Star-Crossed Memories

by Geri Watson

"Well, I'm sure Tristan has the whole day lined up for you guys. He's quite the planner, you know," Art nodded toward Tristan.

  "For your information, the only plan I made was to have her come over here," Tristan answered. "I'm not sure what else I want to do today."

  Art looked over at Star. "Wow. Usually, Tristan plans out when his next breath is going to be; he really must be smitten with you." He raised his eyebrow and looked toward Tristan again. "It's an interesting development."

  "I'm not that bad," Tristan defended himself once Star looked over at him with a surprised look in her eyes.

  "Uh huh." Art crossed his legs and brushed a piece of lint off of his slacks. "So you're a Psych major? What's your area of interest?"

  "Humanistic therapy aiming to achieve self-actualization. I'm seeing if there's a link to self-actualization and meditation when used as a link between Health Psychology and Abnormal Psychology as a healing therapy." Star's mouth parted and her forehead creased. "Sorry, that probably didn't make any sense to you guys."

  Tristan laughed, and Art joined in. "Well, that was certainly...specific."

  "Yeah." Star looked down.

  Tristan squeezed her hand. "I understood part of it at least. If Art and I started spewing off a bunch of medical jargon you'd be in the same boat."

  She looked up at him, and he could see the gratefulness in her eyes.

  "Have Mom and Dad called?" Tristan asked.

  "Yeah, you missed it this morning. They're doing alright. Asked what you were up to and I told them the uh...new things that were going on in your life. Dad seemed pleased." Art smiled.

  Tristan groaned. "Tell me you didn't."

  "Well, you weren't here! I didn't want them left out," his brother mocked him.

  He glared across the room. "Did they say when they'd be calling back?"

  Art leaned forward. "They said they'd call back tonight; apparently they want to hear your side of the story for themselves."

  "Good, I can filter out whatever ludicrousness you've told them." Tristan looked over at Star. "Why don't you take Scout up to my room? I'll meet you up there in a minute. It's upstairs and to the right." he nodded toward the stairs.

  Star looked a little uneasy and then called for Scout to follow her, and the two of them went upstairs. Once she was out of earshot, Tristan looked over at Art.

  "She's something else, Tristan. I can see why you're taken with her; she's obviously intelligent. Perfect match for you."

  Tristan laughed. "You have no idea how spot-on you are with that comment." He looked up the stairs where Star had disappeared.

  "I'm surprised you slept with her already though. Didn't know you had it in you," Art leered.

  "I didn't sleep with her...at least, not in the sense you're thinking. I just slept next to her all night." Tristan rolled his eyes again. "Damn man, you think I have no respect for her or what?"

  Art laughed. "You're such a saint, Tristan."

  "I am not!" Tristan huffed and walked upstairs.

  CHAPTER 13

  Star looked around Tristan's room. On one wall he had a large print of M.C. Escher's Relativity; on another, he had a poster of Albert Einstein and a vast landscape portrait of lightning across an African sky. He had an oak desk with a lamp built into the hutch, and several pictures of what she assumed were his family along the shelves. His laptop sat in the center and books about everything from medicine to religion rested on another shelf. A high-end stereo system sat on one side of an ornate dresser that matched the headboard of his king-size bed. She sat in the leather desk chair, and Scout nuzzled her hand, so she obliged her and scratched behind her ears and pet her for a few minutes.

  Tristan walked in with a miffed look on his face. Once he saw Star sitting at his desk, his features changed into a lighter expression. "What's wrong?" she asked.

  "Eh, nothing. Art said something that upset me, that's all."

  She tilted her head and scratched underneath Scout's chin. "What did he say?"

  "He called me a saint," Tristan said stoically as he pulled a shirt out of his closet and pulled off the one he was wearing.

  Star laughed. "Well, you kind of are, at least you are to me."

  "Well, maybe. But I don't think Art meant it as an endearing term." Star heard half-muffled from him pulling on his other shirt. Tristan walked into the bathroom to finish changing.

  "Oh." She glanced around his room again, and he reappeared a minute later. When she looked back at him, she saw that he was staring at her. "Yes?"

  Tristan sat on the bed, so he was more level with her and leaned back on his hands. "I think I like you being in my room."

  "It's nothing like mine, that's for sure," Star laughed. "But I guess if I had the money my room would look pretty different than it does now."

  Scout hopped up on the bed and rested her head on Tristan's lap. He ran his hand along her back. "Hey, I liked your room. It had pieces of your personality all over it." he pointed out. "If you were basing my personality on this room, I think I would come off as pretty boring."

  "Not boring, just minimalist maybe," Star said thoughtfully. "I like the lightning portrait."

  "I noticed you had a picture of lightning in your room too," Tristan looked at his own picture.

