Page 25 of Northern Stars

“I said I’m proud of you.”

“Yeah, I heard you… It’s just…” I scratched the back of my neck. “Uh, thanks.”

Well, crap.

He gave one head nod. “Just don’t falter. Now’s the time when you will be tempted to sway or lose your balance. Millions would kill to have your level of success, and it will only keep building, Aiden. Keep your eye on the prize. You’ve got this.”

He shifted the conversation, but my mind stayed on that speech well after dinner was finished. My father, my stone-cold, emotionless robot of a father, just told me he was proud of me.

I’m proud of you.

Seventeen years, and all I’d ever wanted to hear were those words from that man. That he was proud of me. That he believed in me. That what I was doing was worth it. That night he gave me those words, and I knew I’d have to keep working to advance my career in order to keep him proud. No part of me wanted to be an actor, but every part of me wanted to make my father proud.

The soundof knocking on my bedroom window was a sound I had missed. I moved over there to find Hailee standing there with her arms crossed tightly. I opened it, and she scrunched up her nose. “Fine,” she blurted out.

“Fine what?”

“Fine, I’ll go to the stupid party with the stupid people.”

I smirked, tossing my legs over the window ledge and taking a seat. “What changed your mind?”

“The ultimate high school list lacks completion, and who knows when you might be swept off to Los Angeles again before the year is over. Figured we might as well knock off the easiest tasks on the list.”

“I’m not going to argue with you because if I do, I know you’ll change your mind.”

“You’re right.” She sat on the other edge of my windowsill. Her leg brushed against mine, and I silently prayed she wouldn’t move it.

She cleared her throat. “But—”

“Of course, there’s a but.”

“Don’t sass me, Tom.”

“Lay it on me, Jerry. What are your terms?”

“I don’t want to stay at the party the whole time, but I don’t want to arrive early, either. I need you to go before me, scope it out, give me updates, and then when I show up, you meet me outside to take me inside the house.”

“Okay.”

“That’s not all.”

I sighed. “Of course, it’s not. Continue.”

“You take Carlton with you right away.”

“No way.”

She grimaced. “Come on, Aiden. It will be a good chance for you to get to know him.”

“I don’t want to get to know him.”

“Yeah, I know, but…” She took a deep breath and released it slowly. “It’s important to him. He begged me to come.”

I tilted my head toward her in complete dismay. “You’re really friends with him, aren’t you?”

She laughed and shrugged. “I am. You don’t understand. When you were gone last year, I was lonely. I had no one to talk to, and Carlton was there when I needed… a person. Plus, this party is kind of a dream of his. He’s always wanted to be invited. I figured if he walked in with you, he’d get a few cool points with everyone.”

“Cool points? What makes you think I have cool points?”

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