Star-Crossed Memories

by Geri Watson

  Her hair fell to the side and hid her face as she looked down. "It's been a fun few months hanging out with you."

  "I think so too," Alex agreed. "I mean; I hope you know how I feel about you Star...do you?" he looked at her questioningly.

  "Well, we've never really talked about that before. Have we?" She rested her elbow against the back of the couch and leaned her face on her hand.

  Alex cleared his throat. "No. I guess we haven't." After a minute he got flustered. "And now I've set this conversation up, and I don't know how to respond." She could tell he was getting embarrassed as he looked away. He took a drink and looked back at her. "I think you're amazing. You're compassionate and smart...and beautiful."

  A humored smile crossed Star's face. "Thanks."

  Alex exhaled and then laughed. "I wasn't expecting that kind of response."

  He leaned toward her and for a panicked moment Star thought he was going to kiss her. It wasn't as if she and Alex never kissed. On the contrary, Alex was one of the best kissers she'd ever known. It definitely wasn't like her to flinch away, but for some reason the thought of kissing him right now made her feel guilty. The only thing that had stopped him was her cell phone ringing loudly between them on the table. After grabbing the phone quickly, Star closed her eyes and took a deep breath when she saw who it was on the other end. She shot an apologetic look at Alex and answered it.

  "Hello?" She tried to make her voice even. This was awkward.

  "Star, Hey. I wasn't sure you were going to answer." Tristan's voice came calmly through the line.

  "I thought you had class?" she looked over at Alex who had gone back to eating the remains of his Chinese food.

  "Well I still have one to go to, but I wanted to call you before I went in. I found out something interesting today, and I wanted to tell you about it." He sounded like he was in his car.

  "Oh really?" Star's eyebrows raised. She held up a finger and mouthed to Alex that she'd be back in a minute. She walked back toward her bedroom as Tristan went into his discovery.

  "The book I picked up from the library last night? It's got this documentation of a couple that went through the same sort of thing that we did." She could hear the windshield wipers and figured it must have started raining.

  "What happened to them?" she asked, interested in this new information.

  She heard him cough. "I didn't get that far. I was reading it in class instead of paying attention and didn't get to finish the section."

  Star shook her head and chuckled. "Tristan, knowing what happened to them would have been helpful before you called me."

  "I guess I got so excited that I didn't think about that," he admitted abashedly.

  "Ah." She smiled at his enthusiasm. He was like a little kid. "Well let me know when you read more."

  His tone changed, and she heard him turn off his car. "I suppose the real reason I called was to tell you that we're not alone. There are others out there like us, Star."

  She leaned against the wall. "That does make me feel a little better."

  "Good." She could hear the smile in his voice. "Mission accomplished then...but I have to go, I'm at my class. Want me to call back later or do you want to call me? I feel like it's always me calling you," he bemused.

  "Maybe I should be playing harder to get." Star looked back toward the other room where Alex was still sitting. "I'll call you, is 10:00 alright?"

  "Yeah, that's fine. I'll talk to you then," Tristan replied.

  "Tristan?" she said quickly, hoping he hadn't already hung up.

  "Yeah?"

  "Thanks," she spoke tenderly.

  "You're welcome. Talk to you after class."

  The line went dead, and she closed her phone. Star ran her hand over her face and tried to collect herself before walking back into the living room. Alex looked up as she entered.

  "Everything okay?" he asked curiously.

  Star sat back down on the couch closer to him than she was before the phone call. "Yeah, everything is fine." She looked down at her half-eaten food and realized she wasn't hungry anymore. She wasn't very comfortable with the two of them being alone in the apartment either. Looking over at Alex, she squinted her eyes slightly. "You still wanna go see that movie? Didn't you say it started around 7?"

  Alex looked down at his watch and scratched his head. "Well if we leave now, all we'd probably miss would be the previews."

  She smiled and grabbed his hand then pulled him up from the couch and gathered her keys and purse. "Let's go then!"

  He looked at her dubiously. "Star, you are a strange woman sometimes."

  Rolling her eyes, she ushered him out the front door and locked up behind her. "You made it sound so good this morning when you told me about the reviews. I was thinking about calling you to see if you still wanted to go when you showed up."

  Alex grabbed her hand, and they headed downstairs and out to his car. As soon as the rain hit her skin outside, Star felt better. At least this way they would be out in public, and honestly, she did want to see the movie. As they drove to the theater, she saw Alex look over at her when they came to red lights, but he didn't say anything more. She half wondered if she may have scared him off with her odd behavior.

  In her mind, she questioned if that would be a good thing or not. By seeing the movie, she was still going to be spending time with Alex, and when it was over, she could go home and talk to Tristan. Trying to balance things between the two guys was going to be tough, but right now Star didn't know what else to do.

