Falling Stars (27 page)

"Wha
–?"

"Shit,
grab him!" Jackson was out of his chair and trying to grasp Elliott's arm.

Now
that the restaurant had started to empty out, Elliott had clear line of sight
to the girl's table. There were three guys there, and by the look on Kat and
Mia's faces, they weren't welcome.

One
guy slid down next to Serena, putting his arm over her shoulders. She scooted
away, removing his arm when his other hand went to her thigh. She scowled, the
distinct words 'don't touch me' on her lips.

Elliott
was like a juggernaut, reaching their table before either of the bodyguards
could get to the harasser. He lifted the guy from next to Serena and shoved him
away. Serena grabbed Elliott's arm and tried to calm him down.

That
guy was about to get the ass beating of a lifetime.

The
guys started to get vocal, so Jackson, Jimmy, and I walked over. Mainly going
to stand between them and Elliott, we had to protect this guy from death and
Elliott going to jail.

The
guy and his group were finally escorted away by restaurant security and our bodyguards.
We paid the bill and left. Elliott stayed with Serena, riding back to the hotel
with her instead of in our car.

Slowly
walking through the lobby, exhaustion began creeping up on me once again. Out
of the corner of my eye, Mia and Kat passed by, arm in arm and walking funny.
It looked like they were trying to trip the other one. I didn't understand the
reason, but I felt the corner of my mouth turn up anyways listening to them
laugh with each other.

Then
Mia jumped on Kat's back and demanded a piggyback ride into the elevator.
Laughter was prevalent before we met them on the floor of the elevator in a
pile.

Are
they drunk?

Mia
stood up quickly, helping Kat. Everyone in our group and passer's by were laughing
or scowling in disapproval.

I
stayed at the back of the elevator while the rest exited. Jackson’s arm around
Laney, he followed her into her room. The giant and the elf, it was an unusual
pairing, in my opinion. Jimmy followed closely.

Elliott
had his hand in Serena's back pocket and held her close to his side. After tonight,
he was showing everyone she was with him. The claim he was staking on her was
alarming. This was Elliott and he didn't stick with one girl.

Kat
and Mia were walking behind Serena and Elliott mimicking them. Kat had her hand
in Mia's back pocket and Mia curled up to Kat's side making kissing noises.
Serena looked back and glared at them.

 "Will
you two grow up?" She tried to be mad, but when Mia ran up and kissed her
on the cheek, she smiled and shook her head.

I
was like a peeping tom watching them, the outsider to their friendships.

Everyone
entered the girl's suite. Unsure if I should or wanted to follow, I hesitated.
Kat surprised me when her hand wrapped around my arm and pulled me. With a
wink, she smiled.

Laney
was already passing out beers as everyone found a seat. Jackson, Laney and Kat
were on the couch. Elliott secured Serena to his lap. Grabbing the empty chair
closest to me, Mia appeared and sat on Kat's lap.

"Ah
thanks babe!" She giggled.

"I
swear to God I'm going to kill you two," Serena growled.

Kat,
Laney, and Mia laughed. Moving, Mia took a spot on the floor. Jimmy sat down
next to her.

"Okay,
so I think we should learn more about each other," Laney said
enthusiastically. The girls groaned. Laney scowled at them.

"What
are we missing?" Jimmy questioned.

"That's
Laney code for playing a stupid game." Kat rolled her eyes and took a swig
of beer.

"They're
not stupid. I bet we could learn a lot about everyone." She crossed her
arms over her chest and sat back. Jackson pulled her over and planted a kiss on
the top of her head. Her anger quickly melted.

Is
that being in love? Or is it this caveman style Elliott demonstrates? Maybe, I'm
not capable.

"No,"
Kat stated. "Let's just watch a movie or something."

"I'm
going to get pajamas on, so you guys can figure out what you're going to do."
Mia stood and left the room.

My
fingers twitched to touch her when she walked by me. Jackson saved me from obsessing
over the reaction.

"I
think that sounds like a good idea." Jackson stood up and turned back to
Laney "Care to join me?" he wiggled his eyebrows, pulling Laney from
the couch.

"Um,
my pajamas are in my room." She motioned to her door with a tilt of her
head.

"Did
I forget to mention your pajamas are optional?" He winked and she giggled.

I
rolled my eyes as they left.

"Alone
time sounds fan-fucking-tastic!" Elliott stood. Serena slipped off his
lap. He bent forward and threw her over his shoulder, carrying her toward her
room.

"Elliott!
Put me down!" A loud smack echoed through the room.

Mia
entered the room just as Serena and Elliott were going through the bedroom
door.

"Don't
knock her up! She's not a nice pregnant woman." Kat yelled.

"Ahhhhh…She's
going to kill you!" Mia laughed.

"Damn
straight I am," Serena yelled just before her door slam shut.

I
grinned and everyone else laughed.

"I'm
not tired." Kat groaned. "Want to go play pool?" She looked at
Mia.

"Do
I look dressed for going down to the bar?" Mia motioned down to her loose
cotton pants covered in polka dots and tank top.

"Sure,"
Kat smiled.

"Okay."
Mia shrugged and slipped on some flip-flops. Jimmy and I both stood.

Turning,
I watched her pull on a sweatshirt. I preferred the tank top.

"Are
you really going down there like that?" Jimmy raised his eyebrow.

Mia
shrugged, "Why not?" She grinned widely and walked out the door. Kat,
Jimmy and I followed.

Kat
was good at pool; however, Mia was really bad. However, she seemed to embrace
it. She kept doing these weird shots, putting the stick behind her back, blind
folding herself with a napkin, turning around backwards to shoot, and at one point
she lifted her leg onto the table and shot from underneath.

