us, planetarum

We are frustrated writers who write just because we can, for the people we love, and for ourselves. Here, is a story, inspired by love and the need to challenge ourselves.

[us-planetarum-blog]

Chapter 18

JUPITER

Today is the day we return back home. It looked like I only came here to sleep and relax while other students worked hard for the requirements we need when we get back to reality. What can I do? I was injured.

They said they will give me and Jane an alternative project when we arrive home. I packed my things and checked if anything was missing before leaving the room. Jane and I transferred earlier this morning to the hotel where the other students are staying. It was hot today so I chose a simple white shirt and jeans. Loki and Jayden, my supposed to be roommates already went to the bus. I locked the door and went to the elevator.

There I saw Jane; she’s already with her friends. It’s nice to see her alive and kicking like nothing happened. I remembered our conversations yesterday, ever since then my heart beats louder and louder every time she’s near. She noticed me standing in the corner.

“Hey!” she said. “How are you feeling now?” I asked.

“Well, I’m completely healed up.” It looks like she’s full of energy now, good for her. She came closer and told me “Thanks for yesterday.” I didn’t have the time to react; she quickly returned to her group of friends and entered the elevator.

Ah, yesterday. It was a good day despite being holed up in the hospital. I hope today is a good one too.

We went down to the hotel lobby and I immediately boarded the bus, I was one of the last ones to arrive, I saw Jayden and Loki ahead but they were seated together and on their other side,  Xavier and Drexel. Behind them, Andrew and the girl he’s currently seating are cuddling so much I wanted to vomit. Where the hell did they want me to sit..

I saw Jane’s friends up ahead and wondered where she was until I saw her by the window, opposite Andrew and his chick. She was alone and there was a vacant seat next to her. I suddenly realized the intention of our friends. Well, okay, challenge accepted guys, thank you.

I approached and seeing as she was napping, I slid into my seat noiselessly. My friends were giving me that look and I was self-conscious. Can’t you all just stop, you made me do this! Well, I wanted this too. Everything would have been perfect if they would just. stop. staring!

Before long the bus started to move and we were on our way home. The sky was darkening, looked like rain is approaching. It was cold in the bus but it was peaceful. I don’t know if it was because she was beside me or it’s just the weather. The bus stopped and I wondered why and where we were. Turns out the other side of the road was closed due to some repair while the other open one was bumpy and the vehicles were moving slowly. Finally, we started to move again. Dang, it’s bumpy. Jane seemed to still be asleep and I was wondering if she felt nothing when her head lolled into one side and landed on my shoulders. Oh God, what a feeling. I was feeling a mix of surreal joy and nervousness. I did not want the road to end so she could lie on my shoulders forever; I wanted to stop the time. The exquisite feeling of her on my shoulders is too much and I thought what if I had her in my arms?

The bumpy road went on for about two short miles and I was slightly disappointed that it had to end. I thought Jane would move and not lie on my shoulders anymore. But alas today is my lucky day! She remained on my shoulders, sleeping soundly, her drool slowly slipping off and on to my jacket. I started to relax.

After a while, I detected a movement and saw that Jane was awake. She immediately sat up with an astonished look on her face. I wanted to laugh but felt like it would embarrass her further. When she clearly saw me she visibly relaxed.

“Oh it’s you. I was shocked when I felt like I was leaning on someone; I thought it was someone I didn’t know.”

“Do you think I’d let anyone sit beside you to catch your waterfall-like drools?”

Her gasp was clearly audible and she looked like she saw a ghost. Her slim lips formed and perfect O and she whispered, “Did I really-“

“Hahahaha! It’s okay! I think I saved a whole glass of it. No worries, really.”

“Oh gosh, I’m sorry, I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to, I didn’t know-“

“Jane, it’s okay. I think my jacket liked your drool more than your snore.”

“Jupiter Johnson, I do not snore!”

“Oh maybe it was the bus’ engine then, sure sounded like one.”

“Ugh, you are such a tease!”

“Oh no, I’m just merely stating facts, Jane. As they say truth hurts. Though the loudness of your snore hurt my ears more I think.”

She turned away from me and sulked on her seat. Oh, so she’s not talking to me. What a gullible one. I was chuckling subtly and she was ignoring me. How cute.

“Hey, Jane, c’mon, I was kidding.”

