Free Lost in Starlight (Starlight Saga) by Sherry Soule Page A

rough day. We never vandalize the property or anything bad—except for the occasional underage drinking. But I don’t usually partake. The taste of beer is seriously over-rated.
    Locating a nice spot under a shade tree near my grandparents’ graves, I get comfortable. I tell my grandma all about my horrid day, and then I fish out my Hello Kitty notebook and scan my notes on “Operation Lancaster.”
    Startling eye color and member of the Amazing Hair Club.
    Hayden, hacker and computer geek.
    Sexy bad-boys.
    Hayden’s a lefty and brings his lunch to school.
    Hayden can bend metal objects with his mind.
    I giggle at the next entry.
    Criminal mastermind. And Proceed with caution.
    Hayden is a dog lover.
    I frown at the following note.
    No amount of hot boy exterior is going to make up for the fact that he’s a rude jerk .
    Hayden dodges cars at warp-speed to rescue puppies.
    Hayden is a defender against bullies.
    Super smart. Takes an hour-long calculus test in minutes.
    Most redeeming quality: He stands up to bullies.
    Sighing, I scribble in: What does all of this stuff mean? Is Hayden even human or something else? Maybe he’s actually a mutant of some kind.
    I close my eyes and lean my head against the tree. Slipping on my earbuds, I switch on my iPod and let the soaring music of Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar, We’re Going Down” drown out my roiling thoughts.
    I must’ve dozed off because the slam of a car door jolts me awake. No. Freaking. Way.
    Red alert!
    Hayden uses his remote to lock the doors of the Range Rover parked just outside the gate with a soft beep. He traipses over to a large headstone not twenty feet away.
    Should I go say hi or slink away and hope he doesn’t see me? Curiosity gets the better of me and I shove my precious notebook back into my pocket and smooth my skirt. I wait about ten minutes just quietly watching him pay his respects, and then I get up. Taking out my earbuds and turning off the music, I quickly anchor my hair into two ponytails with hairbands from my pocket and dab on some lip gloss. I stand up and brush the grass from my clothes. Now I’m ready.
    As I’m walking toward Hayden, I check him out. He’s wearing a snug T-shirt, with wrinkled jeans and black Converse. He sighs deeply, and from his profile, I can tell he’s wearing his usual steely-eyed and broody expression. And if he wasn’t so darn cute, I might consider holding it against him.
    “Hey.”
    His head lifts and turns in my direction. “Well, if it isn’t the infamous, Peaches.” He nods, looking genuinely amused.
    “Stop calling me that,” I say irritably. “And for the record, I wasn’t cheating.”
    He crosses his arms over his muscled chest, and after a beat, a ghost of a smile appears on his lips. “Then what were you doing? Trying to sit on my lap?”
    “What? No! I was just distracted, that’s all.” My face is burning and my chest tight. “Is everything that comes out of your mouth a sarcastic question?”
    “Not always…” He sighs heavily, closing his eyes, and for the longest time he doesn’t say anything.
    “If you’d rather be alone, I understand,” I say.
    “No. It’s cool.”
    I chew on a lock of hair and lower my voice. “This is where I like to come when I don’t want anyone to find me.”
    A strange look is fired in my direction. “But now I can find you.”
    “Guess so.” I sheepishly smile, and his hypnotic gaze seems to draw oxygen from my brain.
    “We need to talk about your stalking habits. I don’t like being filmed or followed around.”
    Gulp. I majorly suck at sleuthing.
    I place both hands on my hips. “I’m a reporter. That’s what we do. It’s not stalking…not really…”
    “Uh-huh. I think you need to move to Hollywood and get a stalkerazzi card.”
    I blink. Huh. His growly mood is back.
    “Oh…I’m sorry…” Guess I never thought about it from his perspective. I know I wouldn’t like it if I was being stalked, er, followed.
    A twisting silence