Page 28 of Starstruck

Her giggle mingles with the chime of our glasses, but right as itsettles, a few not-so-subtle whispers sound out from behind me, forcing both my and Goldie’s attention on wherever it came from.

My eyes land on three girls who all dart their eyes in oppositedirections when I notice them, my body doing nothing but sighing.

I keep my eyes on Goldie as I watch hers flick between me and whoever was behind me.“Looks like you’re groupies have tracked you down, Rockstar, so I’ll take that as my cue to head back to the guys. Wouldn’t want to cramp your style.”

Her smile spurs on something deep in my soul, but before I can tellher that I’d rather spend the rest of the night learning about her, finding out the story that was dancing on the tip of her tongue a second ago, she heads for the crowd, the pastel colours that sat around her body becoming lost in the sea of freshman.

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chapter eight

coffee doodles make my day

“Iknew it! I knew you’d never voluntarily buy something black.”

As much as I love the Pin’s apple pie that’s sitting on the plate infront of me, I was in two minds about whether to throw it at Cora, beyond over the fact that she would not shut up about the Tristan situation.

“Right, whatever, it’s not a big deal,” I exclaim, throwing my handsup in defeat. “Now can I just eat my breakfast in peace?”

Cora sticks her tongue out at me while I shove a forkful of applepie straight into my mouth.

This was the second morning in a row we’d been to Pin’s before our9:00 AM classes, and while my bank account could see disaster ahead if we kept up this tradition, I could see myself getting used to them. Even though Cora and Rory’s room was on the floor above mine and Daisy’s, and we could easily have this catch-up in either of our rooms, I liked being here.

Being surrounded by people who wore scowls just as well as theirsuits, groups of girls in the cutest yoga outfits, and the occasional elderly couple who held hands the entire time they were in there, I felt normal. I felt a part of something normal. So if the sacrifice for normality was a few dollars every morning on a slice of pie and a coffee, I was willing to make it.

All I had to do was ignore the pestering from the girls aboutTristan and everything would be fine—

“What did he even say to you? Like, was it just a casual ‘here, havemy T-shirt’ or was it… sexier than that?” Daisy asks before taking a sip of her latte, shimmying her curls from her face as she cupped her hands around her coffee.

My head lazily tipped in her direction, my eye roll charting itscourse until they landed on her.

“What?” She looked around at the others. “I’m just curious.”

“She raises a good point, actually.” Rory chimed in as she slid backinto the booth.

“Everything okay?” I asked her, scooching up towards the window.

She slipped her phone back into her bag as she nodded, her long curls rustling as she did. “Oh, it’s fine. My Dad just wanted to check in with me before his appointment.” She squeezed her eyes closed as she shook her head. “Yeah, yeah… it’s fine. It’ll be fine.” Her smile broke free. “What were we talking about?” She asked, before claiming my iced coffee and finishing the doodles to the lid that she’d done with Daisy, and Cora’s.

She loved doing this. Sometimes it was a little inspirationalmessage, other times it was a small drawing of some kind. But regardless, it made me smile every time I looked at it throughout the day.

Today was a city skyline and a sunrise. An ode to last night, I think.

Shifting my attention back to the quietness of the table, Daisy,Cora and I all eye each other before we unconsciously agree to not pry. Not when Rory already liked to keep what was happening with her Dad to herself.

So Daisy cleared her throat. “Tristan,”

“Ooh, that one.” Some truth shone in her smile. “He certainly doesadd one more person to our ‘England has produced plenty of attractive men’ argument.”

“I wonder why he’s even here? I didn’t think to ask last night.” Corainterjected.

I wrapped my hands around my cup as Rory slid it back to me. “Or,we could wrap this little interrogation up and, oh, I don’t know, go to class?”

Cora knocked her head to the side, her eyes falling on me.“Spoilsport.”

I sucked in a breath before I raised my head again. “Sorry, myhead’s just a mess at the moment.”

“Hey, it’s okay. I thinkI’mstill overwhelmed being here.” Daisysaid, stretching her arm over me and tugging my head onto her shoulder.

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