Page 18 of Starstruck

“I meant that the Charlie is fucking awful, you pillock.”He laugheduntil it dissolved into a cough, and his friends eyed me, expressions shifting to that wide-eyed recognition I was starting to get used to.

The girl with the platinum blonde bob blinked, her ‘My dad owns halfof Mayfair’ accent cutting through the air.“Are you having a laugh? What the fuck is Tristan Harper doing in the Palm 22 toilets?”

I honestly wasn’t too sure of the answer to that right now.

I had come here thinking I’d finally found my place, a glitteringspace where I could mingle with people my age, people who’d understand me. The most exclusive club in London—where the air hummed with ambition, and I’d swim with the sharks I needed to befriend before they devoured me whole. This was supposed to be the night my life would truly begin, the moment I stepped into the current of the world I longed to belong to.

I was somebody now.

And these were the other somebodies I had dreamt of—ones Ihoped would take me under their wing, guiding me through the maze of my dreams, which had finally transformed into my reality.

But after ten minutes of standing awkwardly by the bar, clutching adrink I was just old enough to order, the air felt different. That’s when Andreas approached. His eyes locked onto mine with a hunger that reminded me of a lion catching sight of a gazelle hidden in the tall grass—predatory, inevitable.

“Who is he, Myma?”The bloke with the frosted tips, that I had todo a double take on, asked as he leant down.

Myma turned around a second later, disgust masking her face.“Youknow that song we literally cannot stop playing, the one about Neverland?”

“Yeah?”

She stretched her hand in my direction, and I didn’t know whatelse to do but lift my hand and offer an awkward wave.

Frosted Tips’ looked over at me, slowly nodding as he studied myface.“Righttt,”He drawled.“The newbie that everyone’s talking about.”He said with a nod, before looking over at Andreas, who had finished off another three lines while we’d been talking.“You’re adopting em’ quick these days, aren’t you Mandy?”

Andreas shrugged as he tossed the rolled up £50 note to Myma,who seemed to get all giddy when the thing was between her fingers, before she leaned down over the hand dryer and proceeded to snort the new lines Andreas had assembled.“Yeah but I might take him back to the orphanage.”He dropped his weighty stare back onto me, nodding his chin.“Pussied out of a line.”

This wasn’t the Andreas who’d approached me an hour ago. That guywas well-spoken, funny, and seemed like the type of person who’d be perfect for what I needed; a friend to guide me through this new life.

But three lines later and he’s an arsehole of the highest degree.

My skin flushed as I felt the attention of all three of them swoop down on me, their eyes like claws picking away at the cage I’d for some reason locked myself in.

I wasn’t used to this: being around drugs and hearing them beingtalked about so casually. As though we were a bunch of Year 5’s who were taking turns to get out share of the sherbert in a DibDab. I think that’s what it was; the casualty of it. All my life I’d been sheltered from the social pressures of getting into something like this.

But now, standing here, it was like they could see right through me,picking apart my hesitation.

"Oh, not another wet flannel. We’ve only just got over fuckingRupert and his holy than-thou horseshit.”Frosted Tips groaned as he looked at me. Shaking his head like I’d disowned his entire family, not turned down a Class A drug.

I shrug my shoulders, my twitchy fingers pulling at the hem ofmy black shirt.“I just… haven’t done it before. That’s all.”

Myma, who’d been savouring her lines finally came back up for air,not missing a beat when she stretched out her hand towards me. Holding out the rolled up £50. For me.

“Take the plunge while you can, Harper. Trust me, this is all themusic industry is.”

Now that I was properly looking at her, and taking in her nickname,I realised who she was.

Jemyma Auckland: Jem, to the rest of the world. And the girl whowas currently rivalling me for the top spot in the charts.

She clearly saw the realisation written across my face, to which shesimply grabbed my hand, pulled open my clenched fists and slipped the roll into my hand. Her glacier-blue eyes blinked up at me, a smirk slicking her mouth.“Second place in this weeks charts owes the other a line, so you better get started.”She nodded to the hand dryer, where Andreas and Frosted Tips were hunched over.“How will you know which dealer has the kind I like if you’ve never tasted it before?”

I shake the image of me leaning over the hand dryer and eyeing upwhatever Andreas and the rest of them had left for me out of my head, blocking out how I could still feel the residue of the power gritting between my fingertips, burning the insides of my nose, before my breaths got too heavy and noticeable.

I peered back up at Finn. “Yeah, I suppose.” And while theconversation is still on him, I sit up straighter and clasp my hands together. “So, you’re here with your sister?”

He nods, the corner of his mouth tipping up. “Daisy, yeah. She’s mytwin. She’ll tell you that Liberty was her idea, and she’s right, but if I’m being honest, I couldn’t stand the thought of being on separate ends of the country, especially after…” His eyes wandered, before falling back on me. “Well, it’s not important. But she wanted to see the city, and after growing up in the smallest town in Montana, only in the last few years has the charm of it started to wear off.”

I nod back at him, pinpointing the accent that I couldn’t make outbefore.

Finn kicks his shoes off as he leans back against the wall. “You’llmeet her at some point, probably at one of my games. If you ever wanted to come to one, that is.”

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