I felt someone shaking me. He wouldn't stop. I could tell that it was quite early, about five in the morning. It must've been rather important for someone to try to wake me up at this hour.

"Hey, Pearl, get up," a gentle voice coaxed. "Wake up, luv."

"Huh?" I said sleepily. "John? What do ya need?" I started to rub my eyes. He was sitting on my bed.

"Pearl, I have to get back to the college. This weekend they're not lettin' any of us out, so I haveta get back before they discover I left."

"Oh, okay. What time did you wake up though?"

"Four-thirty …"

"Four-thirty in the morning! Are you insane?" I exclaimed, totally in shock and disbelief.

John continued after a cute shrug. "Right now, it's about ten minutes to six. And you're going to Paul's today, most definitely."

"Yeh, I know--" I began.

"--So I went over to Paul's earlier, woke him up, and told him that you were goin' to ask him for some homework help."

"John! You didn't haveta do that! I could've just gone over at a more decent hour!"

"No, it wasn't just that, luv. I warned him that if somethin' happens …" John took his index finger and motioned an imaginary cut across his neck to indicate that Paul was going to pay the ultimate price if anything happened to me. Seeing John play the part of executioner made me giggle. I knew that nothing was going to happen between Paul and me, so I had no worries.

"So just watch it," my brother warned. "I'll be on my way now, but I'll be back, perhaps when you least expect it. Get some more rest." John leaned over and gave me a kiss on my cheek.

"Thank you for everything, John. Please come back more often. I miss you."

"I miss you too, Pearl. Just please be careful with Paul for me, all right? See ya later, luv!"

In the next ten seconds, John bolted out of my room and sprinted back to the Art College. I went back to sleep with a heart full of innocent contentment, joy and gratefulness, knowing that my brother had taken care of me once again.