  CHAPTER 6

  "Art? You home?" Tristan called out as he walked into the house. Scout welcomed him by barking and then pouncing on him. He set his keys down on the bench in the foyer and made his way down the hall. As he rounded the corner, he saw the TV was on but still saw no sign of his brother. He looked down at Scout who gazed up at him and tilted her head then sat at his feet. "Where is he?" Tristan asked her. Scout barked again in response, and upon hearing her bark, Arthur walked out of his bedroom.

  "What are you barking at?" He looked over and saw Tristan. "Oh...Hey, how was class?"

  Tristan sat his bag down against the wall and walked into the kitchen. "It was alright. Long day as always." He grabbed a drink of water out of the fridge and walked into the living room then sat on the couch.

  Arthur laughed. "Get used to it now kid, 12-hour shifts at the hospital, and 10-hour surgeries make 9 hours of class look like heaven."

  Tristan scratched his head. "Yeah, I guess so...no Natasha tonight?" He smirked and looked over the back of the couch at his brother who walked over and sat down next to him.

  "Nah. You seemed like you wanted to talk this morning and I wasn't very receptive. Thought I could make it up to you tonight."

  After taking a swig from his water, Tristan set his elbows on his knees and leaned on them. "You didn't have to do that."

  "What are big brothers for, right? I have to take care of my little brother somehow since Mom and Dad aren't ever around."

  He was right. Their parents weren't exactly candidates for the Parent of the Year award. It wasn't their fault though. Their father worked for Doctors Without Borders, and their mother was with the American Red Cross. It was commonplace for them to be out of the country for long stretches of time. The way they looked at it, their boys were adults and the world needed them. Who were he and Arthur to argue with that? It wasn't so horrible with just him and his brother in the house. They had been taking care of each other for years already anyway.

  "I guess," he made a face as Arthur ruffled his hair and he punched him in defense.

  "So what's on your mind? What made you bring up something like reincarnation?" Art raised an eyebrow toward him.

  Tristan looked down at the bottle of water in his hand. "Just something I've taken an interest in lately."

  Art leaned back against the couch and laid his arm across the top of it. "Something in your Philosophy class pique your interest, or is it something else?"

  H
e looked back up at his brother. "Something else."

  "Oh really?" Art said distantly.

  He noticed that his brother's eyes kept darting back to the program on the Television. If he wasn't paying attention, then this conversation was pointless. Tristan loved his brother, but sometimes he could be a pain. It was just like him to say that he had come home to make up the way he had acted this morning and then blow him off again. He decided to test the waters with something random to see if Art was the slightest bit aware of what was being said.

  "I met a girl yesterday." He watched to see if his brother had any reaction.

  In response, Art turned off the TV then stood up and moved in front of Tristan. "Seriously? You met a girl and thought it was important enough to tell me?"

  A little freaked out by Art's reaction, Tristan flinched. "Yeah...I guess so."

  "That's so great," he happily smiled down at him.

  "Okay, ...you're weirding me out right now," Tristan said, looking up at his brother strangely.

  Art laughed loudly. "Sorry bro, but I'm surprised. I've known you to fall asleep in the stacks of the library overnight. You never go out. You don't go to parties. All you ever do is study. Emily has been chasing after you for years now, and you won't even give her the time of day. So yes, I wasn't expecting that kind of announcement."

  Tristan made a face. "You make me sound like a recluse."

  "I was beginning to think you were." his brother responded. "But enough about that...when do I get to meet her? What is she like? What's her name?"

  "You sound like such a girl right now," Tristan guffawed.

  Art sat back on the couch. "Oh come on Tristan. This is big. Can't I take an interest in it?"

  Tristan considered what exactly to tell his brother. After taking a sip of his water, he decided that he could relay everything that didn't sound like he'd been breathing vapors in the library.

  "Her name is Star." he tried to hide the grin just saying her name caused. "She's a Psychology major and attends UW. She's a little high strung, but she has a good heart. I don't know when you're going to meet her. We haven't talked about meeting my family yet considering it's only been two days," he smirked.

  "Psych major, huh?" Art took a deep breath. "Those are some women to deal with; I'm telling you that now. Crazy lot, all of them. If you do one thing not the way they thought you would or make one wrong move, then they're all over 'why' you did it. If you're upset or anything, they want to know 'how that makes you feel'," he made quoting motions with his fingers. "Good luck with that."

  "Oh, she's not that bad," Tristan defended.

  "Uh huh, you say that now."

  Tristan waved him off. "She's different. You'll see."

  "Where did you meet this shining Star?" Art asked, grinning like an idiot at his pun.

  Rolling his eyes, Tristan got up. "We bumped into each other on campus." His cell phone started ringing. "And that's probably her." He looked down at the number and felt the corners of his lips curl into another smile. "Thanks for the talk...we'll finish this later," he called back to Art as he ascended the stairs.

