. Admit it. Because you’re… a what?”

After struggling for a moment, I finally relented with a sigh. “Because… I’m a nerd.”

“There it is!” Angela gave me an applause.

“Okay, okay. That’s enough.” I gently grabbed her hands to stop her from clapping… and held on to them.

She looked up at me, smiling. “You know, out of all schools I’ve been to, I haven’t met a guy like you either. Geeky… and charming.” We held each other’s gaze and each other’s hands.

A warm wave of a thousand emotions washed over me all at once, giving me goosebumps again. I could look at those chocolate brown eyes all night. I was grateful my bruises had faded away from the fight with Ray last week. No more black eye to bother me.

After a moment that seemed longer than it probably was—not long enough though—Angela slipped her hands out of mine and pointed at the sky. “Wow, look at that!”

I followed her finger and saw another shooting star. “Make a wish,” I said.

She chuckled. “We’ll be making a lot of wishes tonight.”

We stood there, looking up, waiting for another streak of light. I couldn’t help but notice how close we stood to each other. Angela pointed at another one. “What did you wish for?” I asked.

“I’m not supposed to tell you.” She slapped my shoulder playfully. “It won’t come true if I do.”

“Oh, come on!”

She laughed. “I wished for the same thing I always wish for.” Another shooting star streaked by, brighter than the others.

“Well?” I nudged her. “Don’t leave me hanging!”

She peeled her eyes from the sky and smiled at me. “I wished I could fly.” She closed her eyes and spread out her arms, imagining it, and then brought them in close, cuddling herself. “I know, I know… it’s cliché.”

“No, that’s a great wish. I always wished for that as a kid too. Maybe one day they’ll invent a jetpack that won’t explode.” We laughed, standing a little closer.

“So, what did you wish for?” she asked, pointing at another shooting star.

I looked at her, gazing into her eyes.

She looked back at me, her mouth half open, as if she were about to speak, but couldn’t find the words. I opened my mouth to say something too but stopped; it seemed like words weren’t necessary. We were so close.

BOOM!

We jumped at the sound of a distant—but powerful—explosion.

“Wha—what was that?” Angela asked.

I looked in the direction of the sound. “Is that smoke?” I said, pointing at a barely visible streak of white gas in the sky. “Fireworks?”

After a moment, Angela gasped. “No, Michael…. That’s the trail of a shooting star! I think a meteorite just made impact over there!”

“Really? That’s right where Ray and his friends were!” I looked back at her. “Someone could be hurt. They might need some help!” As much as I hated Ray Simmons and his friends, I couldn’t live with myself and not help someone who might be hurt.

Angela agreed, and we hurried to pack up the telescope.

The ground shook as we heard another explosion in the distance. This time, in the opposite direction of Ray and his group. I could see a similar streak of white smoke in the air. Another meteorite had landed.

We looked at each other and doubled our pace. We quickly loaded the telescope into the car. I turned to Angela. “I thought you said the chances of getting hit by a meteorite were close to impossible!”

“Close. But not impossible. I don’t understand why—”

She was cut off by a loud whistling from above. We looked up and saw a piercingly bright light coming straight at us. “Get down!” I shouted, grabbing her hand, pulling her near my side of the car.

We ducked as a sharp explosion shook the ground and sent dirt and rocks flying everywhere. I heard one of the car windows shatter. A gust of wind blew over our heads, jostling my Toyota. Angela and I clutched on to each other, unsure if we would live through this. And then, just as quickly is it began, it was over.

I checked on Angela, breaking the eerie silence. “You okay?” I asked Angela.

She nodded, brushing her light brown hair away from her eyes. She didn’t look frightened, just awestruck. “Did that just happen?”

We stood up and looked at the wreckage. I couldn’t see much because it was dark, and the air was filled with dust, causing us to cough. Above the dust, I could see a white streak of smoke high above the impact site. Angela rushed into the cloud of dust. “I’ve got to see this!”

I followed close behind her. “But what if there are more meteorites? We should get out of here! It isn’t safe!”

She didn’t respond, just kept running ahead. We eventually stumbled onto the crater’s edge. As the dust finally settled, I could see the whole crater. It was smaller than I thought it would be. Probably as wide as a pool and as deep as a person. The bottom of the crater was hard to see in the darkness. I saw a few saguaro cacti that’d been completely leveled by the explosion, but only the ones nearby. The explosion itself was probably the size of a modern grenade.

Angela pulled out a small flashlight out of her jacket pocket and turned it on. My eyes stung, trying to adjust to the beam of light. We tried to avoid using flashlights while stargazing, so we could see the stars better, but circumstances had changed. She shined it on the bottom of the crater.

Nothing interesting. At least not to me. All I could see was a pile of black rocks strewn around the crater. Angela jumped in. I followed suit, landing on the rocks, and said, “We should probably go check on Ray and his friends to see if they need any help.” What if they were hurt and we did nothing? I thought.

“Okay,” Angela said. “I just want to check this out really quick, Michael, and then we can head over there.” She crouched over some of the black rocks, shining her flashlight on them. “This is amazing! Hardly anyone gets to see a meteorite only minutes after impact! I wonder if it’s hot to the touch!”

She inched her finger closer to one of the rocks and finally touched it. “It’s warm,” she said, fascinated. “But not hot.” She picked up one of the black rocks, measuring its weight. “It’s heavier than it looks. There might be some metal alloy in it. Probably iron.”

I stood over her, not nearly as curious as she was. I was ready to get out of here. We almost got killed by a falling rock for crying out loud! I saw another shooting star and froze, but it fizzled out in the sky. I hadn’t heard any other explosions, but I didn’t want to risk waiting around for another one. “They’re just a bunch of rocks,” I said. “You and your dad can come back and study them later. We should get going!”

Angela stood up. “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s go.”

She started climbing out of the crater, and I was about to follow her, but something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. It was a sliver of light coming from underneath the pile of black meteorites that Angela had just stepped over. I was in a hurry to leave, but suddenly curious, so I quickly bent down and brushed the black rocks off of the light.

“What the…” I said.

Angela looked down at me from the top of the crater and gasped. “What’s that?”

“It’s a….” The words left me. It looked like a stone that would fit snug within my palm… and it was shining! Not like a shiny crystal or glass. It wasn’t reflecting light, but actually emitting it! A soft, blue light. Not as bright as a flashlight, maybe more like the light from a candle. And the light was pulsing like a small flame would, as if a gentle blue fire were burning within it. I moved my hand over it.

“Don’t!” Angela said.

I paused. “Why not?”

“I don’t know…. maybe it’ll burn your finger or something.”

I couldn’t feel any heat coming from the stone. “I don’t think so.” I inched my hand closer to touch it, my curiosity suddenly peaked. Angela held her breath. So did I.

I brushed it with my finger. It was warm, not hot. I slowly picked it up and stood up. It was heavier than a normal rock its size, its blue light shining between my fingers.

“Cool…” Angela said. “I’ve never seen anything like it!”

“Yeah, here take a look.”

I was about to climb out of the crater and hand it to her but stopped when I noticed her face. Her giddy, intrigued expression had disappeared and was replaced with a horrified, wide-eyed one as she gazed, pointing at the stone in my hand. I looked down at it.

Something had changed. It was brighter than before. And getting brighter! Its blue light was now far brighter than our flashlight. I didn’t feel any change in temperature, though. What was going on?

Suddenly a jolt of pain zapped through my whole body. I opened my mouth to scream, but nothing came out. And then all went black.