Star Lawrence tucked a strand of her shoulder length wheat colored hair behind her ear as
she crossed the Eden Hall courtyard. Her crystal blue eyes scanned the passing students
for familiar faces and found not one. The campus was huge and as usual her brother had
let her down. He'd promised to be waiting for her outside the front door, and just as Star
had expected, he wasn't there.
"Do you need some help?" A cute blonde guy asked, walking over to her with a friendly
smile.
"First day here and cute guys are already talking to you." Star thought to herself "Yeah I
completely lost." She answered
"Guy there you are!" A really pretty dark haired girl was swiftly approaching them.
"Who's this?"
"I don't know I didn't get her name. Who are you?" The cutie asked her, the same goofy
grin still on his face.
"Star Lawrence." She answered extending a perfectly manicured hand.
"Connie Moreau and Guy Germaine." Connie answered after was done sizing up Star
now and had come to the conclusion she wasn't competition. "What class do you have
now?"
"Ms Rayson's, math."
"Charlie and Banks have that class don't they?" Guy thought out loud.
"I don't know there's Banksie. Ask him." Connie pointed across the grass.
"Hey Banks do you have Rayson first period?" Guy asked the tall preppy looking blonde
walking in their direction.
If that was what all the guys around there looked like Star was going to like Eden Hall
"Uh, yeah, why?" Adam asked, eyeing Star.
"This is Star Lawrence. She's got first period with you and Charlie." Connie answered,
cheerfully.
"It's nice to meet you." Star repeated.
Adam, being the shy guy he was, didn't say anything. He returned her words with a nod
and a smile.
"Connie Moreau, where have you been?!" A girl with shoulder-length blond hair yelled
to Connie from across the lawn.
"You have my calculator." She said, panting as she ran up to us.
"Do you have math first period too, Cat?" Adam asked her.
"Cat?" Star thought to her self. At that point she was trying to decide if the blond girl
and Adam were together.
"Hey Ducks." A familiar looking boy with brown hair and brown eyes said as he walked
up to the group. He put his arms around the 'cat girl'.
"Hey babe." She replied, giving him a quick kiss. That answered my question about her
and Adam.
"Oh, hey, guys, this is Star Lawrence. Star, this is Julie 'the cat' Gaffney and Scott
Anderson, better known as Scooter." Guy explained.
Star paused for a moment. The name Scott Anderson sounded very familiar to her.
"Star Lawrence?" Scooter asked, giving her a better look.
"Scooter?" Star asked. "Yeah, it's me!"
"I don't believe it." He said, starring at Star. "I haven't seen you in years."
Star grinned. "Back at you. You look good, Scoot."
"I look good? You've grown up so much!" Scooter exclaimed.
"Did we miss something?" Connie asked.
Scooter laughed. "Star is Cole's little sister."
The ducks exchanged looks. Adam was the most disappointed. He was actually really thinking that he might have a chance with Star. She was so beautiful. He loved the way her eyes sparkled when she laughed, and the way her hair kind of, shone in the sunlight. She was tiny enough that he would be able to wrap her arms all the way around her, but she wasn't too small that they would look strange standing next to each other. Everything seemed perfect, Adam was in love at first sight, however, Star was Cole's sister, and that made her dangerous.
"Umm I hate to be rude but this is my first day and I'd really hate to be late on my first day. Could one of you direct me to class Mrs. Rayson's room please?" Star said
uncomfortably, she had sensed the tension that seized the group at the mention of her brother and wanted to get away as swiftly as possible.
"Adam you're going that way why don't you show her." Julie pushed him in the side
lightly. She and Adam were pretty close and she could tell from the way he was looking from Star to the ground back to Star that he liked her.
"Oh yeah right, did you wanna walk with me or did you just want directions?" He was stammering like an idiot and it couldn't have been more charming.
"I'm no good at following directions I'd rather follow you if you don't mind." Star smiled slightly trying not to flush at how cute Banks was.
Adam adjusted his leather backpack on his shoulder and cocked his head in the direction they'd be walking. He could've sworn as he was leaving he heard "Banksie's got a crush." Come from someone.
"So, Cole's your brother, huh?" Adam causally asked, as the two of them stated on the way to class.
"Yeah, and you guys are the ducks?" She asked.
Adam nodded.
"I've heard of you. Aren't you guys like, famous or something?"
"Well, we did get a lot of media attention during the junior goodwill games, but..."
Star quickly cut him off. "Yeah, so you guys are really good, huh?"
