Marilyn didn't move. She just looked at the outstretched hand.
"Can't you let go?" Michael asked after a moment of silence, and then he climbed higher still, until he reached her level, one foot between hers, the other a little lower for a better hold. "Give me your hand!" he repeated.
Being taller than Marilyn, his face was almost level with hers, even though his weight rested on a stone below her. He was leaning towards her, reaching for where her fingers held on to the little tree as if her life depended on it. Despite the darkness she could see his face now, his shining eyes and brilliant teeth and a friendly smile that played around both. He was so close she could smell him, too, a warm, soft, musk fragrance that filled her lungs and engulfed her.

Then his reaching fingers touched her forearm. They felt warm and soft and clean, as they travelled along her wrist and hand, and then gently loosened her grip by slipping between her palm and the tree.
"It's okay. Don't be scared. I won't let you fall. Trust me. Give me your hand."

Marilyn couldn't do anything but stare into his face. The spot where his fingers had first touched her arm seemed to glow, even though they had long moved on. She let him remove her hand and held on to his. His arm was firm as she struggled for balance. It felt as if she was holding on to a stone figure.
He smiled, reassuring her.
Tentatively, she let go of the tree with her other hand as well and tried to stand straight, but a piece of wood or stone gave way underfoot. She screamed. It felt like falling. Falling downhill into the vast blackness in which she couldn't see, onto rocks, into nothingness. Michael's other hand closed around her elbow and without thinking she grabbed his upper arm.
He gave a brief and joyful laugh. "I said I wasn't going to let you fall! Trust me!"
"Okay." It was only a whisper.
"Okay! Come. It's much better over there."
Marilyn kept looking at his face.
"You have to look down at where you place your feet, you know?"

Indeed, the ground was much better a few feet down and to the left.
"I'm sorry I made you climb down here," Michael said in a low voice. "Maybe that wasn't a good idea. But it's such a nice place to see the stars."
And he let go of Marilyn's hand.
"No, I'm happy we did come down here..." she murmured.

Yet a bit farther down, there was a clearing in the shrubbery. It truly was an enchanted place. Of course it wasn't a grassy meadow, but there were no bushes, just some fairly shallow plants. The bushes that grew all around encircled the clearing, and when they sat down, nothing could be seen except the sky high above them.

Due to the lights, and the smog over LA reflecting it, only the brightest stars could be seen from the streets of Encino. But up here on the Encino Hills, hidden in the shadows of the bush land, the stars were fairly clear.
Marilyn gasped. "This is so beautiful!" she said in a low whisper, as if loud voices could maybe drive them off.
"Isn't it?" she heard his hushed voice a few feet away. "I come here a lot. I love the stars! What do you know about them?"

Marilyn had to admit that she knew near to nothing about the stars.
"Do you see that one over there?"
She turned to him to see in which direction he was pointing. "Which one?"
"That one."
She looked at the sky again. "No..."
There was his soft laugh again, and she heard the rustling of the shallow scrubs that they sat in when he got up and came over. He crouched down behind her and stretched his pointing arm over her shoulder close to her face. "That one. Do you see it now?"
"Oh, yes..." His proximity was distracting. She could even feel his warmth against her back, although he wasn't touching her.
"That's Polaris, the North Star. It's always there. All the other stars move because the earth is turning, but this one is always there. It's a guide. Where that star stands, there's always North." He went back to where he had sat before, and Marilyn wished he hadn't. "So South is in the opposite direction. Consequently, West is behind us and we are looking east. We are looking out over L.A., so it's true. But even if we would get lost, with the help of the North Star, we'd find our way back."
"A guiding star..." Marilyn said quietly.
"Yes. A guiding star."
"The other night I got lost walking around. If I had known that star, maybe I wouldn't have."
"You got lost walking around Encino?" There was some more rustling of leaves and twigs as he stretched his body out on the ground and folded his arms behind his head. "You are one L.A. kid!"
"I'm not really an L.A. kid," Marilyn said in an exaggerated New England accent, following his example and lying on her back among the tough, little plants, that defied the lack of water up in the hills as well as the lack of soil. "I'm from Maine."
"Oh! I always thought you sounded kinda posh, girl!" His voice was soft and disembodied, now that she couldn't see him anymore.
"Yes, that's what my classmates thought, too, when I came to L.A. That I sounded posh. That I didn't sound black..."
"When did you come here?"
"In 2nd grade. Elementary school."
"Was it hard? To come into a class where everybody was friends already?"
"Yes..."