Her only response was to cover herself with her own jacket and a “hmmp” which was so cute I wanted to record it.

“Really, I’m sorry. C’mon, talk to me. I’m getting bored here.”

“So what?”

“Oh yes the maiden is talking! The beautiful maiden with eyes so bright she makes the whole world shine, with a laugh so shrill it resembled the birds, with-“

She was laughing at me before I realized my saliva was raining on her because I was talking too fast. Oh, hell.

“Well, Mr. Johnson, I think it rained on the inside too, don’t you think?” She continued to laugh and I was red wit embarrassment, though you could not see it with my skin color. “Karma’s just around the corner, eh?”

“Okay, Jane. I’m really sroyy. Don’t worry. You looked cute.”

“Whatever, planet.”

“On another note, honestly, how are you feeling?”

“A bit groggy but I’m fine. I’m excited to go home, though. I want to lie down and rest.”

“Well you can rest in my shoulders.” I smiled. I hope I didn’t sound too hopeful.

“Thank you for your generosity but I think I’ll decline. I know you’ll tease me when I wake up.” She replied grumpily. She looks even more beautiful when she’s pretending to be mad.

“Well, I don’t know about you but I’m going to take a nap. It’s still a long journey.” And with that, I fell asleep.

I was woken by a movement to my left. Jane was again slumbering on my shoulders. We were near the school now since I see some familiar establishments. It seemed a little too early, maybe the traffic was light.

As peaceful as her sleep may be, and as cute as she looks while asleep, I decided to wake her up when the bus parked and the other students started to dislodge. I wanted to give her the chance to say goodbye to her friends or maybe go with them, even if secretly, I wanted to drive her home.

“Jane, baby, wake up.” I crooned.

She muttered something and slowly, groggily sat up. “What did you call me? I still want to sleep.”

So far I’ve seen cute Jane, angry Jane, teasing Jane and quiet Jane today but sleepy Jane may be one of my favorites. “We’re in school now.” I said smiling, trying to keep my fluttering heart calm. She is just so beautiful.

“What?! Has it been long?!” Well, surprised Jane is on top of the list too.

“No, we actually arrived a little early. Your friends just went off the bus. Maybe you can catch them?”

“Oh, um, I’d rather not.” Does this mean we can go home together?

“Why?” I asked, though my voice probably betrayed how elated I was.

“They will tease me about you and since I’m still sleepy, I’m not in the mood for teasing yet.”

“Um, okay. My friends have gone, too. Would you like to come home with me? And no, I don’t mean it that way, I just wanted to give you a lift home.” I said standing to get our luggage. “How are you feeling by the way?”

When I look back at her it seemed like she was recovering from a blush. “I’m okay physically, and yes, If you’d like to, I’d accept your offer of a lift home. I trust you.”

To hear those words from her... “Okay. Let’s go, I have your bag.”

We set off the empty bus, and walked towards my car before I glimpsed the outline of the short building that housed the music room. I suddenly had an idea.

“Jane, are you in a hurry to go home?”

“Why, you want to go somewhere?”

“Actually, yes. Come.” I smiled at her enthusiasm at the unknown. We shortly reached the music room and it was lit. She was smiling and had a hint of wonder in her eyes.

“Why are we here?”

I sat on the piano bench and motioned for her to sit beside me. “This is my second favourite spot in school,“ I said as I started the notes to a sweet, calming song that we both knew. “You already saw me in my first one, remember? I come here to think, to help me express myself. You see, I may have friends and belong in a large, loud group. But sometimes, I need time for myself, to figure things out.”

“I find myself needing that alone time, too, you know. I just don’t do that with a piano. I sulk in my room, looking out the window, at the moon – sitting, waiting, wishing..” She said quietly.

I continued to play and played another song after that while we kept quiet, feeling the calmness of the music and the empty room. But it was not empty for me, because I sat beside the girl who makes me whole. I did not want it to end, but streaks of dusk were starting to filter through the room’s windows and I decided we should head home.

“Jane, shall we go?”

“Okay. Thank you, for playing for me, for letting me get to know you better.” She said bashfully. At that, I was about to ignore the small nudge that told me to go, but I knew she had to be home.

We walked back to the car in silence. As I opened the passenger door for her, she joked, “Jupiter, opening a car door for a girl, well you should play the piano more often if it makes you sweeter.”