  Star thought about how many nights she had stayed up listening to storms and watching the lightning from her front porch at home. She got a little homesick for a minute and wondered what it would be like to sit on her parents’ porch with Tristan doing the same thing.

  What also came to mind was that her mother was going to call tomorrow, and she wanted to tell her everything about Tristan but didn't know what she was going to say. Her parents would like Tristan; of that Star was sure. Who wouldn't want their daughter to bring home a Pre-Med student? She decided that she'd tell her mom everything except the reincarnation details. She knew she could tell her mom anything and thought of her as a best friend; their relationship was what most girls would wish for with their mothers.

  "I've always had a thing for thunderstorms since I was little," Star explained. "Being able to see all of that energy...I think it's pretty amazing."

  "Me too. My dad took that picture when he and my mother were in Africa." Tristan looked down. "They're gone a lot."

  "Are they doctors too?"

  "Yes, apparently the hero complex is hereditary. They're out healing the world," he explained. "It's only Art and me here most of the time."

  "I don't know if I would handle that very well. I have a hard time just talking to my parents once a week." Star leaned back in the desk chair.

  Tristan shrugged. "You get used to it I guess."

  "But doesn't that get lonely?" she asked him.

  He tilted his head. "Well now that I found you, you can come over and keep me company." he paused. "I work a lot anyway."

  "Where do you work?"

  Tristan closed one of his eyes and sucked in a breath. "I don't know if I want to tell you, you'll laugh."

  Star's interest was piqued now. She got up out of the desk chair and sat next to him on the bed. "Come on. Tell me." she bumped his side.

  "Nah, I don't think so." he shook his head.

  "Why not? Do you go around saving people locally all the time?" she laughed.

  His eyebrows raised and his dimples appeared on either side of his smile, then he started laughing. "Actually, yes."

  Star stopped laughing. "What?"

  "Well, what would you say that an EMT does on a regular basis?" Tristan asked her.

  "How appropriate." Star rolled her eyes. "That makes perfect sense. I couldn't picture a job more suited for you. I'm sure you're great at it too."

  Tristan shook his head. "Whatever."

  "Did you not make any other plans for us today?" she asked, changing the subject. If he was as avid a planner as Art claimed, she honestly wondered if Tristan had told his brother the truth earlier.

  Tristan blinked at the subject change. "No. Did you have something in mind?"


  "No." She laid back on his bed. "I was just wondering."

  Scout hopped off his lap, and Tristan leaned over her. "I'd take you to the beach, but it's a little chilly."

  "Hm. Good point. Is that where you usually take your dates when you bring them home?" Star slid her hand down his arm.

  "Truthfully...you're the first girl I ever brought home...I think that's why Art decided to be overly friendly." He made a face.

  Star broke into a bright smile. "That does explain a lot."

  "If it makes you feel any better, you were the first guy that ever came into my room other than Zack," she confessed.

  "Really?" Tristan asked with a stunned expression.

  "Really," she repeated. She grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him down into a kiss.

  He broke it quickly. "Is that intentional or coincidence?"

  "Intentional. I don't like people being in my room. It makes me uncomfortable." She scrunched up her face.

  "Sure didn't seem uncomfortable last night...or this morning for that matter." Tristan looked into her eyes.

  Star ran her fingers along his collar. "I know. I was wondering why that was myself."

  "Hm. I've got to admit that you tend to put me at ease as well. It's like all is right with the world when I'm with you." Tristan smiled down at her.

  "The problem with that is the bubble bursts when we aren't together." Star dropped her hand and frowned. "Which sucks."

  "True." he stood up and leaned against his dresser. "Speaking of bubbles bursting, I wanted to ask you something."

  Tristan sounded like it was a more serious topic on his mind, so Star sat up and leaned toward him. "What?"

  "Have you been getting...well...I guess the easiest way to explain them would be...headaches?" He rested his hands on the dresser behind him and looked over for her response.

  Had he been getting blackouts too? That would be odd. Well, he said headaches, not blackouts...but a lot of her blackouts started with headaches, didn't they? Even if he hadn't been experiencing the same thing, at least someone would know what she was seeing before her fainting spells if she told him. It was hard keeping all of it to herself.

  "Well, it seems like every time I'm thinking about you or when we're not together something happens," Star admitted. "First when you kissed me and all those memories came flooding back I fainted, which was like an overload. Then during dinner that night I started feeling sick, and a bunch of flashes came, and I passed out. Then again the next night. Every time they're more vivid. I think the only night I haven't had one since I met you was last night...and you know I spent that with you." She shook her head. "Is that what you were talking about?"

  The look on Tristan's face told her everything she needed to know, but he voiced his thoughts anyway.

  "The night I met you, and I told you I was in the library? I was researching. Then I got a headache, and I guess I blacked out because it was dark outside when I woke up. That's why it was so late when I called you too.... I didn't realize how late it had gotten." He looked down guiltily and then back up at her.

