Starstruck (6 page)

She glared at me for a moment, then turned away with a toss of her perfect hair. “I was just trying to spare you embarrassment, Marsha,” she said, no longer whispering. Then, even more loudly, “It’s so pathetic when a girl gets all starry-eyed about a guy when it’s perfectly obvious to everyone else that he just feels sorry for her.”

Even though she didn’t get as big a laugh as yesterday, I felt my face turning red as I took my seat. Though I knew Trina was just being spiteful—and jealous—I couldn’t help worrying she was right.

Maybe Rigel
was
just being nice to me because he felt sorry for me. But he hadn’t even known about my parents before he came to talk to me. Had he? I realized I had no way of knowing what Trina might have told him about me.

I felt more and more depressed as class dragged on. It just made so much more sense that Rigel felt sorry for me than that he was attracted to me.

After the final bell I trudged toward the buses, not nearly as excited now at the prospect of talking to Rigel again tomorrow. I’d half convinced myself that I was some kind of charity project to him—like some stray at the pound. And no matter how much I liked him, I definitely didn’t want—

“M! Hey, Marsha!”

It sounded like Rigel’s voice. Was I hallucinating? Shouldn’t he be at football practice?

I turned and sure enough, there he was, sprinting toward me.

“Hey, I’m glad I caught you,” he said, joining me as I reached the bus line. “I only have a sec—have to be at practice—but I wanted to make sure Trina didn’t pull anything.”

Even though his words supported my theory, I couldn’t help feeling a rush of warmth at his concern. Still, I refused to be an object of pity, so I suppressed the smile that tried to break free and shrugged.

“She wasn’t much worse than usual.”

He looked relieved. “Good. I sure don’t want to make things worse for you, especially—”

“I can take care of myself, Rigel.” I spoke more sharply than I’d intended, but I didn’t want him to feel like he had to
protect
me—from Trina, of all things. “I’m not some puppy that needs rescuing.” Oops, definitely more than I’d meant to say, but now it was out there.

When he didn’t immediately refute my words, I turned away before he could see my disappointment. “Have a good practice,” I called over my shoulder.

“M, wait! I was going to say, especially when I’m hoping we can be . . . friends.”

On that last word, he put a hand on my arm to stop me—and it definitely worked. When his fingers touched my bare skin, a jolt went through me like nothing I’d ever experienced before. I spun around to face him, startled.

I was used to static shocks since I got them all the time, but this was different. It was more like the surge of adrenaline you get when you almost fall but catch yourself. Only stronger. And not unpleasant. More like every cell in my body suddenly sizzled to life.

From the stunned look on Rigel’s face, he must have felt something too. He snatched his hand away like I’d burned him and stared at me wordlessly for what seemed like minutes. It was almost like he was seeing me for the first time . . . or like I’d suddenly turned into some kind of freak.

He backed away, slowly shaking his head, then abruptly turned and ran off without saying another word.

I didn’t have a clue what had happened or what I’d done, but I was pretty sure I’d somehow spoiled everything before it even got started.

CHAPTER 4

Retrograde motion

Bri and Deb rushed up to me so quickly I realized they must have been hanging back, watching the whole bizarre exchange.

“Wow, what was that all about?” Bri exclaimed as we all climbed onto the bus.

“Did you say something to piss him off?” Deb asked, looking over her shoulder in the direction Rigel had gone.

I hadn’t quite caught my breath yet, but I shook my head. “I . . . I don’t know. I don’t think so. Maybe?”

“You must have said—or done—
something
,” Bri insisted. “I saw his face when he ran off. He was
seriously
freaked.”

“Um, well, you know how I sometimes shock people? I mean the static thing,” I clarified when they both looked confused, and their expressions cleared.

“Yeah, that’s a little freaky,” Bri agreed, “but not
that
strange. I mean, everyone does that in the winter time. You just do it year round. Are you saying you shocked Rigel?”

