Starr Valentine Read online

  “I seem to remember her sabotaging you at cheer tryouts, leaving you at the mall without a ride home because she wanted to hang with someone else, and soaking your bra in water and freezing it while you were at slumber parties together.” Astra ticked off her fingers one by one as she spoke.

  I frowned. “Well, yes, Brittany did those things, but she never went after someone I liked. That’s lower than low.” I sighed and looked out the window. “I thought Chad Kensington might be the one. I thought he might be my soul mate. The orthodontist of my dreams.”

  “The…what?” Astra asked with a laugh.

  “Don’t judge me. This might sound strange, but I always imagined marrying an orthodontist. They make tons of money but don’t have the same difficult hours as doctors. Also, although this might seem shallow, I want children with perfect teeth.”

  She shook her head in disbelief. It might not be relevant to someone like Astra, but it was important to me, and I’d thought Chad, with his sun-streaked hair and gorgeous body, fit the role nicely. I imagined us spending our days sitting by the pool at the country club, our adorable children frolicking in the water, and all the other mothers jealous because I still looked great in a bikini.

  I frowned as I realized I might have to amend my dream and make Chad a plastic surgeon instead. I should look into it.

  Astra laughed out loud but grew silent when she noticed my hurt expression. “I’m sorry, but Chad is not your soul mate. Give me a break. He’s a nice enough guy, but he’s also a bit of a bonehead.”

  I gasped. Astra never said anything unkind about anyone, yet in one conversation, she’d accused Brittany of being cruel, and called Chad stupid. “They happen to be my friends, Astra.”

  “And you happen to be my little sister, Starr. You deserve better.”

  Astra always leaped to my defense, making her a pretty wonderful big sister. I noticed she held a large book covered in ribbons, bows, and sequins on her lap, and decided to change the subject.

  “What is that monstrosity?”

  Astra stroked it gently. “It is not a monstrosity. It’s a scrapbook. My friend Bess made it for me so we could remember all the great times we had together.”

  “Bessie, the Cow?” I snorted. I immediately felt bad because of the distressed look on Astra’s face.

  “No, Bessie Morton, my dear and thoughtful friend.” She shook her head in disappointment. She did it a lot. I guess I deserved it sometimes.

  “Can I see it?” I asked, wanting to make up for what I’d said.

  We looked through her scrapbook the rest of the way home. I saw pictures of Astra laughing with her friends, going to concerts, playing badminton in the park, and dressing up for dances and Halloween. Not the most popular kids at school, or the prettiest, they seemed to like each other genuinely, and they had fun together.

  I wished my friends had made a scrapbook for me. Did they even care? Would they actually miss me?

  I dismissed the whole concept immediately. I was pretty and popular and had a wonderful life. Who cared if my best friend stole my boyfriend right out from under me? I had lots of other options, and I was sure I’d have even more on Vega.

  The day before we left was sad, because I knew I might not ever see any of my friends again. Mandy clung to me the whole day, so I forgave her for not taking my side in the Brittany and Chad situation. Holding a grudge against someone as pathetic as Mandy seemed pointless.

  I even found it in my heart to forgive Brittany for being such a skank. I cried when I saw her at school, and she cried too. Thankfully, I’d worn waterproof mascara; otherwise, it could have been a total disaster.

  Brittany, however, did not wear waterproof mascara. I will admit I found some joy in her looking like a raccoon for the rest of the afternoon.

  That night, after we’d had our final dinner together on Earth, our parents went to do some last-minute packing. Astra and I sat on the swing in our backyard and stared at the stars. We both leaned back on the wooden swing, using our feet to push it back and forth as we stared up into the sky. The stars shone brilliantly above us, bright diamonds twinkling in inky black velvet. I decided it might be a good inspiration for my coronation dress.

  “What do you think it’ll be like up there?” I asked Astra.

  She turned to look at me, her head still resting on the back of the swing. “If you’d read the information, Starr, you would know.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Just tell me.”

  She folded her hands on her lap. “Well, it sounds wonderful. The weather is warm and mild. It never snows.”

