Page 2 of In the Stars

The look on his face tells me he knows I’m not being truthful but doesn’t call me on it. “I wrote something a few hours ago. Can I use your guitar?”

I want to say yes, that he can play it when he wants but I can’tnotsay anything about the state of him. Especially because he looks so uncomfortable lying the way he is. I can bet that fucker struck him on his left side hard enough to leave bruises there too.

I sigh and turn to him. “Did he hit you again?”

Wesley’s eyes grow haunted in the minimally illuminated room, his throat bobbing as he struggles to swallow. “Yeah. It wasn’t that bad though.”

“Wesley, I?—”

“Drop it, please,” he says in an exhausted tone. “I came over here to forget, not to talk about that motherfucker.”

I hate this. I hate it so much. I wish I were…bigger. Like two, no,threetimes Wesley’s size so I can beat his mom’s boyfriend’s, Perry’s, ass.

But since he doesn’t want to talk about it, I won’t make him. For now, at least.

I stand and wave for him to come with me.

As quietly as I can, I open my bedroom door and sneak out, heading to our basement. My mom doesn’t mind Wesley coming over, but she would be pissed that he walked here by himself at three in the morning. Not many sixteen-year-olds are out at this hour.

We don’t live in a dangerous area, the crime rate fairly low, but anything could happen. I’d rather she not stress when he’s already here safely.

Our unfinished basement is nothing fancy, but my mom let me bring a couch down here, as well as a television and my video games.

Last year, my parents got me a guitar when I was going through my garage band phase. I haven’t played it much because I’m shit at it, but Wesley is a natural. It’s like he has an ear for music and can replicate what he hears without practice.

Once we’re downstairs, I flop on the couch and point at my guitar. He grabs it and brings it over, then sits on the coffee table while he strums it. “It’s rough,” he says, playing a few more chords, “but…tell me what you think, okay?”

I nod and throw my arm over the back of the couch to appear casual. But since the moment Wesley started writing songs, I always pretended they were for me. It’s ridiculous, the hot, broody boy from school interested in someone like me. Wesley is way out of my league, but I’m not under the delusion that I have a shot with him—being friends with him is more than enough.

Him trusting me with his secrets is more than enough.

He hums for a few chords, closing his eyes as he gets into the music. Then he sings.

God, Wesley has the most rugged but clear voice I’ve heard in my life. A mix between a soul singer and rock star. It washes over me, making tears spark in my eyes, but I push them back as I listen to the words.

As best I can tell, it’s about star-crossed lovers that want to be together so badly, but they’re too different and the world too dark and bleak for them to make it work.

In our next life, we could be more…

So much more than what we are…

So for now, baby, look for me in the stars…

He repeatsthe last few lines a few more times, then does the same humming thing he did at the beginning of the song.

I’m so mesmerized by his voice and the beautiful words and melody that it takes me a minute to realize the song is over. Then I clap like a weirdo. I stop when Wesley gives me a side smirk and a tipped-up eyebrow.

He leans the guitar against the table on the floor, then comes over to the couch to sit beside me. “You liked it?”

I nod eagerly. “Yeah. A lot. What’s it called?”

“In the Stars. It came to me earlier today after…” His fingers feather over his bruised face. “Anyway, I wrote it down as soon as the melody hit me. You really like it?”

“Have I ever lied to you?”

Wesley chuckles and catches me off guard by lying his head on my thigh. He does things like that all the time but only with me. When we’re with our other friends, he never gets too close with them. It always gives me mixed signals—is he into me like I’m into him?—but I wouldn’t trade this closeness for the world. “Nah, Jax. You’re the only person in the world I trust.”

I’m always shocked when he gets this close to me. He’s not really one for affection. When my mom tries to hug him, he always shies away, like her touch burns. Does he need comfort after being beaten up by Perry?

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