Starbright (The Starbright Series) (7 page)

             
“What about school?”
I
asked
him, pulling him
away from his soup again
.

             
“Oh, Jupiter and I just did that in between training session
s
,” Seth shrugged.

             
“You were homeschooled?”
I
laughed
loudly
, and then slapped
my
hand over
my
mouth. “Jupiter, how is homeschooling immersing Seth into humanity?”
I
couldn’t help but ask,
while trying to hide my amusement.

             
I
wasn’t sure where exactly Seth and Jupiter had come from, but
I
decided wherever it was had deprived not only Seth of a high school experience, but some random teenage girls as well. Shouldn’t all high schools have an unattainable heart throb
A
ngel walking the halls? And then the l
aughter bubbled over again and I
dipped
my
head
so I wouldn’t have to explain that concept to Seth
.

             
“Obviously your parents and I have different methods,” Jupiter replied coolly. “I wouldn’t exactly call contact sports weapons training
after all
.
The ability to dribble a basketball did nothing to save your skin tonight.
”

             
I
took his
point and settled down a bit.

             
“We can talk more about this tomorrow, when your parents get home,” Jupiter instructed. “Where will we sleep tonight?”

             
“There is a guest bedroom down the hall for you,”
I
addressed Jupiter, not really knowing the state of his fragility or old age, and deciding the room downstairs might be difficult for him. “And Seth, there’s another room downstairs that you can have. I’m told it’s freezing and kind of creepy down there when you’re alone, but hopefully none of that will bother you.”
I
smiled at him, but he only looked at
me
curiously.

             
“I don’t get col
d,” he answered matter of fact
.

             
“No, I know you don’t. It was a joke….”
I
sighed;
apparently it was too late
at night
to be a comedian. “I can walk you down there if you’re ready. And Jupiter, help yourself to more soup
;
when I get back, I’ll take you to your room.”

             
I
stood and Seth followed.
I
walked to the hallway and opened the old wooden door that led downstairs.
My
basement had been finished years ago, but it was still an old farmhouse basement.
I
wasn’t supposed to scare
easily;
my
job expected
me
to
be brave, courageous… to laugh in the face of danger
…. req
uired it actually. And usually
I
did
. But even if the cold, dampness of the basement didn’t bother
me
, there was something about being down there
, underground and without direct access to sunlight
that did.

             
I
opened the guest bedroom that sat off the rec room and turned on the light for Seth. “The bedding is fresh and there are toothbrushes and toothpaste in the drawer in the bathroom. I think they’re all new….”
I
sighed, trying to remember if anyone had been down here recently. Sometimes
my
parents housed Stars or Counterparts passing through, and that’s why there were so many guest bedrooms and such a huge house for just the three of
us
. “There’s a shower in the bathroom too, with soap and shampoo and
all that
stuff. The towels are in the cabinet next to it.”

             
“Thanks,” Seth turned to
me
. He had been eyeing the bedroom carefully, marking a fast escape route through the small window and checking for anything abnormal.
Actually
, he had been checking for Shadows
since I met him
, even though a Star
’
s house was technically blessed, after tonight he didn’t trust anything
or maybe he was always this paranoid
.

             
“I wish I had clothes or something for you to change into. Tomorrow, I’ll go through my dad’s things and see what I can find,”
I
promised.

             
“Yeah, I won’t need anything till tomorrow anyw
ay,” Seth smiled, his big, wide
grinning smile and started to take off his shoes.
“Hey Stella….”

             
I looked up into his guarded, careful eyes and suddenly I was nervous for whatever he was going to say. “Yeah?”

             
“Listen, we don’t have to…. I mean…. there’s no pressure between us,” he stammered and an instant wave of relief washed over me. “I’m not expecting
you to like be my girlfriend
or anything. I just want to get to know you. You know, be friends first,” he smiled confidently and I mimicked his expression.

             
I did know.

             
“Oh thank goodness,” I relaxed against the door jam. “I feel the same way! No pressure.” I nodded my head in all seriousness and his eyes twinkled at me from across the room. “We’ve got like eight years anyway, right?”

