Starcrossed

by Brenda Hiatt

  There was also the matter of how to tell Rigel about the compromise I’d made with the Council. I knew he wasn’t going to like it, but it had to be done, and soon. If I waited too long, someone else might mention it to him or to Sean, even though I’d made it clear I wanted to tell them both myself. And if Sean found out first, then said something to Rigel . . . No, I couldn’t risk that.

  More than once, I tried to frame the words. But we never seemed to be completely alone and I didn’t want to tell him in front of a way-too-interested audience. The most I managed was to warn him that we’d still have to pretend not to be together at school, because of the Echtran observers there. When he asked how long that would last, I shrugged but let him know silently that I’d tell him more later.

  The next day at school, it was even harder to deflect his questions. There was no way I could explain everything silently in the middle of class, or even out loud in the hallway. My aunt let me go to taekwondo that afternoon, though, and he was waiting for me when I came out.

  “Walk you home?” he asked me with a grin. “Or is that still not allowed? I . . . couldn’t face the whole afternoon and evening without seeing you.”

  I glanced around to make sure no one was watching, even from a window, then hugged him and returned his kiss eagerly. “I don’t think we’ll get in trouble, as long as my aunt doesn’t find out.” Or the Council.

  “Let’s swing by the arboretum for a few minutes,” he suggested. He carried my gear bag and it was all I could do not to hold his hand as we walked there in silence.

  The minute we reached “our” bench, Rigel set down my bag and gave me a penetrating look. “Okay, what is it? It’s totally obvious something’s still bothering you, so spill.”

  “You’re right,” I admitted, twining my fingers in his to bolster my courage—and to gauge his reactions better. “It’s . . . It’s about how I got you back to Jewel, how I, um, how I got them to let you go. Don’t be mad, okay?”

  Rigel pulled me to him for a hug and another quick kiss. “Mad at you? Impossible. So how did you get me out of Lennox’s clutches? I really, really thought I was dead. He told me to my face it would look like I had some kind of fatal accident.”

  I gasped, fighting down my horror. I’d come even closer to losing him than I’d thought! “That’s . . . I need to tell the Council that. I’m sure they don’t know. Except maybe Allister.” Was even he that fanatical? I shuddered again at our narrow escape.

  “After you left, I asked my folks and my grandfather what you’d done, but none of them would tell me.” He felt a little worried to me, now.

  Bracing myself for worse, I plunged in. “That’s because I wanted to tell you myself. I, uh, sort of made a deal with the Council to get you back.”

  Judging by his expression, he could feel my worry and uncertainty as clearly as I felt his. “What kind of deal?” he asked cautiously.

  “Well . . . I offered to stop fighting the whole Sovereign thing if they brought you back and said I’d refuse to be Sovereign at all if anything happened to you. But they still went on and on about how incredibly important appearances are right now, to rally all the people behind me and the legitimate government before factions start splintering off and maybe starting a civil war on Mars. And part of that appearances thing involves . . . Sean.”

  I felt a jolt of anger and jealousy from him, and his fingers tightened convulsively on mine, though not quite painfully. “Sean. So you agreed to . . . what? Get engaged to him or something?”

  “No! Of course not!” Now it was his turn to feel my anger, and it immediately undercut his. “But . . . I had to promise to act like I’m with him, in public. When other Martians are around, anyway. At least until the government is back on its feet.”

  When he started to pull his hand out of mine, I tightened my own grip so he couldn’t. “Rigel, it’s only for show! Part of my deal was that I’ll really be with you, for now and for always, no matter how I make things look to everybody else.”

  He frowned, only partially mollified. “And how will you make things look? Are you going to . . . to go on dates with him and stuff? Hold hands in the hallways? And for how long? What if it takes years for them to put the government back together? Then what? You know Sean will take full advantage of this, try to make you—”

  “Rigel.” I put a finger on his lips to stop his tirade, which was getting a little loud, even for the deserted arboretum. “Nothing Sean can do will make me stop loving you. Nothing!”

