"Most girls wanna man with the mean green, don't wanna dance if you can't be everything that I dream of, a man that understands real love." Starr gazed out of the airplane window and lip sank to the music playing in her ear. Howie stared at her, so overwhelmed with sadness he couldn't bare it. While Starr was asleep, the agency called and said who had made the part. Some girl named Natasha that in Howie's mind couldn't act worth crap. He didn't know how to tell her. She looked so excited and sure; he'd feel like a monster. After a few hesitant gestures, he got her attention.
"Yeah?" She smiled like she'd just won the lottery.
"Starr...ok, I don't want you to be upset-"
"I didn't get it..." She looked at him, the mood changing so sudden it felt like a bolt of lightning. A forced smile appeared. "It was a good try. Thank you. I have to get used to this though, I'm not going to make everything I audition for." She glared out of the window again, squinting away tears.
"I'm sorry hun. Yes, there will be more. What doesn't kill us, only makes us stronger." He laughed cockily and continued typing away on his laptop.
Starr jingled her keys, fighting the pesky lock of her room to unlock the door. Finally, a small click sounded. Her victorious smile faded as she stepped in. Everything seemed so empty. She glanced into Sai's room. There was nothing there but a bed spread and an open window. Starr was confused. She glanced to the outside of her door. 277. Right room...She walked slowly to the counter, spotting a piece of lined paper with something scratched on it.
Starr,
Something terrible's happened to my Mother. I had no choice but to move back to India. I'm sorry for any inconvenience I may have caused you. I'll miss you.
Love, Sai
Starr was shocked. She looked around and felt nothing but loneliness. I can't live here by myself! I HATE living by myself. What am I gonna do? She sighed and rested her hands on her hips, searching for a solution. Then, she remembered AJ. She reached for the phone, but paused and reached for her car keys instead.
AJ glared at his reflection above his bed. He wasn't thinking, or trying to fall asleep. He was just staring at himself, listening to the air and squinting in the dark. He wondered if Jodi had fallen asleep yet. He just now realized the music that was playing a half-hour ago, no longer sounded through the hall. She was such a cool person. He was glad he finally found a friend of the opposite sex that he had no feelings for or was sexually attracted too. Don't get him wrong, she was hot. But it was a friendly hot. Not an 'I Wanna Sleep With Her' hot.
A soft wrap on the door made AJ sit up. He walked quietly to answer it and was exastic to see Starr on the other side.
"Hey! I missed you!" He squeezed her tightly, then kissed her like he hadn't seen her in thirty years.
"I missed you too."
"What's the matter?" He could sense sadness and immediately wondered if she was mad about Jodi staying with him and Howie.
"Sai had to go back to India. So now I'm roommate-less."
"Well, I dunno, but I would like to live by myself."
"No no no. Not me. I spent 5 years living by myself practically. I can barely survive 2 nights alone."
"So what are you going to do?" AJ sat down with her on his coach, holding her hand.
"I don't know..." An idea popped into her head, but she didn't know if she should say anything.
Meanwhile, the same one aroused in AJ's. But he didn't know if she thought it was too soon to move in with him. "How about you move in with me?" He put on a hopeful smile and leaned back.
"Ok. But are you alright with that?" She made sure, getting excited.
"Yeah! I wouldn't offer if I weren’t. How about I help you tomorrow after class?"
"Ok. I'll just stay the night there for tonight. I got to go. I'm tired-" A dark figure appeared in the hall. "Ohmigod..." She began as the details of the face became clearer.
AJ turned around and, knowing who it was, sighed at what Starr's reaction would be. "Starr, I-"
"It's Jodi! Ohmigod!" She released AJ's grip and walked up to her.
"Hi!" Jodi smiled and put out her hand warmly.
"I can't believe it's you! I love you guys. You're so awesome!" Starr couldn't let the sides of her mouth rest as she stared in dis-belief.
"Thank you. It's always great to hear that from fans."
Starr nodded her head. She had forgotten AJ was standing behind her, relieved she wasn't upset with him.
"Why don't you two sit down and talk. I'll be back." He jogged to his room and picked up the phone.
Howie was staring at the TV in the corner of the bar, sipping a Long Island Ice Tea. He looked down at the caller ID as a ring interrupted the silence.
"Sorry! I totally forgot to tell Starr." Howie gushed without even saying hi first.
AJ just laughed. "It's alright. She was excited to see her. Oh yeah, how did the audition go?"
"Well, I'll let her tell you..."
"Oh no." AJ's stomach churned. "She didn't get it?"
"Nope. You know how it is." Howie nodded at the bar tender, which asked he would like another.
"Yeah...so are you coming home tonight?"
"No." He squinted at the reaction he expected out of AJ. "Sorry."
"It's ok...your life man. I'm not Lou Pearlman or anything." They laughed. Inside jokes about Lou had become common between the guys over the years.
After they hung up, AJ walked back to the living room and sat next to Starr, who was on the edge of her seat, listening to Jodi tentatively.
"Have you guys ever met StarBliss?"
"Yeah! They're actually really old friends of mine. Me and Shayna have been best friends since like 3rd grade." Jodi smiled, relaxing on the couch.
"Hey girls." AJ hurried and said before they started another sentence.
Starr leaned in and kissed him. "Jeesh, I forgot to tell you. I didn't make the commercial. But I don't care."
AJ loved the attitude Starr always had. She could find a dot of sunlight in a black hole. "I love you." He spat out suddenly, but emotionally.
She laughed. "I love you, too."
"Awwww.... You guys are so cute! I could just eat you up with a spoon!" Jodi spoke metaphorically.