“Am I not always sweet, Jane?” I retorted before going around and getting into the car myself. “Now, because I played for you, you play for me. Select a song, please.”

She flicked through the songs on my iPod while I started the care. It was Shout About It by The Vamps. Hmm, sweet one. Before I could ask, she spoke, “I love this song. It reminds me of someone.”

“May I ask who?” I started to fear it was another guy.

“You.”

That one word.. I almost stopped the car. But I kept myself calm and asked her, “Why?”

“It was the song I first heard when I got home after you returned my locket.” She said.

“Oh,” I said, faking disappointment. “I thought because I was as handsome as the lead vocalist of the band.”

“Hahaha! You are a joker Mr. Johnson!”

“Yeah, I know I’m not handsome.”

“Does it matter? You are handsome for someone out there.”

“Like who?”

“Um, your mom? All the girls in school that admire you?”

“There’s no such thing, Jane. Do you want to grab a bite?”

“It’s getting late, I think I’d go home. But I’d probably not decline if we were at a different time.” Is she hinting at a date?!

“I’ll take you out sometime.” I whispered.

“What am I? A fastfood order? ‘Hey, miss, I want burgers, take-out’” She said, incredulous.

“Ha ha, Jane. Funny. Really. I’m rolling on the floor laughing.” I said, trying to hide my laughter.

“Don’t pretend, Jupiter, laugh it out c’mon.” And we both burst out laughing. I almost missed the turn to our corner.

“Well, here we are.” Jane announced.

“Um, I should open your door.”

“And I should get out.”

We moved at the same time. I went with her to her door and I can feel like there was a tension building between the both of us.

“I should go in,”

“Yeah, you should.” And we stared at each other for what seemed like minutes before I couldn’t stop myself. I raised my hand to her cheeks and slowly caressed it, I felt her blush before I saw it.

“Goodnight, Jane.”

“Goodnight, Jupiter. See you tomorrow.” She said, her blush receding.

I turned and walked away, giving her a small wave before entering my own home. I was feeling light with joy. She always makes my day. I couldn’t be any happier. I entered the house and saw mom busy in the kitchen, my sister studying. I kissed them hello then proceeded to my room where I flew like superman onto my bed. I just now felt now exhausted I am even though I slept on the bus. I stood up to close my open window. I was about to flop down to bed again when I noticed it.

A big, bold, neat S on my wall.

What the hell?

How did it get there?

Shit, one answer. Him!

The motherfucker is really back.

[us-planetarum-blog]

Chapter 19

MERCURY

It’s still so early to exercise yet we found ourselves running away… again. Come on, it’s three o’ clock in the morning and they’re already going after us. What a pain in the ass!

“Hey, speed it up! They’re catching up!” Neptune shouted.

“Maybe because we’re running and they’re using cars? Hello? Reality check!” Dude, they must be really desperate trying to catch us at this hour. “I should be lying down in my bed right now and dreaming about beautiful women, damn it.” I exclaimed.

“Well, we wouldn’t be running if not because of what you did last time!” Neptune is starting to blab away again.

“Hey, I’m the older one here, I should do the reprimanding!” I jokingly said…

“Yeah, for only a couple of seconds dumb ass!” He answered.

A couple of days ago we were cornered at a compound and I accidentally, at least in my point of view, incinerated the whole place. Luckily, all the residents were not there during the moment. The next day, I already saw it in the news and God must’ve really hated me because our names flashed in the television and pictures of us were shown. I look good in the photos though but the worst part is, the heat between us and the government intensified, and after the news we always find ourselves running away. Always.

“I’m really getting tired of running, Neptune.” I started slowing down.

“Don’t do it idiot! I know what you are thinking!”

I’m not going to spend the rest of my life running away from them. I stopped moving and waited for them to catch us. Neptune also stopped running; he realized there is no stopping me.

“Fine then, if you’re going to do it give them a scare that they’ll never forget.”

I thought he’ll never ask. “Since when did I fail you when you make a request?”

“A couple of seconds ago, when you stopped running.” He quickly answered.

“Well aside from that.” He just laughed.

“Never.” That’s what I thought. Ha!

The next thing we know is that we’re completely surrounded. However, this time it’s an open space. The perfect set-up; I don’t need to worry about civilian casualties anymore, a place where I can go all-out.  Helicopters are flying around us and hundreds of men are surrounding us.

