Page 31 of Starstruck

I wanted to ask him what it meant now that my heart felt like it wasrising after looking at someone for a single second.

I wanted to ask him whether not addressing everything I was overthinking meant that I justhad even more deep-rooted issues that only a licensed professional should hear about.

“Yes, thank you.” Was all I said back to him, before he gave me asmile and started with his lecture.

By the end of the two-hour class, I had three full pages of notestyped up on my laptop, detailing the historical development of modern psychology. I was enthralled by the way that Etoille taught his classes, and the way he gave us the information we needed.

Like the other moments since I’d arrived, a quiet sense of reliefwashed over me. I thought back to the day I finally told my parents, the words tumbling out—how much I wanted this, to feel the spark in a classroom, to be captivated by a professor’s teaching style. It wasn’t just learning anymore; it was the start of something I knew deep down I was meant to do.

“Well folks, I think that’s enough for today. But before you go, theuniversity wants us professors to really get our students prepared for these next four years with us, and something that will undoubtedly crop up too many times for you is group projects. So that’s what I wanted to put forward to you before you left.”

As though everyone in the room had the same idea, we all lookedaround at each other, just a group of strangers who barely knew our way our campus, let alone each other.

“But don’t worry, I’m not that mean. I thought I’d start you off witha paired assignment, a shared presentation about any branch of psychological study you wish to present.”

My heartbeat was only getting faster the longer Etoille talked.

“And this isn’t just some icebreaker to get you guys to socialise;whatever you decide to do your presentation on will be the subject of the case study that’s due before Christmas break. It’ll count towards half your grade for the year. The deadline is in three weeks.” Etiolle began to pack away his papers, before plucking a single piece from his collection.

“I’ll leave the pairing sheet on my desk for you to check on the wayout. But that’s it for today, see you on Friday.”

The class starts to filter out, and as I look up from my seat there’s already a crowd of people circled around the sheet of names. And a gaggle of girls who seemed to confuse Tristan for that sheet.

I shook my head and packed up, hopping down the steps toward thefront of the room. A silent prayer escaped my lips to the God of group projects, hoping I wasn’t paired with the one person who could distract me with just a glance. Tristan would be the worst-case scenario. Not only was he late to class, but from our rooftop conversation last night, it was clear he wasn’t exactly thrilled to be here.

I could already see this presentation being written and presentedby me, and only me.

I finally merged through my classmates, as I let my finger trace the list of names, finally reaching my name anddarting my eyes to see who I’d been paired with.

I almost released a sigh of pure relief when I saw a name I didn’trecognise, belonging to Henry Sommerford.

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chapter nine

does she smile like that with me?

“Well, this has been fun, darlin, but I’m just dying to see who I’vebeen paired with, so if you don’t mind…”

Luckily, the girl in front of me, who had a blonde bob and way toomuch cleavage for a 9:00 AM class, didn’t pick up the sarcasm that lay beneath my accent, and shuffled to the side a second later.

She was one of the girls who interrupted my conversation withGoldie last night at the freshman event, and because the universe is just nuts about me at the minute, she also seemed to be taking this class. I didn’t know her name, but that didn’t stop me praying that it wasn’t written next to mine on the sheet that Professor Et… something, left out for us.

If there was any name that I was hoping would be sat next to mine,that belonged to the girl I could see leaning over the list of names right now. Her blonde hair was thrown up in a claw clip that looked like a bow, and the jeans and cardigan outfit she’s chosen this morning cast this effortless glow about her that made me want to exist around her for the rest of the day.

No attachments. Remember.

I ignored the voice in my head for a moment, watching Goldie as shestraightened her back and began walking back through the crowd. I was looking over the paper soon enough, and when I finally found my name and saw that another girls was next to it instead of hers, I couldn’t help but feel deflated.

From the few conversations we had, it was pointless trying to denythat there was something about her that drew me to her, like she had her own magnetic field that pulled you in regardless of what your beliefs were.And lying to myself was one of the things I wanted to change now that Iwas here, so I didn’t think about the repercussions of admitting that I wanted to be near her.

“Well well, well,” A familiar nasally voice said from beside me. “Lookslike this class just became my new favourite.” I twisted my head to find blonde bob girl hovering over my shoulder, her eyes raking over me and hanging on to the space on my neck where my tattoos always poked through my T-shirt. “And lucky for you, Harper, I know all the beststudyspots.”

Fan-fucking-tastic.

I eye her, but not in a good way. “I take it you’re…” I checked hername on the sheet again. “Becca Jetson?”

“I am,” she nodded, before grabbing my forearm and pulling me from the crowd, right beside the door. “Here,” she handed me her phone, or forced it in my hand more like. “Put your number in, and we’ll set up a date to start studying.”

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