The Fallen Star

“What’s knowing someone for a certain amount of time got to do with whether or not they tell the truth? I’ve known you for, like, a month, and Marco and Sophia for, like, seventeen years.” I held up my hands in front of me, my voice dripping with bitterness. “Oh no, wait, I mean fourteen years.” We were standing so close to each other now that I could feel the warmth of his 557/695

breath against my cheeks. Electricity was rushing passionately through my veins. Alex opened his mouth, about to snap something back at me, but clamped it back shut as his gaze wandered over my shoulder.

I turned around and then cringed. I wasn’t sure how loud we’d been arguing, but apparently pretty loud because we’d drawn in an audience. At the end of the aisle, watching us with wide eyes and a curious expression was a teenage boy wearing a yellow Edmunds Grocery’s apron. The middle-aged woman that had passed by us earlier also stood there, staring at us, along with a younger girl that had fiery red hair.

“Whoops,” I muttered, turning back to Alex.

He gave me a yeah-no-kidding look, took me by the arm, and guided me down the aisle in the opposite direction as our little audience, pushing the cart along with us.

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And that was about the end of our little conversation, as well as our grocery shop-ping expedition. Alex grabbed a few more things then headed to the checkout stand.

Neither one of us said anything. I could tell he was still mad, but so was I. I was bummed out too, because I hadn’t gotten a single useful thing out of him. In fact, I think I ended up even more confused than I already had been before I’d started my questioning. It’s a good thing I wasn’t pla

At the checkout stand, I helped Alex empty out the cart onto the conveyer belt.

Then we waited as the cashier—a perky blonde

girl

wearing

too

much

makeup—sca

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She was totally flirting with him.

It sucked.

As much as I hated to admit it, I was jealous of her flawless flirting ability that I so did not possess. The last and final straw was when Alex flashed an award wi

To

avoid

watching

the

painful

scene—and also to avoid doing something really, really stupid—I wandered over to a nearby magazine stand and distracted myself by reading through the headlines. I hated this. I wished my life was normal. Why couldn’t my life be normal? Oh yeah, because I wasn’t.

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I picked up a magazine and flipped to the page with an article titled “The Top 10

Greatest Hits of All Time.” Most of the songs were totally old school, but I appreciated the distraction.

“Interesting read?” A stranger’s voice, soft and melodious like velvet, floated over my shoulder.

I instantly put my guard up as I slowly turned around. Standing a little too close for comfort was a guy probably a few years older than me with sandy blonde hair and eyes as gold as the desert sand. Immediately, I sensed something was off about him but couldn’t place exactly what.

He smiled, flashing a set of perfectly straight, white teeth. “Hi. I didn’t mean to scare you or anything. I just haven’t seen you around here before. Are you new here?”

“Umm…yeah.” I said guardedly. It was so bizarre. People hardly ever approached 561/695

me like this. In fact, no one ever approached me.

Unsure of what to do, and figuring Alex would freak if he saw me talking to someone, I set the magazine down on the rack and started to walk away.

“So are you just visiting someone then?” he asked, halting my getaway.

How should I answer his question?

“Yeah…I’m just visiting.” He paused, seeming like he was choosing his next words carefully. “My name is Nicholas. And you are?”

“Gemma,” I replied automatically, and then realized I probably shouldn’t have told a complete stranger my real name. I mean, who knew who this guy really was? Yeah, he could be just some guy from Mountain View, Colorado. But he could be something else.

“Gemma. That’s a pretty name.” He brushed a strand of his sandy blonde hair out of his eyes, and the sleeve of his navy blue 562/695

shirt slipped up just enough for me to catch a glimpse of a tattoo on his wrist; a black S

wrapped by a small circle.

Just a tattoo?

I wasn’t sure.

My instincts told me to get away from him, so I forced a smile and started to walk away again. “I gotta go.” He stepped in front of me and nodded in the direction of where Alex stood, still chatting it up with Check Out Girl. “Is that your boyfriend over there?”

My pulse sped up. I was starting to get nervous. “No.”

His mouth curled into a smile that sent a shiver down my spine. And not the good kind of shiver either. “Well, if that’s not your boyfriend then maybe you and I could go out sometime.”

Yeah, like he really wanted to go out with me. I’d have laughed if I hadn’t been so freaking terrified. Something wasn’t right 563/695

here. The guy was showing way too much interest in me. And that questionable tattoo on his wrist….I needed to go. Now.

I moved to go around him. “Look, I really have to—”

Alex suddenly appeared by my side, and I felt a rush of relief sweep across my rattled nerves. “Ready to go.”

“Yes,” I said, wanting to get the heck out of here and away from this guy. “Let’s go.” As Alex pulled me toward the exit doors, I thought I heard Nicholas muttered, “Not your boyfriend, huh?”

For most of the drive back to the cabin, Alex and I stayed quiet. I was begi

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Finally, after what seemed like forever, Alex spoke.

“Can you please explain to me why you thought it was okay to talk to a complete stranger like that?” he asked, his voice sharp with anger.

“Excuse me,” I said incredulously. “It wasn’t my fault. I was just standing there, minding my own business, when he came up and started talking to me.”

“It was your fault.” He paused as he turned the Jeep around a sharp, slippery corner. “You should have just walked away.” I forced my anger down the best I could.

“I tried to leave, but he wouldn’t stop talking.”

“I don’t care if he wouldn’t stop talking.

You should have walked off. Do you not understand how dangerous that could’ve ended up being if that guy wasn’t just some guy? ” 565/695

“Yeah, I understand that,” I grinded through my teeth. “But like I said, I tried to walk off, but he—”

He cut me off. “There are no buts. You should have left.”

He was being so irrational and difficult that, I swear, I could have slapped him. I clenched my hands into fist, telling myself to stay calm.

“And I thought I told you to put on some sunglasses.” He was practically yelling at me now.

“What the heck is your problem?” I snapped angrily.

“What the heck is your problem?” He bit back.

I glared at him. It was one thing for him to lecture me over something that was my fault. It was another thing for him to sit here and chew me out over a situation I’d had no control over. “Well, if you wouldn’t have been so busy flirting it up with that stupid 566/695