“Mercury and Neptune… The Eximus Twins! Surrender now or this will be the last place you’ll ever have your feet step on.” Oh God, someone is really noisy at this hour.

“Don’t you know that it’s rude to make noises at this hour for the people who are currently sleeping?” Neptune started provoking them.

All kinds of weapons are currently aimed at us. I can see other soldiers trembling; I think we really struck them with fear last time. It’s like they don’t want to be doing this, a part of me is saying to spare them but then it’ll be the end of us if I did.

“LAST WARNING.” someone shouted. Everyone around us prepared to fire. Neptune is looking at me waiting for me to make a move. “Any minute now?”

I guess there’s no other way to handle this.  In a blink of an eye, everything around us started exploding, helicopters started crashing down. The usual scenario happened, all of them running in panic. I really hope that by this time they’ll already bring fire-trucks rather than guns. It didn’t end beautifully. Ashes raining down and all were silent except for the calming sound of fire that consumed and burned everything around us.

“You overdid it again.” Neptune whispered.

“It didn’t even make me sweat.” We stayed there for a while to see if someone is still alive but everything was burned into a crisp.   I’m getting the feeling that someone is watching us.

“Someone is here.” I gave Neptune a head’s up. It’s not a normal person; I can sense the maliciousness of his aura. It’s like it’s giving us a message… watch out. For a second it was there and it immediately disappeared.

“I sense nothing.” Neptune looks at me with curiosity.

“Never mind, let’s go home.” I’m tired, well who will not be? I’ve just been chased by a couple of men who’s desperate in catching us not to mention the ungodly hour. We started walking back home until I realized that we should really be meeting with Jupiter.

The morning sun is slowly rising up; I didn’t even have the chance to get some sleep… Stupid Axis don’t know how to quit. I don’t know why they are trying so hard to capture just the two of us and I wonder if others are being chased like this.

After a long walk we finally arrived home. We don’t have any time to waste; it seems like Neptune already knows what’s in my mind. We need to find him quickly. We packed our bags and immediately left for the airport. Axis seems to be thinking about their moves and some of us are not even aware of what’s happening.

“Hey, can you sense how close we are to Jupiter?” I can’t sit still with all of this happening.

“Can you just chill? We’ve just boarded the plane!” he seemed irritated by my question. It came to my mind that I haven’t said anything about it to him.  He doesn’t need to know… I can handle this on my own.

“You’re worried about something.” He interrupted my thoughts. “I can see it in your eyes and how you move.” I can’t utter a word to say to him, I’m just looking out the window as the plane makes its way to the sky. I need to rest; it was a surprise that he didn’t force me to tell him… He must’ve felt that it’s something so important but deep inside him, he’s dying to know. He’s always like that ever since we were kids; he was always the silent one and the responsible one. He’s the one that cleans the mess that I make even though I’m older than him by a couple of seconds.

He never really speaks what is in his mind. He has no confidence in himself; he’s just there following what others want for him, what I want for him. Sometimes I feel guilty for not including him in my plans, but hey I just want the best for him. I want to protect him with everything that I can. We only have each other right now, we grew up not knowing our parents or other relatives, and we were raised in an orphanage where everyone thinks of us as monsters because of what we are. Unlike me, he has the compassion to understand people and be good to them despite of what they think of us. Sometimes I don’t understand how he could be like that.  He’s like water that cleanses everything, that takes form depending on the container… but sometimes he can be ice cold when he’s angry.

I remember one time we had an argument. The coldness in his eyes froze me in my tracks and I can’t move a single muscle. I will never forget that moment… it was the very first time I saw him that furious. We had several arguments, we had times that we want to kill each other but despite those moments, I really love my brother. He’s one thing that I treasure in my life and I will do anything, even if it means sacrificing my life in order to protect him.

[us-planetarum-blog]

Chapter 20

JUPITER

We were back to normal once again after the trip. I woke up early this time, very unusual for me. Ever since my birthday weird things have been happening. I still have three more hours before my class so I decided to watch television. Nothing really caught my interest except the news channel.

“Dozens of incinerated military bodies were found in an open lot area in downtown San Francisco. A local witness reported that there was a standoff between the armed men and two young boys. After numerous shots were fired, a massive blow destroyed the area, leaving a huge crater. No other locals were harmed.”