  "Then I was in class, and I had been reading that reincarnation book...you know the one I told you about? Anyway, I was in lab, and I got a headache again, and these painful, intense flashes and apparently I hit the floor. I woke up in the infirmary with my lab partner scared half to death next to me." Tristan stopped talking but still looked like he had something to say.

  "But you didn't have one last night?" Star asked with her forehead creased. Had he fallen asleep next to her during the movie or had he blacked out?

  Tristan scratched his head. "Well, that's the odd thing...I did. I was watching the movie, and I was thinking about how happy I was just laying there next to you. I didn't get a headache, but the next thing I knew there were flashes again. The vision was more vivid than the others were, but I'm not so sure I want to tell you what was in it. I was so glad you were there when I opened my eyes again."

  So maybe he had seen her dying in his arms too. If that was the case, did it mean that was she destined to die if she was with him? That was a terrifying thought. Not something she wanted to think about right now either. They'd been having such a good time together, and she felt so safe with him. Star felt like she could be herself when she was with Tristan, and she felt understood for the first time in her life. Maybe this was wrong, but she didn't want to end it.

  "What do you think it means?" she asked, peering into his ocean eyes for the answer.

  "I don't know," Tristan told her. "I haven't been looking into it since I didn't know we were both having them. I will now though... maybe we set each other off?" he offered.

  "I guess that's possible." Star bit her lip.

  Tristan looked uncomfortable. She could tell there was something on his mind that he wasn't saying because he wouldn't look her in the eyes. He was positively thinking about something, but his eyes were looking out the window and over the water. The silence was deafening between them after a few minutes, and Star abruptly stood up, which seemed to knock him out of his reverie.

  "Sorry...I was just...thinking about something." He looked her over, and she thought she saw sadness creep into his features.

  Star walked over and took one of Tristan's hands in hers. "Saw things you didn't want to see last time?"

  "You could say that." his eyes searched hers and she wondered if he'd ever admit to what he'd seen.

  "Can we go somewhere?" She was getting nervous and thought that if they went somewhere else, the feelings would dissipate.

  "Where?" he asked curiously.

  "I don't know...anywhere? I don't care." She shook her head.

  Tristan went to say something and was interrupted by Star's cell phone ringing in her pocket. She looked down at the number and groaned out loud. It was Alex. Why did these two have the worst timing when it came to one another?

  "Don't answer it," Tristan said quickly. "You said it yourself...it sucks when the bubble bursts."

  "I can't. I never ignore Alex's calls. He'll think something's wrong," Star whined.

  Tristan sighed and walked out of the room frustrated. She chewed her lip, mad at herself for upsetting Tristan, and answered the phone.

  "Hey, Alex."

  "Hey. What are you up to today, beautiful?" he cheerfully asked.

  Star swallowed. If she told him that she was out with some other guy, Alex would be ticked, of that, Star was sure, which meant she had to lie. Swell. She hated liars with a passion, and now she was becoming one. Closing her eyes and resting her head against the wall, she said the first thing that came to mind.

  "Working on a project for Psych. It might take all day."

  "Bummer," his voice fell on the line. "What about tomorrow?"

  "We could go do something tomorrow," she answered calmly. "What did you have in mind?"

  "That museum you like has a traveling exhibit opening this weekend on Arthurian legends. I know how much you like that medieval stuff, so it sounded right up your alley. What do you think?"

  Fate was pushing her buttons. Of all things for the exhibit to be. "That does sound like something I'd be interested in seeing," she answered. "What time do you want to get together?"

  "Why don't we make a day of it? I'll pick you up at your place around 9? We could have breakfast and then head over there. Maybe have dinner at that little Italian place we found last month?"

  "Sure. That sounds great." Star's voice shook a little as her nerves took over.

  "Hey, are you alright? You sound a little down," Alex asked concerned.

  "I have a lot to think about," she answered, truthfully this time.

  "Don't stress out too much," he laughed. "You always do great on your projects."

  "Yeah," she responded.

  "I'll let you get back to it then. See you in the morning!" Alex happily chirped

  "See ya then." Star hung up the phone and shoved it back into her pocket. Sighing, she turned around and jumped when she saw Tristan standing behind he
r.

  "Geez Tristan, you scared the hell out of me. I thought you went downstairs," she breathed, holding her chest.

  "I did, I let Scout out back. I just got back up here," he answered her. His face looked pinched. "Did you still want to go somewhere with me or do I have to take you back home?"

  Star looked up and didn't know how to answer him, knowing what he was asking her. "I know...I burst the bubble. Just take me home."

  Tristan walked out of the room wordlessly, and she followed behind him and grabbed his wrist before he started down the stairs. He paused and turned his face back to hers.