"You know, Hilary, if the world was suddenly infested by zombies…I'd protect you."
"Sure Tyson…I am charmed." deadpanned Hilary.
"I'm dead serious. Not that I mean I'll protect you while I am dead, because if I am bitten by a zombie, I'll be a zombie too…but I'll still protect you…what I mean is, you can still trust me even if I am a zombie…"
"I think I get the picture Tyson," Hilary sighed.
And thus began another humid summer night. Tyson had decided to stay home for a few months to spend time with his Grandfather and friends. There was no tournaments or fixtures for the next few months, which meant a relaxing time for Tyson. As per his definition of relaxing, it was all TV, snacks and napping, but as per Hilary's concept, it was to complete the studies that Tyson had been missing. And thus began her frequent visits at the dojo to tutor Tyson.
One night, it was too hot and sticky to be outside, Tyson and Hilary were lying next to each other on the floor of his bedroom staring at the glow in the dark stickers on the ceiling.
She sighed and chose to ignore his strange statement, "We could go outside and look at the stars. The real stars."
"It's too hot," Tyson whined, "Besides, Grandpa mapped the sky out on my ceiling. It's exactly the same, just with A.C."
"That's true," Hilary paused for a moment, "Look, it's the big dipper." she pointed up at a dipper shaped cluster.
"I think the big dipper is my favorite constellation," he commented absentmindedly.
His friend was confused, not only was it a random statement, but she wasn't aware that Tyson knew words like constellation, "Why?"
Tyson shrugged, "Dunno, just is."
"That's weird," it was her automatic response, but she felt his body sag next to her and felt she needed to amend her statement, "But…whenever I'm outside and you're gone I always look up at the stars and feel happier. I like to know that no matter how far away we are from each other, we're looking at the same sky. It makes me feel close to you."
"Oh." It was all he could think of to say, it wasn't very often that she said something heartfelt and he didn't know how to respond.
"Now, whenever I see the big dipper, I'll think of you."
The couple fell into an easy silence, both staring up at the same fake sky. Tyson reached over slightly intertwining his fingers in hers as she smiled into the darkness.
"I meant what I said earlier, about the zombies," he commented.
"I know you did."
"Even if I had to shoot my own zombie family, I'd do it…for you,"
Hilary knew that it was sweet. Tyson had a hard time voicing his feelings and this was just his way, but she had to tease him a little, "You were watching that horror movie again, weren't you?"
"Yeah, I love that movie."
"I know you do…" she sighed, maybe she'll just be nice this time.