Star Power by Kelli London Read Free Book Online Page A

didn’t scream it like it should’ve. Charly figured if Nia wanted to be nerdy, she should be the best at it. And that’s just what Charly would assist her in doing. “Okay, let me know,” she said, then walked around Nia and went straight into her bedroom. Her eyes scanned the space, and somehow it appeared even cleaner than it had seconds before. “What’s all this stuff you read?” she asked, walking toward the floor-to-ceiling bookshelf. She reached out, touching the spines of all the hardcovers, looking for something recognizable when a slither of something red with white lettering caught her attention.
    â€œScience and math, mostly,” Nia was saying as she made it into the bedroom portion of the suite, then made her way over to where Charly was. She reached out, and swiped whatever the red thing was, then tucked it into her pocket.
    Charly looked over her shoulder and saw Nia’s discomfort. The girl clearly didn’t like her things touched. Charly cocked her head and lifted her brows. “Is that jazz or classical music?” she asked, trying to identify what was playing. It was hard to tell because it was so low.
    â€œNo. It’s not music. It’s vibrations. They help with comprehension and retention. I don’t listen to music.”
    Charly thought she was going to die. There couldn’t be any way possible that everyone didn’t listen to music. “Really?” she asked, walking over to the docking system where the MP3 was, and was glad they had something in common, which would help her. Charly removed Nia’s iPod, selected the orange music button on her phone, docked her cell and turned up the volume. Suddenly a Rihanna song blasted through the speakers. “Not even this?” Charly yelled, bopping her head, and walking away to touch other things in the room. Items she hoped would make Nia uncomfortable.
    â€œWhat are you doing?” Nia snapped, turning down the music.
    Charly walked to the other wall, and looked at the framed pictures that sat on top of a smaller bookcase. She nodded, noticing one of Nia and some girl she seemed to be chummy with, in what had to be their younger years. She smiled a bit, thankful that Nia had at least one friend, then picked it up and looked at Nia. “Who’s this? Your friend?”
    Nia shot Charly a nasty glare and nodded. “Kind of,” she began, then seemed to catch herself. Her mean look was quickly replaced by a bland one. “But then again, Rory is everyone’s friend. Everyone in my house, that is. She’s cool,” she answered as if talking were painful.
    Charly raised her brows, wondering if Nia was really shy and depressed like everyone thought she was or if she was just undercover with her meanness. Her attitude had just flip-flopped, which made Charly question Nia’s true character. Charly averted her eyes to the photo and studied it. So this is Rory? she thought, now able to marry a face with the girl she’d spoken to on the cell earlier. She looked over at Nia again, noticing how perplexed she looked. She was trying Nia’s patience, and she knew it. She set the frame back on top of the shelf, squatted down, then finger-walked through the books until she saw one she wanted. She selected an old yearbook, walked back over to the docked iPhone, turned up the music again, then hopped on Nia’s bed. She put up her feet, then opened the hardcover, looking for Nia’s picture. “Oh. This is you?” she asked, locating Nia quicker than she’d thought she would. She flipped the yearbook around in her hand, turning the open page to face Nia.
    Nia shook her head. “Mya, in chemistry class,” she mouthed, then removed Charly’s phone from the docking device. “Chemistry was her subject for a while thanks to our dad.”
    â€œYour dad? I don’t understand,” Charly said, looking at Nia for an explanation.
    Nia