They Came In Hoodies

Chapter 13: Don't Feel Beautiful

Look out for the <>!!!

Stella's POV

When I walked through the front door of my father's house that night, all I could think about was Grayson. He was so unhappy, I could see it all over this face and that woman he called mother....he wasn't happy with her. It made me wonder what happened to his actual parents. I had so many questions to ask him, but I knew he would never respond to them since he hadn't with so many other questions I had asked him.

"Hey, Stella, are you game for a bike ride tomorrow night?" dad asked as I walked up to stairs to the living area.

His question caught me off guard, but I welcomed it. He said it with such surety as if there was nothing else he rather do than that tomorrow with me. This would be the first time we hung out outside the home and wanted that, even though biking wasn't my first choice in an activity. "Yeah, that would be great," I smiled as he slipped on a coat. "Are you going out?"

"Yeah, I have a meeting with a client. But Bec and you can hold down the fort, right?"

I nodded. "Sure can," I said as I looked at Bec, who sat on the leather couch, reading something on her phone. She looked up at me and smiled as if she had something up her sleeve that she wanted to do with me. I knew by now that I wasn't an inconvenience to her and even my father. They wanted to spend time with me, they just needed to figure out how to do that first. Bec told me before that she enjoyed having me around and she proved that by talking my ear off when we were both free.

"Great, I will see you two later," he said and kissed Bec, then left without another word.

There was a minute or two of silence as we waited to hear the garage door close, then Bec smiled at me. "I was wondering if you wanted to show me the dress you got a few days ago for homecoming," Bec asked as soon as my father was nowhere to be seen.

I frowned as I thought about the dress hanging up in my closet which was where I wanted it to stay forever. That dress might as well burn in flames for all I cared. I didn't want to use it but yet it reminded me I needed to every time I opened my closet to pick an outfit out.

"You don't like it?"

"It's not like that." But it was, I hated everything about that dress.

"Why did you get it then? Homecoming should be one of the best moments in high school."

There were a lot of things about school that were better than just a silly dance were people wear expensive uncomfortable outfits. But Bec and I were very different in so many ways, this showed how different we were. If we were the same age, I probably wouldn't have ever talked to her at school. "It's just, the dress isn't me, but Alice said it was, so she got it for me. I just didn't have the heart to tell her I hated it."

"Well, I have done a few sew projects in the past. If you try it on, we can see what I can do for it."

"Really?"

"Of course. I am more than willing to do it. But you have to try it on first."

I nodded, then ran down and quickly slipped the dress on, eager to get it off as soon as possible. I walked back up the stairs and watched Bec's eyes light up as she looked at me. If I really looked that amazing in this dress, when why did I feel so uncomfortable in it?

"And are you sure you don't like this?"

I nodded confidently. I tried so hard to convince myself that this dress wasn't terrible, but any thoughts towards it were nothing but negative. I hadn't been surer about anything else in my life.

"What do you not like about it?"

I crossed my arms over my chest as if it would help her from staring at me. "My shoulders feel so exposed, for one. Can we get some kind of strap on this?" I asked, naming the first thing that came to my mind.