Changing the Stars

Chapter 7: The Day Everything Changed

I trampled over way too many drunk people on my way to my room. When I got to my room, my phone dinged. 

I figured that it was either Care telling me she was coming back early so she wouldn't startle me, or Daniel telling me he missed me already. It was not.

It was an area code from my home town back in France. I immediately picked up, but it was not what I expected. The voice on the other end said, "I know who you are, and I know where to find you." It was in a computer animated voice, so I couldn't tell their age or gender. 

I hung up and cried. I cried like I hadn't in weeks. I knew Care was having fun partying, and I knew I couldn't trust Daniel with my secret yet. I had nowhere to turn.

I laid down on my bed and quietly sobbed until I fell asleep. I heard the door crack a couple hours later, but I assumed it was Care. As I went to go back to sleep, someone got in the bed with me. 

I yelled as loud as I could and tried to get up. Then I heard James' soothing voice.

"Dri, Dri! It's me, James. Calm down. He turned on my little lamp and explained why he thought it was okay to get into bed with someone he barely knew.

"I heard you crying. Care decided to spend the night with my roommate, so we switched rooms. I thought you were just having a bad dream, so I came to comfort you, but your eyes look like you've been crying for hours. Are you okay?"

I didn't know how to respond. James wasn't making any moves or mean jokes towards me. I wasn't sure if I could tell him what was going on, but for now I would let him comfort me. 

We were only friends. Friends do this for each other. He turned off the light and I became the little spoon.

I woke up the next day later than usual. It was a Saturday, so I didn't have any classes. James must have gotten up before me because I was alone in my room. 

I got up and got dressed. I knew James would want to talk about what happened, but I would need to talk to my parents first. This time, it would not be a happy catch-up.

I let the line ring, and this time my parents answered quicker.

"Dri, is that you?", asked my dad.

"Yeah.", I said, already tearing up. I could feel my voice choke when I said only that one word, but I knew my dad picked up on it. I could hear him shuffling around. A minute later my mom was on the phone with him.

"Sweetie, whats wrong? Are you still having a hard time there?", my mom asked concernedly.

"No. I got a phone call from our home area code.", I cried.

"Maybe one of your friends found your number,and wanted to call you?"

"No, mom, it was them."

I heard my mom gasp. They already knew I was talking about the men that tried to kill my brother. I relayed the message the person sent, and by then my parents were crying furiously. 

I knew this was going to hurt them, but I couldn't keep secrets from them.

"Dri, you need to move again."

"Mom! I can't! I just was starting to feel normal.", I pleaded.

"I don't know what else to do. Your dad said the only other way you can stay is if we get you an undercover bodyguard. We will hire him from here from our security firm, and you won't even see him in public."

"Okay. I guess I'll take the bodyguard. I have to go meet up with someone, but I miss and love you guys so much."

We said our goodbyes and stay-safe's. I finally hung up. I had to go fix my makeup and hair before Care came back. She could always sense when someone was feeling blue.

As soon as I looked pretty good, Care barged in excitedly.

"OMG! I have to tell you something!!"

"What happened?"

"James's roommate is so hot and surprisingly nice."

"Awe. Care, I'm so happy that you found someone. I felt kind of bad ditching you to spend time with Daniel."

"You weren't ditching me. I found other things I had to do. Like meeting guys."

We both laughed and I felt relief that Care was occupied. This new transition of having a body guard would be hard, so I needed her to be distracted enough not to worry about me too much. 

I had to go meet with him tomorrow, but for tonight I wanted to do something fun. I decided to call Daniel. I told Care I was heading out, but she wasn't listening because she was too busy texting her new boyfriend. 

Rings later...

"Hey Daniel, it's Dri."

"Hey! I was just about to see if you wanted to do something in a little bit."

"Sure. I haven't been out at all yet, so we can go to the movies if you want."

"Sounds great. I'll meet you there soon."

I ran back to my room to grab some money. Care was already gone, so she must have left when I was on the phone. I grabbed a twenty from my drawer and headed out. 

As I was walking to the closest theater, I heard a car honk at me. I thought it was just someone being obnoxious, but when I turned around it was Daniel. He told me to hop in, and I happily complied. 

"How was your day, sweetheart.", he asked.

I almost forgot what he said because I was so happy I met a nice guy like Daniel.

"A little boring, but it's about to get a whole lot better now that I'm with you."

I gave him my biggest smile, and we talked about his day on the way to the theater.

(Author: If you are reading this, I am so grateful for you! I love seeing people reading my book. Please leave me feedback, vote, or follow. I would love to hear from you guys!)