by Geri Watson
Tristan sighed, looked over at the clock on his nightstand and decided that at least keeping some normalcy was in order. He pulled on a hoodie and sweats and laced up his sneakers. Scout started bouncing from one side of the room to the other, and Tristan grabbed her leash and walked to the door. It appeared that his brother and Natasha had already left. After locking up behind him, he latched Scout's leash on her collar and broke out into a brisk jog.
The cold morning air felt good in his lungs, and as he ran, he felt his muscles react. Scout kept up at his side; their two mile runs in the morning were a routine she always seemed to enjoy. Usually, Tristan would spend this time thinking about an upcoming exam or just zone out. This morning the images running through his mind were the same ones from when he had met Star's eyes the day before. Him in a revolutionary war uniform, a civil war uniform, as a brother...every time with Star at his side.
When he focused on thoughts of Star, Tristan couldn't fully explain the emotions that ran through him. It was the same when he had been inches from her face yesterday. You could ask him anything about who she was, and he could have answered it. Tristan knew every inch of her face from her fawn-colored hair halfway down her back to her hazel eyes dancing with those tiny flecks of green and a smile that could light up the whole world, her figure able to fit like a puzzle against him. The only explanation he had come up with was their souls had spoken to each other, but the mere idea of that thought being rational ate at him.
Once he arrived back at the house, Tristan fed Scout and took a quick shower, then got ready for his day. He had classes from Noon until 9. It was his third year at UW and he had just submitted his application to the School of Medicine for entrance into the Doctoral program. He still wasn't sure if the reason he was doing it was due to his brother's ever-present persuasion or the fact that he came from a long line of doctors in his family tree. His MCAT score was as close to perfect as it got. It wasn't that he lacked interest in medicine, it was figuring out what to specialize in that had him stumped. He worked as an EMT for the firehouse nearby a few nights a week and most weekends. It helped with his "save the world" complex.
Tristan grabbed the reincarnation book off his nightstand and shoved it into his bag. Then he collected his Microbiology book and binder and made sure he had the notes he'd need for his first class. He knew his other books and binders were still in his car. Flipping his phone open, Tristan checked for any new messages or missed calls and saw there were none. He attached the Bluetooth device to his ear and slung his bag over his shoulder. After locking up and heading to his car, he debated with himself the pros and cons of calling Star. The advantages won out. She picked up after the first ring.
"I was wondering when you were going to call," her voice sounded light and happy.
"Well, I didn't know if you would be in class or not. I've got classes all day today and didn't want you to think I was blowing you off or anything." Tristan felt warm all over just from the sound of Star's voice on the other end of the line.
"When's your first class?" she asked.
He glanced at the clock on his dashboard. "In about an hour."
"How far away from campus are you?"
"Maybe 5 minutes if I don't catch the red lights." he smiled. "Why do you ask?"
"Because I'm already on campus at the HUB and I thought maybe you could join me for a little while...that is if you want to." Her uncertainty at the end almost made Tristan laugh out loud.
"I think I might be able to arrange that," he answered earnestly as the campus came into view.
"See you in a few then?" If he didn't know better, he'd swear Star sounded almost giddy.
"I'll be there soon." Tristan hung up and pulled into the parking deck nearest to the Husky Union Building. After loading up his bag with the rest of the books he would need before he could get back to his car, Tristan headed toward the HUB with a grin on his face. And here he had been thinking he wasn't going to be able to see Star today.
CHAPTER 3
Star's morning had been interesting, for lack of a better word. She had woken up from her odd dream to see Zack hovering over her, which scared her half to death. He shocked her by telling her to take the morning off. He was noticeably concerned to see that she was not only sleeping in the opposite direction on the bed than she usually did, but also still dressed in the same thing she was wearing the day before. Star looked over to see that her phone was still open and laying on the pillow beside her, and had shoved it into her pocket before Zack would notice. After asking why she was still wearing the same thing, he had shaken his head, sat at the foot of her bed and apologized.
Apparently, he felt horrible about the way she had reacted to their curiosity the night before and was worried that she hadn't resurfaced from her room after dinner. He placed his hand on her forehead, and she had pushed it off, then told him that he had no reason to worry. Star wondered if Zack believed her. During the Calculus class they shared that morning, she had caught him glancing over at her more often than usual. They had walked out of class together and talked outside of the building for a few minutes until Zack saw Alex heading toward her and said a hasty goodbye. He was going to get an earful from her later for that.
Alex had been happy to see Star. In fact, his whole face lit up when he arrived in front of her and started in on plans for them to go to dinner and a movie afterward that evening. She knew her face had betrayed her when he stopped mid-sentence from describing how fantastic the movie reviews he had heard were and asked her what was wrong. Their conversation replayed in her mind.
