POPSTAR (BEING REVAMPED)

Chapter 1

I push a black strand of hair away from my face, as I try to peer my eyes to see the whiteboard in front of me, but with no luck, I shift my eyes to a stranger next to me and attempt to copy their notes.

Sitting at the very back of the lecture hall was a mistake—a mistake I've made too often.

My second year of college doesn't prove to be any better than the first.

It just seems convenient somehow; in the moment at least, but that's what all traps feel like, that's what Griffin felt like even though deep down I know I was more of a trap for him than he was for me.

I take a deep breath, trying to calm down my nerves, and wait for the professor to finish the boring lecture before I finally gather my laptop, notebooks, and pencil case into my folded arms.

My dark blue jeans are tight against my skin and my black long sleeve t-shirt is loose—just the way I like it.

"And now . . . test time!" the professor yells over us and I gulp down, slowly sitting back down. Oh, this is not happening, I was so ready to leave.

The last thing I expected was a random test. I didn't exactly have time to study last night. Caroline and I were talking about Griffin all night; about the beak up I just went through. And I assumed the test wouldn't be this soon.

"I decided to have it a day early . . ." The teacher says and the whole class moans. "I know, I know . . . but look at it this way, you'll just have gotten it over with." He explains but I roll my eyes amongst everyone else. It's not about getting it over with but about not drowning in the process.

I quickly get a pen out of my bag as the test paper is handed to me and I find myself breathing unsteadily. I never understood why tests did this to me, but maybe it's because I know my whole future will be going down the drain if I don't pass on some stupid paper.

Calm down, calm down, calm down, calm down, calm down. I try to steady myself but it only feels worse when I say it in my head so instead, I slowly whisper it to myself along with deep breaths. "Calm down," I say. "Calm down," I whisper again and I feel myself actually calming down this time.

"I'll be grading everyone right after you finish, so make sure to wait before leaving," the professor lets us know and I roll my eyes.

I take another deep breath before holding the white sheet of paper under my hand and writing down my name at the very top. 'Maria Gonzalez.'

I take one more deep breath before opening the test sheet, and after my eyes scan the paper, I know I'm bound to fail. I understand absolutely nothing and I don't want to understand anything; any of this.

I take a deep breath, slam my pencil to the table, close my eyes and rub my temples.

A few seconds later I open my eyes to the whole class staring at me. Great, just what I needed.

This makes me feel even worse and it's a bad time for feeling worse than I do. I glance back at my test paper and then up again, almost everyone has stopped staring except for some people who are scattered across the lecture hall and of course, Griffin. His eyes catch mine and for a moment it feels as though we're together again but I slam my eyes onto the test paper.

I scan the paper with my eyes again and only let more confusion into my mind.

I find one question that I might be able to answer and it's the only question that doesn't have answers to choose from which is only typical.

I find myself drawing lines and grids on a notepad next to me, attempting to calculate the stupidity of all of this and when I look up, in hopes of seeing the professor still staring at his watch, I only end up seeing everyone around me bothered by the noise my pencil is apparently making and staring at me as if I've just screamed across the hall.

"Yeah, sorry," I mumble annoyed, more at myself than anyone else. How could I have been so reckless? So careless with my future.

"Aaand that's it!" the professor draws out loudly and the whole class stops, looking down at their papers.

I'm thankful that everyone at least stopped staring at me but I also want to throw up at the fact that now, in the middle of all of this, the test is over, it's freaking over, and I failed.

One by one everyone walks down over to the professor and I'm one of the ants, returning some paper to the ruler that dictates everything.

"Maria," the professor looks me in the eyes, his white see-through and very cheap glasses slide down and his light green eyes examine the test.

"History is a difficult subject," he says and then immediately places it on the table in front of him, writes something in one of the pages, and gives it back with an unreadable expression.

"No shit," I mumble to myself but he doesn't hear anything.

His lips are tense, his glasses firm on his nose, and his short dark hair covering his forehead.

He always looks to be in his fifties but now he kind of looks a little younger, after he dyed the hair and all even though his slightly sweaty forehead makes him look like he could be someone's dad.

I can't bring myself to flip through the pages to look at his note, but my fingers can and they do, flip, flip, flip and then I spot his handwriting.

"Maria!" I hear my best friend call and I instantly grab the test papers shut.

"How did it go?" Caroline asks, her blue eyes peering into mine.

"I don't know yet," I say qucikly and move to the side of her, trying to avoid any more questions. These classes are hard enough without interrogations.

"Oh my god! Jayden Torrens is hosting a party Friday night, downtown L.A!!" Both Caroline and I turn to look at Tiffani who's yelling over the whole classroom as she's staring at her phone.

Tiffani Davis, of course. She's as desperate for Jayden Torrens as humans are for air.

Everyone is just as surprised as we are and she qucikly realizes that her inner thoughts weren't as 'inner' as she thought.

Her light-brown eyes peer up and she realizes that just about everyone is gawking at the poor girl. She glances at Caroline and me before looking back down at the floor and hurrying out of the classroom, her light brown hair is the last thing any of us see as she escapes.

Everyone looks around for a second before everything returns to normal as if nothing happened but Tiffani is still going to have to deal with the very embarrassing shouting earlier.

"Who the hell is Jayden torrens?" I ask Caroline who rolls her eyes and I can't help but smile.

"You know for someone who obsesses over wanting to be a singer, you sure have some guts not to know who the most popular Male singer is," Caroline jokes and I join her.

"It's not my fault I couldn't care more about people like Jayden," I bite.

Jayden is the last thing I need on my mind. He's nothing but a heartthrob who breaks hearts for sport, crushing even the hearts of the most confident models in the world and for that, he somehow gets praise from obsessed girls like Tiffani who refuse to see that he's nothing but scum.

"And I couldn't agree more." Caroline raises a thin brow and we both walk off with small thin smiles on our faces.