Chasing the Stars, page 1
Chasing the Stars
a novel
J.D. Rivera
Chasing the Stars
Copyright © 2014 by J.D. Rivera
Cover Image Copyright © Prochkailo, 2014
Used under license from Shutterstock.com
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without prior written permission.
Chasing the Stars is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, business establishments, or locales is purely coincidental. The author recognizes the copyrighted or trademarked statuses of all established companies and brands mentioned in this work.
Other Books by J.D. Rivera
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Other Books by J.D. Rivera
Trying to Get Over You
Guarded
Defensive
Always Friends
Chapter 1
Mackenzie
I rolled over as my alarm clock blared in my ear from the nightstand. I slammed my hand down on the snooze button as my entire arm radiated with pain and my body felt sore. I really didn’t want to get up and get dressed for my first day of senior year at a new school— Maverick High. I was hurting all over and I just didn’t care about school anymore. For most people, senior year was a time to look forward to—to have fun and just enjoy school. I couldn’t have cared less. All I wanted was to get it over with so I could get away from my worthless parents.
It seemed like I had just hit the snooze button when my alarm started blaring in my ears again. I hit the off button and lay under the warm covers for a little longer. I really don’t want to go to school. I finally ripped the covers off and sat up to stare into my closet, looking for what to wear. I didn’t need to get up to see into my closet since my room was so small. I stood up and pulled out a pair of ripped skinny jeans and a plain, black V-neck T-shirt then walked to the bathroom to get dressed.
After I finished pulling my naturally curly blonde hair into a ponytail, I left my room and walked the short distance to the kitchen where my mom was standing at the counter.
“How are you this morning, Mackenzie?” my mom asked as she turned around, leaning against the chipped counter.
I ran my right hand over my left bicep and winced. “I’m okay. Nothing I’m not used to.” I walked around her to grab a bagel. “I gotta go.”
“You know he didn’t mean it,” she said as I passed by her.
I wanted to ask if she meant it by not intervening, but didn’t. “Yeah, whatever.” I told her before opening the front door and leaving. I walked down the rickety wooden steps of the old porch that led to the front door of the trailer. I looked the trailer over, noticing the rust that was now the majority color. It had definitely seen better days, but it’s the only thing my parents’ had found that they could afford.
I walked down the gravel road of the trailer park, lost in my thoughts while I took in the big oak trees. They were the only piece of scenery the trailer park offered unless you counted broken down cars and old, broken appliances that riddled the different lots. It really wasn’t anything different than where we had lived before, just a different town.
I made my way to the highway that would take me to the high school, and I had to fight the urge to run the opposite way and take off from everyone and everything forever. I knew I needed to finish high school first though, which was the only reason I stuck around. I wanted to go to college and make a better life for myself than my parents had done.
My thoughts started to drift to the night before but I pushed those away. It wasn't like it was anything new that had happened. And I knew it would keep happening until I was on my own.
After thirty minutes of walking, I entered the high school and quickly found my locker. After you’ve moved as much as me, you figure out to come the day before and pick up your schedule and locker assignments. I opened my locker door at the same time I heard, “Hi, you must be new.”
I closed my locker to see a skinny girl with stick straight blonde hair wearing a Poison T-shirt standing beside me. I nodded. “Yeah. I just moved here last week. My name’s Mackenzie.”
“I’m Miranda. I have the locker next to you,” she said pointing at it. “Let me see your schedule. Maybe we have some classes together.”
“Okay,” I told her as I pulled out the small paper from my backpack and handed it to her.
She bobbed her head a small amount. “We have first, second, fifth, and seventh together. You can sit by me and I’ll point out all the bitches and introduce you to the cool people.”
I took my schedule that she handed back to me and put my backpack in my locker. “Sounds good to me,” I said as I grabbed a notebook then walked in step with her.
“The school is small. Everyone knows everyone at Maverick but it’s not bad. You have your typical bitchy girls and asshole guys. Then you have the people in between and the nerds.”
I looked her up and down and smirked. “And which category do you fall into?”
“Well, I can be a bitch when I need to be, but I’m not always one and…” She laughed and continued, “I don’t think I’m a nerd but maybe nerds really never know they’re nerds. So…”
A giggle escaped my lips. “Yeah, I’ll figure it out and let you know.”
We turned down a hallway then turned at the second door on the right. “So this is AP English. Fun, fun,” she told me as she took a seat in the back corner.