  He swallowed visibly, then nodded, his anguish receding somewhat. “I’m sorry, M. I know the only reason you made that deal was to save me—and it worked.” His mouth twisted into a semblance of a grin, though not a happy one. “Guess you made them an offer they couldn’t refuse.”

  “It was a little dicier than that, but yeah, I guess so. After a lot of arguing, they put it to a vote and agreed to my terms.”

  An echo of the desperation I’d felt during that all-important vote swept through me and in response, Rigel hugged me tightly and kissed me again, a real kiss this time. When he finally pulled back a little to look at me, I was surprised by the respect in his eyes.

  “I guess they do have a real leader after all.”

  I felt myself blushing. But yesterday evening, as I’d been leaving his house, I’d overheard Kyna saying almost the same thing to Breann.

  “Yes,” her voice had come from behind a closed door, “I think we were all relieved to see the Sovereign demonstrate the backbone she’ll need for the days and years ahead. I confess, I didn’t think she had it in her and I’m delighted to be proved wrong.”

  Had I really “demonstrated backbone?” If so, it had been purely for Rigel’s sake. But maybe . . . maybe it did mean I could eventually become what they needed me to be. As long as I had Rigel with me the whole way.

  That evening after dinner, I went over to the O’Gara’s house, ostensibly to work on a history paper. In reality, the Council wanted me to record a short video to reassure everyone on Mars that I was alive, healthy, and not crazy.

  Breann gave me a suggested script, but said I could use my own words. Since it didn’t sound much like me, I changed some wording but kept the gist, introducing myself and talking about how I knew it was a difficult time, but that I was sure they could pull together for the good of everyone, and that I was learning what I needed so I could help with that eventually.

  After three takes, Breann seemed satisfied. Putting the tiny recording device in her pocket, went to the kitchen, where the O’Garas had been waiting, to say goodbye to them before leaving. A moment later Sean wandered in.

  “Done with your first movie?” he teased. “Breann says you were great. They’re doing some edits, I think, before sending it to the rest of the Council.”

  “I don’t know about great, but I did it.”

  I suddenly realized this was a perfect opportunity to tell Sean about my bargain. In fact, it was possible Breann was keeping everyone in the kitchen to give me the privacy to do exactly that. Dreading his reaction, though not for the same reason I’d dreaded Rigel’s, I launched into my explanation before I could lose my nerve.

  As I explained the compromise, I repeated more than once that the whole thing would only be for show. By the time I finished, though, Sean was grinning like Christmas had come two weeks early.

  “So let me get this straight. In the interests of peace and for the good of our entire race, we need to convince all the Echtrans, here and everywhere, that we’re dating?” His grin widened further. “I’m in! You can come to my game tomorrow night and the party afterward. We can put on a good show for everybody.”

  I frowned. “I told you, Sean, it’ll only be when Echtrans are watching, like at school. It doesn’t mean I’ll go with you to parties and stuff, when none of them are around.”

  Still smiling, he quirked an eyebrow. “Like word won’t get back to them if everybody at school knows you’re still going out with Stuart? For this to work, we have to co
nvince everyone, not just the Echtrans. Think about it.”

  With a sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach, I realized Sean was right. To truly abide by my agreement, I would have to make everyone—even Bri and Deb—believe I was with Sean instead of Rigel. How had I missed that detail?

  My insides squeezed at the idea of everyone at school thinking I’d dumped Rigel to be with Sean. It would be even worse than our other fake breakup, because now I’d be the bad guy. I could just imagine what Trina would say. At least Rigel would know the truth. And Molly. And there was one other super important bit.

  “Part of my deal with the Council is that I’ll really still be with Rigel, just not in public. So I’m only going to play along in front of everybody if I get alone time with him on a regular basis.”

  That finally erased Sean’s grin. “You don’t expect me to help with that, do you?”

  “I at least don’t expect you to sabotage it. And yeah, if you or Molly—or your parents—can help, I’ll really appreciate it.”

  He grumbled but didn’t outright refuse. I took that as a good sign and changed the subject.