It was a disaster. Everything was burned, turned into ashes. The thing that caught my attention was that it was caused by only two young boys… I think I know who…

Mercury and Neptune, they are the only ones I know who can cause that kind of ruckus, let alone stand up against armed men. The news didn’t stop there. It looks like they did major damage in other places too and they are being hunted by the government.

As I look at them in the pictures and videos shown, they looked like they’ve matured a lot. Until the next one showing Mercury, laughing like a maniac in front of the camera. The guy hasn’t changed, still the classic Mercury I know… the one with the booming personality. Neptune on the other hand looked like he aged a hundredfold ever since I left them.

Remembering that I left them without warning makes my heart ache… I didn’t intend to leave them… Enough, I’m going to depress myself again.

Well at least I know they’re still doing fine. Sort of.

The news continued on to another report and the headline read:

“A girl that possesses inhumane powers strikes again.” 

Well this time it was Venus - she infiltrated another government facility with the full intention of being caught. She does that everytime to toy with people and escape again. What’s happening, why are they suddenly appearing in news?

I remembered the giant S on my wall yesterday after I came home. Saturn is also making his move. As much as I want to know what’s happening, I really don’t want to partake in any of this.

I cleared my mind and looked at the clock, two more hours… I decided to clean the house since Mom is still at work with my little sister and I’ll be left here all alone for three days. They didn’t even text me that they were going to leave.

My phone beeped, signalling me that I received a text message. I checked the inbox, it’s from Loki and he wants me to go to school early, I wonder why.

I guess I’ll clean the house next time. I went directly to the shower and took a bath. I can feel that there is really something going on with the Eximus children. Are the planets aligning soon?

I heard a car engine outside the house; I think I know who that is… It’s Loki, why is he even here? He sounded his horn three times so I quickly finished prepping myself up, grabbed my bag and went off.

They were all there except Drexel.

“Where is Drexel?” they didn’t answer. Something is weird…

“That’s what we’re going to ask you.” Loki said. “His mother said he didn’t go home after the trip. The worst part is, aside from Drex, several students are also missing right after the trip.”

I fell completely silent. “I don’t know, didn’t he text any of you?”

No one answered. We made our way to school, nobody was talking and it was completely silent. Is it a coincidence that the sudden disappearing of the students are connected with the sudden appearance of the Eximus? It must be.

School faculties and staffs were on high alert today, we went on our separate ways because we belong to different classes. I was walking down the hallway when I noticed the commotion in the principal’s office. I saw parents sobbing helplessly in front of the principal whose face was in pain, looking frustrated, with the inability to do anything. Apparently, she doesn’t have the answer to their questions. No one could really blame her for what has happened; I even salute her for being able to handle cases like this. It takes a strong person to even sit there and listen to how parents shout, cry and blame you for one incident that is even out of your control.

I glanced at the clock and it’s already three o’ clock. I’m pretty much late for my class but I decided to go anyway. It slipped my mind that my professor for today is Ms. Buitizon. Oh God, I’m going to face her again… I nervously entered the class but something very unusual happened…

She just looked at me when I entered and continued what she is saying in front of class. I made my way to my seat and I can see Jane’s eyes looking at me.

Stop staring at me like that, please.

Although, I really like the way she’s looking at me. Hah, me and my delusions again. Beside me is Drexel’s empty seat, it really makes me wonder where he is; did the aliens abduct him or what? Still, I hoped that he will arrive.

Hours passed by and still no sign of him. I scanned the whole room, this is the only time I noticed that some students in my class are also missing and then I focused my attention to Jane, who is currently sleeping. She’s really cute even when asleep.

Nothing else happened at school, it was awfully silent today. Ms. Buitizon finally ended the class with a reminder to take care of ourselves outside because of the spreading news.

“Hey.” Someone tapped me from behind…. It was Jane.

“Did you hear about the news?” She asked.

“Yeah, what about it?” I answered while fixing my things. Her astounding face is quite asking me if I don’t give a damn about the situation

“Are you not bothered about it?”

I let out a huge sigh. “A little, Drexel is also one of them.” I can see the worry in her face even though she doesn’t even know who Drexel is. The mood around us is starting to get depressing. I need to lighten it up… “Hey, are you going home already?” I asked her. “Yeah, I don’t have anything to do here at school anymore. Why?”