I slid in next to her as I looked around at all of the faces that would be my classmates until my dad lost his job and we moved again. I’d learned a long time ago not to get attached to anyone, and it didn’t really matter if I learned everyone’s name or not. I’d be gone before most of them learned mine anyway.
The bell rang as a group of guys talking loudly came into the room. They all sat in the back two rows on the other side of the room. Soon the classroom was full except for the seat in front of me. I pulled out my notebook and began drawing doodles all over the front page as I heard voices yelling out, “There you are” and “Hayes, where you been?”
I looked up to see a guy with unruly brown hair in baggy jeans and a black T-shirt walk by and sit down in front of me. God, he is gorgeous. And he smells so good. “You know, I’ve been around,” he said with a smirk as he looked over at the group of guys.
I quickly darted my eyes back to my doodle so he wouldn’t know that I had been checking him out. I was sure a guy like that was used to it but I didn’t want him to see me doing it. I glanced to my right to see Miranda texting on her phone—not bothered by the voices around her.
“Class, I believe that was the bell. No more talking,” boomed a voice from the front. I looked up to see an older lady wearing polyester pants and a button up blouse. She looked around the room with a snarl on her face then walked behind her desk muttering something to herself. Well, this will be a fun class.
“Umm, can I borrow a piece of paper from your notebook?” I looked up to see sexy guy in front of me looking straight at me with the greenest eyes I'd ever seen. I knew he had asked a question, but all I could think about was how perfect his face looked. How perfect his messed up hair looked. He cocked his head to the side and quirked an eyebrow. “I can ask someone else, I guess.”
“No, sorry, it’s early. Yeah, you can borrow a piece of paper,” I told him as I tore out a piece for him. I searched my head for something to say that would save me from this moment. “You can just keep it though. I don’t need it back.” Lame. I was lame.
He gave me a questioning look. “Oh, I get it. I asked to borrow it. Yeah, you’re right, it is early.” He smiled then turned around with the paper I had given him. I sank down in my seat wanting to be swallowed up for sounding so stupid. I glanced over at Miranda, who was watching me with a huge grin on her face.
After class ended, Miranda waited for me to walk with her. As soon as we were by ourselves, she spoke. “The guy in front of you was Haye
I glanced over at her. “Yeah, he is hot but I won’t be around long enough for any of that to matter.”
“Why’s that?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Because we move a lot,” I told her giving her the truth without saying anything.
We walked up to our lockers to put our new textbook inside. She looked over at me and said, “Well, I say you might as well meet some people and have some fun while you’re here.”
“Hey, you,” I heard from the other side of Miranda.
“Hey,” Miranda told the beautiful girl standing beside her. Were there any ugly girls at Maverick High? She pointed to me and said, “This is Mackenzie. She's new. Mackenzie this is my friend Baylee.”
“Hi,” I told her as we started walking toward our second period.
“Hey,” she said before asking, “Are you going to the field party tomorrow night?”
“I didn't even know about it.”
“Oh, yeah, I was going to tell you. Sorry. It's a big deal around here to kick off the new school year with a field party,” Miranda said.
“I'll think about it,” I told them as Miranda and I walked into our classroom and Baylee kept walking down the hall.
***
I was thankful that it was the first day of school, and most teachers didn’t actually teach, because during second period all I could think about was messed up, just fucked brown hair and green eyes. The funny thing was that I couldn’t stop thinking about how much I wished that I were the one that had made it look that way. How I’d like to push my fingers through that hair and then push my lips up against his. What the hell? The few times I’d had sex it hadn’t been that great. It wasn’t something that I ever really thought about. Now, one look at this guy, and I’m setting in calculus horny as hell.
“Are you okay?”
I looked over to see Miranda studying me. “Yeah, why?”
“Because you’ve been spaced out twirling your hair for thirty minutes.”
I furrowed my eyebrows. “I have? Did I miss anything important?”
“Not really,” she said laughing.
“What are you laughing at?”
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing,” she said shaking her head.
The remaining ten minutes, I tried to focus on what the balding teacher was saying while writing on the whiteboard. I tried to remind myself of what type of girl I was. You’re the poor girl from the trailer park. Remember that and you won’t get hurt.
The bell sounded and I hurried to my locker. “What do you have next?” Miranda asked from beside me when we reached our locker.
I grabbed my schedule from my backpack. “Looks like…Chemistry.”
“Good luck with that. I’m off to Yearbook,” she said before turning and walking away.
I stuffed my schedule back inside my backpack and closed my locker as I tried to clear my head.
