When Stars Burn

Chapter Fifteen: The Jagged Pieces

A/N: Hi everyone! Thank you for checking out what's next in Star's story. Some might find this story quiet different from other ones I've done and I'd agree. To me, this is more than just  a love story even though that love is quite instrumental in where Star will eventually find herself in the end.

Hope you enjoy!

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***

I dreaded seeing my grandmother since that incident with Hailey but it was inevitable—like a bullet heading straight for you, faster than your will to survive could dodge.

Julian and I both got up early this Sunday morning, quickly snacked on some cereal before parting ways. He had practice and I told him I would go for a run and probably work on my paper at the library. We made plans to meet up for lunch. He didn't once question the truth of my alibi and it somehow bothered me for the first time that I could lie this well.

Lying was a skill I highly prized for years—it had gotten me out of all kinds of trouble and gained me all kinds of advantages. But lately, with Julian, I haven't needed to lie about much, if withholding the full truth didn't count. No, I didn't want a full accounting of my life but in the last several days, buoyed by foolish, childish hope that would get me nowhere, I almost convinced myself that I existed in a different reality that the truth couldn't touch.

Fanciful thoughts for a girl who only knows the fucked-up facts about life.

"You look very athletic this morning," my grandmother finally said afar I took a seat across from her. I was wearing track pants, Nikes and a light gray zip-up running jacket. Of course, Selene Walterson looked no less than impeccable in a pure-white cashmere sweater, casual khaki trousers and white low-heeled slingback shoes. It didn't matter that it was seven in the morning.

I shrugged. "These clandestine breakfast meetings need the occasional cover but for this morning's specific one, I just thought I'd go for a nice long walk after breakfast."

Selene tipped her head to the side and studied me thoughtfully. "On the topic of covers, your father saw you when he came for Hailey. He knows you're in the city for the foreseeable future."

I bit off the curse that almost flew out of my mouth. I squared my shoulders instead. "I bet he's pissed that I still managed to get my hands on some Walterson money despite his best efforts."

"He didn't know that you were a straight-A student with a solid chance at a full scholarship who wouldn't have needed his help if not for the very questionable choices you made," Selene said, sitting back in her chair and lazily sipping her coffee.

I raised a brow. "When you need to survive and you have limited choices, making those seemingly questionable ones is inevitable. It's just a matter of when you become desperate enough to risk them."

Selene just narrowed her eyes as if she didn't appreciate my counter-argument. "My point is that confronted with all the facts, he would've made a different call about you. He wouldn't have turned you away."

I still remembered the night I boarded the bus to Cobalt Bay and located the office of Walterson Financial—the family banking empire—which my father ran. It wasn't hard to track down more information about him with just his name and what few details my mother could give me that night when she was stoned and drunk, ranting about my asshole father who decided he wouldn't provide child support anymore after I turned eighteen. He was now no longer obliged but my mother said he could damn well afford it. For one, I didn't even know until that time that my father had been providing child support. My mother had gambled, gotten drunk and gotten high on that child support money all these years while I was bartering my body and soul for cash to get myself by. She had the nerve to tell me that she wanted to double the money and the only way she could do that was to keep pouring it into the slot machines until she hit the jackpot. She never hit the jackpot. She only ever hit rock bottom. So when I came to Cobalt Bay, I had optimistic expectations. I didn't call him ahead of time. You could usually get your way when you don't give people too much time to analyze things.