Michael was the first to speak again. "I'm not from L.A., either. I'm from Gary, Indiana."
"Where is that?"
"Indiana?"
"No! Gary. I know where Indiana is – well roughly, at least. I mean, where in Indiana? Is it rather north, south, east or west? Or in the middle? Because I think I've never heard of it."
"You probably haven't. It's in the west. If you gave people a map with no cities on it, and you asked them to put a pin in Chicago, most of them would put the pin right in Gary."
"But Chicago is in Illinois."
"Yes. But Gary in close to the state border, on the bottom end of Lake Michigan."
"Is it a nice place?"
"No. It's a poor place. And we were poor, too. Mother was always struggling to make ends meet, although my father worked two shifts. We were just too many children and too little money. And that was that."
"How come you moved to L.A.?"
"In winter 68, Motown started to leave Detroit for Los Angeles, and we went along. They wanted to get into the movie industry, so they moved the company to Hollywood. Or so they say. And it's understandable, you know? There's so much money in making movies. Much more money than there is in music. But I think the whole situation in Detroit had to do with it, too. The riots in 67. It wasn't a good place to do business anymore. I guess, they were scared, too."
"If you work for them, how come you don't know why they moved?"
Michael laughed again, but now there was sarcasm in it. "I'm a recording artists. They tell me how to dress and what to say and most importantly what to sing. They wouldn't discuss their company policies with me. They wouldn't discuss anything with me, for that matter! Also, I was only 11 at that time."
"Just guessing, then."
"Well, it's a little more than guessing..." His detached voice carried over the greenery and seemed to hang in the private, little space above them. "My brother Jermaine married Hazel Gordy, the daughter of the boss of Motown. Joe, my father, he didn't like it at all, but Jermaine still did. He still did. And I've heard the like ring, if you want so. It wasn't talked about – not really – but yes, I've heard it ring. Not that it matters, far and large."
"So, maybe they'll make you a movie star? I mean, if Motown is going into movies? Like Diana Ross."
Michael took a deep breath. "The thing is," he said slowly, "I'm not with Motown anymore."
"Oh, I see."
"Yeah... So right now... I don't think they will." He sighed and Marilyn heard the scrubs rustle, as he changed position on the hard ground. "I used to look at the stars a lot, when we still lived up in Gary. I miss them since we moved to L.A."

Michael had never talked much about himself or his family. All the time Marilyn had known him, he had only once elaborated on his life: when she had asked him about being taken to the hospital the day after the bicycle accident. It was nice. Personal.

Michael's voice drifted off and silence followed. The noise of the city was far away, and other sounds, those of small creatures that had probably been asleep in the bushes around and were now settling down again after having been disturbed by their arrival, filled the air. Then, slowly and unbidden, the thought of Ms. Richards and the call to her parents about the ruined history book made its way back into Marilyn's mind. She took a deep breath trying to push it away again.

"A penny for your thoughts," came the voice out of the dankness.
"The other day, after the rain, Thomas, a guy from school, poured dirty water on me and my stuff, particularly my history book, by driving right through a puddle in the gutter, as I was walking home. He did it intentionally. He took aim, you know! Today, the teacher saw the ruined book and wanted me to pay for it, and when I said Thomas had done that, he denied it. He said it were my fault and that I was making things up. Then she wanted me to pay half, and Thomas to pay the other half. But I didn't want that, either. Because, you know, I wasn't my fault! And then she said, she'd call my parents about it, and... yeah, well... She hasn't done, yet, I don't think, but she will. And... I don't know."

Marilyn wasn't sure why she had said that. Suddenly, it had felt like a bubble in her throat that wanted out. And the worst part about it was, that as always it didn't sound half as bad as it felt. That was always the problem. What they did to her felt so terrible, but when she told someone, it just sounded silly.

She heard Michael pull air through his teeth. "What will your father and mother say?"
"I don't know. That's what I'm worried about. I'm scared my dad might say I shouldn't have answered the teacher back."
The scrubs rustled and the dark silhouette of Michael's head became visible, as he propped himself up on one elbow. "Thomas? Isn't that Josie's boyfriend? The one who got cheated on?"
"Yes, that's him." Of course Michael remembered Josie.
"And wasn't he at your house, too?"
"Yeah..." Marilyn was surprised Michael remembered that.
"Gosh, why is he such a dick? I don't understand why Josie is with him. What's his problem with you?"
For a moment Marilyn said nothing. Not because she didn't know what to say, but because she was embarrassed.

"Because I had a crush on him once, and he found out," she whispered finally. To her surprise she found that in some odd way it felt good to say it out loud.

