Aries Rising

Table of Contents

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeremy.
Hot Taurus and the only guy for me. He’s out of the country, though, and I can’t seem to get in touch with him. I have to keep reminding myself that Taurus is one of the most loyal signs in the zodiac.

 

Henry Jaffa.
Famous writer and
Aquarius
. Which means he lives in his head (same as I do) and is out to save the world (just like me). This offbeat mentor of mine has tried to land me an internship with
CRUSH
, a new teen mag based in San Francisco. The rest is up to the editor—and the stars.

 

Stacy.
CRUSH
editor and Jaffa-ite. She thinks astrology is stupid. With her fondness for the spotlight, she could be a
Leo
. But she has offered me the challenge of a lifetime. If I succeed, I’ll have the job of my dreams. If I fail . . . I can’t even think about that.

 

Sol.
Sensitive
Cancer
editor of our school newspaper. I know he’s into me, but my heart belongs to Jeremy.

 

Kat.
Act-first-ask-questions-later
Aries
cheerleader. She hates me even more now that she knows
CRUSH
will be coming to our school for a beach photo shoot. This hothead is determined to be in it, whatever the cost.

 

Dina.
Kat’s
Virgo
sidekick. True to her sign, she is a perfectionist. And critical beyond belief. Now that her best friend is determined to star in the photo shoot, the scheming gossip is out to cause trouble for my friends and me.

 

Paige.
My loyal
Pisces
friend, she has taken up the rear for too long.
Dream
is Pisces’ middle name, and this one dreams of being a fashion designer. The
CRUSH
launch party on Halloween finally may be her time to stop dreaming and take action.

 

Graciela Perez.
Known as the Platinum Dragon. This glam
Libra
fashion designer shares her sign’s love of beauty. Will our killer costumes that Paige designed for the party win her admiration?

 

Alex Keen.
Young celebrity chef, and the latest obsession of my Gemini BFF Chili. But he’s a
Sagittarius
, known for traveling from place to place and person to person. Chili’s decided he’s going to be her date for the
costume party, and when that Gemini wants something, look out.

 

Arianna Woods.
Pop star and
Gemini
train wreck. Her chart shows nothing but trouble for the night of the launch party. But she is the magazine cover model, and she is going to be there, baggage and all.

 

Cory Scott.
Arianna’s one-time boyfriend and bandmate. A
Scorpio
with deep feelings (and hot looks), he’s actually nice to me. An interview with him in the school newspaper might show my classmates that I’m not what Dina is claiming I am.

 

Josh Mellick.
Also a former bandmate, and the guy Arianna loves. What caused their breakup? How does he really feel about her? If he’s true to his hardworking
Capricorn
sign, his career is going to come first.

 

And me,
Logan McRae
, amateur astrologer and textbook
Aquarius
. Everywhere I turn, I run into Geminis. Chili. Arianna Woods. And the last week of October, a Leo Moon squaring Scorpio in Mercury, another Fixed sign. A time of lies, secrets, and disaster. Halloween. It is going to be a Gemini night.

1

THE TAURUS-AQUARIUS RELATIONSHIP IS FULL OF
BUMPS AND BRUISES. NOT THAT EITHER OF YOU MOVES
ALL THAT FAST. TAURUS IS EARTH, AND AQUARIUS IS AIR.
BECAUSE YOU ARE BOTH FIXED SIGNS, YOU ARE EACH
CONVINCED YOU ARE RIGHT, WITH A CAPITAL R. WHEN
TAURUS PUSHES, AQUARIUS STEPS BACK. IF YOU WANT
THIS RELATIONSHIP TO WORK, THE BULL MUST STEP
SOFTLY, AND THE WATER BEARER MUST REACH OUT.

 

 

 

 

Terra Bella Beach had never seemed so lonely.

If I, Logan McRae, had paid more attention to
Fearless Astrology
, maybe I wouldn’t be so miserable right now. Maybe I wouldn’t have fallen for a Taurus. Jeremy had
pushed. I had stepped back. And then I had stepped forward in a big way, a way that would and did change his life. Even though I was back home, and he was in Ireland, in my mind, I could still see the plane that carried him disappearing like a silver streak into the sky.

That was almost three months ago. In spite of his e-mails from Ireland, I wasn’t sure when or if this boy I couldn’t stop thinking about would return. “I still love you,” he told me each time we spoke. “Everything is the same.” Only nothing was.

To make my life even more unsettled, my mother had arrived home from her golf tour the day I returned from my summer workshop. Then she and Dad had sat me down at the kitchen counter, no less, for the
we-love-you-very-much
talk. Translation: divorce.

Mom had assured me that she’d do her best to spend time at home when her schedule permitted. Dad had said that Gram Janie would move in after Christmas. Everything would be the same, they told me. Except nothing would be.

