Free Star Struck by Amber Garza

tonight?”
    “What thing?”
    “The thing I had to go to.”
    I am taken aback. “You really had something to go to ? I was just trying to get rid of you.”
    “I know.” Tate’s eyes darken. “That’s my point. I didn’t have anywhere to go, so I ended up at Mom and Dad’s.”
    “Why did you end up there? Couldn’t you find a restaurant or pub or something?”
    “Call me a glutton for punishment. But actually I’m just cheap , and I knew Mom would feed me.”
    “You’re a loser.” I snort.
    “Anyway, I told them about your little writing session tonight.”
    “You didn’t.”
    “Oh, yes, I did.” He slaps me on the thigh. “Expect a call from Mom this week. You can thank me later, little brother.”
    I throw a couch pillow at him.
    “Is that any way to treat me after I gave you a night alone with your friend?” As he walks back toward his bedroom, my chest tightens. I picture Star’s vulnerable expression; the disappointment painted on it when I told her to leave. Maybe it would have been better if Tate hadn’t left us alone. Perhaps we need to have constant supervision.
     
     
     
     

11
    Star
     
    “So, how did it go?” Lola asks the minute I get back to the dorm. She’s wearing sweat pants and a t-shirt, but her makeup and hair are still done up from her date with Ryker.
    “Ugh.” I fling myself on my bed, hoping my cheeks will cool down. They’ve been burning up since I left Beckett’s.
    “That good, huh?”
    Rolling over, I press my cheek into my pillow. “Can we please not talk about it? Tell me about your date with Ryker.”
    “It was good.” Lola bites her lip, and her face reddens.
    “Where did he take you?”
    “We sort of hung out here.” She fidgets with the bottom of her shirt.
    I giggle. “Lola, you bad girl.”
    “Shut up.” She tries to look mad, but a smile breaks out on her face. “Like you’re one to talk. You were at Beckett’s apartment alone all night. What happened?”
    “We just wrote music, that’s all.”
    “Yeah right.”
    I sit up, pushing the hair back from my face. “I’m being serious, Lola. Why don’t you believe me?”
    She shrugs. “It’s just that when I told Ryker where you were, he seemed pretty sure that Beckett would try something with you.”
    “Why did he think that?” I’m hoping she’ll say it’s because Beckett has told Ryker he likes me or something.
    “Because according to Ryker, Beckett tries something on every girl he gets alone with. He seems to think it’s like impossible for Beckett not to.”
    I feel sick. “Well, then I guess I’m the one girl he can control himself around.”
    Lola’s eyes widen. “Oh. Well, I mean, that’s a good thing, right?”
    I narrow my eyes at her, feeling even more stupid than before. “How is that a good thing, Lola?”
    “I don’t know.” Lola looks so worried as she scrambles for something to say that it almost makes me feel sorry for her. “Maybe it just means that he respects you more than he does other girls.”
    Frustration bursts out of me like a shaken soda. “I don’t want him to respect me. I want him to want me like he does all those other girls.”
    Lola’s mouth gapes open. “Did you seriously just say that?”
    I slink back. “I’m just as surprised as you are.”
    Lola jumps down from her bed and walks toward me. After sitting by my legs, she rests her hand on my arm. “Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?”
    I laugh and throw my head back. “I don’t know what’s happening to me, Lola. I’ve always been so practical when it comes to boys.”
    “Yes, I know. You went out with that dud Spencer for like three years.”
    “And then he cheated on me.”
    “Bastard,” Lola mutters under her breath. “And you were always too good for him.”
    “I’ve just never felt like this around a guy before. He makes me different.”
    “Good different or bad different?”
    “I don’t know.” I sigh. “But whenever he looks at me, I