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Chapter 23: What About you is Real, Anyway?

Be who you are, and say what you feel. It's not being rude, it's just being real.

~Starlight24

I could feel my heart fall to my feet.

I knew that Nat couldn't have had any evidence against me, but she was undeniably smart and she usually knew what she was doing. The fact that she could've had the guts to blurt her theory out to Dylan, who was obviously close to me, scared the hell out of me.

Dylan's eyebrows shot skyward. "What makes you say that, Natalie Spencer?" he asked coldly.

Nat chuckled dryly. "So you're getting mad at me for figuring out that precious Day June Winters is a phony? Ah, how logic works these days."

I was using all my self-restraint from not jumping at the phone and screaming into it like a lunatic. I was also kind of paralyzed with fear. Jase shot me a concerned look, but I just waved it off with a tight smile.

"Nat, shut up. I know how much you hate Day, but stop trying to get other people to hate her too. That is just low and disgusting." Dylan said with a firm tone.

I could hear Nat grunt in response. "Okay, think about it. Isn't it weird that one fine day this girl shows up with some weird deficiency, and then when she doesn't get enough attention has to go on about how she knows Starlight?"

I really hated that girl.

Dylan rolled his eyes again. "What do you mean by she doesn't get enough attention?"

Nat laughed evilly, and the sound pierced my spine. "I mean, she just lands up with her dorky glasses and braces, desperately begging for everyone to notice her. She claimed she had a freaking governess, and she was always trying to squeeze her way into the in crowds no matter how far off she was from getting in. It might be natural for her to feel this way, considering the fact that she's an only child and is probably used to being alone at home with everyone's eyes on her. High school is different."

Dylan bit his lip and avoided eye contact with me. I could feel my whole face heat up and I looked to the ground, angry tears trying to shove their way out of my eyes. No, I wasn't going to show any weakness.

"Honestly, what proof do we have? If Day really knows Starlight, we should be able to get some proof." Nat continued.

"What do you mean by proof?" asked Dylan.

Nat chuckled. "I mean, yeah. I know that Starlight followed Day, but what if that's just because she followed the first 100 people that followed her? If Day really knows Starlight, tell her to call Starlight up now in front of everyone."

My heart dropped to the ground.

No, no, no, no. No, this couldn't be happening.

Dylan smiled triumphantly. "Yeah, I'm sure we'd be able to get her to do that. I trust Day. Thanks for your concern, Nat. It's not appreciated here."

Oh gods. Oh good, good gods.

He then hung up and Jase and Dylan looked at me expectantly. I chuckled softly.

"Heh... I'll just go get my phone then!" I said, running upstairs. My heart was pounding so loudly that I was afraid that my ears could hear nothing else but the rushing blood like a crashing river with its dam just broken.

I quickly brushed my tears away that had tried to escape. No, this was awful. I couldn't believe I'd gotten myself into this mess.

Why hadn't I just said the truth earlier? Now I couldn't tell everyone I was Starlight. That would be really awkward and I wouldn't know how to address the situation.

But I had to.

I picked up my phone and changed my mom's contact to Starlight. I knew for a fact that she was at a meeting right now and wouldn't pick up even if I wanted her to. I could clearly tell everyone that Starlight was probably busy and hope the situation died down.

Dylan and Jase gave me a huge grin as I came down, with a huge, fake smile plastering my features. "Here's the phone!" I said, showing them Starlight's contact. My mom and I talked a bit on the phone, so my call logs looked like Starlight and I were best buddies.

"You're so rude," groaned Dylan, still grinning. "How come we never get to talk to her?"

Because you are right now, stupid.

I shrugged instead. I pressed the call button, and allowed it to ring a bit. I was just about to turn off the call, put on a sad face and tell everyone that Starlight was busy, when my mum decided to answer.

"Hello?" she asked. Since the two of them had never heard Starlight or my mom speak, this would only seem natural. Plus, my mom's voice wasn't the deepest.

"Hi!" I chirped, feeling the redness settle on my face.

"How come you called?" she asked, sounding amused by my excitement.

"Why, has there got to be a reason to why I'd called?" I replied smartly, praying and hoping that she wouldn't blow my cover.

"No, it's just that I'm not accustomed to have my teenage daughter call for no apparent reason." She was laughing, but I felt like doing anything but.

Oh.

No.

Dylan and Jase's jaws were hanging, and they looked so betrayed.

"Um I need to go bye!" I said, hanging up before she could say anything else.

Dylan wore an expression of disbelief. "Why did you call your mom?" he asked.

I fumbled for a reply. "Well, you see..." I began. "My phone is like super dumb and it keeps jumbling up my contacts, so I must've accidently called up my mom."

I could feel my hands become clammy as I continued spinning my lie.

Day, now would be a good time to tell them the truth.

"That's not even possible. I have an iPhone too," Jase said, motioning to my phone.

I laughed, trying to sound upbeat and not like I was practically drowning. "Yeah, but I had a dog by the countryside and y'know it dumped my phone in the lake by our house by accident."

Jase shook his head once more. "The iPhone 6S hadn't even released when you still lived in the countryside."

I shook my head emphatically, feeling my lie fizzing out like a sprite bottle that had stayed out for too long without a cap.

"Um, I used the same SIM card, so it's probably a bit waterlogged."

"Waterlogged?" Dylan echoed, looking so betrayed it hurt. "Seriously, Day? What do you think we are, idiots?"

I shut my eyes tight, trying to come up with something else.

But Dylan continued.

"Nat was right, for the first time in her life. What about you is real anyway?" Dylan asked, and the two of them walked away, not looking back.

*****

Hey Lighters!

I am so bored right now! Christmas break is here, and it's FRIGHTFULLY cold. The snowflakes keep falling down and kissing my nose, enveloping me in its icy hugs.

