Page 34 of Starstruck

Addy nodded at me. “So you’re getting therealcollege experiencethen?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I am.”

Addy raises her eyebrows and tugs at her mouth. “Interesting, sorunning into a singer who spills coffee all over you and then hands you his shirt because yours is drenched is therealcollege experience?”

My jaw hung open so wide I was convinced it would lock in place,leaving me permanently gobsmacked.

I shook my head. “How… how didyou—”

Addy gave a quick nod toward the counter at Flo’s. I followed hergaze to my friends working their shift, both grinning as they noticed us watching.

Their smiles lasted all of two seconds, falling when they saw myface.

“Flo, give us two seconds, Goldie looks like she’s about to go all Micheal Myers on us,” Rory said to Flo, who was scurrying about behind the counter. Flo simply looked at me, saw my face and told them to be quick, all with a huge smile on her face.

“What’s causing your face to look like that?” Cora asked as shereached the table, pulling at the frills of her apron.

I let my head fall to the side, my emotions fading and leaving myface blank. “Seriously?” The snitching pair looked at each other before turning their gazes back to me. “You told her?”

In an instant, their eyes went wide, and their mouths gaped.

“Well,” Rory started, slyly leaning over the table to grab both mineand Addy’s drinks and whipping out her pen, ready to doodle her way out of this mess. “Adaline asked us how you were doing, and…”

Cora jumped in. “We said that you were doing well, and that you’donly been late to one class.”

From across the table, Addy cleared her throat. “And that’s when Itold them that you being late was impossible because you’re, like, anal-ly on time for everything. And when they told me it was your first ever class that you were late for, that’s when I stopped believing them.”

“But then we told her that we were telling the truth and that youreally were late.” Rory rushed, colouring in whatever she’d drawn before sliding back our drinks.

This time it was a big heart, next to the wordsorry.

“And then I asked what made you late.” Addy added.

The realisation set in my shoulders as I flopped my spine againstthe padded booth. “Great. That’s just great. Does anyone else know that Tristan Harper spilled coffee down me and gave me his shirt as a apology and then told me to keep it because it looked good on me?”

Have you ever heard a synced gasp before? If you haven’t, then I’lltell you it’s quite freaky. Both Rory and Cora, and my sister, gasped at the same time the second I said that, which then made me remember that I’d been keeping that little nugget of information to myself all week.

I think I even heard Flo gasp.

“He told you to what?” Cora repeated, both her and Rory crouchingdown and resting their chins on the table.

My head fell into hands, as a groan muffled from behind them.

What was the point in secrets? What was the point in staying inthat tower, knowing that if I didn’t climb down those steps soon, these girls would simply tear the place down brick by brick to make sure I was okay. It was obvious that whatever was going to happen over these next four years would be group knowledge within the hour.

“After he gave me the T-shirt… and I went to the bathroom, to tryit on, I saw him walking towards our class, but at the time I thought he was just… following me.”

I recall his smile as I talk, the cockiness that suited him, the wayhis smirk made his face light up…

“We had this whole thing, about walking into the class, and somehowhis hand ended up on mine as we reached for the door handle.” I hear Rory whisper an ‘OMG’ from behind her hands. “And when we walked in, he started waking to his seat… but before he did, he turned around and told me just keep the shirt… because it suited me.”

“Fuckin’ ell, Goldie,” Cora whispered the same way Rory did. “Whatthe hell does that mean?”

I sat up straighter in an instant. “It means nothing. Okay?” I lookedaround at my friends and my sister, the anticipation dripping from their expressions as their wide eyes were fixed on me. “I’ve known the guy for barely a week, and as I’ve already said, having that kind of college experience is not what I came for. I came to learn. That’s the priority. Not… me.”

The mood around the table dropped, like an arctic storm cloud hadfound its way to us and decided to hover ahead, greying us. I watched in my peripheral as my sister nodded her head at Cora and Rory, who fled from the table and were back buzzing behind the lilac-tiled counter in a heartbeat.

As I reigned in my emotions, I threw my head back against thebooth, wondering if I was mirroring Addy purely because we’d known each other so long, or whether the weight of the conversation was too that mimicking her strength was just my way of dealing with this.

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