Quarantine Prompts | Sixteen
Prompt: Write something that begins and ends with your character looking up at the stars.
Challenge: Your character must be with someone in the beginning, and alone at the end.
“You see that big star right there, Ems? That’s part of the Big Dipper.” Seventeen year old Crew beamed, pointing up towards the sky.
“And that one, that’s Orion.” Elena, his girlfriend, cooed, her voice as smooth and as sweet as honey.
“They’re called constellations,” Crew bounced Emersyn on his knees, “Can you say constellations?”
He grinned, “Ah, close enough.”
The sky was dark, and it seemed as the stars shined extra bright that night. It was as if they were sparkling just for them, telling the high school couple, both from very different backgrounds, that everything would be alright. Would it? As Crew, his girlfriend, Elena, and their daughter, Emersyn, sat hidden under the blanket of nighttime, he wasn’t so sure. Elena was the heiress to a kombucha throne. Her dad had started some half-alcohol, half-kombucha drink brand, Bitchin’ Bucha, and her mom was a former pageant girl turned spokesmodel. They ruled Los Angeles. Crew, on the other hand, barely ate more than once most days. He scavenged when he could, ate big lunches at school when he went, but other than that, he was on his own. A modern, real-life Aladdin. A street rat. Sure, his dad was around, but being around and being present were two entirely different things. When Crew started sneaking around with Elena, his dad didn’t even notice. And when she got pregnant? Crew knew he couldn’t confide in him. This month, his dad was on the hunt for something having to do with Pizzagate, and Crew hadn’t seen him in eleven days - not that he was counting or anything.
“Can you say mama?” Elena asked Emersyn, fixing the collar of the little pink dress she had on.
Now, Emersyn Leigh Van Doren was just shy of turning eight months old. She had Elena’s eyes, Crew’s big smile, and the most perfect skin tone. Her hair was fluffy, and she was always dressed in the best designer clothes that money could buy. When Elena got pregnant, she told her parents that it was a boy named Brett Beaumont’s baby. Supposedly, Brett went to Elena’s school. He had brown hair and brown eyes too, and sure, if you squinted your eyes, Crew guessed Emersyn kinda looked like him.
“I want you to come to her birthday party…” Elena broke the silence, the only other noise being the waves splashing on the shore.
They always met at the beach right outside of Half Moon Bay. Elena wouldn’t admit it to him, but Crew was pretty sure she was scared to come fully into his part of town. He didn’t blame her. Half Moon Bay was definitely a lot different than where she’d grown up. Still, the beach they always secretly met at was nice. They sat on a grassy hill that overlooked the water. Sometimes, they’d let Emersyn dip her toes in. The first time her feet ever felt sand, she freaked out. It was really adorable.
“No…” Crew scrunched his nose, “You know I shouldn’t.”
“It’s going to be jungle-themed. Wild One,” Elena’s eyes were filled with a couple tears and Crew could see the waves reflecting in them, “Get it?”
He squeezed her hand, “Yeah, babe, I get it.”
Even at seventeen, Crew loved being a dad, and he was so selfless, so determined for Emersyn to have a future different than his own, that he didn’t mind not being in the picture every day. If Emersyn lived in Elena’s beautiful home with everything she ever dreamed of, well, than it was okay that he only saw her secretly. Elena might’ve hated holding that secret, but at least their daughter wouldn’t grow up hungry.
“Fuck,” Elena groaned, noticing her phone lighting up as it laid on the blanket they’d put out to sit on, “My dad…ugh. He’s called five times.”
Crew cleared his throat, “It’s okay. Go.”
“I’m sorry, Crew.” She sighed, picking up Emersyn’s diaper bag.
While their visits normally lasted hours, they’d only been at the beach for a little over twenty-minutes.
“Nah, it’s okay. Mm, quick, c’mere,” Crew gave Elena a long kiss on her forehead, and then a matching one to Emersyn, “Bye.”
He swallowed hard. He was frustrated and disappointed. Elena could only sneak away every so often, especially at night and with a child so young, and Crew didn’t know when the next time he’d seen them in person would be. Still, he couldn’t be too pressed. It wasn’t like he had any real say in Emersyn’s life anyway.
As Elena walked off, she turned back to face him, “Crew, I love you.”
Then, she scurried away with Emersyn, leaving Crew alone as he’d simply always been.
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