In the fall of 2006, Brandon Buddy made his first appearance as Cole Thornhart creating a Romeo and Juliet-esque story as Todd raped Cole's mother, Marty Saybrooke (Susan Haskell) in college. Early on in their relationship, the couple faces off with the mean girl, Britney Jennings (originally Katrina Bowden, then Portia Reiners) who sets out to ruin Starr after Cole rejects her in favor of Starr; Britney's torture starts with teasing Starr about her parents. Britney goes so far as to dose Cole with steroids which leads to him attacking Starr at a party. With everything in the world against them, Starr and Cole realize their love for one another on prom night in 2007. Starr does her best to comfort a grieving Cole when Marty (Christina Chambers) is "killed" in an explosion. This causes tension between Starr and Langston who believes she can understand Cole more because she has dealt with losing her parents. Starr does not like that Langston thinks she knows Cole better than she does and becomes a bit overprotective. According to Alderson's costar, Brittany Underwood (Langston), "Starr hates not being able to relate or understand the way Langston can understand Cole." Starr also feels left out when Langston and Cole must attend grief counseling sessions together. "Your best friend and your boyfriend, the two people you hang out with most in your life, all of a sudden start hanging out together and you're not allowed to be with them or talk to them about it."