Wish Upon a Star

The rest of the summer dragged by. I saw Bryan once in the grocery store, but he avoided my gaze and walked the other way. Dale and I did "begin" to date, even if that meant doing a lot of the same things we had always done. Occasionally, we would find a quiet moment and have a quick screw, but it was never the same until fall, when we both got off to college.

Dale joined a fraternity and moved into the frat house, and I lived in the dorms. We saw each other as often as possible, but inevitably – as I had feared – by our sophomore year, we drifted apart. In a very sad parting, we agreed to keep in touch and see how things stood after we graduated. After that, I would often stare out my dorm – later apartment – windows and wish on stars that we would be able to reconnect someday. I knew he was the love of my life, and other guys I dated were never able to measure up to the "Dale standard." For a long time, I feared that Dale was going to find another woman and propose to her, but he never did. Dale dated other girls, but never for long. He would always call and tell me about them, and they were always as shallow as Katie had been all those years before. I never judged him, though, and just waited patiently to see where things led.

Finally, graduation arrived. Dale attended mine first, and then I drove over a week later to attend his. After the ceremony, Dale invited me out to dinner with his family. We discussed where we were going: both of us had found jobs in a nearby city. Dale was finally going to be working for an architectural firm as the landscape artist, and I was planning to start my first semester as a middle-school English teacher.

"So where are you going to live during the summer?" Dale's dad asked. "An apartment?"

I shook my head.

"Nope. Unless I find a summer job, I'm going to have to go back home for three months."

"Dale's got an apartment," Dale's mother interjected. "Of course, his job does start on Monday."

"I know," I smiled. "I just haven't found any summer jobs that are hiring a just-out-of-college English teacher. I don't want to move back home, but I don't have much choice."

"So move in with Dale," said Dale's little sister.

I laughed, and then realized I was the only one.

"Move in with me," suggested Dale.

I looked at his parents, who glanced at each other smugly. Obviously, this had been discussed beforehand.

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Yeah, seriously," he said. "You know I can't live without you."

"Well, um... I've already got my stuff moved back home, but yeah... yeah, I'd love to."

Dale's sister erupted into a cheer, and his parents smiled. The next weekend I moved out of my parents' home and into Dale's new apartment. We spent several weeks sorting out what went where and getting rid of duplicate stuff, but we finally settled into a routine. It was home at last.

One night, six months after we had gotten settled, I couldn't sleep, so I got up to get a drink. Coming back from the tiny kitchen, I stopped at the window and stared out. All the stars in the sky seemed to twinkle at me. All my old friends were up there – every wish I had ever wished since I had been a little girl – and they were all shining brightly.

I felt a presence behind me.

"Wishing again?" Dale asked, wrapping his arm around my waist.

"No," I said softly. "I think they've all been wished on."

"What about that one?" Dale asked, pointing to a small star almost out of view. "What would you wish on that one?"

I smiled.

"Can't tell. It won't come true."

"What if I guess?"

"Yeah, sure, you can try."

Dale disappeared and came back, holding his hands behind his back.

"Which hand do you take?"

Confused, I selected the left. Dale held it out, empty.

"All right, right," I said, selecting the remaining choice.

Dale knelt on one knee and opened his right hand. In it was a small diamond ring, just like one I had admired in a store earlier that month.

"Sarah... you know you're the girl I could never live without. I've loved you since before those stars were formed, and I'll love you until they all burn out. Will you marry me?"

I took the ring and held it in my fingers. It sparkled in the moonlight, looking like a star set in silver.

"You guessed," I said, tears shimmering on my face. "Of course I'll marry you!"

Dale and I embraced, and he slipped the ring on my fourth finger. As we went back to bed – not to sleep – I knew that I'd never have to wish on a star again. All my wishes had already come true.

*****

EPILOGUE

Dale and I are planning to be married in seven months, and I've discovered that I'll probably be wishing on stars again soon. After all, we'll need a house if we have kids, and I'd love to go back and get my master's and doctorate just like we had discussed in Europe all those years ago. For now, though, I only wish everyone a sliver of the happiness I have with Dale.