Starstruck

Chapter 1a: Shifting orbits

He sat down and it was like I couldn't stop staring at the back of his head--which was more than a little disturbing.

Pete Warner leaned across from the next row. "Hey, Rigel, right?" He pronounced it like "regal," with a hard G.

"Rigel," the new guy corrected him, pronouncing it Ry-jel. Like the star.

Pete nodded, unfazed. "I hear you're gonna be our new quarterback?"

"Coach Glazier seems to think so," Rigel said with a shrug, his voice jolting me again. "But he's only seen me at one practice so far."

"Yeah, well, if you played at CN that's probably all he needed to see. Especially after last year's game."

"Huh. I'll bet Bryce is pissed," Nate Villiers commented.

Bryce Farmer was a senior now and had been our quarterback last year. He had also, not-so-coincidentally, dated Trina. I wondered what had happened there, since she was now coming on to Rigel. The new quarterback. So predictable.

A few of the other boys joined the football discussion and I tried to tune them out, but every time Rigel spoke my whole body thrummed to his voice. What was wrong with me? I forced myself to read through my schedule, desperate to distract myself, but it was pretty much what I expected. With just twenty-two teachers at Jewel, there wasn't a lot of room for surprises.

Finally, Mrs. Cummins called us to order. "First period will start in five minutes. Everyone look over your schedules. If there's a problem, ask me for a slip so you can stop by the office for adjustments."

The noise level dropped as everyone else checked their classes. Trina immediately turned to face Rigel. "So, what classes do you have?" she asked, leaning toward him so he could get a peek at her cleavage.

I rolled my eyes and felt a spurt of amusement when she noticed and had to work to hide her irritation.

"They said my schedule was tentative," he replied. "What do you have? Maybe I can-"

"Switch a couple? I definitely have some of the best teachers this semester."

This time I couldn't suppress a snicker. Trina dropped her syrupy-sweet routine long enough to glare at me. Then, before Rigel could turn his head to see what she was glaring at, she switched her high-powered smile back on and leaned further over the back of her chair until she was practically lying across his desk.

In a fake, breathy voice, Trina started naming her classes in order. I glanced back down at my own schedule and winced. I was going to share more than half my classes with her this year. Maybe I could get my schedule changed!

But then I heard Rigel murmur something about switching an elective to coordinate with her schedule and decided maybe I could live with Trina in the same room if it also meant listening to Rigel's deliciously disturbing voice several times a day.

He rose smoothly and went to the front to get a change slip from Mrs. Cummins, and suddenly, like someone had flipped a switch, I was able to think rationally again. I took the opportunity to remind myself that I should be more interested in Jimmy Franklin's schedule than Rigel's. Jimmy didn't know I existed either, but it still seemed disloyal to have temporarily forgotten about the boy I'd been crushing on for almost two years.

Besides, if Trina planned to snag Rigel for herself, Jimmy was probably more within my reach. Kind of like how the moon was more within my reach than the sun. I stifled a sigh.

Rigel came back and I immediately had trouble focusing again, even before he spoke. I was definitely way more aware of him than was reasonable, gorgeous or not. I tried-hard-not to look at him as he sat back down in front of me and Trina resumed her over-the-top flirting.

A minute later the bell rang. Rigel and Trina left together, of course. I hung back, not wanting to get too close, but then, without really meaning to, I found myself quickening my pace. I caught up to them in time to see a slightly confused expression on Rigel's profile, which suddenly cleared. I wondered what stupid thing Trina had been saying to him.

I stayed two steps behind them until Rigel turned to go to the office to change his schedule. It was like I was caught in his orbit--a funny metaphor, I realized, since he was named after a star.

And he still hadn't so much as glanced my way.

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