Something buzzed terrifyingly near my ear.

“Help! Help!”

I burrowed into Nolan’s back without a second thought and tried to start running. Instead of upping his pace, Nolan came to a complete stop. I shoved at his shoulder.

“Why did you stop?! Go, go, go! There’s an insect—an insect! Quick! Run!”

Of all the things he could’ve done, he laughed. He was not in my good books right now.

“Are you serious? I thought something happened to you.” Nolan turned on the spot and looked around me.

“Help! It’s next to me now!”  I yanked my hand out of his to run behind him. “Help!”

I buried my face into his back, as if not seeing it meant that it wasn’t there. He was silent for a moment, and then I felt his back shift slightly.

“I got it,” he said. “You can come out of hiding now.”

Semi-disbelievingly, I opened my eyes. “You caught it? How?” In this darkness?

“There’s this appendage I have called a hand.” He presented his upward-facing fist to me.

I twisted away from it, my stomach doing a thousand flips per second. “What—is it inside?! Don’t release it!”

He snickered. “It’s just a giant beetle. Relax. Wait here.”

Just?!

Nolan walked several feet away and flung his arm out, presumably releasing the hideous critter. Then he came back.

“There, it’s gone.”

I recoiled while looking at his right hand that had just been holding the thing. “Thank you.”

He laughed again, but before I could retort that everyone had their fears, he reached over to grab my hand with his left one. This time, it was my heart that did the flipping.

“Now come on, let’s go.”

We trekked on for a while. In the night, the forest’s darkness was foreboding and ominous. I expected that. What I didn’t expect was a beautiful kind of tranquility to it, too, as the creatures that inhabited it were mostly sleeping. The soft hooting from owls nearby only added to the delicate atmosphere that tiptoed around us.

Was it because I wasn’t alone?

Thinking this way about the forest would probably be impossible if I didn’t feel safe in the knowledge that I was with someone who clearly knew what he was doing.

I could barely make out the different trees that surrounded us. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see,” he said, making a left turn and pulling me along.

A soft flapping sound came from above. Even with my poor sight in the dark, I could see the outline of something swooping downwards in our direction.

I yelped and jerked back in horror. Nolan’s hand had clasped mine tightly, and he refused to let go even when I flailed.

“What? What is it?” He whirled around and looked at me. “I don’t see any bugs…”

It landed on Nolan’s shoulder. My pounding heart slowed to a more comfortable pace when it let out a little chirp.

“What,” I said in surprise.

“Hey, Blue,” Nolan said, reaching up to run his fingers down the bird’s wings. “You startled her.”

It chirped again and leaned into his touch.

“What? You have a name for it?”

I almost couldn’t believe what I was seeing. A wild bird was perched on his shoulder like it was a tree branch. The most shocking part was that it came to him first.

“I guess. I obviously don’t own it, but it’s easier to call it by a real name instead of just ‘Bird’.” Nolan tugged gently at my hand. “Now that the shock is over, let’s continue walking.”

I let myself get pulled along. “But … how did you even make friends with it in the first place? Are you some kind of bird whisperer?”

“Seriously? Bird whisperer?” After several silent seconds, he said, “I found it injured a couple of years ago.”

“Oh … Hold up, so you’ve been exploring this forest by yourself since even before this year?!”

“That’s why I told you that you don’t have to worry about me,” he said.

I was speechless at the thought of him doing this as a fourteen-year-old. His parents would have a heart attack if they ever found out.

Nolan came to a stop as we reached a large clearing. We had to be deep in the forest, since I didn’t remember ever coming across any area like this when I had gone on those ‘nature walks’ with our school chaperones.

“We’re here,” he said.

The darkness wasn’t quite as suffocating here. Maybe it was because the spaciousness gave the moonlight more room to light up the area. Whatever the case, I was glad to finally leave the clumsy stumbling behind me. Nolan had stopped me from actually falling each time I tripped over the odd rock or tree root, and I was embarrassed and grateful in equal parts.

“These oak trees look beautiful even at night,” I gushed before I could stop myself, and Nolan shot me an amused look.

“Really,” he said.

“You spend time with these gorgeous creations every week,” I said. “You should know better than I do!”

He shook his head. “No offense, but I pay more attention to the stars than these trees. They’re just trees.”

Mostly to be dramatic, and the rest of it because I felt slighted on their behalf, I gasped and put a hand to my chest. “They’re not just trees! They’re beautiful and cool with so many features, and different species have wildly different characteristics!”

“Stars are cooler.”

“Trees are nearer, and you can actually touch them. You can’t touch a star. You can let go now, by the way,” I said, shaking his hand that was still holding mine. “I can see better now.”

“If you’re sure,” Nolan said. He released my hand. “Try not to trip.”

“I can see the things on the ground better than I could earlier,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him before realizing that he probably couldn’t see it. “I can see why you like coming here. It’s so serene and you get to hang out with trees without teachers yelling at you not to touch them. And look at that adorable bird still perched on your shoulder!”

With a flutter of wings, Blue went up onto Nolan’s head. It was mostly brown with a few spots of white and a small stripe of white right above its breast. It looked small enough to fit into Nolan’s hand.

“It is pretty cute,” he allowed.

With one hand reached up to stroke at Blue’s back, Nolan looked kind of ridiculous standing there with a small bird atop his head. Instead of wanting to laugh, I was mildly surprised when my heart warmed at the sight.

“What is it? It’s so cute!” I peered up at it.

“A nighthawk, I think. They’re nocturnal.”

“Just like you,” I said.

“Like me,” he agreed. “Want to sit down?”

“There are probably insects and maybe snakes in the grass, so no thanks,” I said, watching him settle down comfortably in a cross-legged position.

