He still remembers those summer nights he spent with Janette, sitting in the attic and gazing at the quiet street. He'd wait until the clock struck ten, long after his parents had gone to bed, and then creep up too the third floor, making his way up the stairs silently.
He was always excited for their secret rendezvous, and as he shimmied his way through the mess of boxes, he thought about what surprise she would have for him today.
"Hey there, buddy." Janette lifted him up and sat him down in one of the leather recliners they had moved to the corner of the room. Through the window, he could see cars zooming down the streets. "I brought us something."
That got his attention. Beaming, Janette produced two small containers from behind her back. He grinned. "Ice cream?" He whispered the question in an effort to go unnoticed. She nodded. He took his container and pried the spoon from the underside of the lid.
"Eat up, captain." Janette sat down in the other leather armchair and reclined the seat back, surveying the sky and pointing out constellations in between mouthfuls of ice cream.
The seats were arranged in two rows with three seats each, to lend the attic a spaceship-like atmosphere, and Carswell felt like he really was up there with the rest of the stars as he looked at the sky from his massive chair.
"That one up there is the Big Dipper, see? And if you follow that line, it takes you right to the North Star. That star is called Polaris, and it's super helpful." She doesn't think that little four-year-old Carswell will remember all this later, but he's swallowing it all up and saving it for later.
Carswell has just gotten the results of a particularly bad math test on the night of their weekly meeting. His parents are still unaware that they've been meeting like this, but it calms him, and frankly, he's been under a lot of stress lately, particularly from them.
Janette shows up with a textbook in her hands. "We're going to study," she proclaims, and he groans, but as she tries to help him understand, he finds himself liking it.
When they take a break, she points up to an unfamiliar constellation. Oh, who is he kidding, almost all of them are unfamiliar to him.
"That's Gemini, your star sign."
He looks at her. "Astrology is a load of rubbish, isn't it?"
Janette smiles. "Sometimes."
"Janette?"
"Yeah, sweetie?"
"Are you going to leave us someday?"
She looks at him like she can't believe he even asked that question.
"Not while you're still around, Carswell." It puts his fears to rest. He doesn't know what he'll do if she leaves him alone here.
Cress looks at him oddly. "What are you reading? The daily horoscope? I thought you said astrology wasn't real."
He looks at her. "Sometimes it's a little too on the nose."
He can feel Scarlet rolling her eyes in the background.
He shows the crew all the constellations that Janette showed him, once upon a time. It's a surprise to him, but he remembers every single one of them.
(If Janette was here, she'd be proud of him.)