  “So, where’s your dear Uncle Allister? Dare I hope he’s left Jewel?” I’d heard yesterday at the Stuarts’ that he’d been removed from the Council but I’d been too wrapped up in Rigel to ask for details.

  “Didn’t they tell you?” Sean seemed surprised. “He’s been exiled to Montana for what he and Governor Lennox tried to do. Sounds like they’re both going to face an inquest over this business.”

  I blinked. “Who told you that?”

  “Mum. They invited her to take Uncle Allister’s place on the Echtran Council, since her bloodline is the same as his, plus she did all that resistance stuff on Mars. She agreed.”

  “Really? That’s great!” The idea of never having to see Allister again cheered me enormously. Mrs. O’Gara was an obvious choice to replace him—and she liked me, which couldn’t hurt, though I knew she’d always put the Nuathan people first.

  When Mrs. O’Gara brought in tea and cookies a few minutes later, I immediately congratulated her on being appointed to the Council.

  “Thank you, dear. I’m just happy you’re home safe and that everything has, ah, worked out.” Clearly she knew about my compromise, but she managed not to look at all smug about it, unlike Sean.

  Even better, she then promised to help convince my aunt to loosen up my restriction so I could spend more time with Rigel “as a friend.” Startled and pleased, I thanked her profusely, then haltingly proposed we tell the Echtran community Rigel was my personal bodyguard, to explain him staying close to me. It was an idea Rigel had come up with while walking me home, though of course I didn’t say that.

  Mrs. O nodded after only a moment’s hesitation, surprising me again. “That’s actually quite a clever plan, dear. Particularly since everyone already knows about the role he and his family played in protecting you from Faxon’s forces.”

  Molly sighed and murmured that it sounded terribly romantic. Though Sean scowled, it gave me hope that Molly, at least, would be a willing ally in helping me get some private time with Rigel.

  Maybe this compromise thing wouldn’t be so bad after all.

  CHAPTER 46

  fedhmiu (FEY-mew): implementation; application

  The next day Sean joined Rigel and me on the way to lunch, deftly inserting himself between us. “So, guess we all need to figure out how this new compromise is going to work in practice, huh? I heard they might be putting hidden cameras in the halls and cafeteria and stuff, so we should all start playing our parts.” He reached for my hand.

  Interestingly, the tingle wasn’t nearly as strong with Rigel right next to me as it had been at Thanksgiving, when I was seriously Rigel-deprived. Rigel, not surprisingly, started scowling.

  “If we want it to be at all believable,” I said, easing my hand out of Sean’s, “it should be gradual, don’t you think? How about we all just act like friends for a while first?”

  Now it was Sean’s turn to frown. “That doesn’t sound like what you told . . . them. Is it?”

  I swallowed. Unfortunately, he was right—again. The Council was watching me now, whether with cameras or the spies they already had in place, and would know if I went back on my word. I’d promised them I’d make it look like I was with Sean, and now I had to follow through. Putting it off wouldn’t make it any easier.

  “Okay, fine,” I snapped, making no effort to hide my irritation. Those stupid cameras weren’t up yet. “But there’s no way I’m staying completely away from Rigel, even at school. He’s supposedly my bodyguard now, remember? So you guys will have to work really hard to make it look like you’re friends.”

  Neither Sean nor Rigel seemed to like that idea much, but after a moment they both grudgingly nodded.

  For the first time in ages, they both sat at the same lunch table, one on either side of me. They did a surprisingly good job of acting like friends, too, talking about sports across me, with Bri offering frequent opinions from her side of the table. Their former animosity was so well concealed that I only felt the occasional stab of jealousy from Rigel.

  Then, without warning, Sean turned to me and said, like it was the most natural thing in the world, “So, M, winter formal? What do you say? Will you be my date?”

  Of course that stopped all conversation cold, every single head at our table whipping around to stare at us.

  Biting back my instinctive refusal, I hesitated, trapped by Sean’s bright blue gaze while Rigel’s stunned fury mounted from my other side.