"In how far is that a reason, let alone an excuse, to act like a dick?"
Now, Marilyn did not know what to say. Because I'm ugly-Edmond. It had always felt like a perfectly good reason, but now that she thought about saying it, it felt like childish nonsense. "I don't know. It is to him. At least that's what he said."
"He said that?"
"Yes."
"I was willing to give him credit for being a really huge dick, but that's just..." Michael allowed himself to drop back down into the scrubs with an audible thud, "I don't even know what that is! Why do you girls fall for that guy? Someone like him shouldn't get a girl!" With some rustling he came back up on his elbow. "Seriously, what's the matter with you all? I can't wrap my head around it. Why do you fall for guys who treat girls bad?"
"It was a long time ago. I was only 12. Now I don't remember what it was I liked about him. He's just..."
"A dick?" Michael offered.
"I've never heard you use that word before, I don't think."
"I just never found a use for it before!" Michael's amusement was audible. "But I think it fits him well. Can't think of a better one! Can you?"
"No. He's definitely a dick!" In the darkness, Marilyn smiled. It felt good to be with someone who for once shared her opinion and didn't take side with Thomas, although she wasn't entirely sure, if it was because of her, or if maybe Josie contributed to Michael's dislike for Thomas as well. After all he thought she was beautiful.
"So, you were 12. But what about Josie? Girl, she sure isn't 12 anymore! Why is she with him? I'm sure she could do better than that!"
"I don't know what she sees in him. Well, everybody seems to like him. He's been prom king forever – like, almost ever since I can remember. And as of late he's captain of the football team, too." Marilyn turned her attention away from Michael's dark form and looked at the dome of stars above. "Maybe he's – you know – good in bed."
"Well, she doesn't seem to be too satisfied with him in that department," Michael giggled. "After all, she's cheating on him!"
"True, that!" Marilyn had never thought about what attracted Josie to Thomas. They had just always been together. They had always been an item. They had always been the couple – prom king and prom queen since Middle School. "Honestly, I don't know what everybody sees in him!"
"I hope you won't get too much trouble with your father. But the teacher will surely call Thomas' father, too, don't you think? So at least he's sure to get a rubbing from him, if nothing else!"
"Yes!" If nothing else, that, at least, would be a really good thing.

"Are there any other stars you know?" Marilyn asked into the silence that had fallen between them.
"Oh, yes, let's see..." Michael head sank back into the scrubs. She listened and thought that she could hear his every move in the dark. "Do you see that constellation over there?"
Marilyn looked to see in which direction his outstretched arm was pointing.
"The one that looks like a huge W in the sky."
"Yes." Other than Polaris, the big W was unmistakable.
"It's called Cassiopeia. And the middle of it is pointing towards the North Star. Well, more or less. Anyway, when you find Cassiopeia you'll find the North Star, and when you find the North Star, you can find your way."
"Why is it called Cassiopeia?"
"I don't know," Michael said lightly. "It's something ancient. Greek or so."

They fell silent again, looking at the canopy of tiny suns far, far way, that formed a giant W high above them.
"It could be an M to," Marilyn said after a moment.
"Hm, yeah, I guess so. Depends on which way you look at it."
"M for Michael."
She heard the scrubs rustle as he suddenly lifted his head again from where he lay. For a moment, the dark silhouette of his head stood out against the surrounding once more as he seemed to look in her direction – she couldn't be sure due to the lack of light.
"Yes!" he said, and surprise rang in his voice, "I never thought about that! That's cool! M for Michael!" His head sank back out of sight, and for a moment longer she heard him chuckle to himself among the greenery he was lying in.
"It's written in the stars," Marilyn said in a dreamlike voice.
Briefly, Michael's low chuckling flared up again, then it died away. "M for Michael," he repeated. "Or for Marilyn."

~~~~~
Hello, y'all! :)

I hope you enjoyed this chapter . If you come across any typos or other errors , anything that bothers you, and you want to take the time to comment on it, feel free to do so! I know, some people don't want any corrections in their comments, but I don't understand why. Let's face it, if there's an error in the text, whoever reads the text will see it, anyway! LOL What's the point in being picky about the comments section, then?! XD

Speaking of comments, there have been so many awesome comments on the last chapter!!! O.o I was absolutely floored by that. Thank you so much! It was a pleasure to read them, and I'm sorry that I didn't answer to them all right away. I did read them all the moment they came in, though. :")

I decided that I wanted to take one of those comments and post it with this chapter, and it was really tough to choose one, because there were so many really great and really lovely ones!
I had written the beginning of this chapter already when I published Chapter 15, and when I read CandaceGillespie's comment on it, I knew that would be the one!

"its so sweet, micheal taking her to his special spot .and the end give me your hand. it took me back to the first date with my husband the first time I touched his hand. it gave me a chill down my spine . that magic touch."

Because, you see, that's exactly what's happening to Marilyn, here! It's the moment when someone does something small, when someone just touches you - and you are like, WOW!!! And it made me smile a lot, that she picked up on something that was only just about to happen! :")

I had so much fun with this! So please do leave comments for me! :) I'll get back to every single one of them, and I'll choose a new one for the next chapter. :")

And if you really enjoyed the story, please consider to vote for it! <3

And if you really want to make my day, please do both! :D

Alright, that's all for now. Thank you all for reading! Have a lovely weekend!

Much Love,
always,
Birdie <33