Illuminating star

"I'm not as pretty as she is," Anna wailed, despair marring lines on her young face. "People don't look at me and fall in love."

"Don't pout," Raj chided, flashing his infectious grin. His vain attempt at trying to lighten the mood was brushed aside by her elegantly muttered 'whatever'.

"You won't understand."

"Why not?"

"Because you're not a woman," she explained. "This is a woman's pain," her nasal voice complained.

"Try me," he said gently.

"I'm not the sort of woman who makes men go crazy. Brothers don't fight over me," she added, referring to her favorite TV show that featured a similar dilemma.

"That rarely happens in real life." He studied her mutinous face, "in fact, in real life the bro code is too strong. We don't infringe."

She rolled her eyes. "Thats not the point. The point is I'm not the kind of girl who is striking. I don't imprint myself onto a persons memory the minute they see me."

He raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"I'm not always put together. My hair is a mess, ALWAYS. My face breaks out every few days, I'm always back on my beauty parlor appointments," her face crumpled. "I don't have men leaving me compliments on Facebook."

Raj's face showed disgusted surprise.

"I don't want creepy 'fraandship messages," she added hastily. "Its just nice to know that someone could see your photo on a social networking website and fall in love. You know?"

He shook his head.

"I'm not her!"

Her sobs grew louder, an ever growing orchestra that reached its crescendo.

He snorted, took her in his arms and ran his hands through her hair. "I don't think she is HER all the time," he murmured.

"You're not making sense," she hicupped, her face buried in his warm chest.

"I'm not good at that," he sighed. "Yes, you're not her," he said, introspectively.

"Not helping," she scolded softly.

"You're not a one day full moon. You're the forever shining star that illuminates my galaxy."

The lyrical response stumped her. She pulled back, looked up into his face, surprised.

"You're one for the ages honey. You're not a seasons guest, here today gone tomorrow. You're real. You hang around. You support, you laugh, you care. That makes you pretty damn awesome in my book."

He grinned.

His silly, lopsided grin.

And she laughed.