Beneath the Stars

In my life there’s only one event that has allowed me to progress. It was because of one girl who taught me how to live. “Arty, can we do something different tonight? I mean we always just hang out with your friends and play games, but it’s never just us two,” a girl named Marissa said softly. “What is there to do?” I said to her. “There really isn’t anything to do. If you can think of something… let me know,” I replied sarcastically.
“Fine,” she stated, “a few of us are sneaking out to the park tonight at around midnight. Alex and Jenny are going, and now you're coming with us.”
Only fourteen and in the eighth grade, I had a ten o'clock curfew. I was never really an outgoing kid; I did every thing like I was supposed to. Marissa and I were just friends because in a month she would be moving to Georgia. My friend Alex introduced me to her a week after I moved into the neighborhood. She lived near an area referred to as The Park, which was nothing more than white sand and a jungle gym, where kids would hang out every now and then. Marissa and I had been seeing each other every day since we met, and we grew closer every time.
I knew that when she asked me to sneak out this was a test of my commitment to her. Although we weren’t going to become a couple, she still acted as if we were together. I enjoyed playing along with her because I too, wanted to be together. We were only fourteen but that’s when a person starts to grow emotionally and physically. This night showed me how grown up I had become.
When the time came, I ended up sneaking out through the back of the house and headed toward the park. When I got to the park Marissa was the only one there. She told me the others couldn’t come, but I knew they weren’t going to come to begin with. Earlier I had called Alex to see what was going on. He told me that Jenny and him weren’t going, but they’re staying in for the night. They never had any intention of leaving.
I sat next to her in the sand in the breezy but dark park. She looked cold so I took off my jacket and put it around her. Looking back I noticed I was only fourteen and I went to a Catholic school, whereas she went to a public school. In Florida public school students are much more mature than us private school students are.
After I put my jacket around her she began to move closer to me. I put my arm around her and we laid back. We stared at the stars until it started to rain and retreated to the jungle gym. The two of us ended up just laying in the jungle gym cuddled, and just stayed like that until the rain stopped at around three o’clock. Honestly we had fallen asleep for about an hour. We stayed and watched the sunrise and I thought this was the best night of my life.
Not too long after the sun rose I walked her home. We talked the whole way there about nothing really other than each other. I would mention how she was beautiful and she would say how I am cute. The trip to her house took three times as long as usual because we walked holding hands with a step every minute. We eventually reached her house and we just stood there. She eventually entered through the back entrance of her house, but paused in front of me for a brief moment before entering. How naïve I was that I didn’t realize she wanted to kiss. She left without a kiss but a smile.
As I walked home I knew that night would be known as the transition from my childhood to my manhood. Little did I realize but there were so many lessons in that night. I never realized how mature I was until she showed me. She didn’t show me a normal way but through a test. Marissa showed me the way I should be going in life. That is I should take some risks, rather than just sit around and do things safely.
She also showed me how I have also had a lot of emotion that could be expressed. Perhaps its not so much emotion that could be expressed through art or writing, but through words to assure the person of what I feel. In her case it could have possibly have been love or just a strong like. I won’t say it was love for the fact I don’t know exactly what it is. When Marissa moved I never spoke to her again, but every time I stare into the night sky I remember our dream beneath the stars.