[Starstruck 01.0] Starstruck

by Brenda Hiatt

  The next morning my alarm actually awakened me, jarring me out of a dream I didn't want to leave, a dream involving Rigel—again. I lay still for a moment, grasping at the retreating shreds of the dream, but it escaped before I could remember any details.

  With a sigh, I rolled over and plucked my glasses from the nightstand and put them on, then sat up. And squinted. My vision was blurrier than yesterday—a lot blurrier. I pulled my glasses off to examine them, but they didn't look smudged.

  Before putting them back on, I glanced at my clock and blinked. Then blinked again. The numbers were as clear as they normally were with my glasses on. I turned on my bedside lamp and slowly looked around my room. Amazingly, I could read the names of the planets and their moons on my poster of the solar system and easily pick out titles from book spines in my overstuffed bookcase: A Wrinkle in Time, The Hobbit, The Last Unicorn. The blurriness was gone.

  "No way," I said out loud.

  In a disbelieving daze, I got up and headed to the bathroom, my glasses abandoned next to my bed. The whole time I was getting ready for school, I kept expecting my eyes to revert to normal—well, what was normal for me, anyway—but they didn't. My vision stayed a perfect 20/20 without glasses or contacts or anything.

  Still, I stuck my glasses in my backpack so I'd have them handy when—if?—my eyes did change back. I drank a quick glass of milk and grabbed a cereal bar to eat at the bus stop, then ducked out of the house before Aunt Theresa could notice and question me about not wearing my glasses. I wanted to see if my lovely new vision would last the day first.

  I'd never heard of anyone spontaneously becoming not nearsighted. Was it even supposed to be possible? It was like some good fairy had cast a spell or something—first my complexion, and now my eyes. Would my figure be next? I glanced down at my chest. Was I maybe a teensy bit more buxom? No, that was just wishful thinking.

  "M! Did you get contacts over the weekend?" Brianna greeted me on the bus. "That's awesome!"

  "Totally!" Deb agreed before I could explain. "Your eyes look amazing without the glasses. Did you get tinted ones? They look even greener than usual."

  "Really?" I asked, startled. "Thanks, but—"

  "Now I'm glad you decided against the eye shadow," Bri said, studying my face. "It would be too much, I think. Just the pencil is perfect."

  Abruptly, I decided not to tell them I wasn't wearing contacts. It would sound so . . . unbelievable. I still wasn't sure I believed it myself.

  On the way to Geometry, a few other people noticed my missing glasses.

  "Hey, Marsh, looking good," Ginger Ramsey commented as she passed me. The two girls with her, Alicia and Jessica, chorused their agreement.

  Startled, I thanked them, a new and unfamiliar sense of confidence giving a little extra spring to my step. Of course, there was only one person whose opinion really mattered, and I was especially eager to see how he'd react to the "new" me.

  Before I reached class I passed a few of the other football players, who were busily dissecting Friday night's game. I normally wouldn't have paid any attention at all, but I caught Rigel's name so I slowed down a little to listen.

  "Yeah, what was with those passes, anyway?" David Jaworski was saying. "He was rifling them in there like we were in the NFL or something. Who could catch that?"

  "No kidding," Matt Mullins agreed. "It just wasn't normal. He sure wasn't throwing like that in practice earlier in the week. It was like he was on steroids or something."

  I stopped, ready to defend Rigel, but David was already shaking his head. "Nah, not cool, man. I don't believe that. He was just . . . in the zone. Or something."

  Before they could notice me eavesdropping and make some crack, I hurried on down the hallway. Of course they'd be saying stuff like that, I told myself, since they needed some kind of excuse for dropping so many passes. It didn't mean anything. But David's words made me remember how I'd been "in the zone" myself on Saturday.

  There couldn't be a connection, could there? Like Rigel and me somehow "electrifying" each other to good effect? No, that was crazy. Impossible. Wasn't it?

  When I reached Geometry, Rigel was standing near the door, surrounded by three or four cheerleaders. Trina had one hand on his shoulder, flirting for all she was worth, but the moment he saw me, he sort of shrugged her off and came over.