  “Warm is nice. I’ll miss ice skating and snowball fights and white Christmases, but I like wearing shorts and sundresses.”

  She bit her lip, trying not to laugh. “There are beautiful flowers and lots of exotic animals. Some look a bit like little monkeys, and they roam free throughout the capital city.”

  “Monkeys are good,” I said with a yawn. “What about the people?”

  Astra paused. “The men are said to be noble and brave, and the women are supposed to be the most beautiful creatures in the whole galaxy.” She gave me a funny look, but I had grown used to it at this point. I tried not to read into Astra’s reactions too carefully. They often made no sense at all.

  “The most beautiful creatures in the whole galaxy?”

  I frowned and sat up taller on the swing. It sounded like a lot of competition. Fortunately, I was confident about my charms and reasonably sure I could hold my own against a bunch of Vegonians. I leaned back on the swing again and smiled at the stars twinkling in the sky above me.

  “Bring it on.”

  Three

  “I like this place and could willingly waste my time in it.” William Shakespeare’s As You Like It

  The Vegonian transport ship was not the Starship Enterprise. Not even close. It looked more like the crappiest deck of the kind of cruise ship where the guests wound up getting food poisoning.

  I stayed with Astra and my parents in the Royal Suite, a complete misnomer. It consisted of two bedrooms and a small sitting room. Comfortable enough, but it didn’t feel royal to me. Also, there wasn’t much to do for entertainment. I quickly grew bored with doing my nails and looking over the books Astra had brought about Vega. Instead, I filled my days roaming the hallways of the ship. Every metal-studded, horrendously painted inch of it.

  The first law I planned to enact as the new princess of Vega would be better color choices on transport ships. Greenish-gray did not work for me. I’d spent the entire trip looking anemic and ill due to lousy paint and even worse lighting.

  My parents attended daily meetings about the future of Vega as they reconnected with old friends. Astra, of course, made about a hundred new friends before the ship even took off. I had yet to find another Brittany or Mandy, so I spent most of my time on my own. I had to admit it got pretty lonely after a day or two. Since the trip would take a little over two weeks, and since my birthday would hit before we landed, I decided I needed to find friends fast. I couldn’t bear the thought of being alone and friendless on my sixteenth birthday. The ship held almost five hundred people. Surely, I could find one friend, or maybe two, if I got lucky.

  At first, I tried hanging out with Astra and her friends, but they were not my social equals. Whenever I said something or asked a question, they looked at me strangely, like I spoke gibberish.

  “I’ll come back to Earth for Christmas shopping this year. I have no idea where I’d shop on Vega.” I secretly wanted to revisit Saks to buy presents for myself but saw no need to go into detail.

  We sat in the ship’s library, full of nothing but dusty old books about Vega. Astra and her pals loved to hang out here. Astra sat next to her friend Cassandra, who gave me an odd look. Sadly, I'd grown accustomed to it because everyone here gave me those looks.

  “You won’t be going back to Earth for Christmas,” Cassandra said.

  “Not Christmas, silly, just Christmas shopping. How do they celebrate Christ
mas on Vega? Do they have Black Friday?” Black Friday may have been my favorite thing about the whole holiday season. It always put me in such a great mood.

  Astra smiled at me kindly. She didn’t give me strange looks like her friends, and I loved her for it. “They celebrate different holidays on Vega, Starr. They don’t have Christmas.”

  I felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over my head. “No Christmas?”

  Cassandra shook her head. “And no Thanksgiving, either.” She seemed to find my shock humorous.

  “How can they not have Thanksgiving?”

  “Well, there were no pilgrims on Vega,” Cassandra said with something on her broad face that looked suspiciously like a smirk. “No Plymouth Rock. No pumpkins. And no turkey.”

  “No turkey?” My chest tightened up as panic set in. “What about Black Friday? Please tell me they have Black Friday.”

  Cassandra answered, not looking the least bit sad for me. “No Black Friday.”

  I made a little noise, and it sounded like a sob. I was so upset. “Well, it’s settled. I’m going home to shop.”