Around eight o'clock, I awoke once again and prepared for the trek to Paul's house. Getting up early on Saturday mornings doesn't really bother me since it's been a habit of mine to get up early in general. After eating breakfast, saying goodbye to Aunt Mimi and telling her that I would be back that night, I grabbed my art supplies and my math homework and strolled to Paul's house.

~~~***~~~

"Oh, Paulina, come on in." The wise and friendly man whom I always saw at Paul's house opened the door for me. He was none other than Mr. James McCartney, or Jim for short.

"Thank you, Mr. McCartney," I answered back with my own smile. "Is Paul here now?"

"He sure is. Seems like your older brother gave him some sort of talk?" One of Jim's eyebrows arched up knowingly.

"Yeah." I grew shy. "I'm sorry if it caused you any inconvenience."

"Oh, not at all! I was already up and about. Perhaps the only one who thought it was an inconvenience was Paul." His seemingly all-seeing eyes glanced in the direction outside of the room. "But he should be here any minute. I have to tell you that I will be leaving to run a few errands later on today, so if you don't see me at around four o'clock this afternoon, don't panic."

"That's not a problem. Thank you for letting me know. And, by the way, where's Mike?"

"Michael is working on a history project for school. He's at a friend's house with three of his other mates. He'll be back 'round nine tonight."

"Gear, thank you once again."

"You're welcome … Now where is that boy?"

"Right 'ere dad! Sorry, woke up a lit'le late," Paul explained as he rushed down the stairs to us. "You can blame it on her brother 'ere!" He cocked his head toward me and had a sly smile on his face.

"Now, now, Paul, I say you deserved it. You need to get up earlier these days anyway." Jim kidded.

"Hey, I thought you were on my side!"

"And I think you, young man, complain too much!" Mr. McCartney laughed and patted him on the shoulder. Paul shrugged, not being able to deny the truth.

"Well, I see that I have distracted you two enough. Both of you get to work, understand? And Paul …" Jim pointed a finger at his son warningly and warily, then glanced at me.

"Dad …" Paul groaned while his cheeks slightly turned pink. He gave his father a skeptical look, and immediately Jim returned that same expression.

"Just makin' sure, y'know. I'm serious about this. I'll be around until this afternoon if you need anything."

After Paul and I thanked Jim as he left the room, the younger McCartney looked to me and asked, "So, ya need a bit of help on some math of yours?"

"Yeah, please. And afterwards, if we have time, I'm going to draw you, like I promised."

"Great! Thanks!" Paul said happily.

"But before we get to that, what did John say when he came over?" I was curious to find out how John had 'threatened' Paul.

"Oh, I heard some clanking noises early this mornin'. John was throwing pebbles at me window, and once I rolled out of bed and noticed, he motioned to me to open the door. I was so bloody tired, but I knew I had to do as he said, since it's not typical of John to be awake that early. Somethin' must've been up. So I managed to drag meself downstairs and open the door fer 'im. Then he gripped me collar like he was going to lift me up with one hand, looked me in the eye, and told me straight up that he'd kill me if I did anyth--I mean--if anything happened to you …"

"That's my John. You better thank your lucky stars he didn't break the window," I said, smiling. "Is that all he did?"

"Oh, yeah, then he told me, 'Have a nice day.' Rather kind of him, I think," Paul added in a sarcastic tone.

I giggled. "Shall we start with the inevitable then?"

"Sure, now, what did you need?" Paul said, sitting down at the living room table. I took a seat next to him and opened my math book.

"Ah, honours geometry. I remember that book from last year."

"Uh-huh. Can you help me with this proof, please?" I asked him.

"Yeah. I think so." He looked at the problem. "Oh, man, this proof is going to be at least ten steps, not including the given." In geometry, proofs are used to confirm specific congruencies, theorems, and more. For the current problem, I had to prove that the given quadrilateral, SWQU, was a parallelogram, which was a bit difficult since SWQU was already inside a second parallelogram.

"All right, let's get started," I said, wanting to get my homework finished as soon as possible.

Step by step with his careful guidance, Paul helped me with that proof, which resulted in a total of fourteen statements. Then he, being the wonderful tutor, continued to help me with the rest of my homework. It was amazing how he could remember anything from the previous year.

"Wow, that's all there is to it?" I asked, finishing up problem number thirty-five, the last one on my assignment. I neatly put all my math papers together and placed them inside my binder.

"Yep, that's it. Gear, huh? Do you understand how it works out now?" he inquired, full of genuine concern.

"Uh-huh, thanks, Paul. It was really nice of you to help me with it," I replied gratefully.

"It was my pleasure." Paul's cheeks became even rosier than before as he grinned.

"Why don't I begin that drawing of you now?" I offered, saving Paul's cheeks from becoming even redder.

"Okay, that'd be great! But, um, if it's not too difficult fer you, could you draw it outside?"

I thought about it for a second as I glanced out the window. The afternoon sun shone brightly, emanating enough light to illuminate my paper.

"Sure, we could do that. Did you have any specific location in mind?" I stood up and so did Paul, telling his father that we were going out and would be back in a while. Paul headed toward the door while I picked up my art supplies and followed him.

"Well, there's this one place, in a park kinda. It's on a little hill, with a bench, and when you sit on that bench, you can see the sunset. It's really nice. Can we go there?"

"Of course, Paul. It sounds so lovely," I told him with a smile.

About ten minutes later, we arrived at the picturesque location Paul had described to me. Sure enough, there stood the little knoll with the lonely green bench facing the horizon, right where the golden sun sank daily. The trees that encompassed the area also gleamed of that golden hue, dripping from autumn's phenomenal paintbrush. They formed a sacred sanctuary, or almost a pleasant and reassuring reality.

