The Stars Will Shine Read Free Page A

whip around to face him, but he doesn’t meet my eyes.
    “Shut. Up,” I hiss through gritted teeth.
    My dad laughs darkly. “So, I’m supposed to believe that you four boys just picked her up and brought her home out of the goodness of your young male hearts?” He’s two steps away from the car now. “I’m not buying it.” His eyes burn with a wild fury. “If you touched her—”
    “Dad! Jesus, c’mon! They didn’t do anything to me!”
    “Why’d you really pick her up, son?”
    I huff, throwing my arms down. “Freakin’ A, Dad, I practically ran in front of their car and—”
    “She flashed us her tits,” Simon deadpans. “I thought it was a fair trade.”
    My jaw drops. The other boys gape at him. Flint leans away, like he doesn’t want to be associated with the guy, and I don’t blame him. My dad’s face is on fire. Simon drills his gaze into my dad’s, and my dad’s arms grow so tense they begin to shake.
    Thanks. A lot. Simon.
    “Shit.” I rip out my hair tie and run my fingers through my hair so hard I tear some of it out. “Dad, he’s not serious.” I turn to Simon again. “Maybe you could’ve been a little heavier on the sarcasm at least?” I smack him upside the head. “Nice meeting you guys. Look for my obituary in the paper tomorrow.”
    “See you, Delilah,” the other three boys mumble. Simon is still watching my dad, but then he drags his eyes away and focuses on me. His expression is still tight but noticeably softens.
    “I’ll be waiting for that smile,” he says as he shifts the car into drive. I take a couple steps backward to get out of his way, and he takes off, zooming down the street. Matt slides back over to where I’d been sitting, and he turns to give me one last tiny, apologetic wave.
    It’s unlikely I’ll ever see them again, so I’m not sure how Simon expects to get his “payment,” but for the time being, I’ve got bigger problems on my hands. Namely, my dad.
    “What did that boy mean, ‘She flashed us her tits’?” my dad says, gripping my shoulders and burning a hole through my forehead with only his vision.
    “He was just being a smartass, Dad. He didn’t like that you were accusing him of something he didn’t do. I didn’t like it either,” I add.
    “It wasn’t funny,” he growls.
    “Well, he’s an immature twenty-year-old,” I try to explain. “What do you expect?” This bit of wisdom coming from an immature seventeen-year-old.
    “I thought you were supposed to be with Lyle…at his family’s cabin.”
    “I decided not to be with him anymore. Or rather, he decided not to be with me.” I wave my hand dismissively. “But I decided to find my own way home.”
    “Dammit, I’m going to kill that boy.” Dad’s grip on my shoulders tightens, and I grimace.
    “Don’t.” I push one of his hands off. “It wasn’t his fault. I would’ve screamed bloody murder had he tried to get me back into that car.”
    “Delilah,” he starts, but his voice cracks. It’s then that I can’t look him in the eye, when that kind of emotion swells up in him. “What’s happened to you? How do I…” He shakes his head, defeated. “How do I help you? Over the past few years, you’ve just gotten…I can’t…”
    I press my lips together, the sting of tears in my eyes, but I look away. “That’s right, you can’t,” I say. I’m broken. I’m fucking broken, and I can’t be fixed.
    I just want to scream at him, but I hold back.
    Can’t you see that, Dad? It’s too late for you to be a good father. You can’t make up for it. You can’t protect me now.
    I smear a fallen tear on my cheek and turn further away so he can’t see my face.
    If you’d been there for me before, maybe I wouldn’t be this way. You could’ve told me that thirteen was too young to understand what being in love is like. You could’ve stopped him before he ever hurt me. And then you could’ve told me that I deserve more—that using guys and letting guys