Page 45 of Seven Days in June

Wyd

I like the planetarium

Shane’s brows crinkled in surprise. Ty didn’t like anything! And if he did, he certainly never articulated it. He barely articulated anything at all. Shane’s entire goal in setting up the internship at the planetarium was to get him invested in something, show him what it was like to pursue a passion. Shane glanced up at the sky. He wanted to be home before night fell, in case Eva stopped by. He had time for a call.

“Ty! What’s good, dog? I got your text.”

“Yeah.”

“You like the planetarium internship?”

“It’s aight.”

“Tell me about it. Why do you like it?”

Silence.

“Ty?”

“I’m shrugging.”

Shane sighed. He really needed to work with Ty on his communication skills.

“You just said, ‘I like the planetarium.’ That’s a powerful declarative statement. When you express an opinion, you should be prepared to support it with viable evidence. You enjoy it, based on what?”

“I don’t know. It’s just chill. Like, I don’t know why.” Ty paused for a moment. “I mean, in the sky theater…”

“Sky theater!”

“That’s what Mr. James calls it. In the sky theater, it’s like I’m a real astronomer. Like,for realfor real. I can see the sun’s path from east to west. Look up close at the moon.”

“That’s incredible, Ty. I know the moon’s your shit.”

“Yeah, and today we learned about bizarre stellar objects. Like neutron stars, pulsars, black holes. And there’s…there’s…a girl.”

Shane smiled. “Oh, word?”

“Yeah. She be in there sometimes. She draws or whatever. Today she drew a white dwarf.”

Shane stared blankly into the sky. “But why?”

“A white dwarf’s a star that’s exhausted its nuclear fuel.”

“Ohhh.What’s her name? You talk to her?”

“Nah. I can’t talk to her.”

“She bad, huh?”

More silence.

“Ty, are you shrugging?”

“Yeah.”

“Listen. You’re smart. You’re loyal. You’re one of the most interesting kids I’ve ever met. You never know, this girl might go to the planetarium every day, hoping that you’ll speak to her. Just try.”

“Can I ask you something.” As usual, Ty’s questions sounded like statements. “How you know when you’re really feeling a girl.”

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