I don’t know where I’m getting my confidence by asking her these things but I think it’s going pretty well

 “There is a good movie in the theaters today, would you want to go with me?” I really do hope she say yes, I put my whole self-esteem on the line by asking her this.

She just looked at me and smiled, “Are you asking me on a date?” She jokingly said.

I went blank for a second, I even stuttered. “What? It didn’t even cross my mind! I just want to see if the movie is really good!” I nervously explained to her.

She just laughed, “Sure, let’s go!” If my heart only has a mouth, it would’ve screamed so loud. I was happy and nervous at the same time. We went our way to the theater with the help of Loki; it took me some time and a couple of beautiful puppy dog eyes before I was able to make him agree to take me there. I really wish that I had taken my car, of all the days why should it be now? Well it’s fine, as long as I’m with her and it looks like doesn’t even care either way.  

I really don’t know why we arrived longer than usual but it’s usually a thirty minute drive only. It took us an hour to get here. Jane even fell asleep during the drive. I was just kidding about a beautiful movie earlier; I just don’t want to go home yet

“So which movie is it?” She asked.

Oh shit, I really don’t know what to answer, I look like I’m really thinking hard but not really. “I forgot about the name, let’s just go there and see for ourselves.” Fortunately, she bought it.

We looked over the movies. Only one movie caught our attention because of the poster of the dog. It’s Hachimax. “Is this the movie you were saying?” She asked. I was hesitating to answer but oh well.

“Yeah, this is it!”

She looked at me with those excited eyes behind her big glasses. “You love dogs too?”

I think this is the part where I say yes… “Of course, who wouldn’t?”

I love dogs; they never fail to make me smile. They live up to the expectations of being man’s bestfriend. Seeing one always excites me although, I had one a couple of years ago. Because of my irresponsibility, I lost him. It really makes me feel lonely whenever I remember those days when I neglected him because of studies. I still can’t get over it.

We bought the tickets and apparently only one bucket of popcorn is available so we have to share. We sat at the back because that is where we can see clearly. The whole theater’s deserted and we noticed that we’re the only ones in there. I hope it will not make her feel awkward. A couple more minutes and the movie should start. It’s nine in the evening so I guess this is the last full show.

“Hey, are okay?” I didn’t realize that I was too silent all the way in here; I guess it started to bother her.

“No, I’m just getting worried about Drexel.” He’s not dropping any text message yet, where is he?

“Don’t worry; he’ll be fine I’m sure. Let’s just watch the movie for now.” She’s right. I gave her a smile, an indication that everything is alright. I didn’t realize that we were so close to each other, my heart started pounding and my hands became sweaty.

It’s my first time watching a movie with a girl in a dark theater so I pretty much don’t know what to do in this kind of situation. As for her, she’s doing fine I guess - she’s just sitting there eating popcorn and her eyes completely glued to the screen. She looks like a kid who’s excited for something. I was so focused at her that I didn’t notice that the movie has already started.

The movie was about a dog named Hachimax, a military-trained one that is so loyal to his owner. Eventually the owner left him and never returned. The younger brother of the original owner is trying his best to take care of Hachimax but because of Hachimax’s loyalty to its former owner, he refuses to trust other people.

At first it was fine but as it goes on, somehow I can feel the drama, it’s making my eyes teary. I grabbed the handkerchief in my pocket quickly so Jane won’t notice but unfortunately I was a second too late… She was already looking at me by the moment that I reached for my pocket.

“Wait, are you crying?” she bursts into laughter.

“What! The movie touched me!” Well that was unmanly to say.

She laughed even more. “Nothing, I’m just not used to see boys cry.” She continues to tease me.

“Just focus on the damn movie!” She just smiled at me. Again, with that smile of hers… I could never get enough of that.

“Hey.”

“Yeah?” she focused her attention on me.

“Always smile for me okay?” She seemed surprised by what I said, I don’t know why but I just feel like saying it.

“Why should I?” she asked.

“Yours is the most beautiful smile that I have ever seen.” It came to the point where I couldn’t hear the movie anymore, I was totally focused on her and I don’t care about anything else, I don’t want this moment to end. She just laughed silently and faced the screen. I can’t really see her reaction because of how dark it is.

“Just watch the movie, Jupiter.” She said. I didn’t realize that despite of what is happening around us, I’m so lucky to have her at my side right now. I feel so calm and nervous at the same time when I am with her. She took control of my emotions like the moon rules the tide.