             
“Uh, yeah, eight years….” Seth suddenly looked uncomfortable and I instantly wanted to retract my time limit. Maybe he was hoping to postpone our “relationship” even longer than that.

             
I almost told him he could have even longer than that but decided to change the subject from awkward to more common ground,
“Well, thanks again for tonight,”
I
moved
away from
the door, realizing he was starting to undress and
I
needed to give him some privacy.
“You probably saved my life.”

             
“Hey, it’s what I’m here for,” Seth’s eyes turned very serious for a second and then he tugged his shirt off
.
I
couldn’t take him seriously anymore. Golden skin pulled tight against a perfectly chiseled chest. Every one of his muscles rippled with his movements from his
thick, gorgeous neck
down across every singly defined ab
dominal
muscle.

             
I
closed the door behind
me,
laughing again.

             
Mead High School wasn’t going to know what hit them when that boy walked through their doors.

Chapter Three

             
The beep of
my
phone woke
me
early the next
day
…. t
oo early.
I
groaned and rolled over in bed. The early morning sun streamed through the window above
my
headboard
, bathing
me
in natural warmth;
I
lay
there for a moment soaking in the sun
, enjoying the exhilaration of light
.

             
I
knew the truth about
S
tars, about the
E
arth’s sun
, I
had even met her once
. Yet,
I
couldn’t help but smile into the warming light and breathe in the peaceful morning slowly. Even if that was a comrade up there, a fellow
S
tar in arms,
she
was still heating this
E
arth with every bit of warmth she possessed and
I
decided to enjoy it.

             
My
phone beeped again, a reminder of why
I
woke
up. Although
I
knew exactly who it would
be, the only person who would dare text
me
this early in the day. Not even
my
parents would risk a text message before eight.

             
Did you get home ok?

A lot of good this text does now….
I
quipped back to Tristan.
I
wasn’t quite sure how to tell him the truth over text message,
best
to defer with sarcasm.

             
I’ll assume that’s a
‘
yes
’
then.

             
I made it home. “Ok” is still up for debate….
I
couldn’
t help
my
self
but
make him feel a little
bit
bad.
I
didn’t really blame Tristan at all for what happened last night,
I
knew without a shadow of a doubt that
what happened
was a well-planned attack and would have happened no matter what time
I
drove home. Probably, the late
hour kept other motorists
from getting
hurt or involved. Still…
Tristan deserved a little bit of a
guilt trip
.

             
Are you Ok? Seriously, Stella
…. Do you need me to come over
?

             
No! Don’t come over, I’m fine. I’ll explain later. Are we still on for a run later?
I
knew that text message would only worry Tristan further. He tended to be a tad overprotective. But this was a face to face
conversation;
acronyms and emoticons explaining
the events of last night would only lead to more confusion and panic.
And p
ossibly to Tristan waging war against the Darkness himself
….

             
Don’t come over…? Is there a boy over there you’ve been hiding??


             
Something like that…. Run later?
I
couldn’t lie to him.

             
That’s it, I’m coming over.

             
Tristan!!!! I will explain everything later, but in order to do that you have to go for a run with me!!
Growing exasperated,
I
used the only tool
I
had to get his attention: exclamation points
.

             
Fine. Yes, a run. Break into the school gym?

             
Sounds good. Now, I’m going to go
force
your grandma
to
make me chocolate chip pancakes.
I
tried to
turn
the conversation light again.

             
I swear you want me to come over there
….

             
Stop it.
I’m still in my pajamas.

What are you doing to me!?!

See you at 2.
Oh that boy.

             
Later.

             
I
sighed, a happy smile finding
my
lips. T
ristan. He was something else,
my
closest friend and most exasperating
life
experience. But
E
arth
wouldn’t be the same without him.
I
couldn’t wait to introduce him to Seth, especially if Seth was planning on starting school after winter break.

             
School.

             
Would
I
even be going to school after winter break? An uneasy feeling crept into
my
belly.
I
hadn’t really felt all that attached to high school before last night, but now the thought of giving it up, the idea of moving on with
my
li
fe already felt so… final. So…
depressing.