"Jodi? From galaxE?" Jamie had a ring in her voice as she was told the news of her arrival.
"Yup! I talked to her for like two hours last night. She's really, really cool."
Jason sat quietly, doing his homework. He was used to sitting through the little girl talks Jamie and Starr had on their study nights. He blocked most of the chitchat until opportunity called. "Ahem, so AJ and Jodi were there...by themselves?" He cleared his throat and avoided the evil look Jamie shot at him.
"Well...yeah." Starr lowered her head as if in deep thought.
"You trust him like that?" He raised his eyebrows as his eyes journeyed through the bowl of Chex Mix for a bread stick.
"Yeah. Of coarse I do. But I-"
"Did you even know she was there, I mean you said yourself it was a huge surprised to see her come out from the hall like that." He bit the tip off and nibbled the crumb of a bite.
"I don't see how that has anything to do with us-" Jamie began, but became suddenly interested. "He didn't tell you?! Why not?"
"I don't know! Maybe he didn't know. What if she just showed up."
"I know if I was there all by myself with Jodi I would-"
"You would what?" Jamie crossed her arms and scrunched her eyebrows.
Jason's mouth was still frozen in "d" when his eyes were glued to his concerned girl friends face. "I would call and tell you. I mean, anything could happen, OR could have." He tried turning it back to Starr.
"Jason, I trust AJ. I trust him with all my heart. I know if he could, he would have told me she was coming. I'm not going to accuse anything I'm not sure of." She stood up and started packing her books.
"Then make sure." Jamie was holding up her orange phone, her lips in a weird smirk.
Starr stopped and stared at the phone for a minute. She went to grab it, but turned to pick her bag instead. "I don't need too, I already am." She walked to the door and paused before opening it. "I'm not to happy with you guys. You're getting me all paranoid about my own business. If I felt I needed to ask AJ anything, I would. See you tomorrow." She slammed the door behind her.
Jamie and Jason stared at the door for a moment, then turned and shrugged at each other.
Starr dropped her bag by the coach as she entered her new house. She walked to the kitchen, not even concerned where in hell AJ was. She poured herself a soda and parked in front of the TV, intending to spend the rest of the night there. All the way home, and to pick some stuff up from her old room, she thought about what Jason said. Why didn't he tell her? Did something happen to make him keep it a secret? He did act kinda dumbstruck when she came in. It's not even that big of a deal, but she would still like to know.
"Starr? Is that you?" AJ walked out of their room to the living room. She put her hand up and waved, without even turning her head to smile at him. "Is everything alright? Studying go bad or something?" He walked over and sat by her.
She hid her lips and shook her head. "Uh huh..."
AJ was confused, but just settled with that. The only thing she did was laugh at Chandlers’ stupid, but funny jokes on the TV. She could hear AJ saying her name, and asking her questions, but she just didn't choose to respond. She acted as though she was into the TV show, laughing when the audience did. But she was really thinking if she should say anything about Jodi.
After a while, AJ just gave up and went back to his bedroom. Starr glanced at the clock. 9:30...I wonder if Adrien is awake? She got up and grabbed her keys. She just left, no note, nothing. She didn't even know if she'd come back.
When she got to the hospital, it took her a while to convince the guard to let her in, but she did it. She sighed when she saw Adrien lying peacefully on his bed. She stood by him and closed her eyes, inhaling the sent of his room. It smelt so familiar to her, like she had smelt it all her life, but forgot it two days ago. She leaned over and touched his shoulder softly so he wouldn't wake up. He rolled over towards the wall, leaving a wide space. Big enough she could lay down next to him. After she got situated, she laid her head next to his and closed her eyes slowly.
"Where is Starr?" AJ rushed around his house franticly searching for his girlfriend.
"Calm down. She probably left early today." Howie rolled his eyes and laughed at the Garfield comic in front of him.
"Last night she was out here watching TV. Then she never came to bed. So she must have gone somewhere last night and didn't come home. But where did she go? Maybe Jamie’s." He reached for the phone then remembered he didn't have her number. "I'll go check Starr's stuff to see if she has it somewhere written down." He rushed to their room and scrimmaged through her backpack. He picked up her wallet and unzipped it. A small picture fell to the ground. He scrunched his eyebrows and curiously picked it up. There was Starr, with her arm around Adrien. He smiled as he looked at it. Then something struck him. They looked a lot alike. They had the same eyes. Their hair was similar too. They looked like brother and sister. AJ just smiled and shook his head as he slipped it back into her wallet and put it back in her backpack.
"Oook..." Howie stared at AJ as he walked in and sat down like nothing had happened.
"She's with Adrien."
"How do you know? Did you call Jamie?" He asked.
"No, I just know." AJ flipped through papers he had started grading earlier.
"She's spending a lot of time with him..." Howie had suspicion hinting in his voice. "So?" "I don't know. It's just weird. But it's none of my business, so I'll shut up." The next couple of weeks were hectic for all of them. Jamie did nothing but study for the part she made in "Gone With the Wind" as Scarlet. She was so excited and showed it too. She always talked about how hard it was and imagined the opening night. Jason spent a lot of time to his self. He was starting to think about things he had never before. He realized he really did like Jamie and Starr was just a physical attraction. He didn't want to get deep into the whole Satan thing, so he gave up. AJ started teaching an adult drama coarse along with getting the play set up. He missed Starr so much, but he was dedicated to his job and knew the consequences of it before taking it. Starr had spent countless hours with Adrien at the hospital. She started a new speech coarse that was in the afternoon, so her weeks were full. Then on the weekend, she cleaned and rushed to the hospital. As the third week came nearer, Starr became more and more excited.