Page 27 of The Star

“Oh.” I clear my throat. “He’s at football.”

Her eyebrows pull down. “Did you walk?”

I shake my head, slipping my hands under the straps of my backpack so I have something to do. “Hayden drove me home.”

Her face drops a little. “That boy is trouble. We’ll get you a car soon, so you don’t have to rely on Carson and his friends.”

I want to protest, but I skip right over the fact she just told me she’s going to buy me a car and go right to business, pointing a finger at her dress. “What are you doing?”

Her mouth spreads into her genuine, wide smile again. “Don’t you love it?!” She spins, letting the thick lace skirts of the dress fan around her.

I can feel the need to be snotty bubbling up inside of me, like I need to go on the defense because I’ve been caught off guard. But I take a second to recognize the feelings and swallow them back down. “Why are you wearing a wedding dress?”

“Oh.” She stills. “The seamstress is here doing a fitting, just making sure it will be perfect for the day of.”

“The day of…”

She looks at me a little confused. “The wedding? It’s coming fast.”

I blink and shake my head through my own confusion, unable to find the words I’m looking for, so I just stand there silent, as if she’s going to be able to read my mind or something.

“Your father did tell you we set a date, right?”

I want to scream,“Does it fucking look like he told me?!”But I just shake my head, a little frown kissing my lips as I meet her blue gaze.

“I’m so sorry…” She trails off, pressing her lips together for a moment before she continues. “I thought he had told you already. I thought you could help with the dress fitting. God, I’m stupid.”

She presses the back of her hand to her cheek, but I take a step forward. “No, you’re not stupid. He should have told me, and he should have told you that he hadn’t.”

She nods. “Yeah.”

The room falls silent and awkward, like cut the tension with a knife type awkward. So, once again, I push myself to be the bigger person and try to make things better. “When is it?”

She perks up a little, her eyes sparkling with moisture but still giving a happy vibe. “The beginning of November.”

My chest caves, my stomach bottoms out, and my mouth dries up. That’s only six weeks from now…

I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out, so I just shut it again. I take a little step backwards, looking down at the floor. Sara doesn’t say anything, she just waits for me to make a move. I’m sure she has no idea how I’m going to react, and I don’t blame her.

I clear my throat. “I need a minute.”

Rushing to my room as fast as I can, I’m eager to shut myself away so Sara doesn’t see how affected I am by all of this. I don’t want anyone to see me cry, to see me clam up and break down. I’ve never been comfortable showing weakness, and I’m definitely not going to start in fucking Luxington with strangers.

thirteen

CARSON

Every muscle in my body is on fire by the time I get home from practice. I ended up ditching Cassidy because all I want to do is lie in bed and watch a movie, maybe take an hour-long shower.

I throw my Jeep into park, and by the time my feet are hitting the pavement, my mom is running out the front door, a chaotic smile on her face and a garment bag in her hands.

“Carson!” she yells, like I would have missed her insane energy sprinting toward me.

“You look like you’re about to annoy me,” I grumble, closing the car door.

“Well, isn’t someone a grumpy boy this evening!”

“I just got my ass beat in football,” I answer, rounding the Jeep and heading away from her to the front door. “So, get on with it.”

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