Chapter 2
Hayes
I zipped up my pants then sat down in a chair to put my boots on, all while being extra quiet. I hadn’t meant to fall asleep in Amy’s bed last night but I was tired. After football practice and several rounds with Amy, I had passed out. I looked over at the clock and realized I had just enough time to rush home and get dressed before my first class.
I didn’t bother waking Amy up before I left because she knew the score. She meant nothing to me and I meant nothing to her. We slept together and that was it. I crept as quietly as I could out of her house then sprinted to my Jeep Wrangler before her parents saw me. Amy was known for being a little wild—which was exactly why I had went home with her last night—but I had no clue if her parents cared or knew about her reputation. I didn’t need a pissed off dad in my face at seven in the morning.
I pulled into my driveway as fast as I could then ran to the back of the house and up to the second story patio, letting myself into my room. I showered and changed as quickly as I could then left for school without seeing my parents.
***
I pulled into the school parking lot with just enough time to make it to my first class. I checked my schedule and walked to AP English— just what I needed first thing in the morning, an old cranky bitch teacher. I walked into the classroom and sat in the last available seat, which happened to be in front of a hot chick I hadn’t seen before. Fuck, yes!
I spent the rest of the period trying my hardest not to turn around and openly check the new girl out. It wasn’t in my nature to seek out girls, they usually came to me, and I checked them out then.
As soon as the bell rang, I hopped up and took one last look at the girl behind me. I’d definitely need to get to know her.
I walked into the hallway where Austin ambled up next to me. “Did you go home with Amy last night?”
“Yep.”
“All right,” he said before asking, “Is she any good?”
“Ha-ha! Wouldn’t you like to know?” I replied as I stopped at my locker, tossing my book inside.
“Fine, don’t tell me, but I’d tell you if the roles were reversed.”
I shook my head. “And that’s why everyone says you’re an ass.”
“They say the same thing about you,” he chuckled.
I shut my locker. “Yeah and I’ve been called way worse but for completely different reasons.”
“True. Very true.”
We walked into second period where I proceeded to sketch some more of the tattoo I wanted that my dad would hate. My dad was the County Judge and wanted me to act and look a certain way. I didn’t really mind because my dad was a pretty good guy. He let me do whatever I wanted as long as it didn’t affect his reputation. So, for now, all of my tats were in areas that were easily covered.
“Hayes?” I looked up to see Baylee staring at me.
I looked back at my sketch, letting her know that she irritated me. “Yeah?”
“Are you going to the party tomorrow night?”
I didn’t look up. “Yeah.”
“Is that all you can say? Yeah?”
“Yeah,” I replied. I got along with most people but Baylee got on my nerves. Her voice was grating and she was always asking questions. I knew she had a crush on me since seventh grade. That right there was desperate. Get a fucking clue and get on to the next guy. It wasn’t going to be me.
“Why are you such a jerk?”
I dropped my pencil and sighed before looking at her. “Why are you so damn annoying? I’m pretty positive you already knew I’d be at the party. I’m at every party.”
“I was just making conversation,” she said while twirling her hair.
“Don’t. Unless you have something important to ask me, don’t make conversation with me.” I knew I was being an ass but I couldn’t help it. She was fucking annoying.
Luckily, the bell rang and I was able to grab my books and leave. “Holy shit, man that was crazy. I think you made her cry,” Carson told me.
“Good. I’m tired of her. She’s always talking to me at school and at parties she always gets drunk and hangs all over me. She’s fucking irritating.”
“I get it. She’s hot though.”
“Not hot enough.” I sighed. “I’ve gotta get to Chemistry. I’ll see ya later.”
I walked into Chemistry as soon as the tardy bell rang and luckily for me, the only empty seat was next to the hot girl from first period. Hell yeah! I sauntered up to the stool and pulled it out. “Looks like we’ll be Chemistry partners this semester,” I told her as she wrote something in her notebook. She looked up startled. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s okay. I just didn’t hear you walk up,” she told me before looking at her notebook again.
Was she shy or did she just not want to talk to me? I was about to find out. “I’m Hayes by the way. We met in English class.”
She peered up at me with the prettiest icy blue eyes I’d ever seen. “I remember. I’m Mackenzie.” She smiled and for some odd reason, she made me smile too. It was the first time I could remember wanting to smile for no reason in a long time. Most of the time, I was smiling because I wanted in some girls panties. This time it was different. Mackenzie was hot but getting in her panties wasn’t the one thing I was thinking about. I found myself wanting to actually get to know her. Something is seriously wrong with me.