"Do you want to go see a different flick?" his eyebrows knitted together. "I thought I remembered you saying you wanted to see this one."
"No, it's not that...I need to talk to you about something." Star found it hard to look him in the eye.
"Did I do something wrong?" Alex tilted her chin up so he could see her face.
"Well, no. You know how much I enjoy hanging out with you, right?" Star forced herself to smile.
"I think we always have a good time, why?" he looked at her blankly.
Looking into his jade eyes, she didn't know how to word what she wanted to say without it coming out harshly. She cursed herself for always being too kind. This would have been the perfect time to be mean and not think about it again. Star wasn't capable of that though; guilt would haunt her later, and she knew it. As she was building up her courage, Alyssa had arrived and started talking to Alex about an assignment they had together. Then Alyssa had linked her arm in his and pulled him toward their class. Before disappearing into the building, Alex had turned and made a hand gesture for Star to call him later and she had nodded.
Now she sat at the HUB waiting for Tristan, vexed at herself for being such a chicken. She put her head in her hands, then sighed and set her forehead on the table. A minute ago she had been on the phone with Tristan and couldn't have been happier. Now as she thought back on everything, she questioned what exactly she was doing.
Alex was a good guy. Star did like him. He would never intentionally hurt her, and he was gorgeous. Not to mention that he would have to realize they wouldn't be able to stay together when he moved back to Australia next year. She didn't know anything about Tristan and what the future would hold with them.
That's a lie, her mind answered her. In her heart, Star knew everything about Tristan that she ever needed to know. He had protected her over and over again in their past, and nobody was capable of loving her as deeply as he could. There wouldn't ever be anyone as perfect for her as Tristan. This is so insane. Things like this don't happen. You're a Psychology major, and you've lost your mind. "What am I doing?" she said muffled into the table.
"Waiting for me," replied a humored voice above her.
Star bolted upright at Tristan's voice. She looked up at him like a startled deer, and he couldn't help but laugh at her.
"You look like you could have used some more sleep last night. I guess you have me to blame for that," he breathed,
as he slid into the chair across the table from her and set his bag to the side.
She looked him over and took in his features. Yesterday her mind had been on overload, and she hadn't focused on studying his features that carefully. Tristan had short cropped chestnut hair, deep blue eyes that reminded her of the crests of ocean waves and dimples that appeared when he smiled. Tristan's build was more like what she'd seen on the track team. He wasn't as sculpted as Zack, but not many men were. Noticing she was staring at him, Tristan looked down at his shirt and back up at her.
"Did I spill something on myself?" he asked.
"Sorry. I was just...looking at you," Star admitted in a whisper.
"Oh." He didn't say anything more and seemed fully content doing the same to her.
Usually, silence terrified her, but it was a comfortable silence between the two of them. Star felt like she was telling him volumes with only her eyes. She'd never felt like that with anyone. There was almost a magnetic pull between the two of them.
After a minute of his meticulous scrutiny, she started to feel a blush creeping up behind her cheeks and reached for her soda. She took a slow sip and set it down again. Tristan set his hand down on the table, palm up. When Star looked up from his hand, he was gazing at her warmly. Not getting the hint, his fingers moved in a welcoming gesture, and Star set her hand in his. Tristan's hand was warm and soft against hers as he held it. This was the first real contact they'd had with each other since she'd fainted in his arms and she had to admit it felt natural. As good as this felt, one of them was going to have the break the silence. Tristan had to go soon, and she wouldn't get the chance to see him again today. Star licked her lips in anticipation and let the question roll off her tongue.
"How do we explain this?"
Tristan shrugged. "I'm not sure we can." He ran his thumb slowly over the top of her hand.
"So we're going to sneak around with each other?" she asked.
"Who's sneaking around? Last time I checked this was a pretty public place," he corrected her, glancing around them.
Star shook her head. "My friends are not going to understand how I had one boyfriend yesterday and then another one today...I'm not like that."
"I know you're not," he responded. "But relationships end all of the time and new ones begin...why should they view ours as anything differently?"
She laughed at the seriousness of his words. "You don't know my friends. If they've never met you, you either don't exist or are up to no good...besides...they like Alex."
Tristan turned her hand over and traced the lines on her palm. "Is that your boyfriend?"
"Well...I tried to break up with him today..." she stopped and bit her lip.
Tristan smirked. "I see."
Star looked up at him. "You see?"
He tilted his head thoughtfully, but the smirk didn't leave his face. "Didn't work out too well, did it?"
Star narrowed her eyes in confusion. "How do you know that?"
