"Chase," Rory whisper yelled while shaking his shoulder. "Chase, wake up," His eyelids began to flutter open, prompting her to smile triumphantly. Waking Chase up was a feat to be celebrated.
It takes him a moment to notice Rory standing over him, grinning happily. When he does, his eyebrows furrow together in the way they only do when he is horribly confused.
"What are you doing here?" He asks her, mentally cursing himself for letting her keep the key from the time he had her feed his cat while he was on vacation.
"Well, remember how we had a substitute in science and that they mentioned that a meteor shower was taking place tonight? Well, I thought since it's Friday, and since we both have nothing better to do, we could go see it. I have my old telescope in the back of my dad's truck, if you want to go," Her wild hand gestures and excited energy almost make him want her to continue ranting. Almost.
It takes him a second to fully realize what she was saying. "Your dad let you borrow his truck?" He asks, surprised. Rory's dad, Eric, doesn't even let his teenage daughter touch his truck, let alone drive it.
Rory shook her head, "No, but he's off promoting some movie in China and Brie said I could. Besides, what he doesn't know won't hurt him."
Chase nodded his head, "Alright, let's go see some stars," Rory's grin somehow grows larger. She starts walking out to the truck, smile seemingly permanently planted on her face.
He quickly texts his mom who had just left to visit some friends in Atlanta for the weekend. His dad was still in Europe talking to some world leaders at a conference. He was a very important US military figure and was always gone in some foreign country.
So, overall, he was without parents for the weekend. Not that his dad really counted as a parent.
His mom quickly texts back with a have fun and say hi to rory for me.
On his way out, he grabs a couple of light,outdoor blankets, not that he actually needed them. Los Angeles was usually unnaturally warm at night.
He finds Rory sitting shotgun in the truck. She was staring down at her phone, her head tilted to the side, smile gone.
He opens the door, "What's up?" He asked her, worried about Rory after seeing her smileless.
She looks over at him, lips a thin line, "My mom's going to be in Africa for another month. Something about the movie." Chase desperately wants to hug her. "But, I don't really mind. It's not like I see her much anyways," She puts on a brave face and plants a fake smile on her face.
Then she pretends as though nothing was ever said.
The drive to the park that Rory had found was filled with talking about the most random things between the two best friends.
"We're here," Rory announces. They both climb out of the car. He grabs the telescope and she grabs the two blankets that she had thrown onto the backseat while he was driving.
"Where should we set up camp?" She asks, practically bouncing with excitement.
He grins at the sight of her, "Right here's just fine," He motions to the ground under his feet.
She nods, "Okay," It takes them a couple minutes and a few failed google searches to figure out how to set up the telescope.
They don't even use the telescope.
"Chase, Chase did you see that?" She asks, pointing up at the sky.
He nods his head as though he really had been staring up at the sky instead of staring at her.
"I have never seen anything so beautiful in my life." She says. He nods his head again but continues to stare at the girl sitting next to him.
"Neither have I."