I didn’t care about the movie anymore, I literally spent the whole time glancing at her and everything she does. I really didn’t expect that of all the people that I can be with right now, it’s you that is on my side. I can imagine all of the arrows in this universe pointed in this moment no matter how simple it is.

I want to tell you everything I felt at this moment. I opened my mouth, almost said something but then the movie already ended. Almost. The rest of my life might have turned out differently if I had, but I didn’t.

“That movie is really beautiful” She said. I finally woke up from my deep thoughts.

“Yeah.” She looked at me.

“Thank you for inviting me, I enjoyed it.”

I just smiled at her. “Well, I’m glad that you did.”

We stayed for a while because I’m feeling sluggish. I looked at the time, thirty minutes then it’ll already be midnight.

“Come on, we should go now.” She said and we went out of the theater. There are no more cars and taxis on the road so we don’t have a choice but to walk home.

The moon is so beautiful, it amplifies the night sky making the evening as pleasant as it can be. We talked about a lot of things, about school, dreams and goals in life, her favorite bands of course.

We barely have anything in common, but I think that’s okay because sometimes things that are different fascinate you. It’s like it’s something that you’ve been missing your whole life. It completes you.

She suddenly stopped walking. “Hey, look at the stars!” she pointed up. What we saw was amazing. The stars are scattered all around the night sky. It’s beautiful but somehow it feels like it’s giving me a message… that something is wrong.

“They’re beautiful aren’t they?” She continued to look at the stars. Oh if only I could tell you how beautiful your eyes are… It seems like an endless universe, with so much to see but not enough time to ever fully capture the beauty.

We talked and talked like there is no tomorrow, we never ran out of something to talk about and we didn’t even notice that we’re already in front of her house. “Hey, thank you for tonight Jupiter.”

“Don’t mention it. Next time it will be a date!” I jokingly said.

“Hmmm, I’ll think about it.” We just laughed. I watched her make her way inside her house. Oh Jane, you don’t know how much you really mean to me.

I was about to enter my house until I noticed someone is calling. It’s from an unknown number but I decided to answer it anyway.

“Hello?” It was silent at first until someone shouted.

“Hey.” An empty and depressing voice but somehow it sounds familiar… It’s Neptune.

“What do you want N?”

“We need to talk.” I can hear rain in the background.

“I’m not interested.” I was about to hang the phone until he mentioned something.

“Mercury is dead.” Suddenly my mind went blank. How could something like that happen? Mercury is not that weak. I can feel a pain in my chest.

“What happened?”

“Mars killed him.” Rage overflowed into my veins just by hearing the name. I knew it, this is their doing… By the moment when I felt Saturn’s aura I knew something is very wrong.

“That’s not all…” he continued.

“What’s the other one?” I asked.

“Pluto.” It fully captured my attention. “What?!”

“Hold on, I need to get off the phone now, they’ve broken through.” The phone call ended and I’m left in the middle of the road wondering about Pluto. Just when I thought everything was perfect.

First, it was Drexel, then Mercury was killed and now Pluto. I really can’t do anything right now; I need to wait for Neptune to get here.

All of us are beginning to awake and the worst part is they’re beginning to fight each other. Someone suddenly called my attention.

“Hey!” I looked at the direction where I was called, it was Jane. “It’s already late to be having thoughts in the middle of the night! Go home.”

“Right, I’ll be going then. Goodnight!” I waved and made my way inside my house… Today was very fulfilling but I’m getting the feeling that normal days are approaching its end.

[us-planetarum-blog]

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

After so many frustrating nights and mornings, I managed to finish the first book. I really don’t know where I got the will to finish it since I am a very lazy person.

This is the part where I thank everyone who helped me in the process of writing this piece.

First of all, to Julien and Arianna, you have my deepest gratitude for staying with me from the start up to the end. You know I’m hopeless with my grammar so I thank you for your patience and suggestions even if it’s already three in the morning.

To my other friends, I also thank you for giving me the confidence to push through with this plan. Thank you for all the support you gave me.

And ultimately,

The main reason and inspiration for this book, Janelle Kaye. This book is first and foremost for you. I hope you take the time to read this and that you enjoy it. The story and genre of this book revolves around the things you like and genres of the books I know you love.