Read Starbright (The Starbright Series) Online
Authors: Rachel Higginson
“Those are great ideas!”
I agreed energetically
and gripped his bare bicep before moving around him.
“Hey!” he called before
I
could walk away. “Lincoln’s party tonight? What do you think?”
“Throw in some opera and you have yourself a deal,”
I
negotiated, wondering if this party was a good idea,
but Tristan
seemed to
really
want
me
to go.
Tristan shook his head at
me
and then took off onto the court when the official warm-up music came blasting through the gym speakers.
I
paused to watch as he led his team
out
, dribbling a basketball in a wide ar
c
before running toward the backboard and tossing the basketball
hard
against the Plexiglas screen so the guy behind him could jump up, catch it and repeat the move down the line.
Something like pride bubbled up inside
me
as
I
watched Tristan maneuver around the court and command the attention of his team. He wasn’t a Warrior, but he was a truly gifted human athlete and he was
mine
.
Well not
mine
.
He could never be
mine
.
I
belonged to a destiny that d
idn’t include high school boys, or best friends…. or really anyone else besides Seth.
But
right now
he was
my
best friend. And if he wanted
me
to go to Lincoln’s party tonight
I
really couldn’t tell him no…. even if there was a nagging feeling in
my
gut that warned
me
something ominous hovered overhead.
I
shook out
my
knotted, sweat-soaked
ponytail and bounded into the locker room, ignoring
my
instincts and trying
my
best
to focus on Coach Litz’
victory speech.
----
“I think I could play that sport,” Seth mused as
we
walked into Lincoln’s farmhouse that was full of rowdy teenage life.
The party was extra lively after two winning varsity games and the first week of school after winter break being over.
Lincoln’s parents were some of the wealthier farmers in the area so his house was only a couple years old and sat on
two thousand
acres of land.
“I think you could too,”
I
agreed, knowing as a
n
A
ngel
he could really do anything
, including varsity basketball
. “The hardest part of the game is staying human. I mean, initially that’s the hardest part of the game and then after that it depends on where your strengths are.”
“I can see why you use these sports to train though, they seem very invigorating,” Seth offered, sounding more like Jupiter than himself.
I
laughed as the rest of
our
group gathered around
us
inside, “Make sure you report that back to Jupiter for me.”
“What about Jupiter?” Piper asked, pulling her long dark hair over her shoulder.
Her copper bangles jingled around her wrist, matching the bronze beadwork of her
hot pink
, stylish tunic.
“It’s big, right?”
I replied vaguely, changing
the subject.
“Super big, weirdo,” Piper laughed sending
me
a curious look.
“So this is what underage d
rinking looks like?” Seth asked while
taking in the wild teens in front of him that had turned Lincoln’s living room into a dance floor. Lincoln sat perched on the top of the staircase
leading upstairs
watching with restrained horror as Rigley’s party turned destructive on his parents’
expensive
home.
“Well, this is what
small-town
underage drinking looks like,” Piper explained
with obvious tones of disgust
. “When it’s cold outside
at least
…. in the summer we prefer cornfields and bonfires.
It’s so much more high class.
”
“Where do you guys get the alcohol?” Seth asked, not necessarily judging but clearly interested. Red plastic cups were passed between students who drained them of their contents and then
hurried
back to the kitchen for more.
“The creek,” Tristan spoke up for the first time. He had been unusually quiet as he watched the festivities unfold from the doorway to a
dark
sitting room.
I kept my eyes focused on Tristan, knowing that if I looked beyond him I would see outlines of couples in positions and situations that I would never be able to erase from my memory.
“The creek?” Seth asked, unsure if he heard correctly.
“Yeah, Rigley and some of the other guys keep their booze in a cooler, tied up down by the creek
on his dad’s property
. The water keeps everything cold,” Tristan explained as if it should be obvious.
“That is the most hillbilly thing I have ever heard,” Piper sighed and Tristan grinned at her.
“Where do you keep
your
booze?” Seth asked Tristan directly, his honey colored eyes flash
ing
with the challenge.
“I don’t have any booze to keep,” Tristan replied casua
lly, but his own green eyes
hardened
in response. This was an unspoken
argument over
my
virtue and
I
recognized it immediately.
“Someone should go console Lincoln,”
I
changed the subject and gave Piper a sugge
stive glance. “Just promise him
we’ll help clean up
everything
tomorrow.”