“I should have told you to bring a tarp,” he said, grinning. “Do you intend to be on your feet for the next few hours?”

“I—wait, so we’re going to be here for the next few hours?”

“I do my best stargazing here at night,” he said. “I usually return before the sun rises, for obvious reasons. What did you think I did? Hike for three hours to keep myself in shape?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” I muttered.

Nolan patted the grass next to him. “Come on. There aren’t that many insects here. Right, Blue?”

Blue preened itself.

I walked towards him and stood at the spot he had patted on. “Will you please get rid of any if you see them? I might end up screaming if you don’t, and the school staff might just wonder why someone’s screeching all the way out in the forest.”

Blue hopped off Nolan’s head onto his right shoulder, away from me.

“I think they’d probably just think it was a coyote, but alright,” he said. “I’ll swat or flick them away. You can sit now. I really don’t see any insects crawling around nearby, except for maybe tiny ants.”

“Have you seen much of them? Coyotes, I mean.”

I eyed the grassy ground with a bit of trepidation despite Nolan’s assurance. Unable to see anything wrong with it, I reluctantly sat down. Nothing happened.

“Not really,” he said. “They tend to avoid humans. They’re probably more afraid of you than you are of them. Like insects, by the way. Why are you afraid of them?”

As if on cue, a distant howl punctured the almost peaceful atmosphere I’d just been getting used to. My body stiffened, but I tried not to make it too obvious.

“Was that one?” I said, turning my head in the direction of the noise.

“Probably. I wouldn’t worry about it unless it comes approaching us first.”

When I looked back at him, Blue was skipping down his forearm to the palm of his open hand. Nolan scratched the top of its head with an index finger.

“Has one ever approached you?”

“A couple of times. I think maybe someone gave it food. They’re usually human-shy unless you start feeding them.”

“Isn’t that potentially dangerous?” I said. “Kind of like when they tell you not to feed monkeys at the zoo.”

“Yeah. They start associating humans with food,” he said, shrugging. “Sometimes they get aggressive.”

“I bet you ran before it could even start being aggressive,” I said, watching Blue chirp again and fly off. “You run even faster than some of the fastest guys in the gym.”

“Thanks.”

I snorted. “I was just stating a fact! Well, I guess you can take it as a compliment if you want.”

“I’ve already done that.”

He got out a pair of binoculars from his belt bag. I was impressed that he managed to pack that in there along with the thick rope he brought to my room. I was even more impressed when he produced a second pair and tossed it to me.

“Here. Since you’re already here, might as well, right?” he said.

“Might as well,” I echoed, finding myself smiling at him.

He lay down on his back, binoculars held to his eyes. I wasn’t comfortable enough to lie down in grass possibly teeming with insects—no matter what Nolan said—so I continued sitting and slung the strap over my neck.

“I’m curious,” I said. “Why did you name it Blue?”

“It suited it, I guess.”

“Hm… it is a cute name. Hey, I bet there’s a constellation I can tell a story about that you can’t,” I said, scanning the sky.

There probably wasn’t, seeing how Nolan was so much more into this stuff than I was, but it wasn’t like we had anything better to do. I sighed happily as a slight breeze brushed past my face and ruffled my hair. Somehow, I wasn’t sleepy anymore.

“I bet you couldn’t.”

“We’ll see! Look, to the right. Do you see that rhombus-type shape?”

“Give me a moment … yeah, I see it.”

“There’s another bright star underneath that connects to the rhombus like a tail … or a body. That’s called, uh, Delphinus. Yeah, Delphinus. It was a dolphin that—”

“—played matchmaker for Poseidon and Amphitrite.”

I turned to glare at him. “No interrupting!”

“If I didn’t interrupt, how could you know if I actually knew or didn’t know the story?”

“Th-that’s—you could tell me after!”

“And then you’d say I couldn’t prove it.”

I ignored him. “Anyway, do you know about Cygnus?”

“Yeah … okay, I’m looking at it now. It looks like a sword, honestly.”

“It’s a swan, a swan!”

“I know, but it looks like a sword. It looks nothing like a swan. By the way, Zeus apparently transformed into a swan. It’s such a famous constellation I can’t believe you thought I wouldn’t know it.”

“That story doesn’t count because I wanted to talk about the constellation above it!”

“You mean Lyra?”

I groaned. “How did you know?”

“I told you there’s no story you could tell me that I wouldn’t—”

“—Anyway! It’s Orpheus’ lyre and—”

“—could charm practically anything with the music it produced,” he said, much to my aggravation.

“I said no finishing my sentences!”

Nolan laughed, and it was the lightest and most playful sound I had heard come from his mouth so far. I wanted to close my eyes to enjoy it just a little bit better.

“Okay, fine, so you know those two. But do you know about—”

“I’ll tell you about this one close to the Delphinus constellation. Look to the right. It’s kind of shaped like an umbrella, sort of.”

“Oh, oh,” I said, excited that something Ryan had taught me had come into use at last. “I know! It’s called Aquila.”

“So you do know,” Nolan said, sounding amused. “Aquila was an eagle that kidnapped a mortal named Ganymede … Hey, why didn’t you interrupt me?”

“I didn’t know about the story behind it,” I said meekly. Even if I had at some point, I had already forgotten about it.

“Oh?” The teasing tone in his low voice was pleasant to listen to. “You didn’t?”

Nolan ended up sharing more stories of different constellations with me as the night went on. I didn’t interrupt at all, even when I had already heard that particular myth before. It was the first time Nolan had spoken so much in the span of an hour. There was no way I could bring myself to cut off his sentences. I couldn’t help but bask in the peaceful and easy atmosphere around us.

Hopefully, Ryan wouldn’t be offended if he ever found out that I paid rapt attention to someone else’s storytelling about the stars.