"I guess." Adam shrugged.
Star just grinned. She had a feeling that they were better than Adam was letting on. She had heard about the whole J.V. vs. varsity game. Cole hadn't been too happy out that. And Star knew that if Adam played as good as he looked, then he must have been the best player on the whole team...in the whole world!
"So what class do you have after this?" Adam asked, as he lead Star into the classroom.
Star handed Adam her schedule. After scanning it quickly he chuckled to himself.
"What?" Star asked, smiling curiously.
"Your in every single one of my classes." He announced.
In her mind, Star was jumping up and down.
"Lord, what did I do to deserve this?" She thought to herself.
Adam's thoughts were similar. He was walking on air. Now he just had to get around the fact that she was Cole's sister.
For the rest of the day Star stuck close to Adam. The two were becoming fast friends, and Star was curious to find out more about him. He seemed so mysterious to her. And hanging out with the J.V. hockey team seemed kind of forbidden, like she was treading on thin ice. She didn't find out just how much, until lunch.
"So, you wanna eat lunch at our table?" Adam asked.
"Um, sure." Star smiled, as she followed Adam through the crowded cafeteria.
"Hey, Star. How's your day been so far?" Connie asked, as the girls sat down across
from one another.
"Not bad, you?"
"Fine." Connie replied.
Guy took the seat next to Connie, and across from Adam.
Just then a red headed boy with big red glasses and freckles took the seat next to Star.
"Hi, who are you?" He asked bluntly.
"Um, I'm Star Lawrence." She replied, uncertainly. Was this guy on the hockey team?
"Averman." He replied.
"Nice to meet you!"
"We ran into Star this morning, on the lawn." Guy explained to him.
Averman just nodded, and started eating his lunch.
"Oh, and Star. That's Goldberg, Luis, Ken, Dwayne, Russ, Portman, Fulton, and Charlie, he's our captain. That's Linda, Charlie's girlfriend, and Nicci, Luis' girl of the week."
Connie told her, as she pointed everyone out.
"Girl of the week?" Star asked uncertainly.
"You'll understand once you get to know him better." She explained. "Hey guys!"
Connie yelled down to the end of the table, so everyone could hear her. "This is Star."
There were a mixture of 'hi's' and 'what's ups?' down the table. Star just waved back. It was a little overwhelming for her to be meeting so many people on her first day in anew place.
"So, how do you like the mac and cheese?" Goldberg asked.
"Um, It's kinda gross." Star admitted.
"You going to finish it?" He asked.
She shook her head slowly.
"I'll finish it for you." He offered.
"Gold-berg!" Everyone moaned in unison, and then returned to their individual
conversations.
Star couldn't help but laugh. This seemed like a fun group.
"Star." She heard a someone from behind her say in a stone cold voice.
Slowly, a hushed tone fell over the table.
"What do you want, Cole?" Star asked. She wasn't going to let her brother control who she hung out with at school. It was her life, and she was determined to keep it that way.
"I don't want you hanging out with them." He said, sternly.
"I'm sorry." Star replied in a mocking tone. "But you can't tell me what to do."
"Your my littler sister, and you'll do what I want you to."
Star arched an eyebrow. Before she could say anything Scooter stepped in.
"Let it go, man." He said, gently to his friend.
"You stay out of this!" Cole said to Scooter, raising his voice.
"Come on, Star." Cole said, pulling her out of her seat by the arm.
"Ow, Cole! Your hurting me! Stop it!" Star cried, helplessly. Her brother was almost a full foot taller than she was, and a whole lot bigger. Suddenly Charlie jumped to her defense.
"Leave her alone, Cole." He said, indignantly.
"This isn't your problem, Conway." He told him.
"I'm making it my problem. Let her go, now!" He demanded.
"Or what?" Cole spat.
Charlie just shook his head, as he took Star's hand and pulled her out of the room.
Adam blinked. Had that just happened? What was Charlie thinking? Adam knew what he had been thinking. Charlie was always the first to anyone's side when they needed help. He hated to see people pushed around. But that was a little much. He did have a girl friend after all, even if it was just a friendly gesture. Plus all he did was make Cole madder then he already was.
"Are you okay?" Charlie asked Star once they were out in the hall way, outside the
cafeteria.
Star answered rolling her eyes. That had been embarrassing. Even though it had been nice of him. She had only known Charlie for what, five seconds, and here he was 'saving' her from her brother.
