by Geri Watson
"You're such a brat, Zack." She went to get up, and he pulled her back down on top of him in a bearhug so she couldn't escape.
The look Star shot him was menacing. "Fine, I'll be nice." He rolled his eyes and released her with a mock sigh.
Star bent down and kissed his cheek. "Thank you."
"Uh huh," he mumbled. "I have to go study. Did you finish your guide for Abnormal Psych?"
"Yeah, I finished it two nights ago. Didn't Dr. Walker go over it the day I missed class?" Star asked, confused.
"He was going to, but I got the feeling a lot of people didn't finish it...we distracted him by asking questions the entire time," Zack smirked.
Star shook her head. "You can borrow mine if you need help with something, just don't copy it like you did last time!" she admonished.
Lifting himself off the couch, Zack grabbed her Abnormal Psych binder from the table and went into his room. "Wouldn't dream of such a thing. Love you!" he called out.
"Yeah, yeah, love you too," she shouted back.
It was getting late, but she wasn't that tired. Star walked over to the sliding door and opened it a crack more than it was before. The fresh air blowing in gave her goosebumps as she inhaled deeply. The moon was starting to shine through the clouds, and she gazed up at it and then down at the reflections in the puddles on the street below. Tomorrow night was going to be tricky. She hoped that Zack would keep his promise to behave.
Star had enjoyed seeing the movie with Alex, and he didn't seem to complain about it as much as she knew Zack would have. Afterward, he had driven her back to the apartment, and she had told him there was a lot of coursework she had to catch up on. Understanding, Alex had said goodnight and told her not to work too hard.
At first, Star had been anxious to call Tristan, but once she was alone in the apartment again, her fears and doubts took hold of her. She'd pulled out her laptop and spent a decent amount of time looking into what she could find on reincarnation. All she'd found out was that almost all religions referenced it in some way, but were in disagreement as to how it worked. There wasn't a correct way of describing how it happened or even if there was proof to back up its existence.
When Star called Tristan, she intended to ask him more about the book that he had said he was reading. Once she'd heard his voice, however, she'd forgotten all about the book. She'd been surprised to find out he had an older brother. She always wished she'd had an older sibling. Maybe that was part of the reason she and Zack had hit it off so well. Right now wasn't the time to be thinking about Tristan though, she needed to get back to her studying.
Grabbing her Biology book, Star sank into the couch and flipped open to the chapter they had a test on in the morning. After getting halfway through the section, her head started to hurt. It was the same piercing pain that she'd felt after dinner the night before. Soon after she began to get rapid flashes of different eras in her head; as they progressed, she could make them out more clearly, and she lay her head in her hands. The pain was excruciating. Feeling queasy, she stood up and tried to make it to Zack's room behind her and called out his name weakly. As she pushed open his bedroom door, she collapsed.
April 16, 1865
The southern belle felt uncomfortable. Her bodice was far too tight. Surrounding her was a general store filled with various consumables. The calendar above the register read April 1865. As she walked down the aisle, she noticed a mirror and went to stand in front of it. Her reflection smiled back at her as she examined her sandy natural curls and startling blue eyes. For being the end of the war, she looked anything but bedraggled from it. She pinched her cheeks and left the mirror behind her as she stepped outside and walked down the store's steps.
"Well if it isn't Sarah Moon," a deep voice greeted her from across the path. Her face lit up, and she looked around and then slowly crossed and walked over to him.
"Afternoon, Bailey," she greeted him formally.
"Oh, why must you always do that?" Charles shook his head. "I've come to collect you, and I don't even get a kiss?"
She laughed a tiny polite sound. "Collect me? As in a prize?"
"Collect you as in keeping my promise," he took her hand and held it in between his. "I told you I was going to make an honest woman out of you and I meant it."His emerald eyes shined down at her.
Sarah looked around suspiciously and then back at Charles. "You're lucky you're not in uniform."
He looked at her thoughtfully. "Lee surrendered last week at Appomattox Courthouse, in case you haven't heard. We won. I'm not leaving you behind."
Her heart skipped as she looked into his eyes. It was one thing to have trysts with the one you're reporting to, but she hadn't been expecting him to be serious. If she was honest with herself, she had fallen hard for Charles Bailey.
At the beginning of her espionage, he had questioned her loyalty and credibility. But that had been almost two years ago now. One night when Sarah had met Charles at a Virginia inn with her latest compilation of secrets, everything had changed. She arrived soaked and had nothing to change into; so she had procured a room to dry out until morning. There had been a mix-up at the counter, and as darkness fell and she lay in bed, Charles had walked into her room thinking that it was his for the night.