“Why do I have to go?” Piper whined, tipping her head back so that her straight bangs flopped to the side.
“Because your butt looks hot in those
jean
s!”
I shouted over the music
, smacking her
directly in the discussed area
.
Piper shot
a hateful glance over her shoulder and then stomped through the middle of the makeshift d
ance floor in her knee high
M
uk-
Lu
ks. She sat down next to Lincoln with an unsatisfied p
l
op and gestured at the house.
I
smiled at the way Lincoln’s cheeks pinkened and the way he tried to brush his stick straight blonde hair out of his eye
s
. They were adorable. If only Piper would admit it.
“So what do you do at these parties if you don’t drink, Stella?” Seth asked, assuming correctly that
I
wouldn’t partake in underage drinking.
“Oh you know, this and that, sometimes I drive kids home, sometimes I get to hold hair back when they’ve had a little too much to drink and sometimes I try to talk them out of ridiculous stunts that usually involve Rigley trying to jump off something
extremely high
in order to prove his manhood,”
I
shouted
loudly
over the music that increased in volume with the popularity of a recent pop
hit
.
“And sometimes you dance,” Tristan reminded
me
by reaching for
my
hands and pulling
me
to the dance floor.
“And sometimes I dance,”
I
called back, giving Seth a smile before turning to Tristan.
We
moved to the
middle of the living room and joined in the
merriment
.
His hands moved around me as they had for years, it was casual, a friendly
activity
that we’
d
done
for years. Or at least it used to be….
s
omething in Tristan’s eyes reminded me that things had changed, and not just in my life, but in our relationship.
The upbeat pop song turned into something slower, more seductive and Tristan’s movements matched the beat. A flutter spread its wings in my stomach and I let Tristan lean in and hold me
to him
. He pulled me closer still, splaying one hand across my lower back. I stumbled forward into him, surprised by his boldness,
and the heat of his hand cementing my body to his.
I looked up into his emerald green eyes and realized
this
was exactly where I wanted to be.
He stared back for a moment, as if his gaze was transfixed to mine. The rest of the dance floor faded away and an unfamiliar kind of confusion settled over me. There was something in that gaze that I didn’t or couldn’t or wouldn’t understand.
I was hyper aware of every place his body touched mine, and especially of his strong hand holding me against his body. I could smell him, feel him…. kiss him….
A
s
quickly as we fell into the bewitchment, we fell out. Tristan let me fall away from him, taking his hand off my back and grabbing my hands instead.
Sensual turned to platonic and our bodies moved numbly to the beat of the song.
His face turned from
penetrating
to playful and he flashed his warm smile at me, letting me know we were still safe as friends.
And I
inhaled again
, not realizing I had
stopped breathing
.
My eyes floated to Seth,
like I was searching for
punishment for the brief moment between Tristan and I, but
Seth
wasn’t looking at me.
A surge of something unfamiliar settled in my
chest
as I noticed Bree Henry hanging on his arm.
She was talking fast and flipping her hair in the flirty way that usually got her attention.
But then I relaxed when I realized he wasn’t looking at her, or even paying her any attention
at all
.
His eyes had found something m
ore
interesting to watch.
My eyes followed his gaze and I inhaled sharply at the scene.
A dark circle of Shadows swirled around the ceiling watching the party
down below.
They were mostly obscured by the dark room, but Seth and I knew what to look for.
An involuntary shudder slithered down my spine as the numbers of Darkness grew overhead. The
y
whipped their bodies in excited movements, switching their back ends as if they were tails, reveling in the underage drunkenness.
This was not my first party and I had witnessed the
power
of Shadows
to manipulate and encourage teens under the influence before. But never had I seen such a collection
of evil, save for the other night when they attacked me.
Usually they appeared in partners or groups of three
or
four. Not
clustered groups of twenty and thirty
at a time, feeding the atmosphere with their dark presence.
Their slithering, black bodies weaved back and for across the ceiling, spreading their malevolence and evil in a thick cloud of angry dissension.
The tension in the atmosphere
settled on the dancing crowd slowly, filling my nostrils with sulfur and death. I choked on the intensity of the evil, watching as the crowd turned from their victory party to angry shouting and physical violence. Two boys from my class shoved each other violently, while others around them shouted their approval. Even Tristan turned from me to watch the fight destroy Lincoln’s living room with a sinister smile twisting his expression.