Will Work for Prom Dress by Aimee Ferris

panoramic view of the city.”
    “Then what are all the people in those cars doing?” I pointed at three cars discreetly spaced out in the open hilltop field.
    “Okay, so I brought you to a beautiful panoramic view of the city where some people choose to park and make out.”
    I giggled.
    “Oh yeah? Good luck getting a kiss out of me now, laughing girl.”
    This only made me laugh harder.
    “Please stop. You’re killing my mojo.”
    “Mojo?
You got mojo?”
    “Oh, I got mojo,” he said.
    I took a deep breath to stop my giggles.
    “All better now?” he asked. “Now may I please show you why I brought you up here?”
    “Oh, my!” I feigned shock.
    Zander leaned forward and lightly banged his head against the steering wheel.
    “Okay, okay. I’ll stop now,” I said.
    He turned his head, still resting on the wheel, and studied me.
    I tried to look contrite. “Seriously. Please show me why you brought me here.”
    “Okay. To get the full effect, I have to make a brief adjustment. Remember, open mind … and no giggling.”
    “Okay.”
    I held my breath as Zander leaned across me, chuckling. I smelled the same light, clean scent from the museum as he came in close to crank something on the far side of my seat. As my seat reclined inch by inch and I felt his breath on my neck, the urge to giggle left me entirely.
    “There. Now me.” He cranked his seat until we were both lying back staring up at the sky. “Another hobby of mine.”
    “Parking with girls?”
    “Sure. That and the whole science of astronomy.”
    “Really?”
    “Do you know any of the stars?”
    I pointed at the three-starred belt of Orion. “I can always pick out Orion. But that’s about it. I can usually see the one Dipper but I never know if it’s the little one or the big one.”
    “I love the myths behind the constellations. I think it’s so cool that different cultures have different stories for the same stars. It sort of shows what’s important to them.”
    “Like what? Example, please.”
    “Well, take your Orion. He’s Orion to the Greeks, but the Lakota people think of the bottom half of him as their Constellation of the Hand.”
    I snuggled back into the seat and breathed in the soft leather.
    Zander reached over and took my hand. I shivered as he lightly traced a line across my wrist. “See? This is Orion’s Belt.” He trailed his fingertip up my pinky. “This is a star called Beta Eridani, from another constellation called Eridanis.” His finger slid back down my pinky coming up my index fingerand lightly tapped the tip. “That bright one there is Rigel.” His finger came back down and rested on my thumb. “And this is the Orion Nebula, or the brightest one in Orion.”
    He pulled my hand close, and I felt his warm lips graze my palm before resting his arm between us, still holding my hand. Beta Eridani, Eridanis, Rigel, Orion Nebula … I didn’t think I would ever forget those names now. If only I had studied in a setting like this, Anne would have had some serious competition at school.
    “The Lakota people think the constellation represents a great chief who was very selfish. The gods made the Thunder People rip out his arm to teach him a lesson. His daughter offered to marry anyone who could return her father’s arm. Fallen Star, a young warrior whose father was a star and mother was human returned the arm and married the girl, symbolizing unity between the gods and humans. You know, with a little help from a couple of kids in love.”
    “That’s so romantic.”
    Zander laughed out loud and squeezed my hand.
    “Sure. Some guys might use lines. But for me, talk of dismemberment always gets the girl.”
    “Such a player you are.”
    “Indeed.”
    “So what’s the Greek version?”
    “Hmm. Now that I’m thinking it through, neither of these stories seems particularly appropriate for the situation.”
    “Well, you already started. Can’t leave a girl hanging.”
    Zander sighed.
    “Well, there