At first, she had thrown the closest thing she could grab toward his head. Charles had ducked and looked so flustered and embarrassed Sarah had broken out into laughter instead. He averted his eyes like a gentleman as she covered up and then opened the door to leave once he knew she wasn't exposed, apologizing the entire time. The life of a spy was a lonely one, and Sarah hadn't seen a ring on his finger during any of their previous meetings. She asked him if he wanted to stay with her.
That had been the beginning of it all. Sarah and Charles' correspondence after that was a little less formal. Kisses in private meetings and nights spent in secret away from camp were frequent when she had information. It was the long periods of time that came between those trysts that made her soul ache. She had a hard time leading a double life while living in the heart of the Confederacy. What was harder were the times she spent with the Confederate soldiers learning the secrets that she would leak to Charles. To think that she'd survived unscathed was amazing in itself. To have him come after her as he promised was more than Sarah could have asked for.
Not caring for once what everyone else would think, Sarah jumped into Charles' arms and kissed him. He spun her around and held her close, and for that moment her life was perfect. Neither of them knew that a disgruntled Confederate soldier who wanted Sarah for himself had recognized Charles. Caught up with each other, Sarah and Charles returned to her home and started packing. Concentrating on packing was difficult. It had been several months since she'd seen Charles and what she did in her home with the man she loved and was going to marry was her business. As she walked out of the front door hours later, she skidded backward into Charles who was right behind her. A dingy and wounded man still wearing his Confederate uniform stood on the front steps with a rifled musket pointed at her chest.
"Since when do you carry on with enemies, Sarah?" his gravelly voice spat out.
"Don't, George. Please," she wasn't as scared for herself as she was for Charles.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't blow his Yankee head off his shoulders," George slurred. Apparently, he'd been drinking. He swayed a little as he spoke.
"Because we're leaving. You can have the property George; I don't care. Let us leave in peace," Sarah met his muddy gaze.
"Why are you leaving with him?" George eyed her and the bags at the door.
"Because she's marrying me," Charles' voice boomed from behind her.
"Traitor!" George lowered his rifled musket in shock and then quickly raised it and shot.
Charles tried to push her out of the way, but it was too late. He collapsed with Sarah in his arms. She raised her hand to the hole in her chest. Horrified at what he'd done, George ran, leaving the duo far behind him. Sarah coughed, an
d Charles tried to hold her upright while still cradling her. Her hand went to his face, and she kissed him. The pain was excruciating, and Sarah knew she wasn't going to make it. Before she closed her eyes for the last time, she looked into Charles' eyes which glistened with tears from the sudden turn of events.
"Sarah?"
"I love you, Charles," she whispered with all the strength she had left.
"Star?" she heard Zack exhale loudly. "Star, come on wake up! You're terrifying me here."
She could hear the panic in his voice but couldn't force open her eyes. Her head hurt, and she felt weak all over. Star felt pressure on her chest and felt his hand on her wrist for a minute. Then she felt surrounded by warmth and smelled Zack's cologne.
"First you tell me you fainted yesterday, and then you pass out in the doorway tonight? What is going on with you?" she heard him mumble to himself, but he sounded closer.
The sound of his keys and the feel of him shifting her weight around made Star try to open her eyes again. She didn't want to go to the hospital, and she figured out that was where he was trying to take her. She tried again to pry open her eyes and this time succeeded. Zack's crystal eyes appeared inches above hers, and Star realized the warmth around her was him holding her in his arms.
He swallowed and hugged her close. "Oh thank God. I wasn't sure what I was going to do. Your pulse and breathing were alright, but you weren't waking up."
"Sorry," Star whispered.
"Don't be sorry. I'm gonna take you to the hospital; they'll be able to fix you up," Zack consoled her, still trying to open the apartment door.
Star struggled her way out of his arms and leaned on him for support once her feet were on the ground. "No. I just want to go to sleep. I'm sure I'll be fine in the morning."
Sighing, Zack picked her up again and brought her into his bedroom and laid her down. "I know better than to fight you as stubborn as you are. But you're sleeping in here so I can keep an eye on you. I don't want to hear any complaints, or we go to the hospital. I don't care if you are kicking and screaming."
"Fine," Star caved. She wasn't feeling strong enough to fight him anyway. He crawled into bed next to her then pulled her close, and she closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep, her head still sore.
When she woke up in the morning alone, she could hear Zack working out in the other room. She pulled herself out of bed and made her way into the kitchen slowly. Her body felt like it needed more sleep, and she was confident she needed some caffeine. Zack saw her and set down the weights he had been working.
"How ya feeling this morning, champ?" he walked over to her. "You look kinda pale."
Star grabbed a can of soda out of the fridge and sat down at the kitchen table. "I feel like I get hit by a tractor-trailer."
Zack's hand went to her forehead, and his eyebrows scrunched together. "Maybe you should skip Biology this morning."
"Can't," she rubbed her eyes. "Test today that we can't make up. Otherwise, I would." she rested her head on the table.
