Page 5 of Northern Stars

“Am not!”

“Are too!”

“Whatever. Are you okay, though?” I questioned, rubbing my neck. “After what happened?”

Her eyes looked like she was going to cry again, and that made my stomach hurt even more. “I’m fine.”

“Oh…okay. Well…I thought I’d just check.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

“Good night.”

“Night,” I muttered. Turning away, I began walking back to my window.

“Hey, Aiden?”

I looked over my shoulder and saw Hailee wiping a few tears from her eyes, which made my eyes kind of sad, too. I didn’t know seeing someone else’s eyes sad could make mine sad, too. “Yes?”

“Do you think I’m a chubby hippo like Kevin said?”

I was going to rip that jerk’s arms off at school tomorrow. Mark my words.

“No. Kevin is stupid and says stupid things because he’s stupid. You’re good, Hailee. You’re not a chubby hippo.”

“Promise?”

I nodded. “Promise.” I shifted around in the grass, slid my hands into the pockets of my jeans, and shrugged my shoulders. “Some people might even think you’re perfect.”

She shook her head. “No one does.”

“I’m sure someone does.”

“Oh…okay.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

“Hailee?”

“Yes?”

“Stop crying.”

She shook her head. “I can’t right now.”

“Oh…okay.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.” I cleared my throat. I didn’t want to leave her crying alone, so I sighed and gestured toward the grass. “Wanna lay in the grass and count the stars? My mom and I do that sometimes.”

She shrugged her shoulders and then agreed.

We lay down in the grass next to one another and didn’t talk for a while. Then Hailee began counting. “One… two… three…”

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