When the Stars Lead to You Page 4

  Chapter 2

  IN CAMPBELL HALL, THE STUDENT CENTER, I FELL ONTO A squashy sofa and stared ahead without seeing a thing. How had I even gotten here? I didn’t remember leaving Bishop Hall or walking across the courtyard. All I knew was that Ashton Edwards, the one person I never expected to see again, was probably crossing that same courtyard this very minute.

  A deep breath, and the scent of Murphy Oil Soap coaxed me out of my trance. I looked around to ground myself. Yes, this was familiar. Steady. Students milling around the cubbies, pulling out notes or candy bars. Gamers hanging out in the computer lab. Flyers, sign-up sheets, and posters already decorating wood-paneled walls. Vending machines offering fruit and bottled water, and people lining up to get their caffeine fix at the hot beverage bar.

  Blair stared at her compact and touched up her makeup. She was the only person I knew who got away with wearing red lipstick and red nail polish. I’d look like a clown if I tried to pull that off.

  She really didn’t need to touch up anything. She was giving me time to gather myself.

  “Ready to talk about it?” she asked once she’d shoved the compact into her bag.

  “I think so.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “I am the furthest thing from okay.” There was a slight hysterical twinge in my voice. “I’m the exact opposite of okay.” I buried my head in shaking hands.

  “Devon.” She squeezed my arm. “Was that the Rat Bastard?”

  “That was the Rat Bastard.”

  Her mouth dropped. “How the hell did he end up here?”

  “I don’t know.” My voice shook.

  Inhale two… three… four.

  Exhale two… three… four.

  It was all I could do to keep breathing.

  To keep from crying.

  Blair stared in disbelief. “Holy shit.”

  She had that right. Crap. Definitely not how I expected to start off the best year ever.

  Her expression softened. “Are you going to be okay?”

  No. “I don’t know.”

  She glanced over my shoulder, and her voice dropped. “He’s here.”

  I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath. Shook out my trembling hands. “I can’t deal with this.”

  “Too bad he’s such a good-looking son of a bitch,” she muttered.

  I tried to resist looking at him, but I couldn’t help it. My stomach flipped as I turned. He pulled open his locker, then ignored it as he frowned at his phone. “He’s perfectly engineered to make girls lose their minds.”

  And losing their minds they were. Blair and I certainly weren’t the only ones looking at Ashton. Almost every girl who walked past him did a double take, and some of them weren’t even trying to act cool about it.

  “He seems so familiar to me, but I can’t place him,” Blair said. “A guy like him should not be forgettable. Look at that face. A perfect mix of masculinity and vulnerability. He’s exquisite.”

  I sighed. Even she was falling under his spell. Exquisite. Like she was describing a valuable work of art, or a fine jewel.

  “I never should’ve let my guard down with him,” I said, turning away. “A guy like that? He can’t do anything but hurt you.”

  “I don’t know if I believe that,” Blair said, tilting her head. “Not all beautiful people are evil.”

  Heh. Spoken like a Beautiful Person herself.

  She leaned in. “He’s staring at you.”

  A jolt zinged down my spine. “He is?”

  “He’s not even trying to hide it, Devon.”

  I turned again. She was right. His gaze was fixed on me, strong and unwavering. The searing look was gone, replaced with a softness that made my heart skip. Was he… happy to see me?

  God. How could I even think about calming down when he looked at me like I was the only person in the world?

  “He needs to come with a warning,” Blair said.

  I let out a slow breath. “No kidding.”

  Someone stepped into my line of sight, blocking my view. I gripped the arm of the sofa and tried to center myself. To breathe. Blair watched me, her head still tilted, the gears clicking away. I turned from the scrutiny, letting my eyes skip to the different flyers on the walls. Intramural volleyball. Tea Tasting Club. The Harvest Ball.

  “Is that your poster?” I asked.

  Blair grinned, her cheeks flushing pink. “All mine.”

  “It looks great.” And it did, with its golden background, script lettering, and simple graphics arranged to mimic an old-fashioned poster from the 1940s.