"Yeah. Thanks, but. I'm fine. I don't need saving. I'm not a damsel in distress, or
anything. And from what I understand, you have a girlfriend. So, I really appreciate it, but, you know, I'll see you around." She said as she bolted for the door.
Star found herself sitting outside, on the front steps of the school. It was nice outside. Sunny, and a little chilly from the fall days that were now falling upon them in Minnesota. The sky was filled with big puffy clouds. And as Star looked up at them she drifted back to a time when her and her brother actually got along, where they loved each other, and hardly ever fought. Now things were just...different. Cole wanted Star to stay a little girl forever, and she was growing up to fast for his taste.
"Hey, Star!" She heard a voice say. Looking up she saw Adam Banks standing beside her. "Charlie told me that you got kind of defensive on him."
"Charlie's a nice guy, Adam. I guess I'm just really independent, you know? I can take care of myself."
"Yeah, I noticed." He laughed.
The two new friends spent the rest of lunch out in front of the school, talking and
laughing together.
After school Star headed to the ice rink, to wait for her brother's practice to be over so that they could talk. It was something that Cole had insisted on that morning when they had talked before class started.
The junior varsity had practice first. From her seat at the top of the stands, Star watched the team scrimmage. She had grown up around hockey, and knew a lot about it, however didn't have much interest in playing it, herself.
Star had noticed that Adam was a really good player, he probably was the best on the team. Charlie was the leader of the team, he was a good captain, although seemed kind of annoying to Star. Connie was also good, for a girl. She was a tough little thing. Star could never imagine playing hockey as well as Connie did. After the J.V. was done practicing, Julie came up to join her in the stands."
"Hey." She greeted her.
"Staying for practice?' Star asked.
"Yeah. Scooter is helping me study after were done."
Star nodded.
"So, what do you think about Banks?" Julie asked.
"He's really sweet." Star confessed.
"Yeah...so do you like him?"
"Maybe." She grinned, blushing a little bit.
"Oh my God, you do!!!"
Star laughed. "It could never happen. My brother would kill me."
Julie sighed. "That's what I thought before me and Scooter started dating. But it's not that bad."
Star shook head. "That's different though."
Julie nodded. "If you really like him, it'll happen. Just don't let anyone keep you from what you really want."
Star smiled. That was the best advice she had gotten in a long time.
she crossed the Eden Hall courtyard. Her crystal blue eyes scanned the passing students
for familiar faces and found not one. The campus was huge and as usual her brother had
let her down. He'd promised to be waiting for her outside the front door, and just as Star
had expected, he wasn't there.
"Do you need some help?" A cute blonde guy asked, walking over to her with a friendly
smile.
"First day here and cute guys are already talking to you." Star thought to herself "Yeah I
completely lost." She answered
"Guy there you are!" A really pretty dark haired girl was swiftly approaching them.
"Who's this?"
"I don't know I didn't get her name. Who are you?" The cutie asked her, the same goofy
grin still on his face.
"Star Lawrence." She answered extending a perfectly manicured hand.
"Connie Moreau and Guy Germaine." Connie answered after was done sizing up Star
now and had come to the conclusion she wasn't competition. "What class do you have
now?"
"Ms Rayson's, math."
"Charlie and Banks have that class don't they?" Guy thought out loud.
"I don't know there's Banksie. Ask him." Connie pointed across the grass.
"Hey Banks do you have Rayson first period?" Guy asked the tall preppy looking blonde
walking in their direction.
If that was what all the guys around there looked like Star was going to like Eden Hall
"Uh, yeah, why?" Adam asked, eyeing Star.
"This is Star Lawrence. She's got first period with you and Charlie." Connie answered,
cheerfully.
"It's nice to meet you." Star repeated.
Adam, being the shy guy he was, didn't say anything. He returned her words with a nod
and a smile.
"Connie Moreau, where have you been?!" A girl with shoulder-length blond hair yelled
to Connie from across the lawn.
"You have my calculator." She said, panting as she ran up to us.
"Do you have math first period too, Cat?" Adam asked her.
"Cat?" Star thought to her self. At that point she was trying to decide if the blond girl
and Adam were together.
"Hey Ducks." A familiar looking boy with brown hair and brown eyes said as he walked
up to the group. He put his arms around the 'cat girl'.
"Hey babe." She replied, giving him a quick kiss. That answered my question about her
and Adam.
"Oh, hey, guys, this is Star Lawrence. Star, this is Julie 'the cat' Gaffney and Scott
Anderson, better known as Scooter." Guy explained.
