Star Crossed Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  What’s your sign? Check out ours.

  Chapter 1

  MOON CYCLES

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  CARDINAL, FIXED, MUTABLE: WHICH ARE YOU?

  EPHEMERIS

  BEACH TOWN

  Chapter 4

  SQUARED PLANETS: A HARD ENERGY

  Chapter 5

  CRUSHES: HOW TO SNAG AN ARIES

  Chapter 6

  CRUSHES: HOW TO TEMPT A TAURUS

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  WHERE’S YOUR MERCURY?

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  CRUSHES: HOW TO GET A GEMINI

  Chapter 12

  CRUSHES: HOW TO CAPTIVATE A CANCER

  Chapter 13

  WHAT KIND OF FRIEND ARE YOU?

  Chapter 14

  CRUSHES: HOW TO LAND A LEO

  Chapter 15

  CRUSHES: HOW TO IMPRESS A VIRGO

  Chapter 16

  CRUSHES: HOW TO LURE A LIBRA

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  CRUSHES: HOW TO INTRIGUE A SCORPIO

  Chapter 19

  CRUSHES: HOW TO TAME A SADGE

  Chapter 20

  CRUSHES: HOW TO ENTICE A CAPRICORN

  Chapter 21

  CRUSHES: HOW TO ATTRACT AN AQUARIUS

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  CRUSHES: HOW TO FASCINATE A PISCES

  Chapter 25

  WHAT’S YOUR SUN SIGN?

  Copyright Page

  To Karene Conlin & Roxene Lee,

  sisters of my heart

  What’s your sign? Check out ours.

  Jeremy. Hot Taurus and the only guy for me. He’s out of the country, though, and I can’t seem to get in touch with him. I have to keep reminding myself that Taurus is one of the most loyal signs in the zodiac.

  Henry Jaffa. Famous writer and Aquarius. Which means he lives in his head (same as I do) and is out to save the world (just like me). This offbeat mentor of mine has tried to land me an internship with CRUSH, a new teen mag based in San Francisco. The rest is up to the editor—and the stars.

  Stacy. CRUSH editor and Jaffa-ite. She thinks astrology is stupid. With her fondness for the spotlight, she could be a Leo. But she has offered me the challenge of a lifetime. If I succeed, I’ll have the job of my dreams. If I fail . . . I can’t even think about that.

  Sol. Sensitive Cancer editor of our school newspaper. I know he’s into me, but my heart belongs to Jeremy.

  Kat. Act-first-ask-questions-later Aries cheerleader. She hates me even more now that she knows CRUSH will be coming to our school for a beach photo shoot. This hothead is determined to be in it, whatever the cost.

  Dina. Kat’s Virgo sidekick. True to her sign, she is a perfectionist. And critical beyond belief. Now that her best friend is determined to star in the photo shoot, the scheming gossip is out to cause trouble for my friends and me.

  Paige. My loyal Pisces friend, she has taken up the rear for too long. Dream is Pisces’ middle name, and this one dreams of being a fashion designer. The CRUSH launch party on Halloween finally may be her time to stop dreaming and take action.

  Graciela Perez. Known as the Platinum Dragon. This glam Libra fashion designer shares her sign’s love of beauty. Will our killer costumes that Paige designed for the party win her admiration?

  Alex Keen. Young celebrity chef, and the latest obsession of my Gemini BFF Chili. But he’s a Sagittarius, known for traveling from place to place and person to person. Chili’s decided he’s going to be her date for the costume party, and when that Gemini wants something, look out.

  Arianna Woods. Pop star and Gemini train wreck. Her chart shows nothing but trouble for the night of the launch party. But she is the magazine cover model, and she is going to be there, baggage and all.

  Cory Scott. Arianna’s one-time boyfriend and bandmate. A Scorpio with deep feelings (and hot looks), he’s actually nice to me. An interview with him in the school newspaper might show my classmates that I’m not what Dina is claiming I am.

  Josh Mellick. Also a former bandmate, and the guy Arianna loves. What caused their breakup? How does he really feel about her? If he’s true to his hardworking Capricorn sign, his career is going to come first.

  And me, Logan McRae, amateur astrologer and textbook Aquarius. Everywhere I turn, I run into Geminis. Chili. Arianna Woods. And the last week of October, a Leo Moon squaring Scorpio in Mercury, another Fixed sign. A time of lies, secrets, and disaster. Halloween. It is going to be a Gemini night.

  1

  THE TAURUS-AQUARIUS RELATIONSHIP IS FULL OF

  BUMPS AND BRUISES. NOT THAT EITHER OF YOU MOVES

  ALL THAT FAST. TAURUS IS EARTH, AND AQUARIUS IS AIR.

  BECAUSE YOU ARE BOTH FIXED SIGNS, YOU ARE EACH

  CONVINCED YOU ARE RIGHT, WITH A CAPITAL R. WHEN

  TAURUS PUSHES, AQUARIUS STEPS BACK. IF YOU WANT

  THIS RELATIONSHIP TO WORK, THE BULL MUST STEP

  SOFTLY, AND THE WATER BEARER MUST REACH OUT.