  “I worked on it all summer.” Her voice lowered. “Do you really like it?”

  “I love it. It’s elegant without being stuffy.”

  “I know, right?” She grinned. “Wait till you see the invitations.”

  “I can’t wait.”

  “You’re coming, right?” she asked, her eyebrows raised.

  “Of course,” I said. “Gotta support my girl.”

  Almost against my will, I glanced over at Ashton. Would he go to the Harvest Ball?

  Then I mentally slapped myself. Just because he’d appeared at my freaking school was no reason for me to lose focus.

  The first bell rang.

  I pulled out my schedule. “Oh good. Everything I wanted.”

  “Let me see.” Blair snatched the slip of paper from my hand. “Although I can probably guess. Advanced Geometric Calculus, Scientific Trigonomic Physics for College-bound Seniors…”

  “Shut up.” But I was grinning. She loved to tease me about my science-heavy schedules.

  “No, seriously. Multivariable Calculus. Advanced Physics.” Then she paused. “Astronomy Methods? What in the world is that? And why would they even offer it?”

  “It’s interesting.”

  “It’s weird.”

  I snatched my schedule back. “You know what I want to study. It makes sense.”

  She looked thoughtful. “You’re going to be a scientist. That’s really badass, to be honest.”

  I nibbled my bottom lip. “First I have to get into college.”

  “Stop it. You’re a shoo-in.”

  Maybe, but I wanted McCafferty University. Their astrophysics program was world renowned and highly competitive. I needed top grades so I could get accepted. And get scholarship money—McCafferty was also expensive.

  Blair wrinkled her nose at her schedule. “Meanwhile, I get to suffer in Home Management.”

  I screwed up my face. “Home Management?”

  “I know.”

  The warning bell rang.

  Despite myself, I glanced toward Ashton’s locker again. The person who had been blocking my view had gone. Ashton was still there. Still looking at me. Then he gave me the slightest of nods. My breath caught in my throat, then I returned the acknowledgment.

  Blair glanced over my shoulder. “You’re going to be okay. You know that, right?”

  I took a deep breath. “I know. I will survive this. I’m strong and smart and capable.”

  “Damn right.”

  It was cute how she believed me so readily. Preston was a small school, and ready or not, I was going to have to talk to Ashton sooner or later.

  God help me.

  Chapter 3

  THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL = A CHAOTIC MESS. THE MORNING classes were abbreviated because of Assembly, but the teachers still tried to cram forty minutes of material into classes that were half the length. And because I preferred writing my notes instead of typing or recording them, my wrists were on fire by the time the last bell rang.

  But my schedule looked promising. Astronomy Methods, yay! Multicultural Literature. African American History. Advanced Physics. Advanced Conversational French, because I was definitely going for an internship at the Paris Observatory, one of the largest astronomical research centers in the world. How awesome would that be?

  And then there was Calculus. I did really well at math, so the subject didn’t scare me. It was Auden Cooper’s smug smile
that made me groan.

  “Hey there, Ninety-Nine!”

  One test. She got a higher score than me one time, and refused to let me live it down.

  “How was your summer?” she chirped. “What’d you do?”

  I forced a smile and turned to her. “It was good. I spent most of it with Blair in the Hamptons, and then a week at astronomy camp.” I swallowed the pang that came with remembering how I’d skipped my usual summer with Stephanie. The Hamptons had been great, but I’d missed my favorite beach.

  “Astronomy camp?” She raised her eyebrow. “Seriously?”

  Grr. I turned my smile up until my cheeks burned. “How about your summer?”

  “The best. I went to Paris and Jamaica.” She held out her arm. “Look at my tan! I’m darker than you! If I keep this up, I’ll practically be Black.”

  And there it was. One of the many reasons she irritated me so much. Things like this slipped out of her mouth constantly. Practically Black. Ha! Not even close, girlfriend.

  I turned my attention to the professor and his lecture.

