Page 121 of Starstruck

this is our place

“And that’s what makes you the worst type of person.”

I shifted my head to Goldie as her voice faded from the speakersof her phone, the corner of my mouth twitching upward at the thought of her standing up for me like that.

The way Dean Sommerford cleared his throat brought my attentionback onto him, the gruff sound bouncing off the dull, grandfather-study walls of his office. “Well,” He exclaimed, his sunken eyes that were guarded by thick-rimmed glasses flowing from Goldie, and then to me. “I must say that I don’t have any other words apart from to say I’m sorry.”

His pained smile bloomed across his mouth as his stare stuck on me.

I nodded at him. “Thank you, Dean Sommerford; I appreciate it.”

He raised his hands but kept his elbows planted against the shinymahogany surface. “It’s the least I can say, Mr Harper.” He scrubbed a hand across his stubble as he leaned back in his chair. “I’ve had campus security and a few guys from the precinct give me updates on the situation out there today, with those cockroaches with cameras,” I huffed a laugh at that. “And they said the crowds are lessening, both here and at your dorm buildings, which I’m happy about.” He nodded his chin at me. “But how are you doing, son?”

I shuffled on my feet, taken back by the genuine tone of his voice.“Well, apart from my music career flashing before my eyes and your son, I’m doing swell.”

A slight smile graced his face. “It’ll pass; these types of storiesalways do. But I meant what I said in the letter we sent back to you, Tristan, Liberty Grove will always have your back and whatever support you need, we’ll provide it.”

I felt Goldie move beside me. “So this situation won’t affect Tristanor his place here?”

Dean Sommerford shrugged, as though we were discussingsomething normal like my marks slipping. “Why should it? We all make mistakes, and we all deserve another chance to set our foot on the right path.”

I looked at Goldie just as her eyes met mine, before DeanSommerford got up from his chair, rounded the desk and planted himself in the centre as his legs lazily rested over one another.

“We took you in for a reason, Tristan,” he looked over towardsGold’s, “And you too, Miss Moore, come to think of it.” As a sigh rolled through him, he wrapped his arms around his waist. “We wanted you to have a fresh start here at Liberty, and from your grades over the first semester, your ethic, and how involved you’ve been, we’re pretty impressed with you, both of you, and what you’re bringing to the school.”

He pulled his glasses from his face and cleaned them with thesleeves of his sweater. “It’s obvious that you’re both meant to be here, but being the psychology students in this room, I’ll let you two figure out the bigger meaning behind all that.”

I let Dean Sommerford’s words settle in my mind, and it was thenthat I realised that maybe I’d been wrong when I said that home was always a person rather than a place. For a while now, I’d been seeing Liberty as home, just like I saw my home as Goldie, and my friends. Perhaps that saying was true, that home is where your heart is, and I think I’d left little pieces of my heart all over this campus since arriving—when I met Goldie, when I walked into my dorm, when I walked into class and when I cried by the fountain.

All those moments were proof that I was becoming one with this place andeverything it stood for, and I didn’t realise until now that, slowly but surely, the more time I was here, the more I could see the parts of myself that I missed.

As I reigned in my thoughts, I watched Goldie shake her head in the corner ofmy eye, “How?” Her lips stretched into a smile as she flicked her eyes between us. “How did Henry turn out like that when this is the man who raised him?” Before I could let my smile show, I widened my eyes and stared at her, before tilting my head towards the Dean.

Goldie caught onto what I couldn’t say and whipped her headtowards him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that; I just—”

“Please, Miss Moore, don’t apologise when you’re correct about it.” He pushedhis glasses back up the bridge of his nose. “Now if you wouldn’t mind sending me a copy of that recording, I can get on with dealing with Henry, and I can promise you that his place here will be terminated—”

I stepped forward. “You don’t have to kick him out, Sir.”

Goldie whipped her head around to face me. “What?”

I looked at her and nodded. “Fresh starts, right?” Her knitted brows softenedeventually, and I turned my attention back to Dean Sommerford. “As long as Henry leaves us alone and doesn’t bother us, then there’s no reason for him to leave.”

Dean Sommerford nodded at me. “Are you sure, son?”

I nodded. “I’m sure.” I looked at Goldie. “Is that okay with you?”

Goldie smiled as she nodded back at me.

“Well then, that’s that.” Dean Sommerford exclaimed, before dismissing us andleading us back out into the stone halls.

The second we were alone, I felt Goldie grab my hands and pull me around toface her. “What the hell was that?” She asked, the biggest smile I’d seen resting on her lips.

“What was what?” I laughed.

She shook her head, her golden strands framing her rosy cheeks. “That!” Shelaughed. “Letting Henry stay, being so forgiving after he treated you like shit—”

“Hey,” I chuckled, before squeezing her hands and running mine up her arms.“It’s fine, it’s over, and I don’t want to waste another second thinking about it, okay?”

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