Is he okay? Why won’t he stop looking at his phone? Rachel thought, looking at Simon not looking at her.

The two were going for a late walk in the park. It was supposed to be a fun, cute date, but Rachel once again found herself unable to connect with her boyfriend.

He’s been so distant since… no, has he always been like this? She racked her brain trying to recall the last time Simon had made her feel special. Attended to, cared about. That she wasn’t a chore to him.

She never found it.

I just need to be better for him, she concluded. While he might not have been the prince charming she first thought of him as, Simon was still her most successful relationship yet. The few men that she had flirted with in the past were always put off from one thing or another.

If I wasn’t as tall maybe things would be different. Instead of being this lanky beast that guys can’t seem to get away from fast enough. She briefly recalled her habit of insulting herself in the mirror before school. No, no, I’m supposed to like myself! We’re being more positive. We’re moving forward.

“Wow, you can see the stars a lot better here!” Rachel said in an attempt to get her boyfriend to look up for the first time all night.

By some miracle it worked.

Simon slid his phone into his pocket and gazed upward with her. “Huh, you’re right.”

Rachel mentally cheered. Well that’s step one. Now how do I get him to look at me?

“It must be because the street lamps in the park are so dim,” she said. “I bet you could hardly see my face with how dark it is!”

She didn’t care how obvious she was being, desperation had already grabbed a hold of her.

“You know,” Simon turned his head toward her.

Rachel held her breath.

Finally. Maybe he’ll even go in for a kiss! It’s been so long since-

Simon continued, “I actually used to have lots of constellations memorized.”

Rachel’s shoulders sank. Right. It’s Simon.

He pointed back up at the night sky, aiming for a little cluster of dots poking through the pitch black sky. “Like that! I think that’s Aquarius.”

Before Rachel could make it out, he darted to another group.

“And there! Pretty sure that’s Pegasus.”

Again, she had no hope of seeing what he meant before he moved on to another… And another.

She sighed and squeezed his arm. Oh well, she thought as a smile grew on her face. I guess that’s just how he is.

As frustrating as his tangents could be, it was part of what made Simon so adorable in her eyes. Maybe because it made him seem so innocent. Non-threatening. Unique.

He was a huge geek but he was her huge geek. At least, she wanted him to be.

Is it so much to ask that he makes a little effort now and again? He doesn’t have to change, he just has to… even just pretend to like me.

She wasn’t proud of how far her standards had fallen.

If I can persevere, things will get better. The more time we spend together the more he’ll open up! He has to…

“Simon,” Rachel said, interrupting his ramblings about star-chart history. “Do you like me?”

“What?” He stopped walking.

That wasn’t a yes.

“Why would you ask me that?” He seemed worried.

Just say it. Just say you hate me already, that I’m weird and gross, say it.

Then, black.

First the street lamps surrounding them, then the apartments and shops in the distance. Nearby, others could be heard panicking, with some yelling out of fright and others drunkenly cheering.

Rachel’s first instinct was to cling to Simon’s arm. As upset as she was with his response, fear took over. To her surprise, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder before she could act.

“What the hell?” Simon asked, his hands shimmying in his pockets. He pulled out his phone and activated the flashlight so they could at least see the ground they were standing on.

It was shocking to Rachel just how dark it could get outside. Even in the middle of night there were usually buildings and signs lit up, making a moonless night seem well-lit.

“A blackout?” she asked.

“Seems like it. Let me call my roommates and see if it hit us there.”

Rachel nodded as he dialed. She wondered if he would invite her back to his place if they had power. His roommates seemed chill enough. Of course, Ryan was a bit loud at times. And Danny hardly ever spoke to her, though recently they had a few pleasant conversations.

Is this it? A random act of God that could lead to us spending the night together? No self-respecting man would make a girl walk home by herself in pitch black, right?

“Damn, they aren’t picking up,” Simon said, removing his arm from Rachel’s shoulder. It was as if he didn’t even realize he had done it. He used his phone’s light to lead them to a nearby bench.

“There, at least now we aren’t stranded in the middle of a path. Those two better call me back soon.”

“Why don’t we just head back to your place anyway?” Rachel asked. “It’s closer than mine, and even if the power is out there, it would be less scary.”

“Nah,” he replied. “It’s still really far to walk in total dark. Besides, it would just be weird to sit in the dark with my roommates, don’t you think?”

Simon returned to regularly staring at his phone instead of her.

At least when he was talking about the stars it was cute. Like what, does he want to just sit here in silence AND darkness? What kind of a date is that?

“Though I guess if the power stays out we may as well,” Simon said, eyes still on his screen.

Yes! Okay, just have to survive like this for a few minutes, ten tops, before we can leave.

“Good point, yeah, totally,” she said, thankful the power outage hid her scheming face.

In the meantime…

“The good news is, you can see the stars even clearer now! I bet you can see a ton of new constellations now, or something, right?”

It might be a contrived, pathetic plan, but I’ll be damned if you ignore me the rest of the night.

Simon craned his neck away from his phone and up to the sky again. “Actually, I think it might! That’s what’s so crazy about light pollution, we’re so afraid of the dark that we’re blinding ourselves from seeing the sky at night. I swear we’ll forget that space even exists in a few generations at this rate.”

Now this isn’t so bad. I’ll just look for an opening and then we can move to a real topic like-

“By the way Rachel,” Simon stopped stargazing and was now looking her right in the eye. “What did you mean by your question earlier?”

“Oh, well, I was just being… It was a silly question, don’t worry about it.”

“Does it really seem like I don’t even like you?” He wasn’t dropping it.

Rachel took a deep breath. “Actually… yeah. Sometimes it does seem like that. I’ve joked before that I’m always the one planning dates and reaching out, but it’s starting to not be a joke, Simon. And even during the dates you don’t pay much of attention to me.”

Where did that come from? I’m not supposed to show my insecurity like that. It will scare him off, freak him out.

Simon looked down, his phone lighting up his troubled face. “I’m really sorry. I don’t want…” He trailed off then refocused. “I don’t want you to feel upset. You’re really cool, you know.”

Rachel forced a smile. “Aw, thanks.”

Even now, he still won’t say it.