  "Hey," he said, his gaze locking with mine, making me forget everything that wasn't him. "Did you get that homework done?"

  "That—? Oh, right, Aunt Theresa." I remembered what she'd said after church.

  "I hope she didn't give you a hard time." He was still holding my gaze and stealing my breath.

  Helplessly, I shook my head. "No. I mean, she's always strict about homework and stuff." I didn't want him to know she'd been using that as an excuse to get me away from him.

  "I'm sure she just wants what's best for you." His knowing smile told me he was fully aware of what she'd been doing.

  Trina had stayed quiet as long as she could, apparently. "I know you're into charity cases, Rigel, but there's no need to be rude about it." She put a possessive hand on his shoulder again before turning toward me, her eyes narrowing nastily.

  But then she frowned and her eyes widened slightly as whatever barb she'd been about to shoot my way died on her lips. "When—? How—?" She stared at me, clearly confused, but then she recovered her sneer. "Huh. I see your folks finally managed to scrape up enough to buy you contacts."

  That stung, but I refused to let her see it.

  "Contacts are no more expensive than glasses, Trina." I intentionally said it like I was explaining it to a child. And it was true, an argument I'd used repeatedly to my aunt, even if it had nothing to do with what had happened to me overnight.

  She turned her shoulder to me as if I hadn't spoken. "So, Rigel, are you going to sit with her now?"

  He slanted an amused glance down at me. "I'd better not. I'm afraid I'd be too distracted to pay attention in class." His half-wink made my mouth go dry.

  Though he was probably kidding, it was so exactly what I'd been thinking about him all last week that it was almost eerie. And really, really satisfying that he'd said it to Trina. It kept me from minding—much—when he went to his usual seat next to her.

  Though we caught each other staring once or twice in our classes, I didn't get another chance to really talk with Rigel until lunch, when he again came to sit at our table. Like they had last week, Bri and Deb suddenly "remembered" something else they had to do almost as soon as they'd said hi to him, leaving us alone.

  "Do you want my banana?" I asked him as soon as they'd gone. I'd taken one automatically, since Bri always ate mine as well as her own, but I'd forgotten to give it to her before she took off.

  Rigel shook his head. "Nah, I don't like them. But thanks."

  "Really? Huh. I think you're the only other person I've ever met who didn't like bananas. Not that it's a big deal or anything," I added quickly, not wanting to sound like I was groping for another similarity between us, in addition to the static thing.

  But he gave me one of his penetrating looks and smiled. "I'm not sure I have, either. One more thing we have in common."

  I felt a little lightheaded, then remembered to breathe. "Um, yeah. I guess it is."

  "So," Rigel said, settling back in his chair and smiling at me as he opened his chocolate milk. "What's with the new look? Everyone's talking about it."

  I set down the forkful of mac and cheese I'd just picked up—not that I ever seemed able to eat with him next to me anyway. "No way. Everyone? Really?"

  He shrugged. "I heard a couple people mention it, anyway. They seemed to think it's for my benefit. Is it?" He actually looked hopeful.

  I kind of snorted, then wished I hadn't, since it was an unattractive sound. "Like I would admit that, even if it was true? Anyway . . . " I hesitated, wanting to tell him about the bizarre miracle with my eyes but not wanting to freak him out again.

  "Yeah?"

  "
Nothing."

  Rigel put a hand over mine and his touch sizzled right through me. "Tell me," he said.

  Helpless under his touch and gaze, I did, in a rush. "This is going to sound totally weird, but when I woke up this morning, I didn't need my glasses anymore. I mean, it was like magic. Or . . . like someone snuck in and did Lasik surgery on me while I was sleeping or something."

  He looked startled, but not as much as I'd expected. When he spoke, he sounded more thoughtful than freaked. "That's really interesting. And weird, of course," he added quickly. "But great, huh?"

  "Well, yeah, especially if it lasts. I just don't understand how—"

  "Hey, you've heard that saying about don't look a gift horse in the mouth, right?"

