Skyline Read Free

trivia in January; you were busy. Ice skating in February; you’d
gone with Charlie already. To go with Charlie to the LEGO store in April; you
and Felix were on a date. A date .”
    Charlotte
crushed her teeth together, holding in her retort.
    When
she didn’t contradict him, Monroe snorted and crashed onto a metal chair,
dangling his long legs off the side. “I’m thrilled, thrilled that the
astrolabe’s done, Char. But don’t put this on me. Bill’s a part of my life,
just like I’m a part of yours.”
    “I—”
    “It
doesn’t matter.” Monroe swiveled himself into a seated position. “Let’s get
this over with. You wanted a little alone time?” He looked pointedly at Leanor,
then back to Charlotte. “You’ve got a minute or so before Bill gets back with
drinks.”
    This
time Charlotte didn’t respond. She didn’t take the bait about Leanor. None of
this would be happening without her. Her mentor continued watching, smile
faltering as Charlotte kept her lips pressed together.
    “You’re
wasting your minute,” Monroe said.
    Still
Charlotte didn’t speak. She stared Monroe down. Didn’t speak a fucking word for
the entire two minutes. Monroe stared back with a lifted eyebrow, but didn’t
argue.
    When
Bill returned, Charlotte said crisply, “Good, you’re back. We didn’t want to
start without you.”
    Now
Monroe leaned over, snaking a hand over the metal to clutch hers again. “Char,
he’s family.”
    Like
a spark, that simple word changed everything. Warmth flooded Charlotte’s
fingers, and she squeezed back. “I get that, ’Roe.”
    She
couldn’t help but glance at Leanor, who dipped her head, acknowledging that it
was okay.
    Charlotte
released Monroe’s hand, and let hers fall to the table and the crushed purple
velvet. It felt smooth and rich in her hands, hundreds of little fibers
pressing up against her fingers. Three long years, and this was the moment. If
Leanor was okay with it, then Charlotte would be too.
    If
Bill was family, he was family.
    So
Charlotte took hold of the velvet and wrenched it away, revealing the astrolabe.
    It
almost looked like a glass softball, but instead of stitching, there was a
single ridge separating the orb into two halves. Beneath the glass was a deep
inky black. As Monroe and Bill leaned in, bulbous reflections peered back.
    “Whoa,”
Monroe said. His face was wide-open in astonishment, not a single quip at the
ready. “It’s so deep.”
    “Just
wait,” Charlotte said, reaching to the astrolabe. She dragged her fingers in a
C, the glass giving her no resistance. Deep within, the astrolabe glowed to
life. The lights pulsed—bright, brighter, brightest—until points of light
glittered everywhere. On Suni’s storefront, on Monroe, Bill, and Leanor’s
faces, and on the clouds above, exactly where the stars were hidden thousands
of light-years away. “The night sky.”
    Below
shone the exact time and date: June 23, 2023, 9:07 p.m.
    With
a grin, Monroe looked to Bill’s constellation-covered face and touched his
boyfriend’s beard. “My bear,” he said, his fingers stopping at a few dots on
Bill’s pale skin. “Complete with Ursa Minor on his face.”
    “It’s
amazing, Charlotte. Leanor,” Bill said. “And Monroe said something about
history?”
    Of
course that was what would excite her history-teacher brother. “Yeah. While
Leanor streamlined, I spent months inputting every star chart we found, mapping
it so that you can see the stars as they looked on any night in time. Whether
that’s ten years in the future …” She twisted her fingers forward and the
readout spun forward ten years. “A hundred years in the past …” The date read
1923. “Or even prehistory.” She spun and spun her hand, star lines spinning on
the street, until the readout showed 200 A.D.
    Charlotte
squinted across the way, to where Leanor sat. Their gazes met, and Leanor
nodded her permission once more. Charlotte’s heart drummed inside her