HAILEE IS MAKING tea as her father, Reverend Henry, paces around the kitchen. He was taken aback at the news she had just told him.

"Y/N L/N's coming here?" He asks, hands on his hips. "The boy's dangerous. He's careless. He's the worst kind of bully."

The girl smiles slightly. She starts putting some tea leaves into the pitcher.

"Daddy, what about forgiveness? You know, I—I thought we had discussed that I was gonna be able to decide how I wanted to spend my time in my life."

"Well, it's him I don't trust, not you." He replied, wiping a fork down with a towel.

Suddenly, the doorbell rings. Hailee stops what she's doing and leaves the kitchen to answer the door.

On the other side is Y/N, wearing a gray tee and faded jeans. His playbook was folded in the front pocket of his pants.

"Uh, hey." He greets.

"Hi."

"So...you gonna keep me out here all afternoon or what?"

She smiles. "Come on in."

He nods and goes through the narrow entrance, inadvertently bumping her arms as he does. Hailee shuts the door.

"My script is in my room, so I'll be right down." She makes her way up the stairs. "Make yourself at home."

"Oh, yeah. Sure."

Y/N watches her go and mumbles to himself.

"That's not likely."

He turns around and walks through the room, eyeing the pictures on the mantle on top of the piano. They were of Hailee as a little girl and there was also one of her parents.

Y/N looks over to the other side of the room, tilting his head and getting a better look at a small statue of Jesus Christ.

"Wow." He chuckled. "That is one scary lookin'..."

He spins around and sees Reverend Henry standing there. The young man gets startled.

"Jesus!"

"No, Hailee's father." Reverend Henry corrects slyly. "Hello, Mr. L/N. I understand you've managed to win the lead in the school play. Congratulations."

He stands there and simply nods. It isn't until a few seconds later, when the silence becomes too much that Y/N ends up replying.

"Listen, thanks for letting me come over and run lines with Hailee."

"I didn't let you." He shot back.

Y/N stuffs his hands in his pockets. "Oh."

"It's a school night," Henry says, then steps closer to him. "Let's get one thing straight, Mr. L/N. You think that on Sundays, I don't see you from where I stand..."

Y/N looks at Hailee's father, growing increasingly uncomfortable. He continues.

"But I see you." The man steps away. "I'll be in my office just here."

Reverend Henry leaves the way he entered the room. Y/N has an ughhh expression, and his shoulders drop. At the same time, Hailee makes it back downstairs.

"Ready?" She asks.

He sighs. "Yeah. Let's go."

Y/N walks over to her, and they soon leave the room.

• • •

THE NEXT DAY, Y/N makes it to school. In the yard, the boy's posse is there, having just met up with one another.

Andres and Matthew dap each other up before the Latino goes to hug Krystal. The girl then greets Casey with a hug as well.

Matthew parts from Laura and goes over to Y/N, who is walking toward them causally. He has recovered from his injuries and now doesn't need his crutches to get around.

"Y/N! Where've you been?"

He chuckles. "Nowhere, man."

They dap each other up, and Matthew leans in all close.

"Hey, come here. Listen."

"What's up?"

Matthew throws an arm over Y/N's shoulder.

"Are we cool?" He asks.

The question was rather strange to Y/N. He nods.

"Yeah, sure."

Matthew nods as well, patting his shoulder. The bell rings, and the two boys walk back toward campus with the rest of the posse following.

Later in the night, Y/N is driving his mom's Camry. She said she needed something picked up from the store, so he took it upon himself to do it for her. All The Stars by Kendrick Lamar with SZA plays on the radio.

Love, let's talk about love
Is it anything and everything you hoped for?
Or do the feeling haunt you?
I know the feeling haunt you

He suddenly slows the car when he spots a familiar-looking girl making her way into the cemetery he was just passing by.

It was Hailee.

Y/N arched a brow as he looked out the window. "What the hell?"

He cuts the ignition and hops out of the car. He ambles down the hill to join her in the cemetery, walking through the gates.

"Hey!"

The girl spins around and is perplexed. They both look at each other with the same wonder.

"What are you doing here?" Y/N asks.

"I should ask you the same question." She replies.

"Well..." He stuffs his hands in his leather jacket's pockets. "Do you normally walk by yourself in the cemetery at night?"

She shrugs. "Maybe."

Hailee turns and walks away. Y/N calls out again.

"Where you goin'?"

The girl looks back and shines her flashlight in his eyes.