Even though I knew that wasn’t at all what had happened, I nodded. I sure didn’t have any other explanation. “He touched my shoulder—” I put my own hand there, on the very spot—“and got a jolt, I guess. It seemed to weird him out.”

Deb actually chuckled.

I stared at her. “What?” It didn’t seem funny to me at all.

“Maybe he thought it was some special chemistry between you and it scared him.” She grinned. “You know how boys are about commitment. Maybe he thought it was, like, destiny or something. I mean, he doesn’t know about your, um, electric personality.”

Actually, his reaction almost did seem like that, but what I’d felt hadn’t been a static charge. Had it? Was I just trying to make it something “special” because of the way I felt about Rigel? Now I wasn’t sure.

Bri patted me on the shoulder—the same one—and I noticed there wasn’t the slightest spark. “Don’t worry, M. Tomorrow we’ll explain about your static thing. Especially if Rigel
is
your destiny, you don’t want to scare him off by letting him know it too soon.”

I nodded, willing myself to believe that’s all it had been. “Thanks, guys. You’re right. We’ll tell him tomorrow and maybe he won’t think I’m such a freak after all.”

Except maybe I was.

I tossed and turned that night, and when I did fall asleep, sometime after two, I dreamed about Rigel—and not the good kind of dream. Instead, I kept seeing the horrified look he’d had on his face when he touched me. Only, in my dream, I noticed my hands had gone all scaly, and when I felt my face, that was scaly too—and I’d sprouted horns.

Like I did every morning, I woke up five minutes before my alarm went off. Remembering my creepy dream, the first thing I did was check my hands and face. No scales. No horns. And Rigel hadn’t
exactly
looked horrified. Had he?

Feeling like I’d barely slept at all, I turned off the alarm before it buzzed and rolled out of bed with a groan. If I didn’t hurry, Uncle Louie would need the bathroom before I was done with it. Some people might call our nearly hundred-year-old house charming, but I thought a second bathroom would add a heck of a lot more charm than gingerbread trim and dormered windows.

I took my usual quick shower, brushed my teeth and dragged a comb through my wet hair, then flipped open my tube of acne cream. Leaning close to the mirror—I was pretty nearsighted without my glasses—I verified again that I didn’t have any scales on my face.

I also didn’t seem to have half the zits I’d had yesterday.

Huh.

I looked closer. Yeah, I still had a few, but that nasty one beside my nose was completely gone, along with those two red ones on my forehead. In fact, my skin looked clearer than it had in two years. Nice! After three months, this acne medicine was finally doing its job.

Back in my room, I agonized over what I could wear that would convince Rigel that I was perfectly normal.

After strewing practically the entire contents of my closet and drawers over my bed, I finally chose my favorite, best-fitting jeans and a green sleeveless t-shirt Bri had once said was the exact same color as my eyes. I wished for a second that I’d borrowed that eye pencil of Bri’s, then realized I was barely going to have time for breakfast, much less makeup.

“That’s a great color on you,” Bri said when she saw me on the bus. “I’ve still got the makeup if you want it, too.”

I was relieved that she approved. “Thanks. I’ll just use that purple pencil thing, if that’s okay—guess I should get one of my own, huh?”

Bri shrugged. “You can have mine. I hardly ever use that color—doesn’t go as well with brown eyes. I can always borrow it back from you if I need it.”

“Thanks!” That much makeup I could probably remember on a daily basis.

“Maggie needed her straightener today, so I couldn’t bring it.” Deb was apologetic, but I didn’t really mind.

“No biggie. It’s too much hassle for every day anyway. Maybe I’ll ask for one for Christmas and use it for special occasions.”

Since the eye pencil only took a minute I was early to class, giving me way too much time to obsess about Rigel. Would he sit by me, like in English yesterday? If he did, I could tell him about the static thing right then. If not, I’d tell him after class—or as soon as Trina let me get a word with him. I didn’t want to risk Bri or Deb making it sound weirder than it was.