  I shrugged, still a little surprised at how calmly he was taking this. "Well, yeah, but have you ever heard of this happening to anyone before? Like, ever?"

  His eyes slid away from mine and he moved his hand, leaving mine lonely. "I guess not, now that you mention it. Are you going to, um, go to an eye doctor about it or something?"

  "Probably not," I admitted. "Money at our house is kind of tight, and it's not like I'd want him to do anything about it. I'm just curious how it happened." I kept watching him, but if he had a theory, he kept it to himself. "Maybe I can research it online or something."

  "Good idea." Was it my imagination, or did he sound a little bit relieved? He changed the subject then, asking if I'd read The Bell Jar yet, and we talked about books until the warning bell rang a few minutes later.

  Rigel stood and stacked both our trays—mine almost untouched. "Walk you to class?"

  A sense of well-being flooded me as I nodded. Strange as it seemed, being with Rigel just felt so . . . so right.

  We had to pass the cheerleader table on the way to the tray drop and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Trina and her posse staring at us.

  As Rigel was dumping our trays, one of them—I think it was Nicole—called out, "Look, there goes Marsha the Martian! Looks like she finally found her long-lost prince."

  I cringed inside, knowing I'd have to tell Rigel that whole embarrassing story now. But when I glanced up at him, he didn't look curious or amused, like I expected.

  He looked more like someone had punched him in the gut.

  7

  Seismic shift

  "RIGEL?" I SAID, my embarrassment forgotten in my concern for him. "Are you okay?"

  He blinked, shook his head like he was dazed, then stuck the trays in the slot. "Yeah, yeah, sorry. Um—" He glanced over his shoulder at the giggling gaggle of cheerleaders on their way out of the cafeteria. "What . . . did she mean by that?"

  It was almost like he was forcing his voice to sound normal, like he wanted to shout or something. I couldn't imagine why, though.

  "You mean the 'Marsha the Martian' thing?" I tried for a little self-deprecating laugh, but it came out more like a hysterical titter. "Just something they used to tease me about in elementary school."

  The lunchroom was emptying, but he stayed where he was, just out of the way of the last few people dropping off their trays, frowning down at me. "But . . . why? Why would they call you that?" His intensity was unnerving, making me hesitate.

  Abruptly, he seemed to realize he was overreacting. He gave a little laugh that sounded as forced as mine had and finally started walking. "I mean, was it just because 'Marsha' sounds kind of like 'Martian'? I know little kids do stuff like that."

  Tempting as it was to say that's all it was, I told him the truth. "No, it was mostly my own fault. I had kind of a . . . vivid imagination when I was younger. Back in second grade, I went through a phase where I told everybody I was really a Martian princess in disguise, and that someday my royal parents would come claim me and I'd go back to Mars to marry my prince. Just silly kid stuff, but I got teased a lot for a while."

  He was still looking at me kind of strangely. "Wow, that is . . . vivid, as you said. Why do you think you, um, made up something like that?"

  I shrugged, trying really hard to make light of it, though I was still unsettled by his reaction. "Why do kids make up anything? I guess I wanted to feel . . . important or something. Special. And since I didn't know who my parents really were, it was fun to imagine they might be special, too." I laughed. "Really, really special."

  Now his laugh sounded more natural. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

  "It's still kind of embarrassing," I said as we reached class, trying not to sound giddy from relief, now that I'd confessed what was probably my darkest secret and Rigel was still speaking to me.

  Other than a quick good-bye after History, I didn't see Rigel again that day, and I missed him way more than was reasonable. I'd always sneered (mentally, anyway) at girls who needed a boy to be "complete." But I couldn't deny the empty feeling I had when he wasn't around, almost like there wasn't quite enough air to breathe. I didn't like it.

  After school, Bri and Deb came over to my house, supposedly to do homework together, but really so they could extract every single little detail of my lunch with Rigel. They were properly incensed at Nicole's attempt to embarrass me, but had no good theories on why Rigel had wigged out at the mention of my dumb childhood fantasy.

  "Maybe he just doesn't have much imagination himself?" Bri suggested. "I've heard that people without imagination have a hard time getting it when other people do."