  But she wasn’t done. After class, she eased up to me and murmured, “You’re going down.” Then she whipped around, her strawberry-scented hair hitting me in the face, and slipped into the hall.

  Oh hell no. This bitch was not about to yank away my valedictorian spot, and I definitely wasn’t letting her nab the Preston senior scholarship. Ten thousand dollars per year toward the college of the winner’s choice. Auden drove a freaking BMW. I needed that scholarship way more than she did.

  I made it through the day without seeing Ashton, which was a miracle, considering how small our senior class was, and without having a nervous breakdown, which was another miracle, considering how rattled I was. Too bad I’d skipped lunch. Terrible decision, but I hadn’t wanted to risk running into him in the dining hall. Now I was borderline hangry on top of everything else.

  Blair stood at my locker, scrolling through something on her phone. “I figured out why your guy looked so familiar.”

  I was in such a funk that I almost didn’t care.

  “Wait. Eat this.” She handed me a granola bar and waited until I took a huge bite. “And next time, don’t skip lunch to avoid him.”

  Busted.

  “What did you find out?”

  “It just so happens that I attended lower school with the honorable Ashton Edwards.”

  “Honorable?”

  “Ashton Bishop Carter Preston Edwards.”

  I froze with the granola bar halfway to my mouth. “Should that mean something to me?”

  “His father is Tristan Carter Preston Edwards.”

  I sighed. People here were obsessed with what everyone’s parents did. Who had what job, and who could affect the economy of entire cities or the livelihood of working-class families. Blair’s father worked in the entertainment industry, and when I say worked, I mean he had the final say in what shows got aired on a certain cable network each season. How did people even get that powerful? Or that rich? Hard work? My dad worked seventy hours a week, and while we weren’t poor, we certainly weren’t rich. Definitely not powerful.

  I was so tired of hearing about everyone’s fathers and how freaking important they were.

  “Should this mean something to me?” I asked again.

  “It should mean everything to you. Tristan Carter Preston Edwards,” she repeated when I stared at her blankly.

  Then it dawned on me. “What?”

  “They founded this school. They are faculty chairs. And they’re the reason Preston’s endowment is so big.”

  Oh.

  Oh no.

  “Great. I hooked up with the guy who’s bankrolling my education.”

  “You really had no idea?” Blair asked, eyebrows sky-high.

  “It says Preston Endowment Fund on my statements. Nothing about Edwards. Are you laughing at me?”

  She let the laughter bubble out. “This would only happen to you.”

  Appetite gone, I groaned and leaned my forehead against the cool metal locker. “How did you even figure this out?”

  “I googled. Learned his last name in Photography class.”

  Photography? This shouldn’t have surprised me. That summer, Ashton was constantly pulling out his phone and snapping pictures. He also had a really nice camera—he’d taken a bunch of photos of me at one of the beaches.

  The memory crashed through me. Driftwood scattered in the sand, all smooth logs and wiry branches. The tide pools swimming with tiny silver fish. The sun sliding its way to the horizon.

  Magic hour.

  Ashton had stared at me, his lips slightly parted. “God, Dev. You’re breathtaking.”

  He hurriedly raised the camera and the shutter clicked away. Ashton’s smile peeked from under the camera body. “My sunset girl,” he murmured.

  His girl. I’d felt such a thrill over that.

  Wait. No. Focus. “Why are you taking Photography?”

  “I’m broadening my horizons. Also, I can learn how to take better pictures of the dresses I design and make.”

  Which made sense. Besides her Mercedes, Blair’s sewing machine was her favorite possession. The clothes she made were gorgeous. Still… something else nagged at me. “How did he live here all along and we never knew?”

  “Except I did know. I just forgot. But it’s weird that you guys never talked about your hometowns. Didn’t he know what school you went to?”

  “We didn’t really talk about school.”

  “What the hell did you talk about?”

  “Oh my God. Our feelings. Our dreams. Stuff we liked. Politics. Religion. Can I just say I never expected a rich white male to be so liberal? He’s a total bleeding heart.”