  Crap! What should I do? I thought desperately at him.

  Immediately, I could feel him struggling to control the anger and jealousy that had exploded at Sean’s invitation. Dammit! I don’t know. Why did he have to—? He hesitated for a long moment while he continued to rein in his feelings, then slowly responded, I think you have to say yes, M. You did make a deal. Sorry. I’ll . . . try to behave.

  “Um, sure, Sean, I guess so,” I finally stammered after what had to be the longest, most awkward pause in history. “Thanks.” I even managed a pathetic attempt at a smile.

  The staring didn’t stop. “Whoa,” Bri breathed, looking from Sean, to Rigel, to me, over and over. I wondered what she saw on Rigel’s face, but didn’t dare glance at him. Up and down the table there was muttering, the gist of which was, “Didn’t see that coming.”

  Molly, sitting next to Bri, looked only slightly less startled and a lot more concerned. “Rigel?” she said tentatively.

  “Hey, it’s fine,” he said almost jovially, in stark contrast to the emotions rolling off him in gradually diminishing waves. “Actually . . . do you have a date yet, Molly?”

  Her eyes got wide. “Oh! Um, not—I mean, I sort of half-promised, but—”

  “Wanna go with me?”

  Her eyes got wider.

  “You know, as friends?” he added.

  At those words, Molly’s panicked confusion gave way to a smile. “Friends? Sure, Rigel, that would be great. Maybe we can all, um, ride together?” She looked at her brother and me.

  “Yeah, let’s do that,” I said before Sean could refuse. Not that he necessarily would have, but I wasn’t taking chances. “We’ll all go together. As friends.”

  Sean quirked an eyebrow at me, clearly not as pleased by my amendment as Molly had been by Rigel’s, but he didn’t dispute it. “Sounds great.”

  Rigel and Sean both sat at my lunch table every day after that, and though they couldn’t completely resist occasional minor sniping at each other, they mostly acted pretty civil. Molly and Deb were clearly delighted. Bri occasionally pouted a bit because Sean no longer flirted with her, but with so many football and basketball players regularly vying for her and Deb’s—and Molly’s—attention, she couldn’t be too upset.

  I found it easier and easier to pretend we were just one big circle of friends, even if I had to silently reassure Rigel about a dozen times a day that the new closeness between Sean an
d me was still strictly for show. Our table quickly became the most popular in the lunchroom, and I couldn’t help gloating a bit when I caught occasional glimpses of Trina’s jealous face.

  Now that I was supposedly going out with Sean instead of Rigel, Aunt Theresa finally caved about my restriction, helped along by Mrs. O’s “persuasion”—and my own. Rigel started coming over to the O’Garas’ house some evenings, where he was allowed to sit next to me and even hold my hand while we studied and talked—something we could no longer do at school. It was always a wonderful relief, no matter how much Sean glowered.

  One afternoon all four of us even went to Dream Cream together, just like I’d once fantasized back when Sean and Molly first arrived in Jewel—except that I had to sit next to Sean, with Rigel and Molly across the table from us. At least Rigel and I were able to carry on our own silent conversation during the lulls in the spoken one.

  So while things weren’t ideal, they weren’t nearly as bad as I’d feared when I’d first made my compromise with the Council.

  Even so, the winter formal was awkward.

  Rigel’s parents had volunteered to chaperone, so they drove the four of us to the dance. They knew all about the compromise and why I’d made it, which was good, since otherwise they’d probably hate me for what I was doing to Rigel.

  “Emileia has to be home by eleven,” Dr. Stuart reminded us before we parted at the gym doors, “so we’ll meet back here at a quarter till. Have fun.”

  We all headed into the gym, which was festooned with paper snowflakes for the occasion. Fittingly, Jewel’s first real snowfall of the winter was predicted to start later that evening.

  You look amazing, Rigel thought to me for at least the third time since he’d seen me in my “new” (another of Bri’s castoffs) electric blue sheath. It fitted me well, especially since I’d filled out a tiny bit in the right places over the past couple of months.