Monica took a drag from her cigarette. She wasn't a smoker, but every now and then she would bum one off of her boyfriend or Jane. Drinks and dancing and the full moon always made her crave one or two.

Her friends were inside the pizza place eating. Monica ate one slice and excused herself to go outside for a quick smoke. She heard the loud screech of the bar's door below her opening. Whoever came up had their hoodie raised over their head, so she didn't recognize who it was at first.

"I didn't figure you for a smoker," the person said.

Monica looked over from her daze, momentarily lost in the stars above her. The night sky was unbelievably clear and the air sailing on the breeze felt like silk on her skin. She shivered when she saw it was Scout. She was lighting up her own cigarette as she walked over and leaned against the brick building next to Monica.

"I don't. I just felt like having one," she said.

Scout took another drag from her cigarette and looked up at the stars, too.

"My brother, he's in school for astronomy. He's really smart. I can't even pretend to understand all that's going on out there," Scout said. There was a depth and mildness in her voice that really drew Monica in.

Usually, she was not one for small talk. With all the drinks she had and the slight high from the nicotine, Monica felt like talking, so she did. After all, outer space talk wasn't always so small.

"It freaks me out," she flicked the end of her cigarette and crossed her arms, dangling her cigarette in the air in front of her, lazily.

"Why?" Scout asked, inching closer to Monica and sliding her hoodie down.

"Well," Monica bit the inside of her lip, "it's all so expansive, right? We are so, so tiny. So insignificant. If there was no gravity, we'd all just soar off the face of this planet. It's scary. One snap of some fingers and we're all dust."

"I don't think it's scary. I think it's a lesson. To propel us forward. We could be gone any second, and that's the beauty in it all."

Monica's cheeks flushed and she looked into Scout's eyes. The breeze played with some shorter strands of Scout's hair. Monica felt a pang in her core. A tinge spreading outward around her edges--a magnetic, warming force attracting her to this girl. This girl who didn't mind how tiny she was in all of this.

Monica felt like maybe she wouldn't feel so insignificant if she kissed her. She caught Scout off guard, but she didn't pull away. She held onto Monica's waist with her free hand. 

Scout's kiss felt gentle and delicious, and her lips were fuller than Owen's and softer.

Owen. Monica pulled away first and brought her fingers to her lips.

She heard footsteps come to a halt behind her. She turned around. It was Jane with wide eyes and an unlit cigarette in her hand.