"This is me favorite place to sit and let my mind wander. It didn't have a name, so I call it Starlight Palace. Kind of a funny name, I know."

"No, no, it's beautiful. I like it," I told him, still admiring my halcyon surroundings. "Starlight Palace. How did you come up with it?"

"Oh, because the first time I came here, it was already night, and the stars were out, protecting me, shielding me. It was so breathtaking, it didn't seem real…"

We both smiled at each other as I directed Paul to sit on the bench. I told him to stretch his legs out, with his hands clasped together, resting on his slightly bent knees. Wanting to include the skyline in my drawing, I stood behind the bench and faced the horizon. Paul turned his head toward me. He stayed as still as a standing stone, as if he had posed like that many times before. First, I lightly sketched his surroundings, then my drawing became more lifelike as I added details, starting with Paul first. This was met with some difficulty. I tried to draw his face, but something wasn't right. He just looked ordinary; he lacked feeling in his expression.

"What's the matter, Paulina?" he asked. I sat down next to him on the bench once he moved his legs out of the way. He instinctively scooted closer to me when I faced him.

"Paul, what are you thinking about right now?"

"Um, what do you mean?" Paul queried curiously.

"For example, how do you feel? Do you feel pensive? Content? I'm not just drawing a picture of you physically, if you understand what I mean. What I need is a feeling behind it all, so I can draw who you are, you know, sort of like capturing a bit of your personality or spirit."

"Wow, I never thought of it that way, luv. I see what you mean. Hmm … I feel, well, yeh, content sounds right. And a bit anxious, I guess, since I'm a perfectionist and always want to get things done right. I'm cool about it though. But fer now, I think you could say I feel I'm on top of the world, and nothing's gonna change it, you know?"

"That's really good. Just what I needed! Thanks! Oh, and by the way, what's your favorite color?"

"Oh, me favorite color? Why do you ask? Um … it would have to be blue."

"Gear, that's my favorite color too. But why, Paul?"

"Let's see, 'ere. Um, it's the color of the sky, the ocean, represents calm, peace, tranquility …"

"Thanks, that's wonderful. Now, I want you to imagine all the things you mentioned. Imagine the blue. Imagine the sky and ocean. Radiate the feelings of peace and tranquility through the blue, and bear the thought in mind that 'nothing's gonna change my world,' like you said. Can you do that for me, please?"

"Sure, I'll try. Don't worry, I'll do me best. I like how you want to put the person in the picture, instead of just blankly replicating reality."

"Thanks, Paul, that was sweet of you," I said, smiling, as I resumed drawing from behind the bench. We both sank into a state of deep concentration, in sync with the ambient silence. Soon, Paul and his spirit began forming on my paper. Now that I knew his motivation and how he wanted to be portrayed, I could draw him with more ease. The hours and minutes slipped by, and eventually, without our permission, the sun began to lose its shine.

I approached Paul once more, and once again I sat down next to him. "It's getting a bit dark, and it'll make shading the picture difficult, so here's what I have so far. I hope you like it." I handed him what I had finished.

He glanced over at my work and nodded his head in approval. "It's brilliant, Paulina. I love it! It's so good! How could I not like it? You're a really good artist, and I mean it, too."

I blushed, and whispered a thank you. "I'll work on it a bit more at home. All I have to do is shade it in, that's all."

"All right, not a problem with me. Thank you so much, Paulina. Once it's finished, I'm going to frame it and hang it in me room, so I can look at it all the time, and think about you."

I smiled and before I could say anything, Paul cleared his throat and moved closer to me. He gently held my hand, and looked at me with those sweet, veridical eyes.

"Um, Paulina, there's something I want to, um, ask you …" Paul drifted off cautiously, checking for my reaction. I had a bit of an idea of what he was getting at, although one thing was for sure: If John ever found out about it, Paul would be six feet underground.

"Yes, Paul? You wanted to ask me something?" I questioned him. "Is everything okay? Are you cold? You're shivering a bit."

"Oh, no, I'm fine really," he lied. He was shaking, probably from his nervousness. "Well, what I wanted to ask was … How shall I say this, luv? You're really sweet, and really beautiful--"

"That sounds more like a compliment than it does a question, Paulie, dear," I teased him, and added with a smile, "However, I thank you for it anyway." My previous doubts about his initial purpose ceased to exist; his motive was in plain sight.

"Yeh, I know it wasn't exactly a question," he laughed softly. "Here's one for you then: What's your favorite color?"

His words came out with such speed, I almost didn't catch them. "Oh, I told you it was blue."

"Can you tell me why, please?" His eyes glistened as blissfully as ever, yet with a tinge of anxiousness in them. He squeezed my hand a little tighter, waiting for an answer.

"For the same reasons as you, Paul. It gives a feeling of peace, serenity, and is constantly with us, on earth and in heaven--"

"That's exactly what I wanted Paulina. You've hit the mark."

This puzzled me. "What mark-"

"My heart," he said softly, holding my hand as though I were his only source of life. He did not want to let go.

"What you said about the feeling of peace and serenity," Paul continued, his voice still soft and gentle. "That is what I feel whenever I'm with you--around you--in your presence." He leaned his head forward and whispered in my ear, "I constantly think about you. You are my earth; you are my heaven…"

"Oh, Paul," I managed to whisper back. Words could barely escape from me. I was growing pallid by the second.

"Shh," he said gently. "Paulina, I'd do anything for you. I'd go to the ends of earth, find where time and eternity end, gather all the stars from night's tapestry. But for now, I shall radiate my blue sky, my blue ocean for you--with this."

The kiss we shared ephemerally silenced Paul's Starlight Palace.