You stop in the middle of trying to get the wobbly zipper of your jacket to work (it never zips higher than like two inches up from your belly button, which makes you look totally dorky but you always forget until you've already started zipping, and then it doesn't seem worth it to undo it) to stare at your best friend, Jamie. "What?"
"Was everyone insane, or what?" Jamie gestures skyward. "It's dots. Not hydras or princesses or warriors."
"I mean, you're supposed to imagine them," you say slowly, worried that your friend is a lot dumber than you previously thought, but not wanting to say so right away.
"Uh, no shit. But, come on - that's clearly a box. That's a line. That's another lopsided box thing. What kind of idiot looks at Boxy McSquiggle and is like, 'Gee whiz, what a swell magic hunter man! Willikers!'"
You can't help but get a little defensive. Since you first figured out the concept of constellations (you have this memory of learning about them in fourth grade, but that can't be right, can it? you must have known about constellations before then), you've always had a soft spot in your heart for Orion. It was the first constellation you knew how to identify. His belt, the bow in his hand, his faithful dog, Sirius.
"Probably someone who had an imagination," you say, trying to inject as much acid as you can muster (which isn't much) into your voice.
"Probably someone who had way too much time on their hands, you mean," Jamie says, too focused on being clever to notice your attempt at sarcasm.
You sigh, because you're not really mad at Jamie. You never are. Sometimes you think being Jamie's friend is kind of like being a constellation yourself: you're pretty interesting and you've got some neat stories, but someone's gotta be pretty invested to find out about them, and - besides - you kind of pale in comparison to the loud, colorful carnival that is Jamie.
Jamie snickers. "Ha, look, those stars down there below his belt make up his dick."
"It's Orion's sword," you say.
"How's it hanging, Orion?" Jamie crows. "To the left!"
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