  —Fearless Astrology

  Terra Bella Beach had never seemed so lonely.

  If I, Logan McRae, had paid more attention to Fearless Astrology, maybe I wouldn’t be so miserable right now. Maybe I wouldn’t have fallen for a Taurus. Jeremy had pushed. I had stepped back. And then I had stepped forward in a big way, a way that would and did change his life. Even though I was back home, and he was in Ireland, in my mind, I could still see the plane that carried him disappearing like a silver streak into the sky.

  That was almost three months ago. In spite of his e-mails from Ireland, I wasn’t sure when or if this boy I couldn’t stop thinking about would return. “I still love you,” he told me each time we spoke. “Everything is the same.” Only nothing was.

  To make my life even more unsettled, my mother had arrived home from her golf tour the day I returned from my summer workshop. Then she and Dad had sat me down at the kitchen counter, no less, for the we-love-you-very-much talk. Translation: divorce.

  Mom had assured me that she’d do her best to spend time at home when her schedule permitted. Dad had said that Gram Janie would move in after Christmas. Everything would be the same, they told me. Except nothing would be.

  I had been sitting there, on a stool at the kitchen counter, staring at them and trying not to cry, when the phone rang.

  “Logan? Hello. It’s Henry Jaffa.”

  As if I hadn’t recognized the voice.

  “Hi,” I squawked.

  “Logan,” he said. “I have what could be an amazing opportunity for you.”

  Monday morning in Terra Bella Beach. I had put on my black T-shirt with Writers Camp stenciled across it in purple. It would be nice to have a chest to go with it. Then I pulled on my yellow hoodie from the summer, remembering how I’d felt when Jeremy had held me.

  I rode to school with my two best friends in Chili’s Spyder. She and I sat in front. Paige leaned over from the backseat to catch our conversation above the music.

  When I told them about the phone call from Jaffa and the possibility of working as an intern for CRUSH magazine, they both screamed.

  “I knew it,” Paige said.

  Chili gave me a one-armed hug. “Oh Logan. You may have lost Jeremy, but you have a famous writer as a mentor.”

  “Thanks.” My eyes stung.

  “She hasn’t lost Jeremy,” Paige said in a soft Pisces voice. “Not necessarily.”

  “Right.” Chili, like many born in her Gemini Sun sign, lied about as well as a five-year-old. “I just meant that having a famous author for a mentor is the best
.”

  The music on the radio drilled into my head.

  “Can we ditch Arianna Woods?” I asked.

  “This song’s better than her last.” Chili pulled into the Terra High parking lot and shut off the music. Then she drew back, and the look of concern on her face reminded me of Stella, her very hands-on Armenian mom.

  “You’re not moving to New York or anything, are you?”

  “The magazine is published in San Francisco,” I said. “I can commute.”

  They screamed again. Then, we got out of the car. For a moment, we just looked at each other. Chili in her cropped white sweater over a black tank and jeans, the sunlight glinting off her streaked hair. Paige in a shirt she’d designed herself, pale blue, to match her eyes, but something was different. Makeup. Was Paige really wearing makeup?

  As we walked to class, Chili asked, “If CRUSH is in San Francisco, how will you be able to intern there? That’s ninety minutes each way.”

  “I’m hoping the school, namely Ms. Snider, will go along with the plan. It’s only one day a week.”

  Our hardworking Capricorn journalism teacher had cut me some slack last year when I was a sophomore, and I needed her support again.

  We walked out of the parking lot, and as Chili and Paige headed for their first period classes, I started toward the journalism room.

  Just then I noticed crazy Kat, the Aries cheerleader as she came around a corner. Her short, black hair was pushed back behind her ears. When she noticed me, she grinned.

  “Hey, Logan. Did you hear about Nathan and Geneva?”

  “No.” I kept walking.

  She ran up along side me. “They’re going to Maui in November.”

  “Good for them.” I didn’t turn to look at her, just kept on heading toward the journalism class.

  “They’ll be traveling with Nathan’s family. His parents love Geneva.”

  Finally, I met her eyes. “And you’re telling me this, because?”

  She gave me a superior smirk. “Because I thought you’d want to know.”

  “What they do doesn’t concern me, Kat,” I said. “They’re in college. I’m here. Besides, I have a new boyfriend.”

  “Oh, really? Who?”

  “His name is Jeremy.” Best not to mention that he was in Ireland, and that I had no idea when I would see him again.

  “Oh.” I could tell that I’d taken her by surprise and that she was trying to come up with a fiery Aries insult. “How’d you manage that? Did you use astrology on him?”

  As if it were a magic trick that would snag me any guy I wanted.

  “In a way.” That should give her something to gossip about. I didn’t care.

  Ms. Snider stepped out of the classroom. Ever the perfect Capricorn in her crisp little brown tunic and cream-colored turtleneck, she looked hot. The rumor was that she was dating my English teacher, Mr. Franklin, but they hadn’t gone public with it.

