Free Starkissed by Brynna Gabrielson

talked about this.” But he doesn’t calm down. He merely looks at her, sort of swats her hand away, and then erupts once more.
    “How can I calm down? And why aren’t you more upset? You’re the one who saw her on The Today Show this morning and nearly had a heart attack!”
    “Well I was surprised, but after...”
    “Wait a minute. I was on The Today Show ?” I blurt out and stare up at them. Probably not the best thing to say, in the current climate of my dad’s anger. But how was I supposed to know TV shows were running the story, I’ve been at school all day.
    “And CNN, MSNBC, FOX NEWS , and The View ,” Dad shouts. “It’s everywhere.”
    “Oh.”
    “They’re lovely pictures,” Mom cuts in. “You look beautiful. Was that a new dress? And who did your hair? Alyssa? I mean it was kind of flat...maybe a bit of curl would have helped. But really, you looked lovely.”
    “Clarissa!” Dad’s face turns beet red. Clearly her dismay isn’t up to his standards. She shrinks back, gives me a smile that says: “what can you do?” and lets him take the reins again.
    He rubs his forehead. “How did this happen? How long has this Grant been your boyfriend? And why didn’t you tell your mother and me about him?”
    “The thing is, he’s not my boyfriend.”
    “That’s not what they’re saying on television!”
    “Well it’s not true. I swear.”
    “Don’t lie to me young lady.”
    “I’m not. I promise. Grant West is not my boyfriend. Are you going to believe a TV show over your own daughter?”
    “So you’re not dating him?” Mom looks at me and, is that disappointment I see in her eyes?
    “No, I’m not.”
    “Then why were you kissing him?” Dad asks, bracing his hands on his hips. He’s looking at me like I’m some kind of criminal, which quite frankly, pisses me off.
    “It just happened. I met him at this restaurant I was supposed to meet Alyssa at. We talked. I didn’t even realize who he was. And then when I was leaving he kissed me.”
    I realize as the words tumble out of my mouth, and as the vein on my father’s forehead begins to throb, that I’ve just messed up majorly.
    “You’re telling me that you didn’t even know him? That you just let some strange boy you’d barely met kiss you?” He tosses his hands into the air. “I don’t even know you anymore.”
    I probably should maintain a healthy sort of sanity about the whole thing. But the fact that he’s laying into me so severely pushes on my every nerve. It’s not like I meant to kiss Grant West! And besides, it was just one stupid kiss, hardly reason enough for my parents, well my Dad at least, to despise me. I cross my arms and narrow my eyes. “I didn’t let him...I mean I guess I didn’t push him away. But it’s not like he was all ‘hey can I kiss you?’ He just did it! One minute I’m about to climb in a cab, the next his lips are on mine. And for the love of God! It was just one kiss! Angelina runs around this place with a new guy practically every week and you never say anything! And what about that guy Ava tried to bring home from Peru?”
    “I do miss Javier,” Mom sighs. Dad glares at her.
    “This is different,” he shakes his head. “Your sisters aren’t parading around on the cover of tabloid magazines.”
    I’m about to say, “and neither am I,” but stop myself. Because that’s exactly what’s going to happen. I can just see it now. Maybe tomorrow, the next day, or even next week, I’ll be at the drugstore or grocery store or somewhere and there will be my face on the cover of US Weekly or STAR . Maybe even People . Please let Kim Kardashian get engaged again before then, or maybe have Madonna adopt another baby. Just something, anything, that’s bigger news than this.
    “You’re never to see this Grant again!” He says Grant’s name like it leaves a bad taste in his mouth.
    “That’s not fair!” Okay, I realize that not five seconds ago I had absolutely no intention or