"Come and see." She answers simply.

With a smirk, Hailee makes her way down the lawn. Y/N blinks a few times and then hobbles after her.

Y/N follows her to an open area of the cemetery where she already has some things set up. Hailee picks up a part of the mechanism she had and connects it with the other half. She sets it down.

"Okay, what is that?" Y/N asks.

"This is my telescope." She answers. "I built it when I was twelve."

Y/N nods, somewhat impressed. Hailee gestures toward it.

"Take a look." She adds.

Y/N peers into the telescope. He sees the stars but mainly spots a giant red ball in the sky. He knows exactly what it is.

"Saturn." He steps away and looks up at the sky. "Very cool."

"Yeah. I'm planning on building a larger one so I can see the Pons–Brooks comet. It comes this spring, and it won't return for another 70 years."

He replies sarcastically. "Ah. Nature's miracles."

She was pretty hurt by his remark, assuming he really didn't care about it. Hailee looks at the ground.

"But I get it." He adds at the last moment.

"Get what?" She asks, looking back at him.

He gestures toward the telescope. "That you're into all this stuff."

"This...stuff." She repeats, taking a beat. "I—I have my beliefs, I have faith, but don't you?"

"No." Y/N quickly answers. "There's too much bad shit in this world."

"Without suffering there'd be no compassion." Hailee states.

Y/N glances from the sky back to her. "Yeah, well, tell that to those who suffer."

Hailee sighs and shakes her head. She pulls out her phone and starts to play music, which she often does when she is alone stargazing. Surprisingly, she starts to play All The Stars.

Love, let's talk about love
Is it anything and everything you hoped for?
Or do the feeling haunt you?
I know the feeling haunt you

Y/N stands there and watches as she sits beside the telescope on the grass. He lets out a sigh and keeps his hands in his pockets. He wanted to compliment her taste in music once more, but since he already did those days ago, he thought it'd be pretty cringe.

"So...uh...I gotta go pick something up for my mom. I was on my way there actually before..."

"Okay." She simply replies.

Y/N gestures toward his car and starts to step away.

"Okay. I'll...I'll see you at school."

Hailee nods and keeps looking up at the sky. Y/N nods and walks across the grass and out of the cemetery, leaving the girl alone with her telescope and music.

Y/N gets back into his car and turns the ignition back on. As he looks out the window back toward the cemetery where Hailee is sitting, All The Stars plays again from the radio and continues where it left off.

This may be the night that my dreams might let me know
All the stars are closer
All the stars are closer
All the stars are closer
This may be the night that my dreams might let me know
All the stars are closer
All the stars are closer
All the stars are closer

Y/N turns back to his wheel and puts the gear in drive, making his way down the road and leaving the cemetery.

• • •

THE POSSE IS back at school. They stand by the lockers and are hanging around in the hallway. Andres watched as two attractive girls passed them by, and his eyes light up.

"Oh, my goodness." He reacts. "See, this is what I love about early spring."

Andres steps forward, but Matthew holds him back, grinning.

"Where those legs been hiding all this winter?" Andres remarks as he reaches out toward the young women.

Even Laura and Krystal are checking out the legs of the two girls. Krystal laughs.

"She's trashy."

"Right," Casey replies. "But that doesn't take 'em out from my go-to list."

The two laughed. Laura looks over and notices someone strolling up.

"Well, if it isn't the Virgin Mary." She says.

Y/N turns to see who she's referring to. Matthew also spots them and snickers, patting the young man's shoulder before wrapping an arm around his girlfriend's neck.

"Oh, dude, here comes your leading lady."

Y/N braces himself as Hailee approaches them. The innocent girl beams as she holds the book for her next class.

"Hey, Y/N." She greets. "So, I'll see you after school?"

Matthew and Laura look at Y/N, waiting for his response. There is a beat before Y/N gives a smug look back at her.

"Well, in your dreams." He replies.

Andres winces. Matthew tries to stifle a laugh and looks away.

Hailee looks at Y/N, not hurt or angry or upset, but with well, okay type expression. Y/N continues to smirk at her as Andres finally laughs.

"Ouch." He says.

Hailee gives a quick nod and goes on her merry way.

As she leaves, Y/N's expression falls.

"Hi," Andres speaks in a hi-pitch voice, mocking her. "Where's your sweater?"

Matthew laughs with Andres. Y/N also does, but mostly feigns it.