  "Or maybe it reminded him of something he read?" Deb offered. "I didn't know you then, but from what Bri told me, it did sound almost like a story you'd read in a book or something."

  I shot a glance at Brianna, a little ticked that she'd talked to Deb about that behind my back, but she just shrugged and gave me an apologetic smile. I tried not to be bothered that Deb and Bri seemed closer these days than Bri and I were, but it hurt just a teensy bit.

  That night at dinner, there was no hiding from my aunt and uncle that I wasn't wearing my glasses. I'd considered wearing them just to avoid the inevitable questions, but they made everything so blurry I was afraid I'd get sick to my stomach.

  "They're in my room," I replied to Aunt Theresa's query. "My eyes seem to be improving or something—I can actually see a little better without my glasses than with them lately."

  I wasn't sure why I hedged instead of telling them about the sudden and apparently complete cure of my nearsightedness. Maybe it was because the only person I'd told so far was Rigel and I wanted to keep it our secret for now. That made it somehow precious.

  My aunt harrumphed. "I suppose we'll have to take you to the optometrist, even though you've only had these glasses for eight or nine months. Have you checked to see if one of your older pairs will work in the meantime?"

  "Oh, good idea, I'll do that."

  The next morning at breakfast, I made a point of wearing my glasses from two years ago—which didn't make things quite as blurry as my current ones—and telling her they worked perfectly.

  "So there's no rush for an optometry appointment," I said.

  She hmphed again but didn't argue, and I thought she looked a little relieved. So was I. Apart from the cost, the eye doctor would probably treat me like some kind of medical curiosity, attention I really didn't want.

  Today, Rigel actually walked me to lunch from Science class. I couldn't help feeling like the queen of the world, entering the lunchroom at his side, knowing everyone there was staring at us. For once in my life, I didn't mind being the center of attention. Bri and Deb grinned at us as we approached the table, then scurried off for yet another "project" the minute we sat down.

  Rigel and I both chuckled a little as they left, but then he turned to me, suddenly serious.

  "Before I forget, M, would you be at all, well, interested in coming to this afternoon's football practice?" He said it in kind of a rush—the way I said things when I didn't want to lose my nerve. Not that I could imagine Rigel ever losing his nerve about anything.

  At least as flattered as I was startled, I nodded. "I'd love . . . uh, that is, sure. I
mean, I'll need to call home, but I'm sure it'll be okay. I'll use Bri's cell phone after school."

  "You can use mine if you want," he offered.

  "Oh, um, thanks! So . . . you don't have any problems using a cell phone with the, er, static thing?"

  He shrugged, then grinned. "Well, I did fry my first one, but then my dad got me one of these shockproof ones with the rubber casing." He pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to me.

  I touched the table leg before taking it, still afraid I might manage to destroy it, but it didn't spark at all when I touched it. It was completely covered with a tough, rubbery skin.

  "Cool! My aunt won't let me have one until I start driving, but I think she was going to use my electrical problem to put it off even longer. Now I can tell her about this."

  "Do you want to call her now?"

  I knew she wouldn't be home yet, but I went ahead and left a message on the answering machine at home, saying I was staying after school but would be home in plenty of time for dinner.

  Though I wanted to ask him why he'd invited me to practice, I didn't. I knew sometimes girlfriends of the players went to watch, but I didn't think I quite qualified for that status. Yet? And I didn't want to give him any reason to reconsider and maybe decide he didn't want me there after all. That it might be too much of a declaration to the rest of the school that we were . . . friends.

  Instead, I asked something I'd been wondering about. "Rigel is kind of an unusual name, at least here in Indiana. Did your parents name you after the star, or is it a family name or something?"

  "You know, you're the first person I've met at this school who even knows it is a star."

  I felt my face heat and looked away from him, remembering that first day in Science class. "Um, astronomy is kind of a, uh, hobby of mine. So you were named after the star?"

  "I guess so, but I think it was mostly that my mom just liked the name."

  "That's a good reason." I almost said I liked it too, but thought it would sound forward.