Santa. Rudolph. Presents. Christmas trees. Warmth. Love. Spirit.

Why does it seem like none of that is finding me this year?

Okay, I know that Christmas is a great time and it's supposed to be a time when people have fun and drink hot cocoa by the fire, but I can't seem to kindle that inside me.

Perhaps the reason is because I royally messed up. BIG TIME.

I felt the need to add that in caps lock.

The thing is, I realized something about myself that had never crossed my mind. Usually, in our own lives, try as we may we cannot seem to put ourselves second in a race despite how good a person may be. We could be the nicest people on the planet, but in our own little heads, the world revolves around us. In our own little closed up world, where nothing matters when we look at the big picture, we're our own main characters no matter what we want.

Sometimes we need others to see that. We need others to find out the extent of our capabilities, and oftentimes this leads to lying. The two words that have been echoing in my head, spinning me in turmoil have been these: attention seeker.

Try as we may, sometimes a little lie can go out of control. It's like that time when a thread comes loose from your shirt, and you tug at it anyway, hoping it'll just snap off on the way.

But it doesn't, does it?

It keeps unravelling, until there's more and more, without even much of the shirt left.

The more you lie, the less truth. There isn't enough truth to look above the sea of misbeliefs. The thing is, I had this too and the fabric of my truth is barely visible, but the string of my lie is long. However, I don't know how to turn it back inside and allow it to get sewn again.

Not that easy, is it?

Anyway, sorry for using this as some sort of human diary. I'll write something less useless and ridiculous tomorrow. Any suggestions on what to do?

Tnxoxo
Starlight24

PS I'd like to thank everyone for getting me 6M followers from 4M in the past two months. This means so much to me, I can't even express it in words.

I paused, rereading my message. As I sent it in, a million questions swarmed my head. Was it too deep? Too philosophical? What if people didn't like me using this as a way to express my feelings in public?

So what, a little voice inside me chided. This isn't for them. It's a platform for you to connect with people. Whether they like it or not shouldn't bother you.

The doorbell rung, and I sighed. It was probably either Mum or Daddy coming home early from work, no doubt going to ask me about my vague outburst.

I trudged down slowly, trying to push my wild curls down. It was one of my many bad hair days, and there wasn't much I could do except wash it but I was afraid that I'd (literally) drown in my sorrows as I turned on the shower.

Ugh, self-pity.

To my immense surprise, there were four girls at my doorstep, looking immensely pissed off.

"Hey!" I said weakly, not expecting them here.

"We need to talk." Deirdre was glowering, and it was sad that I wasn't on her side but on the receiving end of her anger.

Marie gave me a disgusted look, Hailey just looked like I'd run her over and Cady looked confused.

If I hadn't made things clear earlier, Cady had suddenly decided that she liked my group of friends and decided to stick to us. Although she could be a pain, I didn't mind because she wasn't exactly a bad person, even if she was just using us for Dylan and now, recently, Jase.

"Um," I gestured vaguely towards the couches in our living room. "Make yourselves at home, I guess? Do any of you want water or something?" I asked, unsurely.

"No, we just want to know why you're such an attention seeking liar." Marie said, motioning for me to join them.

Ouch.

I gulped, knowing this situation was pretty much unavoidable. I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing myself for the worst.

Instead, Hailey's timid voice cut through my swarming thoughts. "Day... why?"

The hurt in her tone was enough to make me feel horrible about myself for a lifetime.

Day, just tell them the truth. If they were really your friends, you should trust them enough to tell them your secret. No more hiding stuff, you've already seen what happens when you do.

My stupid inner voice was always right. I opened my mouth to respond, only to be cut off by Deeds.

"Day. I trusted you so much. I beat up Max's ass after he hurt you that day, and I was the one who bought you a whole new set of clothes after Jase accidently knocked you into a pole, although I told your parents not to tell you that it was me. Do you know how much it hurts to know that your best friend was trying so hard to desperately get everyone's attention? What, are we not good enough for you? Do you need the whole world fawning over you?" Deeds' eyes were glistening with tears, and I bit back a sob.

"Day, I never thought you'd be like this," she continued. "I always overlooked the fact that you knew Starlight because I thought you didn't like everyone knowing you as someone who knew Starlight. I thought you didn't like attention. I thought I knew you so well, but clearly I was wrong. God, I was so wrong. I can't believe I actually thought—"

"GUYS!" I cut her off before she could continue, not thinking through this situation at all. "Deeds, you're right. I never wanted anyone to know me as someone who knew Starlight. I never wanted the attention."

She raised an eyebrow at me. "What does that mean, smartass?"

I took a deep breath, not exactly knowing what to say. Before my mind could process anything, however, my mouth decided to take control of the situation.

"It means," I blurted. "I am Starlight."

A/N:

Pic of Deirdre! That girl is goals oml (Nina Dobrev)

Finally the truth's out. 

Hey guys! Sorry for making you wait so long =( I promise my next update will be sooner. 

How did you like that chapter? Do you think Nat's out to ruin her life, or is this the last time she'll do something nasty?

Will Day end up telling everyone?

Teaser: The reason this book's name is My Star's Light is Overrated will be revealed in the next chapter. In fact, that's the next chapter name :P

Song of the Day: History by One Direction

Kay thanks so much for your constant support! Best comment gets a dedication.

Oh and I'm so close to 1K votes! Eek, I can't believe it =D

Hey and just to clear things up, it's Christmas in my story rn. That doesn't mean they live in Australia. It's just Christmas because I update slowly ;P I mean just because it's summer now doesn't mean it can't be Christmas in my book.

Ugh, I'm not making much sense am I?

Oh and is anyone interested in making banners for me? It would be great!

Love you all,

~Lexi