"Grayson, why are we at the park? You do know the carnival already ended yesterday." I furrowed my brows.

"Yeah. But since you missed out on everything fun yesterday, I thought it would be nice to take you out here again." He replied cheekily.

"But most of the rides doesn't work anymore, and there's not even a stand within a mile radius around here." I snickered.

"Would you stop being so glum and just go along with it?"

"Hmmm. Fine." I chuckled heartily. "What shall we do now, oh Grayson the witty one?" I spoke in an English accent, mocking the same moniker Taylor did a while back.

"Just follow me for a little while."

I had wondered what Grayson was up to. It was so unlike him being this cryptic, and most of the time I just find him predictable when it comes to normality of things.

However, I didn't find this normal anymore if he's trying really hard to hide what he's planning.

When he stopped, he whirled around, facing me, smiling an excited grin.

Behind him was Mammoth Rock, a very huge, very cultural stone that played an interesting role on the new students studying in Marshall High. Every year, they dip paint on their hands and place an imprint on the rock, forever making their mark into the Marshall High circle. The rock had so many hand prints now, I couldn't even possibly count them even if I tried.

"From what I've heard, you didn't place your hand print on this rock last year." He announced.

I didn't. The reason for that was I had to leave early because of Mr. Fullers' condition, so I didn't get the chance to celebrate the homecoming carnival that year as well.

"As much as I'd like to, there's no paint we could even borrow." I stated.

"Who says we don't?" He then backed away from me then turned towards the rock. He curved around it and bent his body, reaching in behind it and took out a small bucket of paint. "I, uh, bought this from the nearest Walmart, couldn't find any color of this 'round here."

The color was teal, like my eyes.

"Awww, Grayson." My eyes went teary-eyed when he handed me the paint. "Okay, I'll do it."

He then chuckled softly. "Ah, you see, I've never placed my hand print on Mammoth Rock also."

My eyes widened. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I just didn't feel like it, you know, all those crazy ideas about luck and faith that this hunk of thing brings." He then gestured at the said hunk of thing.

"What, are you saying you don't believe in karma?"

"I do, but not in this sense." He said. "Here, let me go first." He then dipped his left hand into the bucket. When he took it out, his hand was dripping with teal wet paint.

"Okay, my turn." I then dipped mine. The paint was cold, but in a good way, not really that penetrating as water, maybe because it felt gooey. I took it out after a few seconds, paint dripping to the grass.

"Here," He offered. He placed his hand over mine, feeling the mixture of his warmth and the coldness of the paint... We were like that for a couple of seconds, only just gazing at our perfectly molded hands together.

When he pulled away, he crouched and placed his hand on the rock first, the bright blue uniquely etched in front of the others. His print was somehow clearer than theirs as well.

Then, I placed mine too, just an inch away from his. Mine was smaller compared to Grayson's, but thankfully the print was clear too.

"So, what makes you think you could place your hand print on Mammoth Rock of all the years?" I asked.

He looked at a distance, smiling. "Because I feel like this is going to be a different year..." He began to feel a bit melancholic. "You know, about the Atrians, about friends, about the swim team," He then looked at me. "About you."

I stared at him while him staring back, my blushing and him smirking. It didn't feel like what he said was awkward, but it was perfect. His timing, the mood, the sense of it all... All too perfect...

When he blinked, his mind wandered back to him again and smiled dearly.

"Anyways, I've got to head back. Hope you don't mind, I'm going to pick up Emery and meet her at The Bug this afternoon."

"Okay," I then said. We stood up already and washed our hands in the nearby faucet. When we were about to part ways, I turned my head towards him.

"Oh and Grayson,"

"Yeah?" He turned his head around.

I ran towards him and made him step back when I hugged him with everything I could muster. He returned the gesture by nuzzling his chin over my head and rubbed lazy palms up and down my back.

"Thank you."

Next Chapter on Across The Stars

"You remember how I lost my brother during Arrival day, right?" Grayson asked.

Then, the weird, tingling sensation started, but I just nodded casually.

It was very strange every time he mentions his older brother to me. It's like I knew everything he told me from the back of my mind, but at the same time I didn't. How I knew that he was one of the many that died during the crash, But I didn't know where I got those ideas from...