  “Just like you.”

  “Sometimes we sang show tunes.”

  “You sang to him?”

  “He said I had a good voice.”

  “Wow. That’s disgusting. Cute, but disgusting.” She shook her hair back. “Anyway, if you’d told me his last name, this mystery could have been solved last year.”

  I yanked open my locker. “Blair, he destroyed me. I wasn’t about to google-stalk him.”

  “First of all, you weren’t destroyed, just definitely not okay. Second of all, I’m trying to figure out what was so special about him that you were such a mess when you came back. Therefore, I totally google-stalked him.” With a flourish, she held out her phone. “Behold.”

  My Calculus book hit the floor. “He has a Wikipedia page?”

  “Well, his ancestors started the very educational institution we’re standing in right now. He’s kind of a big deal,” she pointed out.

  Except when you attended a school like Preston where everyone was a big deal, it became the norm. Unless, apparently, you were descended from the founders.

  I sighed again. “Okay.”

  “He used to go to boarding school overseas. Which is weird, seeing as his family pretty much invented this school.”

  “Really weird.” I picked up my book and shoved it into my bag. “Why pay all that money when he could go here for free?”

  “It’s a rich-people thing,” Blair said. “Like my dad. He’ll take out a calculator at a restaurant so he doesn’t overtip, but he’ll spend three thousand dollars for the perfect desk chair.”

  “Wait, what?”

  “I mean, it is a nice chair. Pisses him off when I twirl around in it. Anyway. Back to Ashton. His family travels every summer, but so do you. Maybe it was serendipity that you both ended up on that beach.”

  “It was something.”

  She shoved her phone into her bag. “Your boy is mysterious. Like I said, I went to lower school with him, but after fifth grade, he disappeared.”

  “He’s good at that.”

  “So it’s not like you’d have seen him around town. I wasn’t friends with him or anything, so I didn’t give him much thought when he didn’t show up for sixth grade. When you told me your boyfriend’s name was Ashton, it didn’t
even register. He completely fell off my radar. Until now.”

  I slammed my locker. “So now what?”

  “Well, that’s up to you, isn’t it?”

  Sometimes when Blair drove me home, we talked until our throats went dry. Today, we were quiet for the half-hour ride. The sky was a brilliant blue and Blair had the top down on her convertible. Classical music (“The Sleeping Beauty, Op. 66: Introduction”) floated from the speakers while she smoked cigarette after cigarette and the wind blew our hair everywhere.

  The golf course gave way to gated communities. Then the gated communities faded away. The houses grew smaller and closer together until we were in my subdivision: Villa Park. The houses were definitely not villas, but we did have a park.

  “You want to come in?” I asked when she pulled up to my driveway. “My mom’s ordering sushi for dinner.”

  She looked tempted. Really tempted. Blair constantly told me that she liked my family’s cozy ranch house a lot more than her family’s McMansion.

  “I want to,” she said, looking regretful. Then she rolled her eyes. “My esteemed mother insisted I be home tonight for a formal dinner. Apparently she and Daddy are having important guests, and it’s vital that Theo and I are there.”

  “Isn’t your brother away at school?”

  “That’s how important this dinner is. They called him home.”

  “Yikes.” Her family’s formal dinners were the opposite of fun. And her brother—yuck. A cocky, self-important jerk who always looked at me with his lip curled.

  “Whatever. I’ll survive. I always do.” She kissed my cheek. “See you in the morning.”

  I grabbed the mail and went inside. A stack of college brochures for me. Some boring trade magazines for my father, not that he had time to read them. Nothing for Mom, who was sitting on the couch, pecking away at her laptop. Her smooth brown skin glowed in the sun’s rays that streamed through the window, and a mop of springy curls twirled all over her head. She worked in real estate, so her hours were flexible. She was almost always home after school.

  I kissed the top of her head and inhaled her coconut scent. “Hi, Mom.”

  She took off her glasses and focused on me. “Hey, Bun. How was it?”