  “No, you aren’t,” Cassandra said.

  I gave her a look designed to freeze lesser mortals. She didn’t even seem affected. “Excuse me. I’m a royal princess of Vega. If I say I want to shop on Earth, I’ll shop on Earth,” I stared down my straight little nose at her. Cassandra’s nose was lumpy. Seeing it made me feel slightly better, but my pleasure was short-lived.

  “Starr, Cassandra is right,” Astra said softly. “This is the only transport ship. It will travel to Earth once more to pick up the last of the refugees and will never return to Earth again.”

  My mouth dropped open. I’d known Vega would be our new home, but I thought I’d be able to go back and forth. I slumped into my chair. “So this is forever? A life sentence?” My lip trembled, but I refused to cry in front of the mean, lumpy-nosed Cassandra.

  Astra squeezed my hand. “Don’t worry. There will be lots of fun things to do on Vega too. There’s a wonderful yearly Moon Festival. People get dressed in their fanciest clothes and spend the night dancing under the full moons of Vega.”

  “Moons?” I asked, perking up. Astra knew me well. I liked the idea of dressing up and dancing all night.

  “Vega has three of them. Two are a soft, yellow color and the other is the palest shade of blue.”

  “How nice. Not as fun as Black Friday, but not horrible, I guess.”

  “And I’ve heard the food on Vega is even better than on Earth,” Cassandra said. I could tell she wanted to be kind, so I didn’t comment that judging by her weight, she seemed to enjoy the food on Earth well enough. I acknowledged her comment sweetly, as any princess should.

  Later, while meandering aimlessly down one of the many long, ugly passageways in the ship, I noticed a cute girl with long blond hair walking toward me and recognized the bewildered look in her big, brown eyes and the bored expression on her face. I'd experienced the same combination of boredom and bewilderment since the moment we'd stepped on this ship. I decided I'd found my friend.

  I rushed up to her. “Hi! I’m Starr. I love your purse.”

  She blinked at me in surprise. “I’m Maya Charles. You’re the princess, aren’t you? I saw you in Teen Glamour magazine.”

  “Yes, that’s me,” I said, pretending to be modest.

  “You are so beautiful,” Maya said.

  “So are you,” I gushed.

  I was actually a bit prettier than Maya, which made her an even better candidate as my potential future friend. I never chose a girl for friendship purposes who might be considered better looking than me. It would only lead to problems later.

  We walked along the corridor together. “You know,” Maya said, “I’ve heard Vegonian women are supposed to be legendary beauties, but so far you are the only cute girl I’ve seen.”

  “You’re right. Maybe the pretty ones all stayed on Vega after the war. So far, the girls I’ve met here are not…” I tried to find the right word, but Maya filled it in for me.

  “A-listers?” she asked, and we both giggled.

  I linked arms with her, knowing I’d found my friend. We had so much in common. Only a few months younger than me, Maya had been a cheerleader on Earth too.

  “If only we’d stayed another year,” she wailed. “I would have been on homecoming court. I’m so glad you got chosen, Starr, even though you couldn’t go to the dance. And I’m sure you would have been queen.”

  Her words sealed the deal. Maya was my ideal best friend. I understood her on so many levels. I took her back to our room and showed her some of the new things I’d bought at Saks before we left. She’d grown up in Indiana, so she understood why shopping in New York was such a big deal.

  “My parents let me go on a shopping spree before we left too, although we didn’t go to New York. You are so lucky.”

  I agreed with her. “It was even better than I imagined.”

  “I guess they wanted me to have one last beautiful retail experience,” Maya said sadly, “since there are no malls on Vega.”

  I sank onto my bed. “No malls?” My voice sounded like a strange little squeak.

  Maya shook her head. “No malls, no designer clothing, no handbags, no high heels, and no Teen Glamour magazine.”

  I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. “What do people do for fun?”

  Maya considered it. “I heard crafts are big, and also folk music.”

  “Oh, joy,” I said, and she laughed.

