Page 2 of The Star

Giuliana holds her breath too. I hear her suck a big lungful of air in before she does, which humors me.

My dad pulls open the front door, the low creak of the hinges giving his actions away, then I hear one of the cops start speaking quietly to him. I can’t make out what the cop is saying, and the muffled sound of my father’s voice makes it so I can’t hear his words either.

But then the front door closes again and my home is back to being silent.

What the fuck?

Giuliana doesn’t say anything, so neither do I.

I’m sure they had the wrong house when the lights blaring through my window are turned off, and I hear the cars start to pull away.

I blow out the breath I’m holding, then turn over onto my side to get comfortable again. I shake my head to clear my mind, feeling silly for actually being scared moments before. Nothing ever happens in my house; my parents are clean and straight edge. We’re just poor. They don’t break the law, so there would be no reason for police to be coming to my house anyways.

“What was that about?” Giuliana asks, turning over to face me again.

“Probably had the wrong house. Go to sleep, we have to be up soon.”

I cuddle down a little bit farther, sticking my arm under my pillow and closing my eyes for the final time tonight. I feel Giuliana nuzzle down too, blowing a heavy breath out when her body goes lax as she lets herself fall to sleep.

I’m drifting, right on the edge of unconsciousness when there’s a tapping at my bedroom door. My eyes snap open, annoyance burning in my chest.“What?!”

I’m cranky as fuck.

“Can I come in?” my dad asks from the opposite side of the door, making my best friend wake up next to me as well.

“Yeah, come in,” I snap, sitting up against my headboard.

My door opens slowly, the light from the hall filling my room. I find my dad standing in the open doorframe, his face whiter than a sheet. Panic spreads through my system, making me jump forward to stand up to meet him at the door.

“What’s wrong?”

He swallows thickly, his tear-filled eyes finding mine in the dimness of the room. “It’s your mom, honey. There’s been an accident.”

I hear Giuliana sit up in bed behind me, then the blood rushes to my eardrums, cutting me off from the words that continue to spill out of my dad’s mouth. I just get bits and pieces –accident, car, mom, dead.

My knees go weak, making it impossible to hold myself up. The floor gets closer and closer, then Giuliana is standing next to me, her arm wrapping around my middle to hold me upright.

The room spins, but I keep my gaze on my father’s face. I watch him break, right in front of me, tears finally slipping past his eyes and onto his cheeks.

one

LOGAN

Present day

I’m sitting at our little kitchen table after school, doing homework and tapping my foot to the new Drake album when my father comes barreling through the front door. He’s dressed in a suit – he’s been wearing suits a lot more lately. I guess he’s trying to seem classier than he really is at the job he started last year.

My head snaps up in surprise when his loud laughter fills the space, and I find him holding his phone to his ear. I press pause on the song playing on my phone screen, spinning in my chair to eavesdrop.

“No,” my father says, laughing again – a real throaty sound that I’ve been hearing a lot more lately. “I’m going to tell her right now.”

My eyes narrow, sensing gossip in the air.Tell me what?

His eyes find mine across the room, and he nods at whatever is being said to him over the phone, giving me a huge smile that pulls up his cheeks.

Things have been a lot different around here since my mom passed. Dad was depressed for a while, spending most of his time locked in his bedroom – except for when he was slipping into fancy suits and heading to work. It’s some sort of office management type shit. I don’t really know. He’s always worked low-end jobs in offices, call centers, and small businesses, but apparently, this one is a lot better. Not to mention it’s in the next town over, Luxington.

He’s spent a lot of time at the office, so I haven’t seen him much. I’ve been keeping myself busy as well, though. I’m working on getting some scholarships for college, and whenever I’m not studying, I spend time with my friends. So, it doesn’t really bother me.

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