A Different Blue(100)

the Vegas area, the night sky always had an orange cast. Neon and night life combined to make

star-gazing almost impossible. So I had created my own variation of wishing on stars. I wished

on streetlights instead.

I squeezed my eyes shut and clung to Wilson's hand, encouraging him to do the same. I mentally

ran through a litany of wishes, some of them the same wishes I always made – riches, fame,

never having to shave my legs again – but there were new ones, too. I snapped my eyes open to

see if I'd gotten them in before the last streetlight flickered on. The last one buzzed and

glimmered as I watched.

“Boo–yah!” I hip bumped Wilson. “Those wishes are definitely coming true.”

“I can't keep up, Blue.” Wilson said softly. “I'm always reeling with you. Just when I think

I know all there is to know, you reveal something that absolutely guts me. I don't know how

you've survived, Echohawk. I really don't. The fact that you're still making jokes and wishing

on streetlights is a bit of a miracle.” Wilson reached out as if to touch my face, but let his

hand fall at the last second. “Remember that time in class when I asked you why you were so

angry?”

I remembered. I'd been such a brat. I nodded.

“I thought I had you all figured out, thought you needed to be brought down a peg. And then I

found out why you were having such a struggle with writing your personal history. I felt like a

complete tosser.”

I laughed and did a fist pump with my free hand. “That was the goal, Wilson. Make the teacher

feel sorry for you. It really helps the grade.”

Wilson just gazed down at me, and I could tell he wasn't buying it. He started climbing the

steps to the house, letting go of my hand as he felt for his keys.

“For the record, Blue, I don't think you're a mean skank,” Wilson said soberly, and I almost

laughed at the way those words sounded coming out of his mouth. “I'll admit, when you walked

into my class that first day, I thought that's exactly what you were. But you surprised me.

There's a whole lot more to you than meets the eye.”

“There's a whole lot more to most people than meets the eye, Wilson. Unfortunately, a lot of

times it isn't good stuff. It's scary stuff, painful stuff. By now, you know so much scary,

painful stuff about me, it's a wonder you're still around. You had me pegged pretty well right

from the start, I'd say. You're wrong about one thing, though. Girls like me notice guys like

you. We just don't think we deserve them.”

Wilson immediately dropped his keys. I groaned inwardly and wished I had kept my big mouth shut.

He leaned down and retrieved the keys and after several attempts, he unlocked the entry door and

pushed it open. He waited until I entered and then followed me in, shutting the door behind us.

Always the gentleman, he stopped outside my apartment. He seemed to be searching for the right

words, and for once I didn't tease him or try to be funny. I just waited, feeling a little

despondent that he knew my darkest secrets and seemed to be struggling with them.

He found his voice at last, and he trained his melancholy eyes on a spot beyond me, as if he was

reluctant to meet my gaze.

[page]“I keep wishing you had had a better life . . . a different life. But a different life