text: I live in the Swiss alps, its a beautiful place to live, each and every night I get to look down my mountain and see these orange lights keeping the snow illuminated. The stars only seem to shine on the best of nights, and even then the sight of a clear star filled sky, was rare. Someones always having a party, wether its the old people down the street kicking everyone out at 10, or the new married couple who enjoy margaritas and adult sleepovers. Im for whatever events happen in the neighborhood but nothing really gravitated me like the new girls party, we all have a group chat for parties and functions so we can plan accordingly, and one day our community leader Krista adds a new number.. She says to the group chat *this is my friend Laila, she just moved into the carters new place and she will be joining us at Jordans house for games* I read the text then tossed the phone to my side not thinking much of it, and then I thought for a moment, im the only person in the neighborhood named Jordan, I never have functions at my house, she didn't specify a date either. My phone began dinging over and over as everyone greeted Laila and welcomed her, and then there was a knock at my door. I put my phone In my pocket and walked over to see Krista, her husband, and a small framed woman in a red coat with platinum blonde hair and a nose stud standing behind them. Krista handed me a bottle of wine and walked through my door, her husband right behind her patted my shoulder and headed for my kitchen presumably to find the beer I would buy in case he came over as I don't drink. I turned around for a moment to asses the situation as Krista began shuffling my papers and moving my various books and such to my upstairs loft, and then I noticed Laila had not walked in yet, I turned back towards her. *may I come in?* I smiled at her and stepped out of the way, gesturing for her to enter my home *of course you may, make yourself at home and thank you for asking.* I thought it was peculiar she asked but quite refreshing, I ran to the kitchen to open the wine and fiddled through my silverware drawer as Kristas husband Craig began talking about the IPA I had bought *this is a real solid choice Jordan, you must really be getting good at the beer knowledge, are you going to have one tonight?* I looked up from my project at hand as I finally found the cork screw *probably not Craig but Isla and her husband will be here later im sure and I know you love drinking with them.* I turned the screw into the cork at the top and began pulling it out, it came out with a satisfying POP! and I began pouring the wine into two glasses I had set on the counter. Craig stopped me before I could get to the second glass *Laila doesn't drink* I nodded and stowed the second glass, I grabbed the wine to bring it out to Krista but Craig stopped me before I could *you know I think you'll really like Laila, she seems your type.* I stopped trying to walk forward and hung back a moment, peering Around the corner to see Laila sitting still close to the front door having a conversation with Krista as she cleaned. *what do you mean Craig, how is she my type?* he laughed and smacked my back *she's weird buddy* I was taken aback for a moment until I began flipping through my memories with my neighborhood friends. Over the years id lived here they had seen me creating makeshift model rockets and shooting them down the mountain, putting chairs on skis and seeing if id survive the plummet, sledding with a table, building igloos to write inside of, covering my house in white paint for a winter to see if they'd have trouble finding me. Craig was right, I was weird *how weird is she Craig?* He laughed at me and then gripped my shoulder as he began telling me the tale of Laila In the red coat. *Laila comes from America just like you, she's fluent in over 7 languages, we helped her move boxes today and she had at least 6 large 2x2x2 cardboard boxes filled with books, some of which im sure are as old as your own judging by the glass cases she keeps them in. We came to get her on our way here and she was dancing with a chemistry skeleton like for a high school, she was pretty good too.* His accent annunciated the Two O's in too and Made me snicker as he finished the sentence, she sounded like a lovely girl but how do you start a conversation with someone like that? I nudged Craig *how do you start a conversation with someone like that?* he shrugs *how do I start a conversation with you?* I scratched my head *Craig you don't really start conversations with me you just grab a beer, mention a fact and then go from there.* He laughed at what I said then went digging in my fridge, he handed me 2 cans of Cola *same principal just with less hops.* I shook my head at him as I walked out of the kitchen with the wine and the cokes, I handed Krista the glass as I passed her and she thanked me before returning to browsing my board game collection in the closet. I walked over to Laila and handed her the cola *Craig tells me you don't drink and im right there with you, is that alright or would you like some water?