Star Crossed Mates

Chapter 1

It was a week before graduation and the whole school was a buzz. Everyone was excited about their future plans and who they were going to be after they left this small town of Loyal. I was just excited to be spending the weekend with my best friend Celeste.

We had made plans to go to a party out in the sticks with a bunch of other classmates where there would be a big bonfire and no one to complain about the music being too loud. This was our last weekend to do this before we went our separate ways for who knows how long so I was going to enjoy every minute of it.

“Nova, get a move on!” Celeste shouted, smacking the side of her car with the palm of her hand.

I laughed to myself and waved goodbye to some other friends as I ran to her car.

“Finally it’s Friday!” She squealed, starting up her car, “I have a surprise for you when we get to my house”

“Celeste you know I don’t like surprises”

“You love them”

“The last surprise ended up with you falling into a ditch and nearly getting crushed by a pile of wood”

“Hey, that fort had some faulty inspection work by Aster, besides it’s better than the other one when I tried to surprise you with your birthday cake and tripped over my own feet”

“Yeah. You had cake in your hair for weeks”

“Don’t remind me. I still have nightmares of falling into a giant cake and not being able to climb my way out”

We both laughed. As athletic as she truly was, she was clumsy more often than not.

Pulling into her driveway we grabbed our bags and headed into her house, taping the big sign that hung above the porch that read ‘The Barlow’s’

“I’m home!” She shouted for everyone to hear.

“Welcome back,” her dad shouted from the kitchen.

Daniel was a retired veteran who now owned his own car shop in town. He was an honest man and was still in great shape for his age with his salt peppered hair and hazel eyes.

“How are my babies?” Estella got up from her chair and gave both of us a hug and kiss on the cheek, “are you hungry?”

She was just as beautiful now as the day I met her. Both kids took after her. Getting their golden hair and bright sapphire eyes from her. Estella was a bank teller at the local bank, but when Daniel retired she became a stay at home mom.

“No thanks we were just going to get ready for tonight”

“That’s right. Seniors night out,” Daniel chuckled, “you girls better not get too crazy. I don’t want a repeat of what happened last year with Aster”

“It was adorable,” Estella kissed her husband on the cheek.

Last year Aster came home smelling of alcohol and began to throw a fit because Celeste and I were sleeping at my house that night. Estella called my mom and asked her if we could come back home, but before we could even get our shoes on Aster had somehow walked across the street, came in through our front door and barged into my room. Scaring the hell out of both of us.

He then flopped down on the foot of my bed and passed out immediately. My mom called to let Daniel and Estella know that everything was fine and it was alright that he stayed. Both of them apologized profusely, but my dad only laughed and said that it can’t be helped since we were always so close. He also made the comment that it was like we had our own little guard dog.

Both Celeste and I laid back down laughing about the event. As I was about to fall asleep, Aster grabbed my leg and held on to it for dearlife. I could hear him mumbling something under his breath and the last thing I heard out of his lips was him softly calling my name.

I smiled at this memory.

“I promise it won’t be anything like that. We’re both coming back here and staying here”

“You better,” an all too familiar voice said behind me.

I felt the warmth of his hands wrap around me as he began spinning me around in the kitchen. When he set me down I turned and was face to face with the most handsome boy I had ever known. Only now he wasn’t the same boy I remember.

He must’ve grown another foot, putting him at about 6 feet tall now. His golden hair looked windswept and those mesmerizing eyes drew me in.

“How’ve you been Nova?” He asked.

I could feel the heat running up my cheeks. I was about to answer when Celeste linked our arms.

“She’s been busy lately. She joined the choir club with me this year and helped in a few plays as a set designer”

“Really?” He smiled down at me.

“Yeah. She’s really opened up. You should’ve seen Zeke’s face light up when he heard her sing. I’m sure he’ll be confessing to her by the end of the night”

A furious aura was felt around him as he creased his eyebrows.

“Zeke is in choir now?”

“Yeah. He joined the same time Nova did. I think he had to beg Mr. Garrison because signups were already over”

This did not help improve Aster’s mood.

“Well I’m glad someone is taking an interest in you. I was hoping it would be before this blockhead came back in town,” Estella said, sitting on Daniels lap.

“Mom!” Aster shouted.

“What? You never let the girls do anything on their own. The one time Celeste came home saying Nova met a boy you went out and scared the poor thing till he gave up on her”

“Because she deserves someone better. No one will ever be good enough for her or Celeste”

“Spoken like an overprotective brother”

“It’s my job,” he crossed his arms.

“Come on,” Celeste pulled me towards her room upstairs, “we’re going to get ready”

“Where are you going?” Aster asked.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Celeste cheekily said.

We laughed when we closed her door behind us.

“He’s so easy to get riled up”

“Yeah, but you do it to often”

“I haven’t seen him in almost a year. I’m just making up for lost time. Besides you know he has a thing for you”

“No he doesn’t”

“You saw how angry he got when Zeke was brought up”

“He gets like that with you too”

“But he doesn’t hold me in his arms the way he does with you”

I couldn’t keep myself from blushing.

“Come on. Let’s get you dressed up”

“You know very well I don’t like dressing up”

“Why? You have such a good body. Why hide it under all those dark clothes?”

I couldn’t admit that I preferred to just watch her get the attention. It was weird even to me, but I loved the way she glowed whenever people were around.

“It’s just not comfortable to me”

“It’s our last week of high school. Why not give everyone something to talk about?” She grabbed my hands and pulled them up to her chin, “pretty please?”

She gave me her biggest puppy eyes.

“Fine! But I don’t want any skirt or dress”

“Yay!” She shrieked, “You’re going to look amazing,” she pulled me over to her vanity and sat me down in the chair, “let’s start with some makeup and hair. The outfit is important, but you’ll look good in anything”

“I doubt that”

“Trust me. You won’t just be getting Zeke’s attention tonight”

Something was telling me that I was already going to regret this, but I could guarantee that Celeste would make me look good.

About 2 hours later and a lot of complaints on my end I was finally ready. My long hair was curled. Makeup done lightly with dark cat liner to make my eyes pop. The outfit was something we couldn’t seem to agree on. I wanted pants, a t-shirt and sweater. She wanted a crop top and short shorts that didn’t even cover my ass. So we compromised.

I wore shorts that were still a little short for my liking, but covered both cheeks. Paired nicely with a very low cut shirt and my favorite converse that had a little life left in them.

“You look fantastic,” she smiled.

“I might as well be naked”

“We could still do that”

I pointed my finger at her.

“Come on” she opened the door and we headed downstairs.