I had been sitting there, on a stool at the kitchen counter, staring at them and trying not to cry, when the phone rang.

“Logan? Hello. It’s Henry Jaffa.”

As if I hadn’t recognized the voice.

“Hi,” I squawked.

“Logan,” he said. “I have what could be an amazing opportunity for you.”

Monday morning in Terra Bella Beach. I had put on my black T-shirt with
Writers Camp
stenciled across it in purple. It would be nice to have a chest to go with it. Then I pulled on my yellow hoodie from the summer, remembering how I’d felt when Jeremy had held me.

I rode to school with my two best friends in Chili’s Spyder. She and I sat in front. Paige leaned over from the backseat to catch our conversation above the music.

When I told them about the phone call from Jaffa and the possibility of working as an intern for
CRUSH
magazine, they both screamed.

“I knew it,” Paige said.

Chili gave me a one-armed hug. “Oh Logan. You may have lost Jeremy, but you have a famous writer as a mentor.”

“Thanks.” My eyes stung.

“She hasn’t lost Jeremy,” Paige said in a soft Pisces voice. “Not necessarily.”

“Right.” Chili, like many born in her Gemini Sun sign, lied about as well as a five-year-old. “I just meant that having a famous author for a mentor is the best.”

The music on the radio drilled into my head.

“Can we ditch Arianna Woods?” I asked.

“This song’s better than her last.” Chili pulled into the Terra High parking lot and shut off the music. Then she drew back, and the look of concern on her face reminded me of Stella, her very hands-on Armenian mom.

“You’re not moving to New York or anything, are you?”

“The magazine is published in San Francisco,” I said. “I can commute.”

They screamed again. Then, we got out of the car. For a moment, we just looked at each other. Chili in her cropped white sweater over a black tank and jeans, the sunlight glinting off her streaked hair. Paige in a shirt she’d designed herself, pale blue, to match her eyes, but something was different. Makeup. Was Paige really wearing makeup?

As we walked to class, Chili asked, “If
CRUSH
is in San Francisco, how will you be able to intern there? That’s ninety minutes each way.”

“I’m hoping the school, namely Ms. Snider, will go along with the plan. It’s only one day a week.”

Our hardworking Capricorn journalism teacher had cut me some slack last year when I was a sophomore, and I needed her support again.

We walked out of the parking lot, and as Chili and Paige headed for their first period classes, I started toward the journalism room.

Just then I noticed crazy Kat, the Aries cheerleader as she came around a corner. Her short, black hair was pushed back behind her ears. When she noticed me, she grinned.

“Hey, Logan. Did you hear about Nathan and Geneva?”

“No.” I kept walking.

She ran up along side me. “They’re going to Maui in November.”

“Good for them.” I didn’t turn to look at her, just kept on heading toward the journalism class.

“They’ll be traveling with Nathan’s family. His parents
love Geneva.”

Finally, I met her eyes. “And you’re telling me this, because?”

She gave me a superior smirk. “Because I thought you’d want to know.”

“What they do doesn’t concern me, Kat,” I said. “They’re in college. I’m here. Besides, I have a new boyfriend.”

“Oh, really? Who?”

“His name is Jeremy.” Best not to mention that he was in Ireland, and that I had no idea when I would see him again.

“Oh.” I could tell that I’d taken her by surprise and that she was trying to come up with a fiery Aries insult. “How’d you manage that? Did you use astrology on him?”

As if it were a magic trick that would snag me any guy I wanted.

“In a way.” That should give her something to gossip about. I didn’t care.

Ms. Snider stepped out of the classroom. Ever the perfect Capricorn in her crisp little brown tunic and cream-colored turtleneck, she looked hot. The rumor was that she was dating my English teacher, Mr. Franklin, but they hadn’t gone public with it.

“Good morning,” she said.

“Hi, Ms. Snider. Um, could I talk to you for a minute?”

“About Henry Jaffa?” Her expression got a little less friendly. “You know I’m proud of you, Logan, but you shouldn’t have asked Jaffa to pressure me.”

“What are you talking about? I didn’t ask him to do anything.”

“Really? Then why did he contact me last night?”

“I swear I don’t know.”

“Well, he called the superintendent.” Color rose along her cheeks. “As you can imagine, I don’t appreciate such manipulation from anyone, not even a well-known writer.”

“Henry Jaffa is not a manipulator,” I said before I remembered that I was talking back to a teacher. “He’s very straightforward, and he’s not the type to pull strings.”

“Well, he’s certainly pulling them, or trying to.”

Kat stared openly, no doubt taking mental notes for Geneva.

“Could we go inside?” I asked Snider. “I’d like to talk to you without an audience.”

“Don’t flatter yourself.” Kat said under her breath, but she didn’t move.