Just before class started, Trina came in—alone. Even though all the seats near me were full now, I kept watching the door for Rigel. But the bell rang, and he never showed up.

“Where’s Rigel?” Deb whispered from behind me.

All I could do was shrug. Though I knew it was stupid, I couldn’t quite squash a tiny, niggling fear that he’d switched his schedule again after what had happened yesterday. Would they let him change his classes twice in three days?

It looked like Trina didn’t know any more about Rigel’s absence than I did, since she kept glancing at the door too, and frowning. I got a bit of satisfaction from that, at least.

I spent all of Computer class wondering whether Rigel would be in English, then hurried there to find out.

He wasn’t.

“Rigel wasn’t in Spanish,” Bri said as she slipped into her seat just before class started. “Have you seen him today?”

I shook my head, trying to ignore the lump forming in my throat. “I don’t think he’s at school. Maybe he’s sick or something.” At least he wasn’t only missing the classes I was in.

“I hope not. Our first game is tomorrow night!” Trust Bri to focus on something as totally unimportant as football.

But she wasn’t the only one. Even nerdy Will commented on it in Science class.

“I hear Rigel Stuart’s not in school today.” He glanced behind us at the spot Rigel usually occupied. “It’ll suck if Farmer has to quarterback tomorrow night.”

I automatically looked back as well, and accidentally caught Trina’s eye.

“This better not be your fault, Truitt,” she said spitefully.

I turned back around quickly, trying to ignore the guilty little suspicion that had been gnawing at me since first period. But how could it possibly be my fault Rigel wasn’t here? I opened my textbook and tried to focus on tectonic plates.

When Bri and Deb joined me at our lunch table, they looked almost as dejected as I felt.

“What if he’s already transferred to another school or something?” Bri practically wailed. “My dad said he’s changed schools a lot.”

My stomach plummeted at the very thought. “C’mon, that’s a pretty big stretch. Isn’t it?”

She shrugged and grabbed the banana off my tray.

Deb, who’d been examining me critically since she sat down, said, “You know, I was thinking earlier today there was something different about you. Your skin looks great! Are you using something new on it?”

“The same stuff I’ve used all summer. I guess it just took this long to make a difference. Whatever it is, I’m not complaining.”

Bri went off about some skin care article she’d read somewhere but I didn’t pay much attention. I was scanning the cafeteria for Rigel, but of course he didn’t show. At least I managed to eat my whole lunch for the first time this year.

The rest of the day dragged by without incident except for a little skirmish with Trina in Health.

“I figured it out. Rigel probably skipped school today to get a break from your mooning after him,” she greeted me as I sat down in front of her. Donna and Amber snickered obediently.

I twisted around to face her, stung into speech instead of ignoring her like I usually tried to do. “Or maybe he got tired of you treating him like your own personal property, Trina. Are you really so insecure that you have to cling to him like that? Get a life!”

Her mouth fell open and I turned back around before mine could do the same. I’d actually stood up to Trina Squires, and hadn’t sounded like an idiot doing it. Several of the girls within earshot giggled, and for once I wasn’t the one being laughed at.

Ginger Ramsey even leaned across the aisle to give me a grinning thumbs up and a whispered, “Good one, Marsh!”

Trina didn’t say another word for the rest of the class.

On the bus ride home, Bri asked if I wanted to come over but I had to say no. Tonight was Aunt Theresa’s monthly garden club meeting, which meant it was my night to make dinner—unless I could get Uncle Louie to call out for pizza.

“I have some errands to run before my meeting,” my aunt greeted me when I got home, “so I’ll be leaving in an hour or so. I went to the grocery today and bought what you need for spaghetti and a salad. Tell Louie I said no pizza this time.”

She kept trying to force Uncle Louie to eat healthier, even though he ate junk food at work all the time. Spaghetti was easy, though, so I didn’t argue—not that it would have done any good. I couldn’t remember ever winning an argument with Aunt Theresa in my life.