Star-Crossed

Chapter One: 'Cause you're a sky full of stars

I WAKE UP IN A COLD SWEAT, eyes scanning the dark room wildly. I feel oddly empty. I feel that way whenever the dream is over.

I've dreamed of him-Xerxion-since I was old enough to remember dreaming. When I was younger though, I'd just dream of his smile, his eyes, his hair. Oddly enough, sometimes I'd even be able to dream of the way he smelled. When I turned twelve, I dreamed of kissing him, of him building me a castle among the stars-the Cosmos we called them.

But now when I dream of him, it's of his touch. He's inside of me or his lips are fierce on mine, his eyes holding a heat in them that sends waves of pleasure through me and all without him touching me.

I know that none of it is real. He's just a figment of my imagination. Some dream man I had made up to help me get through the difficult life I was living. I know that. But still, it makes me feel better to think that this mark ties me to him in some way.

I look down at my hand and the star shaped birthmark there, touching it gently and closing my eyes as I remember him.

Those dreams are so hard to forget. Maybe it's because I've had them night after night since I was a small child. But I think it's mainly because they feel so real. The dreams are so vivid. Everything from the colors, to the scents surrounding us, to his touch. If I close my eyes, I swear I can still feel how it felt when his calloused hands touched me. If I think of him and breathe in deeply, his scent will fill my nose: a scent like land and sea and magic.

It's a tad embarrassing how a man who doesn't exist can control every aspect of my being. I refuse to date because... I honestly don't know. It feels... wrong... being with another man. Even if Xerxion didn't fill my mind day and night, I wouldn't date anyway.

It isn't like I don't get offers. For whatever reason, people-men and women alike-seem to find me captivating. They seem to think I'm otherworldly, pun intended. Ever since I was a child, people flocked around me. All except my birth parents that is.

I've been a foster kid for as long as I can remember. None of the workers would talk much about it, but I once heard them whispering among themselves. Apparently, my parents had shown up to the police station with a baby in their arms, crying out, "Take her. She's cursed," over and over again.

Many of the kids in the foster home knew the story, so they kept their distance from me. My childhood was a lonely one. Although people flocked around me, I was unwanted in many ways. It makes me wonder if maybe my parents really were right and I really am cursed.

Through the sadness and loneliness, Xerxion was always a bright spot. When night fell over Los Angeles, I grew so happy, words couldn't even express it. I was so eager to escape to the palace in the Cosmos and away from the chic suburban home I'd grown up in.

Sighing, I throw back my covers and swing my feet around, touching them to the cool wooden floor. Tilting my head back and gazing at the ceiling for a few minutes, I sigh and stand up, the bed creaking a little as I get to my feet.

I brush my teeth and wash my face quickly, throwing on a tank top with a sports bra underneath, a pair of leggings and my running shoes.

Since I was a kid, I had this constant need to move. Like, there was all this energy inside me waiting to burst. When I turned twelve, I discovered a good way to help with that need to move was to run. I run twice a day, once early in the morning and once at night before my shower and bed.

I love running. People say New York is the city that never sleeps, but Los Angeles, the City of Angels, doesn't seem to sleep much either. Even early in the morning like this, life goes on. Admittedly, the sidewalks aren't as packed as they are later on in the day, but they are still full.