Page 52 of A Summer of Stars
Despite the game, neither of them wanted to talk about anything other than—
“Ican’tbelieve he showed up last night and cornered you,” Deidra repeated.
Cecilia added, “That lying, conniving, useless excuse of a—”
“Thank you both for your incessant input. Seeing as we’ll be there soon, I don’t think there’s any point in harping on it,” Ialsoadded.
“We could easily turn the car around,” Deidra reminded me.
“Or drive up to the building, throw something at him like spiteful moviegoers, andthenleave,” Cecilia followed up.
“You guys are making this worse.”
“I think you did that yourself,” Deidra pointed out.
“I—”
My phone buzzed on the seat beside me.Dad. Almost forgot about our Saturday call.
“Hey, Dad,” I answered, grateful for the interruption.
“Hey, sweetheart, what are you up to?” His voice was as warm as apple pie.
“Just about to head to practice—”
“She’s lying!”
“Cecilia!” I hissed, pressing the phone to my shoulder.
“She’s seeing Jeremiah!” she continued, leaving Deidra to her chuckles.
“Did she just sayJeremiah?” he asked, his voice solidifying.
“Yes, Mr. Aldridge!”
“Cecilia!” I whacked her, my Uno cards bending in half.
“Luna Aldridge,” he demanded. “What is this about?”
I massaged the center of my forehead. “I’m going to an event for the night, and Jeremiah will be there.”
“Invited her!” Cecilia corrected.
“You can leave now,” I told her. “The grass should be soft enough to land on.” She sat back, satisfied.
“You’re spending the day withJeremiah?” he asked, baffled.
“I’m not going to spend the day with him. We’ll just be in the same building.”
“That’s just as bad.”
“There’s a million people here, and I’m coming with Kieran, so I most likely won’t even see him.”
My father did not care.
“What were you thinking?!” he bellowed.
WhatwasI thinking? Bringing my fake lover to the same place as my previous lover, while also trying to keep them apart so nothing exploded in my face.