Shaking
my head, I observed their antics.

"What?"
Jimmy bumped me in the arm and leaned onto our pool table.

"Nothing,"
I shrugged. "They just goof off a lot."

"You
could use a good dose of what they have going, trust me." He lightly hit
my shoulder. "Your shot."

Turning
around, I lined up my stick. Hands run up my back and I jerked around quickly,
causing me to scratch. Jimmy snorted. I growled at the familiar blue eyes.

"Hey
there, Chrissie," she smiled up to me and batted her eyelashes, leaning
into my chest. From behind me, Jimmy stifled his laughter.

"Tonya,
you know I hate that nickname."

She
leaned in closer and pouted up at me. I was about to say something else, but
Kat was behind her imitating Tonya's pout face. I fought from laughing, but
Jimmy burst.

"What
are you doing here?"

"You
don't sound happy to see me," she was trying to be seductive now.

"That
didn't answer my question." I rolled my eyes.

"Richard
wanted to make a visit to see how things were going, so he asked me to
accompany him, as his assistant, for the trip." She shrugged "You
know."

"Yeah."
Pulling away from her, I turned back the table.

There
were hushed voices behind me as I took my next shot. When I stood and walked around
the table Mia was gone. I was going to ask, but just let it go. It wasn't my
business anyway.

After
another hour of shooting pool and losing fifty dollars to Kat, while also
pushing Tonya off me, I retreated to my room. Once there I could hear giggling
coming from Jackson's room. Jumping in the shower, I hoped it would be over
when I got out. They weren't.

Throwing
on a pair of pajama bottoms and t-shirt, I sat on my bed for a moment
contemplating my next move.
She let me in this afternoon
.
Would she let
me tonight?

One
loud moan from Jackson's room was all the motivation I needed. Taking a deep
breath, I stepped out of my suite in the direction of hers.

Just
as I was about to reach the door, Kat came walking up. She smiled easily and
opened the door, gesturing for me to enter. Stopping just a few steps into the
room, Kat brushed by me and knocked on Mia's door. Then she kept walking.

"Come
in." The closed door muffled her voice.

Grabbing
the door knob, I ran my other hand through my damp hair and opened. She looked
up from her laptop. Waiting, I gauged her reaction. She looked conflicted for
about half a minute before she gave me half a smile and patted the empty side
of the bed.

After
lying down, I looked over and watched her.

"What
are you doing?"

She
jumped a little and looked down at me in disbelief.

"What?"

"Um...Nothing,"
she turned back around to her laptop screen.

"No…what?"
I insisted. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"I
know," she shrugged. "You just…I mean, usually you're asleep right
after you lie down. I wasn't expecting you to speak." She kept her eyes on
her computer. The discomfort between us grew tenfold.

Something
in me started to churn, wanting her to look at me. Her quiet behavior with me
was so different from who she was with Kat, Jackson, or any of the others for
that matter. It took me a moment to realize I felt bad, maybe even hurt, by it.
There was no way that was right though. Why would it hurt me? Christ, I needed
some sleep.

"Oh,"
was my most brilliant response. "You still didn't answer my question,"
I reminded.

"Um…yeah,"
she paused and I swear she blushed. "Don't make fun of me, okay?"

She
turned her eyes on me and in that moment I couldn't think straight enough to
talk, I just nodded.

"I
have a small addiction to two things on the internet," she paused and
rubbed her face, which broke my stare. "Gossip websites and YouTube"
she half smiled with a crinkled nose and a light blush.

That
blush was so appealing on her round cheeks. I'd never really looked at her
close enough until this moment. Her dark eyes weren't so haunting, but
beautifully deep. The shape of her face and the way her bottom lip pouted more
than the top was so…so perfect. The twitch of my hand occurred again, longing
to touch her face.

She
started chewing on her pouted lip. This pulled me from my thoughts. She was
obviously uncomfortable with the way I had been looking so intensely. I felt
like an idiot.

"So,
are they saying anything good?" Rolling onto my left side, I looked at her
computer screen, trying to relieve the discomfort.

"Not
really, just the same stuff," she nervously turned back to the screen and
started watching a video. Following a white wire connected to the laptop, I
realized she had earphones in one ear.

"What's
the 'same stuff'?" Curiosity had gotten the best of me, especially when
her posture stiffened a little.

"Oh
you know same big star couples splitting and hooking up." She laughed
nervously and waved it off.

"What
couples?"

"The
usual ones," she paused, "That's why I've switched over to YouTube."

I
let her change the topic, but was still curious. Typically, I didn't scour the
internet for celebrity gossip, but now I really wanted to know.

"Can
you turn the sound on?" She nodded and unplugged the headphones.

We
stayed in those positions watching people who posted their homemade videos;
music, pranks, skits, bloopers, etc. Mia laughed hysterically at some of them.
Laughed with her a couple of times felt good.

Then
she pulled up videos people had made singing or dancing to my music. She was
almost in tears over a forty something year old guy in an excessively small
Forgotten
t-shirt. This guy sang, horribly, and even I had to burst into laughter when he
smacked his own ass.

Her
smile and laugh were like nothing I'd seen or heard in so long. It was such a
different night between us. I don't remember falling asleep, but apparently, I
passed out at some point.

"Christopher,
Christopher, honey?" Opening my eyes, there she was, my mother. Her dark
hair framing her lovely round face and blue eyes mirroring my own, her face so
filled with kindness and love. Love for me.

"Mom?"
She smiled and pulled me to her. Resting my head against her chest, her hands
were running soothingly through my hair. She smelled like fresh bread and
ginger.