  His brother nodded and turned back toward the TV. He started flipping channels as Tristan answered the phone.

  "Hello?" He could hear the rain and wondered where she was.

  "Hey," Star's voice was light and airy. "Are you home now?"

  "Yeah, I was talking to my brother," Tristan replied, as he walked into his room.

  "You have a brother?" she asked.

  "He's a few years older than me. I told him about you, and his reaction was a little off-putting." He sat down at his desk and ran his hand over the arm of his chair.

  "Really? What did you tell him about me?" Star prodded curiously.

  "Oh, you know. I stalked you and kissed you...made you faint. Then I told him that you're the reincarnation of my soulmate. He took it pretty well considering..."

  There was silence on the line.

  "I'm kidding, Star." Tristan burst out laughing.

  He heard her take a deep breath. "That wasn't funny."

  "I thought it was," he snickered into the phone. "Lighten up."

  She groaned. "What did you actually tell your brother?"

  "That you were gorgeous and neurotic and that I was smitten with you." He rested his phone between his ear and his shoulder and turned on his laptop.

  "Really?" Star sounded surprised.

  "Yes, really," Tristan replied as he started typing. "So am I meeting your friends tomorrow or what?"

  "I didn't get a chance to talk to Alyssa, but I talked to my roommate, and he's looking forward to it."

  Tristan stopped typing. "Excuse me, did you just say he was looking forward to it?"

  "Yes, I did," she deadpanned.

  "You live with a guy?" he asked, surprised.

  "Well he's more than just a guy, he's my best friend. We've been best friends for a long time. We moved up here to Seattle together from Virginia."

  "Huh," he mumbled. "Tomorrow should be compelling then." He went back to typing.

  Star sniffed. "He's a great guy Tristan, don't worry. It's not like he's going to beat you up or anything."

  "Oh it makes me feel so much better to hear you say that," he sarcastically responded. "When are your classes tomorrow?"

  "8, 11, 4 and 6, you?"

  "9, 11, and 4....when were your classes today?" he asked as he typed in her schedule next to his.

  "8, 11 and 3....why do you ask, planning on stalking me again?"

  Tristan snorted. "I was heavily considering it, but you being willing to meet up with me would make things much easier."

  Her laughter echoed on the line. "Would you like to come over for dinner tomorrow night?"

  "That sounds good. Do you want to meet up somewhere or do you want me to come over to your place?" he asked.

  "You can just come over to our place. It's 2416 Brooklyn Avenue Northeast, just a few blocks from campus. Call when you're on your way, and I'll walk you in."

  "Alright." He heard a door loudly bang and then a male voice in the background.

  "Hey, Tristan? I've got to talk to Zack about tomorrow night now that he's home from work. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

  "Okay. Sweet dreams tonight, Star."

  "You too, Tristan. Night."

  He set his cell phone down and leaned back in his desk chair. Pulling the reincarnation book out of his bag sitting under his desk, Tristan picked up where he had left off in class. What he ended up reading dashed his hopes of things getting any simpler between him and Star. It would be much easier if she weren't so difficult. He kept reading with the faith of finding something that he could use to appease their fears and doubts. A few hours later and almost at the end of the book, he gave up and went to bed frustrated.

  CHAPTER 7

  Zack came out of his room and sat on the couch with a guilty look on his face. "Sorry, didn't realize you were on the phone."

  "It's alright," Star reassured him. "We weren't talking about anything important anyway. How was work?"

  "Boring." He dramatically sprawled on the couch. "I'm glad it started raining though. I was almost starting to miss it."

  Star lifted Zack's legs and sat down, then rested them on her lap. "I know what you mean. I had the balcony door cracked most of the night. There's something about the smell of rain cleansing everything."

  "Mhm." He closed his eyes. "So what did you do tonight?"

  "Alex came over, and we ended up going to a movie."

  "That romantic comedy you wanted to see?" Zack asked tiredly.

  Star had been talking about the movie for a few months now. Since the film had come out in the theater, she'd been trying to get either Zack or Alex to take her. It was one thing to see a romantic comedy with a guy or one of your girlfriends; it was entirely another to go by yourself. She wasn't quite ready to send out that image of herself.

  "Yeah."

  He huffed. "Better him than me."

  Star sank
into the back of the couch and sighed. "I was on the phone with Tristan when you came in."

  Zack opened one eye. "Both guys in one night? How scandalous, Star."

  She scoffed. "Shut up. Tristan's coming over for dinner tomorrow night...and you're going to be nice."

  He looked over at her. "Aw, come on Star, I have to cook for him since it's my night and I have to be nice on top of it? You ask so much of me." He turned away, but she could see the smile on his face.