The bell rings. Matthew and Laura kiss, and she walks away. Andres strolls off with Krystal and Casey. Y/N and Matthew grab their bags.

"Let's get outta here." Y/N says.

He nods and pats Y/N's back. As they leave, Matthew daps up a nearby classmate before making his way to his next class with Y/N.

Y/N parks the Camry in front of Hailee's house. He's unhappy with himself, especially after how he acted earlier at school. He cuts the ignition and exits the car.

He walks up to the door and rings the doorbell. There is no immediate answer. He waits a bit before ringing it again.

Immediately, the door swings open. Hailee looks at him and seems as if she isn't too pleased to see him. Y/N guiltily looks at her.

Before he can say anything, Hailee shuts the door. Y/N sighs and leans against it.

"Come on, Hailee. Open the door. Please."

Y/N knocks and the door re-opens. He steps back as the girl quickly comes out and joins him on the porch.

"Whoa."

"What do you want?" She asks as she shuts the door behind her.

"You're not in a good mood." He remarks.

"You don't miss a thing."

He sighs. "Listen, Hailee. I was hopin' we could run lines together."

She nods. "Okay, but just not so anybody knows, right?"

"Well, I just figured we could surprise everyone with how good I get."

"Like we could be secret friends?"

She smiles. Y/N's face lights up, assuming she understands.

"Exactly. Exactly. It's like you're reading my mind."

"Great. Umm...maybe you could read mine."

Quickly, her face goes blank. Y/N's face falls and he doesn't say a word. Hailee turns to go back inside.

"Hailee. Hailee..." He calls out. "I can't just be your friend."

She faces him and keeps a hand on the door.

"Y/N, look, I thought I saw something in you. Something good." She replies. "But I was very wrong."

Hailee shuts the door. Y/N sighs and heads down the steps of the porch.

"DAMN IT!" He shouts in frustration.

The door suddenly swings open, and Reverend Henry steps onto the porch, looking mighty pissed off. Y/N turns back to look at him as the man puts his hands on his hips.

"S—Sorry." Y/N apologizes before walking off.

It is nighttime, and Y/N is at home, lying on his side on his bed. He flips through his yearbook unhappily. His stereo continues to play his music, which was Blame by Calvin Harris and John Newman.

Can't be sleeping, keep on waking
Without the woman next to me
Guilt is burning, inside I'm hurting
This ain't a feeling I can keep
So blame it on the ni-i-i-i-ight
Don't blame it on me, don't blame it on me

He finally lands on the page he's looking for. He stares down at Hailee's picture, reading the caption.

Hailee Steinfeld
Red Cross; Stars and

Ambition: To witness a miracle.

Y/N looks to the side, considering the ambition. He bites the inside of his cheek. Y/N then shuts the yearbook.

Blame it on the ni-i-i-i-ight
Don't blame it on me, don't blame it on me
So blame it on the ni-i-i-i-ight
Don't blame it on me, don't blame it on me
Don't blame it on me

At Granada Elementary, Dylan twirls a basketball as he sits down. Y/N sits on the table beside him.

"You know the answer?" He asks the boy.

Dylan looks the other way, bored. Y/N nods.

"Look, man, I know you know." He adds.

In the background, Hailee is at a table teaching her student. Y/N sighs and looks around before directing his attention out the window. He notices something: a basketball court.

Y/N and Dylan stand a few feet apart from each other and several feet away from the basket. Dylan still holds the basketball.

"Okay, it's you, me, and the basket," Y/N explains. "Okay, we form the three corners of a triangle. Now take a step towards the basket."

Dylan does so. Y/N copies his move at the same time.

"Now, am I at the same angle to you and the basket as before?" Y/N asks.

The boy nods. "Yeah."

"Are you?"

"Yeah."

Y/N turns to him. "So what did we just make?"

"Uh...a similar triangle?" Dylan answers.

"Yes." He points at him with a smile. "Yes."

Meanwhile, Hailee walks over to the window and watches the two boys outside. Y/N continues his lesson.

"Okay, make me an isosceles."

Dylan takes a huge step to the left. Y/N claps.

"You got it." He says. "Two sides the same."

Dylan smiles, proud of himself for finally understanding and getting through the lesson he'd been struggling with. Y/N looks at him and smirks.

"Okay, enough of this. Let's play."

Dylan smiles back and tosses the ball to Y/N. Immediately, Y/N throws it into the hoop, and it goes in. The high schooler holds up his his follow-through and steps back.