Two from the Heart(44)

Sunny’s here, too. After Bron’s help in the stockroom, how could she say no?

The kids are wide awake. Some are staring through cardboard tubes that serve as telescopes. But the person who’s most pumped is Tyler Bron. The sky is stunning—wide open and endless. Out here, away from the town lights, the stars seem close enough to touch. It’s not much of a stretch to say that, right now, Bron is pretty much in heaven.

Once he gets the kids quieted down, he leads off with astronomy’s greatest hits: Orion’s Belt. The Dog Star. Arcturus.

Then he moves on to Ursa Major. With broad sweeps of his arm, he outlines the figure of a huge bear four hundred trillion miles away, give or take.

“Over there is the head—a star called Omicron. And the star in the tail—way over there—is called Alkaid. See it? Can everybody see it?”

Slowly, following Bron’s enthusiastic gestures, the kids start to make out the shape of a massive beast overhead, with thick legs and a snout pointed east. As one group of kids picks out the pattern, they nudge another group—and so forth across the crowd, until everybody ooohs and ahhs with recognition. Very cool.

Like kids who grow up bored by a view of the Empire State Building, these kids have never really seen the sky as anything special. It’s just there. But now it’s a huge screen—filled with ancient warriors and fierce animals and mystical creatures. The sky is alive. Way better than a slide show.

Now it’s on to some of Bron’s personal favorites. Lyra, the largest musical instrument in the universe. Pegasus, the majestic horse. The heroic Hercules. Cassiopeia, the original beauty queen. He could go on all night… and he practically does.

For the kids, the best part is when Bron challenges them to spot patterns of their own and name some new constellations on the spot. Gonzalo breaks the ice, shouting “Sidewinder!” Then the ideas come thick and fast, ping-ponging across the plateau—“Elephant’s Butt!” “Tarantula!” “Snotball!” And the one that gets the biggest laugh of the night: “Mister Vern’s Hair!”

Through it all, Sunny is nestled in a blanket, surrounded by a group of giggling middle-school girls. As the girls stare into the sky, Sunny stares at Bron, silhouetted against the galaxy, with a hundred kids in the palm of his hand.

He is now officially her favorite customer.





Chapter 26


Many hours later


“They look like pod people,” Sunny whispers.

She and Bron are making one final patrol through the camp of sleeping kids. The night is getting cold and most are tucked with their heads inside their sleeping bags, grouped in pairs and clusters stretching over a quarter acre. It’s a slumber party on an epic scale.

“I’ve never seen this many kids so quiet,” Bron whispers back. “I guess I really know how to put people to sleep.”

Sunny punches his shoulder.

“Don’t be stupid. They loved every minute of it. And you better watch out—I think a few of the eighth-grade girls have a thing for you.”

Beyond the fringe of the crowd, behind a small outcrop of rocks, Bron spreads out the sheet he borrowed from his hotel room. Sunny lays down her own blanket for an extra layer of cushioning. They lie on their backs, side by side, with a few inches between them.

Bron finds himself wondering if this girl is too good to be real. But he buries the thought, like he always does. His heart is pounding just to be this close to her. He feels like a school kid himself.

“How did you learn all that… about the sky and the stars?” asks Sunny. “How do you remember all the names?”

Bron gets a quick flashback from his childhood—a pleasant one for a change.

“When I was a kid,” he says, “we lived near the ocean. On summer nights, I used to sneak out by myself and just lie on the beach for hours, looking up, memorizing patterns. I remember thinking that in some ways I’d rather be up there than down here.”

Sunny tilts her head back to take in the entire expanse overhead. “This is pretty incredible. Where I’m from, I hardly saw any stars at all. Just streetlights and store signs.”

“You mean you’re not a local?” Bron asks.

Sunny laughs. “Not even close.”

She’s resting on her elbow now, propped onto her side. Her face is right next to his. She can see that he’s tired, finally coming down from the high of the show. He puts his hands behind his head and closes his eyes. He’s perfectly still, except for his chest rising and falling. She leans toward him slowly, deliberately, until her lips are almost on his.

“Mr. Bron! I really gotta pee!” A high-pitched call from a few pods away.

Bron and Sunny lurch up to sitting positions. Bron rolls over onto his knees, struggles to his feet and heads off for bathroom duty. He’s so groggy that he’s not sure what just happened—or almost happened.

But Sunny knows.





Chapter 27


SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

The feed is messed up. The monitors are pure snow and the speakers are crackling with static.

It happens at least once a week, but this time for some reason, Daisy has had enough.

She wheels around and shouts at Karl—who happens to be at the console closest to her. “Get the glitch out of this bitch!”