Locking Stars (Stars Series #1)

19

The last few weeks have been great. Busy, but great. With Derek's hockey schedule and his school work, I don't see him as often as we would like to but we make it work. Sometimes if we are both doing homework he will FaceTime me so we can be together but also do what we need to do.

Finals week and the end of the semester is fast approaching and it's been a stressful few days. We have this whole week to study, finals all of next week, and then we are let out for winter break.

Right now, I'm sitting in my math class listening to the teacher review the material. I'm beginning to sort of panic because everything he's been saying and putting on the board has gone in one ear and out the other. I take a deep breath and try to focus.

"So when you do geometry think of it as a puzzle," my professor says. "Find all the pieces and put it all together to get your final answer."

Great advice, but might not be effective when you have no idea how to even locate which pieces to start with. This class has been the bane of my existence since day one. I've tried, very, very hard. I even had a tutor at the beginning of the year to try and get better. I started to understand and said I didn't need my tutor anymore. Big mistake. I've even come into class a few times to ask my professor questions and it seemed to help in the moment but then I get to the big things and all my math knowledge slips my mind.

Study. That's all I'm doing for the next five days before finals. Speaking of which, Derek and I have a little study and dinner date tonight at his house. I'm not so sure how much studying will happen but it's the effort that counts. I've been looking forward to it all day. He had an away game this weekend so I haven't seen him since Thursday before he left. Of course, we texted and we've spoken on the phone but as always, it's never the same.

Class ends and we all thank the professor and I walk out. "Ash!" I hear a voice call.

"Allison, hi!" I say back.

Allison and I used to sit next to each other in math until she started dating this boy, Maxwell, who is also in our class. We have spoken a few times since they started dating and I always tell her it's totally fine if she sits with him. I've actually been able to focus better too. Maybe that's why this class started out so hard for me.

"I heard you and Derek Collins are dating," she says wide eyed and excited.

I smile and nod. "Um yeah, it's been a few weeks." I say.

Her boyfriend Maxwell walks up to Allison and I. "Hey!" He says pointing at me. "You're Collins' girl! Could you tell him I say hey? I haven't seen him in like weeks!"

I chuckle. "Yeah sure, how do you know him?" I ask, curiously.

"Marketing class," Maxwell says. "I was friends with Stacey and he was trying to ask her out. We became friends after that."

My demeanor changes after he says her name but I shake it off. There's no point in being insecure over that girl. She doesn't deserve my attention or jealousy because I would never want to be someone like her.

"Oh that's cool," I say, trying to brighten my face with a smile. "I'll tell him you say hello."

Allison and Maxwell say goodbye and I make the trip back to the dorms. Ever since Derek and I have become known around our school, people seem to go out of their way to say hello to me. Or tell me to wish Derek good luck on his next game. It's an odd thing to now have my status be the girlfriend of a star athlete. Not that it's something that bothers me, just that it's kind of odd. I'm not used to so many people knowing my name and saying hello as I walk past.

The dorm is quiet when I enter and I take my books out to start studying. Derek has practice tonight so I'm meeting him at his house. He told me to let myself in and head up to his room if he's not there.