* she smiled at me and took the cola *this is wonderful, I love the soda you guys have over here* as she spoke I couldn't help but stare at her shiny nose stud, as she spoke and caught my glance she covered it and began to take it out *sorry I wasn't sure if this looked good or not.* I gently outstretched my hand to indicate different *no no, its quite lovely, it accentuates your nose well.* she moved her hand back to her side and took a sip from her soda as she smiled. I laughed to myself and carried on the conversation, More and more people came and my house filled with guests, Krista ended up having us play charades and put me and Laila on a team. We went for many rounds, talking amongst ourselves or with the group and as the night got older and more and more people departed, it came down to just me, Craig, Krista and Laila. The score was 23 to 24 giving you a pretty good idea of how long it lasted. I had started a fire in my chimney earlier on in the night so the logs were crackling as the snow gently fell down our quiet mountain. Craig was in the middle of hopping on one leg and swinging his arm as if it held a long sword while I sat with Laila, she had since moved from one side of the couch to the other and was right next to me. As Craig finished up his turn we all laughed and Laila once again moved closer, their turn had ended without them scoring a point declaring me and Laila the winners. We all laughed as Craig told us a joke about Blackbeard and how they we were being elitist against his pirate ways, I was looking at Lailas eyes while we all laughed and noticed a peculiar spot on her left iris, a small white dot surrounded by emerald green. She turned to me as I was looking at her and laughed as we turned back towards the two, Craig stood up and looked at his watch *well Jordan I guess well have to leave you be for the night, but thank you for having us, Krista are you ready to go?* Krista nodded through a smile and stood up *oh Jordan ive had a lot tonight and so has Craig here so we called a car, its a bit of a straight shot though, would you mind bringing Laila back?* it was an odd request especially since the party was held at my house but it only took a few moments for it to dawn on me as Craig nodded his head with a smile. Laila began to protest *I don't want to be a burden you had us over and fed us I can just walk its no big deal.* I smiled at her *it would be my pleasure to bring you home, the drive over that way is beautiful anyway.* We all departed my house as Craig and Krista gave us hugs and kissed Laila on the cheek, I locked my door and followed Laila down the steps towards my car as Craig and Krista got into their Taxi laughing like maniacs. I turned the car on with my remote and walked to the other side to get her door she smiled at me as she stepped into the car *what a gentleman.* I had to bite my lips to hide my smirk as I went around the other side and opened my door, a gust of wind came down the mountain and hit me hard forcing my eyes shut, when I opened them I noticed that the sky was crystal clear showing me millions of beautiful stars amongst the pitch black sky. I stepped into the drivers seat and pulled out of the driveway, Laila turned towards me as we got out of the gravel and onto the pavement *thank you, im sorry Krista dumped me with you* I laughed for a moment *don't apologize for a second, im quite happy to get an extra moment or two with you.* she looked off but I saw in the reflection she was smiling *im pretty happy to get an extra moment too.* I pulled up to her house and got out, rushing around the side so I could open the door for her, almost missing the handle with my leather gloved hands and nearly falling on my face, as I got the door open and recovered from my stumble she stepped out and I closed the door behind her. *thank you for driving me home, I had a really nice night* I smiled and nodded *I did as well, thank you for coming.* she stood there for a moment as if she wanted me to hold her hand or hug her, I put my hand up and walked back to my drivers said *goodnight.* She smiled weakly and mumbled *goodnight.* I thought for a moment why id done what I just did and decided to try to reverse it, I stepped back around my car and before she could turn around I wrapped my arms around her, *thank you for coming tonight, would you like to get dinner with me tomorrow.* she wrapped her arms around my torso and pressed her cheek against my chest *yes please, can you pick me up at 7?* I nodded, grazing her head with my chin *absolutely.* I let go of her and she unwrapped her arms, turning to walk up towards her door *your eyes are beautiful* I said, getting the last word in for the night, she smiled and spoke softly *thank you* before walking into her house, I turned towards my car to enter but I felt compelled to turn back around before I did. her lights went on and she walked into the living room, I could see her silhouette begin To do a little dance, I smiled and stepped into my car to drive home. I rounded the corner towards my house and parked the car, turning it off and stepping out, before I went inside I stared up at the sky, it had gotten cloudy and dim, with only a few stars showing. I wasn't surprised the sky wasn't clear anymore, I knew that only on the best of nights, was the sky fully clear, and that those nights...were rare.