Star paused for a moment. The name Scott Anderson sounded very familiar to her.
"Star Lawrence?" Scooter asked, giving her a better look.
"Scooter?" Star asked. "Yeah, it's me!"
"I don't believe it." He said, starring at Star. "I haven't seen you in years."
Star grinned. "Back at you. You look good, Scoot."
"I look good? You've grown up so much!" Scooter exclaimed.
"Did we miss something?" Connie asked.
Scooter laughed. "Star is Cole's little sister."
The ducks exchanged looks. Adam was the most disappointed. He was actually really thinking that he might have a chance with Star. She was so beautiful. He loved the way her eyes sparkled when she laughed, and the way her hair kind of, shone in the sunlight. She was tiny enough that he would be able to wrap her arms all the way around her, but she wasn't too small that they would look strange standing next to each other. Everything seemed perfect, Adam was in love at first sight, however, Star was Cole's sister, and that made her dangerous.
"Umm I hate to be rude but this is my first day and I'd really hate to be late on my first day. Could one of you direct me to class Mrs. Rayson's room please?" Star said
uncomfortably, she had sensed the tension that seized the group at the mention of her brother and wanted to get away as swiftly as possible.
"Adam you're going that way why don't you show her." Julie pushed him in the side
lightly. She and Adam were pretty close and she could tell from the way he was looking from Star to the ground back to Star that he liked her.
"Oh yeah right, did you wanna walk with me or did you just want directions?" He was stammering like an idiot and it couldn't have been more charming.
"I'm no good at following directions I'd rather follow you if you don't mind." Star smiled slightly trying not to flush at how cute Banks was.
Adam adjusted his leather backpack on his shoulder and cocked his head in the direction they'd be walking. He could've sworn as he was leaving he heard "Banksie's got a crush." Come from someone.
"So, Cole's your brother, huh?" Adam causally asked, as the two of them stated on the way to class.
"Yeah, and you guys are the ducks?" She asked.
Adam nodded.
"I've heard of you. Aren't you guys like, famous or something?"
"Well, we did get a lot of media attention during the junior goodwill games, but..."
Star quickly cut him off. "Yeah, so you guys are really good, huh?"
"I guess." Adam shrugged.
Star just grinned. She had a feeling that they were better than Adam was letting on. She had heard about the whole J.V. vs. varsity game. Cole hadn't been too happy out that. And Star knew that if Adam played as good as he looked, then he must have been the best player on the whole team...in the whole world!
"So what class do you have after this?" Adam asked, as he lead Star into the classroom.
Star handed Adam her schedule. After scanning it quickly he chuckled to himself.
"What?" Star asked, smiling curiously.
"Your in every single one of my classes." He announced.
In her mind, Star was jumping up and down.
"Lord, what did I do to deserve this?" She thought to herself.
Adam's thoughts were similar. He was walking on air. Now he just had to get around the fact that she was Cole's sister.
For the rest of the day Star stuck close to Adam. The two were becoming fast friends, and Star was curious to find out more about him. He seemed so mysterious to her. And hanging out with the J.V. hockey team seemed kind of forbidden, like she was treading on thin ice. She didn't find out just how much, until lunch.
"So, you wanna eat lunch at our table?" Adam asked.
"Um, sure." Star smiled, as she followed Adam through the crowded cafeteria.
"Hey, Star. How's your day been so far?" Connie asked, as the girls sat down across
from one another.
"Not bad, you?"
"Fine." Connie replied.
Guy took the seat next to Connie, and across from Adam.
Just then a red headed boy with big red glasses and freckles took the seat next to Star.
"Hi, who are you?" He asked bluntly.
"Um, I'm Star Lawrence." She replied, uncertainly. Was this guy on the hockey team?
"Averman." He replied.
"Nice to meet you!"
"We ran into Star this morning, on the lawn." Guy explained to him.
Averman just nodded, and started eating his lunch.
"Oh, and Star. That's Goldberg, Luis, Ken, Dwayne, Russ, Portman, Fulton, and Charlie, he's our captain. That's Linda, Charlie's girlfriend, and Nicci, Luis' girl of the week."
Connie told her, as she pointed everyone out.
"Girl of the week?" Star asked uncertainly.
"You'll understand once you get to know him better." She explained. "Hey guys!"
Connie yelled down to the end of the table, so everyone could hear her. "This is Star."
