When Stars Burn

Chapter Two: Calculations and Chances

A/N: Hi everyone! Hope you're all having a good week. Here's the newest installment on Star's story. By the way, how do you like the name Star? I've always wanted to name a character Star but I haven't really found the right fit for it. I like this one. Anyway, enjoy!

***

Switching roommates was easier said than done.

With the school year having just started, I couldn't switch until spring and there was already a waiting list.

When I mentioned it to Kendra, she just shrugged and tuned out.

I didn't think she was going to get in my way because she probably wanted me out of her hair as much as I wanted her out of mine. While that hasn't happened yet, she wasn't changing anything. In fact, she'd only been getting worse. I suspected she was getting back at me for interrupting her 'wild ride'. It didn't surprise me. Kendra enjoyed spiting me.

I forced myself to practice patience. I wasn't desperate. Close but not quite there yet.

I was walking across the quad one late afternoon to get to Uni-Save, the drugstore the student union owned and ran just at the edge of campus. I worked a mix of evenings and weekends at the cosmetics counter. It didn't pay much but it gave me more work experience and a little extra spending money.

"Feeling better, my little salsa-spewer?"

I froze at the voice—familiarly low and throaty with that permanent hint of humor—and looked up to find mossy green eyes gazing down at me from a considerable height.

Unimpeded this time by a woman literally trying to get under his skin, Wild Ride Julian had quite an intimidating build. Standing maybe six-foot-three or four, his shoulders were broad even under that well-worn black leather bomber jacket, the rest of him lean, long and deceptively languid. His dark hair was a little windblown, a slight flush slashed across his straight nose and sharp cheeks.

"A little better now except for the occasional nightmare about a pair of lovers trying to test the structural integrity of my bed," I answered, trying to get around him so I could continue my walk before this became a full-blown conversation. I felt an overpowering urge to thank him for cleaning my sheets and my bed and I didn't do gratitude well—especially to someone who caused such opportunity for gratitude in the first place.

"Were you fantasizing about me?"

I stopped at the teasing in his voice and glared at him. "It was a nightmare—not a fantasy. And you shared screen time with Kendra."

His brows pulled in together. "Who's Kendra?"

Seriously?

Looking at him though, I realized in dismay that he really didn't remember her name. And Kendra thought it was that special.

Poor girl, I thought but then I realized that maybe Kendra was just as unconcerned about the names of the guys she hooked up with. Sure, most people would think the girl had her heart set on flowers and hearts and a happily-ever-after but maybe Kendra didn't give a flying fuck. She took what she wanted just as much as the guys probably did. It wasn't a one-way-street, after all.

Sometimes, a lay is really just a lay.

"Oh, you know. She's just another unmemorable, interchangeable girl in your harem," I said lightly even though the statement sounded razor sharp. What did I care? "I just wish you'd provide facilities for them so they don't intrude on other people trying to live normal lives. That and maybe some health care plan. You know, in case they get into some really deep shit with you."

I bit down on my tongue.

While that crass slip aggravated me, it seemed to have amused Julian because his eyes lit up and his smile widened.