  “Good morning,” she said.

  “Hi, Ms. Snider. Um, could I talk to you for a minute?”

  “About Henry Jaffa?” Her expression got a little less friendly. “You know I’m proud of you, Logan, but you shouldn’t have asked Jaffa to pressure me.”

  “What are you talking about? I didn’t ask him to do anything.”

  “Really? Then why did he contact me last night?”

  “I swear I don’t know.”

  “Well, he called the superintendent.” Color rose along her cheeks. “As you can imagine, I don’t appreciate such manipulation from anyone, not even a well-known writer.”

  “Henry Jaffa is not a manipulator,” I said before I remembered that I was talking back to a teacher. “He’s very straightforward, and he’s not the type to pull strings.”

  “Well, he’s certainly pulling them, or trying to.”

  Kat stared openly, no doubt taking mental notes for Geneva.

  “Could we go inside?” I asked Snider. “I’d like to talk to you without an audience.”

  “Don’t flatter yourself.” Kat said under her breath, but she didn’t move.

  Snider seemed to take it in. “All right. Shall we walk down the hall?”

  Good idea. Students would be filling the journalism room any minute.

  “I didn’t know that Mr. Jaffa contacted you,” I told her. “All I said to him is that I would need the approval of the school. Maybe that’s why he phoned the superintendent, and since you’re my journalism teacher ...”

  “Whatever the reason, I got called, at home, on a Sunday and hit with considerable pressure from a famous writer.”

  “I am sorry if I caused any of that,” I said. “I was just so excited about the internship. If you can help me get it, I’ll make up the time.”

  “Are you still involved with that astrology stuff?”

  Yes, Capricorn, and don’t be so true-to-your-sign frosty about it. “I am,” I said. “It’s what I used last spring when everything here was in such an uproar.” Not to mention your reputation. I didn’t say it, but I could tell by her expression that she understood.

  “What happened last spring was all about your courage and your intelligence,” she said. “And, yes, I know how much you want to believe otherwise.”

  “But what does that have to do with my internship?” I asked.

  “Only this.” She lowered her voice. “Henry Jaffa.”

  “What about him?”

  “His beliefs, the subjects he writes about. All of that paranormal stuff.” She paused in the hall. “You’re a good kid, Logan. I want you to learn to rely on yourself and not on magic.”

  “Astrology isn’t magic,” I said. “And CRUSH is a teen magazine. I know the superintendent will go along with the internship if you approve.”

  “Okay,” she said. “I will do that on two conditions.”

  “Anything,” I managed to say.

  “First, you can go to the magazine only one day a week.”

  “No problem. That’s the way the internship is set up.”

  “Second, you have to promise me that you’ll stay away from astrology.”

  “Totally away?”

  “Away,” she said. “Promise me that you will not use it to run your life.”

  That was easy. Astrology didn’t run my life. It enhanced and expanded my life.

  “It’s a deal,” I told her.

  NOTES TO SELF

  It’s happened. It’s going to take a lot of extra work, and I’ll have a lot of make-up assignments, but I now have approval to intern at the magazine every Friday, starting four days from tonight. The moon will be in Gemini, meaning that my Air sign communication skills should be at their best. So, yes, I am thinking about astrology again right now, but not in a magical way. In a hopeful way.

  MOON CYCLES

  Every thirty days, the moon changes from new to full, from the invisible black moon, to the round, yellow moon. As it travels, it changes signs every two-and-a-half days. The moon’s changes will affect you, based on your sign, your element, and other factors you will soon understand.

  Aries Moon Look for action and impulsiveness. Know that tempers can flare, yours included.

  Taurus Moon You may feel more laid-back. And even the meekest signs may be more stubborn.

  Gemini Moon You may find yourself running off at the mouth about a variety of subjects. Be careful about taking on too many projects or assignments.

  Cancer Moon This is the time to adopt a puppy or take a cooking class. Your actions will be best served if they revolve around your home.

  Leo Moon An absolutely social moon. This is a great time for even the most timid signs to go out and make new friends.

  Virgo Moon With this moon, you can get organized and go shopping for bargains. It’s also an excellent time to balance your checkbook and make a budget.

  Libra Moon This is the romantic moon, the moon of beauty. Fall in love, get in touch with an old love, or indulge your self-love at a spa.

  Scorpio Moon Great passion. Push yourself to
do something. Finish that assignment. Write that report.

  Sagittarius Moon This is the adventure moon. Go on a road trip with no map. Have fun. Don’t commit to anything but your sense of play and your wonderful optimism.

  Capricorn Moon When you need to sit down for some clear-headed thinking, this is the moon that can influence such efforts. Because of Capricorn’s inherent elegance, it’s also an ideal time to shop for a sophisticated look.

  Aquarius Moon This is the time to look at the pros and cons of working out a problem. It’s also a friendship moon. Consider volunteering or joining a club.

  Pisces Moon This is the time to trust your instincts. Intuitive Pisces is also a creative moon. Write that poem. Pick up that paintbrush. Dream that dream.