Starbird

Chapter 2

“Duh. Keep going.” He nodded back to the book and I skimmed until I found my place again.

“‘You believe you tricked me, Xavier. But you and I are so alike. We think alike. Therefore I am always one step ahead. You can try all you want, but I will always end up on top.’” I looked up at James, waiting to see if he knew this part. Much to my despair, he did.

“‘In what outcome do you see yourself winning? We live in a world where the good guys win.’” James smirked at me.

“Those lines don’t sound very punchy.” I said, trying to pop his bubble.

“Chances are they will change them when we get on set. But I knew my line. Eat it, Cam.” Waving it off, I curled into a ball.

“Ok, you win. Good night James.”

“Nighty night Cam.”

“If you’ll find your seats and fasten seat-belts, we will be making our descent into London, England. Please turn of all electronic devices, put your seats in the upright position, and fold your table up. Local time is -” I didn’t bother listening to the lady speaking, even if her accent was probably the coolest thing I had ever heard. There was just a certain point where staring out the window of a place you’d never been before was a lot more important than some safety guidelines.

“Oh my gosh, James. James! I see Big Ben!” I exclaimed, jamming my finger on the window, pointing to where I saw the clock tower.

“You do realize I’ve seen it before?” He said as if he was bored, but I could see the excitement in his eyes. Huffing, I turned around to where my mom sat.

“Mom! Did you see Big Ben?”

“Camille, how old are you?”

“Seventeen. Why?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Because you’re acting like a four-year-old with a new toy.”

“You’re both party poopers.” Reaching into my carry-on, I pulled out my Monster. That’s what James called it at least. It was last year’s Christmas present. A giant, gorgeous camera that most people would find intimidating, however I found it comforting in so many ways. Instantly, I started snapping a million pictures, never sure which ones would turn out slightly better than the others.

“You’re weird, you know that right?” James stated calmly.

“It’s not my fault I haven’t toured the world already.” I retorted. Mom and Dad travelled when they were younger and James travelled all the time because of work. Instantly, I felt like the uncultured swine of the family.

“Excuse me, miss, you’ll have to put that away.” The stewardess pointed to my camera and I frowned slightly.

“Right, sorry.” Sliding the camera back in its case, I slumped in my seat. Turning back to James, I asked, “Tell me, why are people so keen on bursting my bubble today?”

“Because it’s just so much fun, Cammie.” I stuck out my tongue and, perhaps Mom was right, I was acting like a four-year-old. I made a mental note not to act like this when I was around James’ friends. My ears popped as the plane jerked to the ground. The plane slowed and the intercom came on announcing to us all that we were finally there. Eventually, the plane halted and we began the mad dash to get our stuff out of the compartments and out of the terminal. Lights started flashing as the paparazzi swirled around, snapping every second of the passing moments. They were shouting at James like there was no tomorrow. Everything and anything was being said to get him to look over in their direction. James then spotted his agent waving his arms wildly above the crowd.

“Come on, this way.” James pulled us through and, before I knew it, we were surrounded by security as we were ushered through a side exit where a black van was waiting.

“Alright, head on over to the house. I’ll get the luggage and meet you there.” His agent said. My eyes shot up from the ground and looked over to James.

“When did we get a house?”

“Rick got us one. The majority of filming is in this area, remember?” Nodding my head, James turned back to Rick. “See you in an hour or so then?”

“Sounds like a plan.” We clambered into the van and Rick shut the door behind us. The driver took off immediately and I instantly pulled out my Monster. “Smile James!” He turned to me with a tired expression as I snapped a photo. Looking down at the screen, I bubbled over in laughter.

“Ugh, I got in the van to escape the paps, Cammie.” James covered his face with his hoodie, muffling his words.

“But James! You look so attractive in this photo. I’m going to sell it on the internet and make millions.” I spoke wildly.

“You do and you’re dead.”

“I love you too.” Kissing the air towards his face, I started shooting pictures of the scene that was passing us. James was already curled up in a ball, falling fast asleep.

The ride was gorgeous. True, the first twenty minutes of driving was mainly the British countryside, but the way the light bounced off of the trees and the hillsides whizzed past us, it just ultimately made me feel like I was at a very inspiring part of a movie. Eventually, the city came into view as tall buildings started appearing over the hills.

“Hey Mom.” I whispered, poking her arm. Mom mumbled something in reply. “Can we move here?” I asked her. She rose her eyebrow, a quizzical look crossing her face.

“Hun, I thought you didn’t want to move here. You were set on the idea of staying home a couple weeks ago.”

“That’s because I wanted to go visit Grandma and Grandpa’s. But if that’s not happening, let’s not go back to LA. Los Angeles is dirty and overpopulated. But if we move here, it’ll feel like I’m in a Jane Austen movie every day!”

“You do realize we’re living here for the next few months right?” 

“Maybe so. But we’re living in London. I want to live in the countryside. I can visit London and enjoy the British countryside. How about it? Let’s move here. We can fly out Grandma and Grandpa and go visit the States every so often. But I think I could handle it out here.” Mom just shook her head.

“Maybe once you finish high school we can discuss you moving out here. Plus, you just got here. You don’t even know if you’ll like it yet.” However, looking out the window I felt certain that I would like it here. If “here” meant outside of the city. I was tired of big, bustling cities with sirens going off in the wee hours of the morning or smog filling the atmosphere. My city back in Oregon was relatively big, but it was no where near Los Angeles or London. I rested my head against the window, taking in the sites again. England was gorgeous. I always suspected it to be, but my view was solely based on movies. Now I had my own experience to base it off of. It was strange that we’d only be here for a few months and then we’d be off to do our on-site filming in France or Italy or wherever. James refused to tell me all the places we’d be going. He said I would like it better if I didn’t know. One thing about that though, is that I absolutely hate surprises.