  It was good to have a friend. No one on this entire ship seemed to like me at all, except for Maya. We soon became inseparable.

  We tried to hang out with Astra and her friends, but it didn’t work out. The girls Astra had made friends with were all obviously jealous of Maya and me. The boys were extremely hot, but none of them so much as looked in our direction. We decided they must all be gay. There was no other logical explanation.

  As we walked to the cafeteria one day, a boy stopped to open the door for us. “Ladies,” he said, gallantly, and we gawked at him. He was luscious. Tall with golden blond hair and eyes the same color blue as a box from Tiffany’s. He managed to be muscular without being gross, and he had the straightest, whitest teeth I’d ever seen. I was a sucker for good teeth. And good muscles.

  I gave him my best smile, the one showing the dimple in my left cheek to its full effect. “Hi, I’m Starr,” I said, extending my hand. He took it and held it for a long moment as he stared deeply into my eyes. I couldn’t help it. I let out a giggle. It felt refreshing for someone to notice me. My life had been sadly lacking in any proper male attention lately.

  “And this is my friend, Maya,” I said, letting go of his hand reluctantly.

  He bowed to Maya and shook her hand too, although he let go of it a lot quicker than he had mine, which made me happy. “I’m Adrian, and I must say, the two of you are a sight for sore eyes.”

  Maya and I both sighed. I tried to blush because I thought it would be cute, but I’ve never been a good blusher. Astra blushed without any effort at all. The color rushed into her face, making it all rosy. It was definitely a skill I lacked and couldn’t master no matter how hard I tried. Instead, I used my other charms.

  “Would you like to join us for lunch, Adrian?”

  I batted my eyelashes at him. I looked particularly fetching today in my brand-new Gucci miniskirt. It showed off my legs, which were my fourth-best feature.

  When Adrian’s gaze caught mine, and he gave me a shy sort of smile, I knew he thought I looked fetching too. “It would be my pleasure,” he said and escorted us into the cafeteria.

  Afterwards, my life on the Vegonian transport ship became somewhat more bearable. I had my new best friend, Maya, a much better person than Brittany or Mandy had ever been. I had my new potential boyfriend, Adrian, a guy ten times hotter than Chad Kensington, and with better taste in women. Adrian had played football too. He was a junior, and several colleges had already recruited him for
their teams, which said a lot.

  “Do you know there aren’t any football teams on Vega?” he asked one day as we hung out in Maya’s room. “They don’t believe in playing contact sports.”

  “Tragic. What will you do?”

  He gave me a smile that made my knees quiver. “I’ll start a football program on my own. Surely a lot of the refugees played on Earth.”

  “Brilliant,” I said, the thoughts tumbling around in my head. “They don’t have a lot of the things we liked on Earth, do they?”

  “Like malls,” Maya said sadly.

  “And Christmas,” I said.

  “What?” asked Maya, sitting up suddenly. She’d been reclining next to me on her bed while Adrian sat on a chair in the corner. “Wait. What about Black Friday?”

  Our minds were so alike. I shook my head, and she let out a sad little squeak. I patted her gently on her back. I shared her pain.

  “We can make Vega better by making it more like Earth. People will be so happy.” I smiled, imagining myself as a sort of cultural Mother Teresa to the Vegonian people. They were going to adore me.

  “You’ll be the best princess ever, Starr,” said Adrian, and we shared one of those looks that made my heart flip over in my chest.

  “Well, I’m certainly going to try.”

  By the time my birthday arrived, the refugees had gotten antsy, and tired of being on the transport ship. We had a massive party in the cafeteria, and all the passengers and crew enjoyed it. I got piles of gifts from people I didn’t even know, but the most beautiful gift came from Adrian. He pulled me aside after the party and gave me a small gold box.

  “I obviously couldn’t go shopping here, but I wanted to give you this. It belonged to my mother.”

  I gasped when I opened it and saw the necklace inside, a delicate silver chain with a small circular pendant hanging on it. The pendant had an exquisitely detailed flower on one side, and some symbols I didn’t recognize engraved on the other.