The Zodiac Collector by Laura Diamond

and makes a leap up my chest.
    He writes: The stars are out tonight .
    I smile, biting my lower lip, and reply: Yeah?
    We should meet and look at them. I’ll bring my telescope .
    I almost squeal. My fingers hover over the keys, humming with eager glee. I want to snap back a “yes” immediately, but don’t want to look desperate like I had at the stable, so I make myself wait. One-one thousand, two-one thousand, three-one thousand… I clench my fists and sit on them until I hit thirty. Then I type: Where should we meet?
    The park by the fountain. Twenty minutes?
    It’s a farther walk for me, but I don’t mind. See you there!
    Okay .
    I power down the laptop, my mind whirring. “William wants to meet me in the park.”
    â€œNow? Why?”
    â€œTo look at the stars.” I skip to my closet, hyped on girly giddiness, and yank a light-blue hoodie from its hanger. The days are warm, but the nights cool down. Maybe I should bring some hot chocolate.
    â€œHow romantic,” Mary croons, flopping onto her back and resting a hand on her forehead in a fake faint.
    â€œYep.” I lace up my sneakers and give Castor a jovial scratch behind the ears. “See you later.”
    She rolls her eyes, but her smile says she’s happy for me. “Don’t stay out too late.”
    * * *
    I clutch the Thermos to my chest and savor the weight of my backpack against my spine. My heart is pounding between my lungs like a magic jumping bean. William and I hang out all the time, but this is different. A nighttime rendezvous, alone, to look at the stars. Like Mary said, it’s romantic. My lips feel dry. I lick them, thankful that the minty sting of my toothpaste still coats my tongue.
    I find William in the middle of the park, near the water fountain like he’d said. It’s not running, so the night is quiet—except for the chirping of crickets. I wonder what they’re saying to each other.
    â€œHi, Anne.” William greets me with his signature dimple-laden smile. He’s got the telescope set up already. A lantern sits next to it, casting a ring of somber yellow light around him. It edges along the fountain’s wall and to the grass on the opposite side.
    I wave. Lame. “I brought some hot chocolate.” I pause. “But I only have the lid for a cup.”
    â€œNo worries. We can share.”
    Right. No big deal. Two friends sharing a cup. We do it all the time. “Cool.”
    He dips his head to the telescope and points it west. “I found Libra. Wanna see?”
    â€œSure.” William’s birthday is in October, making him a Libra. True to his sign, he’s laid-back, levelheaded, diplomatic, and just. He always finds a way to get people to compromise and get along. On the flip side, he can’t make a decision to save his life. I peek in the viewfinder and stare at the mass of white dots speckling the black sky. If I trace a line between the stars in the constellation, it looks like a lopsided house drawn by a five-year-old.
    â€œWouldn’t it be cool to travel to other galaxies, visit other planets, and feel the heat of different suns?” There’s awe in his voice. It carries wonder and adventure. The shockwave of it blasts me, inspiring me to dream.
    â€œWe could visit the stars of our Zodiac signs. Alpha, Beta, and Gamma Librae.” I step away from the telescope and point to each star in the constellation. “Then Castor and Pollux.” I have nowhere to point because they’re not visible from our location.
    â€œThey say a planet in the Librae system could sustain life.” He grins.
    â€œWe could inhabit another world.”
    â€œYeah, one without SATs.”
    We laugh. He stares at me so intently I squirm like a butterfly under a microscope. Heat rushes to my cheeks and anxiety pools in my belly.
    â€œEr, you seem deep in thought,” I croak.
    â€œYou looked really pretty, wearing that