There were a mixture of 'hi's' and 'what's ups?' down the table. Star just waved back. It was a little overwhelming for her to be meeting so many people on her first day in anew place.
"So, how do you like the mac and cheese?" Goldberg asked.
"Um, It's kinda gross." Star admitted.
"You going to finish it?" He asked.
She shook her head slowly.
"I'll finish it for you." He offered.
"Gold-berg!" Everyone moaned in unison, and then returned to their individual
conversations.
Star couldn't help but laugh. This seemed like a fun group.
"Star." She heard a someone from behind her say in a stone cold voice.
Slowly, a hushed tone fell over the table.
"What do you want, Cole?" Star asked. She wasn't going to let her brother control who she hung out with at school. It was her life, and she was determined to keep it that way.
"I don't want you hanging out with them." He said, sternly.
"I'm sorry." Star replied in a mocking tone. "But you can't tell me what to do."
"Your my littler sister, and you'll do what I want you to."
Star arched an eyebrow. Before she could say anything Scooter stepped in.
"Let it go, man." He said, gently to his friend.
"You stay out of this!" Cole said to Scooter, raising his voice.
"Come on, Star." Cole said, pulling her out of her seat by the arm.
"Ow, Cole! Your hurting me! Stop it!" Star cried, helplessly. Her brother was almost a full foot taller than she was, and a whole lot bigger. Suddenly Charlie jumped to her defense.
"Leave her alone, Cole." He said, indignantly.
"This isn't your problem, Conway." He told him.
"I'm making it my problem. Let her go, now!" He demanded.
"Or what?" Cole spat.
Charlie just shook his head, as he took Star's hand and pulled her out of the room.
Adam blinked. Had that just happened? What was Charlie thinking? Adam knew what he had been thinking. Charlie was always the first to anyone's side when they needed help. He hated to see people pushed around. But that was a little much. He did have a girl friend after all, even if it was just a friendly gesture. Plus all he did was make Cole madder then he already was.
"Are you okay?" Charlie asked Star once they were out in the hall way, outside the
cafeteria.
Star answered rolling her eyes. That had been embarrassing. Even though it had been nice of him. She had only known Charlie for what, five seconds, and here he was 'saving' her from her brother.
"Yeah. Thanks, but. I'm fine. I don't need saving. I'm not a damsel in distress, or
anything. And from what I understand, you have a girlfriend. So, I really appreciate it, but, you know, I'll see you around." She said as she bolted for the door.
Star found herself sitting outside, on the front steps of the school. It was nice outside. Sunny, and a little chilly from the fall days that were now falling upon them in Minnesota. The sky was filled with big puffy clouds. And as Star looked up at them she drifted back to a time when her and her brother actually got along, where they loved each other, and hardly ever fought. Now things were just...different. Cole wanted Star to stay a little girl forever, and she was growing up to fast for his taste.
"Hey, Star!" She heard a voice say. Looking up she saw Adam Banks standing beside her. "Charlie told me that you got kind of defensive on him."
"Charlie's a nice guy, Adam. I guess I'm just really independent, you know? I can take care of myself."
"Yeah, I noticed." He laughed.
The two new friends spent the rest of lunch out in front of the school, talking and
laughing together.
After school Star headed to the ice rink, to wait for her brother's practice to be over so that they could talk. It was something that Cole had insisted on that morning when they had talked before class started.
The junior varsity had practice first. From her seat at the top of the stands, Star watched the team scrimmage. She had grown up around hockey, and knew a lot about it, however didn't have much interest in playing it, herself.
Star had noticed that Adam was a really good player, he probably was the best on the team. Charlie was the leader of the team, he was a good captain, although seemed kind of annoying to Star. Connie was also good, for a girl. She was a tough little thing. Star could never imagine playing hockey as well as Connie did. After the J.V. was done practicing, Julie came up to join her in the stands."
"Hey." She greeted her.
"Staying for practice?' Star asked.
"Yeah. Scooter is helping me study after were done."
Star nodded.
"So, what do you think about Banks?" Julie asked.
"He's really sweet." Star confessed.
"Yeah...so do you like him?"
"Maybe." She grinned, blushing a little bit.
"Oh my God, you do!!!"
Star laughed. "It could never happen. My brother would kill me."
Julie sighed. "That's what I thought before me and Scooter started dating. But it's not that bad."
Star shook head. "That's different though."
Julie nodded. "If you really like him, it'll happen. Just don't let anyone keep you from what you really want."
Star smiled. That was the best advice she had gotten in a long time.