Sighing, Tristan let go of her hand and sunk back into his chair. "Because you're horrible at confrontations." He crossed his arms loosely in front of him.
"Why are you so calm about all of this? How can you just sit there and accept this like it's not the most insane thing you've ever heard?" Star leaned across the table toward him. "I feel like I'm losing it and you act like this sort of thing happens to you every day."
Tristan glanced over at the pile of books by her and smiled again. She noticed and looked at him questioningly. "What?"
"You're a Psychology major, aren't you?" he chuckled.
"Yeah...so?" she replied flippantly.
He leaned toward her again, and they met in the middle of the table. "So you're over-analyzing this." He patted her stack of books. "Too much of this makes anyone crazy."
Star snorted and sat back down in her chair. "What makes you such an expert?"
"Well I am Pre-Med... most people think that requires a person to be pretty intelligent by normal standards."
She rolled her eyes. "Figures."
He raised his eyebrows at her. "What?"
"Always the savior...you would be a med student." She crossed her arms and shook her head.
Tristan's grin returned. "See? Not that hard to accept this, now is it? That's the first time you've admitted out loud you know more about who I am now than I've told you."
He was right. Star was a little stunned. The words had come out of her mouth before she had thought about them. Yesterday they hadn't said anything about him always protecting her. Maybe this would keep getting easier. She still thought this was crazy, but she had to admit he had a point. Tristan looked at his watch and stood up.
"I have to go." He pulled his bag over his shoulder.
Star nodded numbly in return. Just when they had fallen back into being so comfortable with each other, one of them had to leave again.
Noticing her face, Tristan came around to her side of the table and knelt down to her level, then retook her hand. "Hey, things are going to work out, okay?" He searched her eyes. "We'll figure this out together. In the meantime, I want to meet your friends tomorrow."
"Really?" she asked, surprised.
"Really," he replied. "Obviously they're important to you, so that makes them important to me." He kissed her nose. "Call me tonight."
Star couldn't help but giggle from the tickle of his lips. "Alright, I will. Have fun in class."
Tristan turned and started walking away from her. "Oh, I will, Microbiology is a blast!" he shouted back to her sarcastically.
Once he exited the building, Star pulled her bag up from the floor and dug around in it for a highlighter and pen. She retrieved her Abnormal Psychology book from the pile next to her and opened it to the chapter from the focus of yesterday's lecture that she'd missed while she was with Tristan. Her hair fell to the side as she absently placed her highlighter in her mouth and jotted down notes on each section. She could probably copy Zack's notes; after living with him and knowing what his handwriting looked like from notes they left to each other at home though, she wasn't sure she wanted to know how illegible his notes to himself were. He tended to copy her notes anyway, so she guessed he wasn't always paying attention to things that were important either. Absorbing herself in the chapter, Star lost track of time until someone sat down next to her.
"My God are you...studying? You must be sick." She looked over to see Zack with a smug look on his face with fries and an energy drink in front of him.
"Haha. Yes, you discovered my dark secret, I study in odd places so that you think I don't." Star shook her head.
"I knew it." Zack laughed and popped a fry in his mouth. "What are you doing in here anyway? I usually eat now, and you're never in here."
Star looked up at him and bit the top of her highlighter. "I met Tristan here a little while ago."
"Tristan, huh? Would that be the guy you got all flustered trying to talk about last night?" he asked, after taking a sip of his drink.
"Yeah, that's him." She was suddenly hot and felt the need to pack up her books.
Zack examined her. "Whoa, are you blushing?"
Star swallowed and turned away from him, feeling her cheeks get warmer against her will. She closed her eyes and wished she could disappear. Almost nothing was worse to her than blushing. The only thing that topped it was being called out on it when she did. "No."
"Yes you are!" he laughed.
Groaning, Star stood and pulled her bag off the table. "I'm leaving if you're gonna make fun of me."
Zack pulled her back down into her chair. "Sheesh, you don't have to get all sensitive about it. I'm sorry."
"I'm not sensitive," Star sniffed in response.
"Oh yeah you are...." he stopped once she saw the look on her face.
"Wow, you know, I've never seen you react this way before," Zack stated with a stunned look on his face. "You're usually so composed. This guy must be something else."
Star smirked to herself and looked up. "You could sa
y that."
"So when do I get to put him through his paces?" Zack grinned. "You know he needs to get past me first so I can make sure he's worthy of you."
Zack always tried to screen the guys that Star was interested in. She never asked him to do it, but their relationship was like that. They had known each other for almost seven years now, having met while they were both working at a video store back home in Virginia. He was like a protective brother. If Star didn't know any better, she would probably bet that the guys she'd dated since she met Zack all got the "hurt her and you'll be sorry" speech.