"Star, are you eating?" Zack sat down in the chair next to her. "I was thinking last night...I haven't seen you eat a lot lately. I know you think I'm hard on you and all but I don't think you're fat or anything. You don't need to lose weight."
She raised her head and looked at him oddly. "You think I'm starving myself?"
"Well it would explain the fainting..." he tilted his head and didn't say any more.
"Zack. I love food way too much to consider skipping a meal. I'm not starving myself," Star laughed.
"Oh. Well, good then." He looked up at the kitchen clock and then back at her. "Better go shower if you're going to Bio. It's already 7:15."
The hot shower felt good against her tense muscles, short or not. Star absently brushed through her hair and quickly put on her mascara and eyeliner. After brushing her teeth, she threw on the first thing she could find in her closet and grabbed her backpack. Running past Zack, who didn't have a class until their shared Psych class at 11, she yelled goodbye and shot down the stairs and the sidewalks toward campus. She still felt drained, but at least she had gotten up and moving on time. When she arrived at her Biology class, Star was a little winded. I can make it through today, she repeated like a mantra to herself.
CHAPTER 8
Tristan leaned against the building and waited for Star to appear. He had figured out she'd be heading the same way he was right about now. This was the same place they'd met the other day, after all. A few minutes later he looked down the walkway and there she was. Her hair was being held up by what looked like a pencil in a messy bun, she had a pen in her mouth, and her hands were full with a book and binder.
Even in jeans and a hooded sweatshirt with the school’s logo and looking as out of sorts as she did right now, Tristan thought Star was the most gorgeous woman he'd ever laid eyes on. He stepped away from the building as she came closer and as she looked over, the pen fell from her mouth. Then she had shaken her head as he bent down to retrieve the pen.
"Tristan," she half smiled, but there was something in her eyes that wasn't right.
"Hey there," he handed her back the pen, and she'd grabbed it between two free fingers.
Star looked around and then back at him. "Didn't you say you had a class at 11:00, too?"
"I do." He looked down at the walkway for a second and then back up at her. "I wanted to see you, even if it was for only a few minutes."
"Oh." A strand of hair came loose from the bun and framed her face, but she lightly blew it to the side. "That's sweet."
Tristan looked into her eyes and saw them soften from the stressed look she'd had a moment ago. "Everything set for tonight?'"
She chewed her lip. "Yeah. Zack's cooking."
"Should I be worried he's going to put something in my food? Like a truth serum?" he laughed uneasily.
Star raised her eyebrows and smiled an evil smile. "You never know with Zack."
He swallowed, and she laughed at him.
"I'll catch up with you later, okay? I don't want to be late for this class considering I missed it on Wednesday." She looked over at the students piling into the building becoming thinner and then back at Tristan.
He understood where she was coming from. If he were late for Immunology, his professor wouldn't be very pleased. Even with Emily's notes, Tristan still felt like he was behind. "Alright," he offered her a slight smile. "See you later then."
Star beamed. "You bet."
A taller, built looking guy was waiting at the door of the building, holding it open. She ran over and started talking to him. Before the door closed, Tristan caught his glance back toward him. He could've sworn that he glared in his direction. He hoped that wasn't Zack.
Glancing down at his watch and seeing that he still had enough time, Tristan headed toward his Immunology class. He had just sat down and unpacked his binder when he saw Emily making her way to him.
He held out the borrowed notes to her. She glanced at them and then realized what they were and took them from his hand.
"Where'd you go after History?" she asked, her eyes innocent.
What does she do, stalk me? Tristan wondered. "I wanted to meet up with someone before class."
Emily sat down in the seat next to him. "Oh." He saw a puzzled look cross her face.
"What's that look for?" he asked as his eyebrows scrunched together.
She looked like she snapped out of a daze. "Oh! Nothing...well..." her eyebrows furrowed together. "I never knew you talked to anyone else."
Tristan grimaced in response. "Thanks a lot, Em."
She reacted quickly and reached out to touch his arm; he pulled it away just as fast. "Oh Tristan, I swear I didn't mean that in a bad way."
"I'm sure you didn't," he replied with a clipped tone.
Emily sighed and turned forward in her seat. "Sorry."
The professor started lecturing after that and Tristan made no more effort to talk to Emily.
After class, she tried to catch up to
him, but he ignored her. When she started following him back toward the building that he knew Star was going to be leaving, he stopped dead in his tracks, and Emily ran into him, making him stumble. Tristan turned around and looked at her.
"What?" he snapped.
Emily looked startled by his tone. "I wanted to tell you I was sorry."
"You said that before class," he reminded her.
"I know...but you still seemed mad...so I thought.... I thought..." she stuttered.
"Spit it out, Emily." He knew he was being mean, but didn't feel like dealing with her right now.
