Free The Fallen Stars (A Star Child Novel) by Stephanie Keyes Page B

our next wedding. Next time we’ll really get married, but this practice one was entertaining,” I said, leading her forward. She laughed, giving my side a squeeze.
    We headed in the direction of the signs marked Ground Transportation. Once we made it outside, Gabe turned left and the three of us had to run for the shuttle, making it just in time. The small bus was bright and crowded, harsh after the relatively quiet airport.
    “What’s up, guys?” The driver waved a hand in greeting as we boarded along with about fifteen other passengers. A sign above the man announced that Joseph would be driving us today and would be happy to serve us! My attention shifted from the sign to Joseph as the bus moved.
    Joseph, a tall man with thick dreadlocks that swung against his dark skin as he steered, sang along to the music of the blaring radio. He bobbed his head sideways periodically in time to the beat. The band was one that I recognized: Nirvana. Though I’d only been a baby when their music would have been popular. The lead singer shot himself. There was a documentary on TV about how his death was mourned all over the world.
    We’d taken our seats by the door in case we needed to make a quick exit. The cold air permeated the bus’s interior easily and Cali shook beside me. Pressing myself against her, I tried to lend her some of my warmth, but it didn’t seem to be doing any good.
    Gabe looked like he’d nodded off, his head leaned against the window, eyes closed. In that moment, my mind drifted back to the year that Stephen had sent me to Yale four years ahead of schedule.
    Move-in day had arrived and I’d wandered through throngs of people, mostly families, with a map in my hand. Stephen had hired a driver for the occasion. The man, a gruff-looking dude named Gerald, left me off at the entrance with a suitcase in hand and a backpack on my back. The rest of my things had been shipped to the school in advance.
    Everyone seemed to have someone. Staring at the ground, my fourteen-year-old self had no idea how to navigate the social mores of college life. For just a moment, I closed my eyes, wishing fervently for the security of my boarding school back in England, my teachers, my friends…At least there, I would’ve been less of a freak.
    On the prestigious Yale campus, I looked like somebody’s little brother in for the weekend. I’d never wanted to go to Yale, but because of my abilities, so many things came too easily for me. Especially since the experts that Stephen sent me to said that they’d never seen a photographic memory as impressive as mine.
    Once Stephen mentioned to me that early graduation from boarding school stood in my future, I’d tried to fail. I’d been too late to have any impact on my Grade Point Average by that time, though. I’d so far exceeded my teachers’ expectations that I graduated that very spring.
    Stephen paid to let me stay at the boarding school over the summer, with a boring group of teachers that also had nowhere else to go. And that was it. He didn’t come and visit me. I’d not seen my father since he shipped me to the boarding school three years prior.
    On that first day at Yale, I searched for him like the trusting fool that I’d been, hoping that he would come, would finally be proud of me. Or at least be proud enough of me to come. But he never showed. It would be three more years before I ever laid eyes on my father again.
    With the map in one hand and a paper showing my room assignment in the other, I headed in the direction of the dormitory that I’d been assigned to. Housing always ended up being the most intimidating part of any new school for me. You never knew what your living arrangements would be like until you arrived. Nobody would want to be stuck with the underage kid. My room assignment sheet just read “Roommate—Undetermined.”
    Staring hard at the map, I didn’t look where I was going and ran right into Gabe. I expected to get a fist in the face, but