Page 23 of Starstruck

All the girls mumble a hello to the guys, apart from me. For some reason, seeing Tristan again has severed the connection between my brain and my vocal chords.

Tristan doesn’t seem affected, though, as a small smirk tugs on the corners of his mouth as he nods at me. “Hello, Sunshine.”

chapter seven

i brightened someones day

Every eye from everyone in this group is darting between me andGoldie. And there was something about this attention that I didn’t mind.

Her name fits her perfectly, seeing as though I opted to refer toher as Sunshine until I found out her name. Although, if her eyes were going to go all doh-like every time I called her that, I might just stick to Sunshine.

“Um…” The girl Finn referred to as his sister, Daisy, hums. “Do youtwo know each other?”

“No!” Goldie belts, at the same time I lick away a smile and say, “Kind of.”

Half of the heads whip to me, while the other half stay on Goldie.

But not for long, though, as she clears her throat a second later, grabbing everyone’s attention.

“Well, not really.” She barely gets out, as she continues to avoid mystare. “We, uh… we take the same class.” Her topaz eyes darted around the group. “Intro to psychology. Yeah, that’s the… that’s the class we take.”

“Interesting.” The girl with the black bob, Cora, who was dressed ina long navy skirt and white tee, exaggerates from beside Goldie as she looks me up and down, like I’m the missing puzzle piece to a mystery she was trying to solve.

Goldie shoots her a warning glare that does nothing but make myfascination with her spike. Perhaps I was curious how a girl who was the embodiment of daylight could wear such a scowl.

Ignoring the voices in my head, yelling at me to stay quiet and belabelled as the shy one, I raise my hand to my mouth as I clear my throat, earning back her stare. “I never did get to introduce myself properly, though.” Without thinking, I dropped my hand in front of me, in her direction. “I’m Tristan.”

“I know.” She replies, the words so breathy and light I barely heardthem. “Goldie.”

I nodded at her, delighting in the way her eyes were still on me. “Iknow.”

I watched earnestly as her hand neared mine, her cold palms nippingat mine as they interlocked, shaking slightly, all the while I felt the weight of everyone’s stares growing heavy as we released them.

I could practically hear me from an hour ago calling me a hypocritefor not caring that the rest of the group had their full attention on us. Somehow, I could block them out. And all I could focus on in the moment was her—the complex girl I’d only just met, yet somehow the thought of not thinking about her made me feel ill.

“Great show last night, by the way,” Cora called from her corner ofthe circle.

The girl next to Finn, Daisy, rocks back and forth on her tiptoes asher eyes dart to me. “She’s right, it was amazing.”

I managed to muster up a smile and dish it to both of them. “Thankyou; I’m glad you had fun.”

Her shoulders shuffled as the eyes of the group fell on her. “Well,we did once our Goldie was patched up.” She swayed over to Goldie, patting her shoulder as a big cheesy smile shone on her face.

Goldie, on the other hand, was barely containing hers as she eyedCora. “Oh, well, thank you for reminding me of that.” She laughed, her eyes wandering around the group, before she flailed her hands. “I was pushed, but I’m fine. I promise.”

“You sure?”I blurted out the question before it ran through my mind, but Ididn’t care. I wanted to know.

Her eyes held mine, narrowing slightly as a mixture ofemotions settled between her smile lines, before she nodded. “I’m sure.”

I pulled my smile to the side, trying to think of other reasons mystomach was fluttering other than the way the sun danced in her eyes when she angled her head just right.

“You’re from Ealing, aren’t you?” Cora chirps, breaking the silencebefore it solidifies.

I slowly pull my eyes off Goldie and place them on her. “FellowLondon dweller?” I asked.

“Notting Hill.” She nods, her accent only now becoming clearer. “Andyou’re studying psychology?” She asks, and I nod, knowing what’s— “Oh, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

See. She thinks I haven’t got a clue what I want to do with my life.

---