𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐭 • 𝐄. 𝐎𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐧

29 • My Greatest Hello and Hardest Goodbye

A knock at the door caught the girl off guard as she played the entire song over, correcting all the odd imperfections. Stella hurried off to the front door, opening the fancy door to see her best friend standing there with two coffees in her hands. "Hey boo," Vicky slid her dark sunglasses to the top of her head as she stepped into the house.

"Hey Vik, what's up?" Stella asked, closing the door as the temperature outside was starting to climb past 86 Fahrenheit. The marble floors did well to keep the house cool, as well as the thermostat correcting the temperate if it differed by a lot.

"I wanted to say goodbye, my flight is this afternoon." Vicky followed Stella into the kitchen, captivated by the view of the floor-to-ceiling windows that showed the pool and coastline of the ocean. No matter who many times sees the view, its beauty always catches you off guard.

"Thanks for the coffee, boo," Stella hummed, sipping the iced Starbucks drink.

"Of course," Vicky nodded, sitting on the stools at the kitchen island. Her eyes glowed at the fresh cookies displayed on a cooking rack in front of her. "It feels so weird to be... graduated. Doesn't it?" The blonde questioned, stealing a cookie and humming at the sweet taste.

"It does, it feels more odd being in this house alone though." Stella chuckled, leaning on the light-coloured marble countertop as she halved a cookie to eat with Vicky.

"Mm, yeah. What have you done all day?" Vicky asked, nodding as she looked around the spacious room. It was lunchtime but Stella felt as if it was still only morning.

"Showered, baked... wrote a song," Stella admitted and Vicky's eyes snapped up to hers in surprise.

"You're singing again?" The blonde tried to contain a smile, it was like she was told she just won $1,000. Stella nodded, the feeling of sadness and guilt bubbling in her chest the more she thought about it. "Will you show me what you have so far?"

"Maybe later Vik, I want to show it to Lizzie first when she gets back," The brunette turned down and Vicky nodded in understanding.

"I'm just glad you are playing again, well-done bubs," The blonde reached her hand out to rest on Stella's, a genuine and caring smile on her lips. Stella nodded as she felt touched by Vicky's words, a wide smile coming to her lips as she moved around the counter to engulf the blonde in a tight hug.

"I'm going to miss you so much," Stella frowned, swaying side to side as Vicky rested her chin on the German's head. "You are the reason I'm here today, Vik. Thank you,"

"I love you, Stell. This isn't goodbye, not really." Vicky smiled softly to herself as she kissed her best friend's dark hair, pulling back from the hug. "I'm so happy for you, I've seen how happy Lizzie makes you and I have never seen anything like it. You two have something only a few people are lucky enough to find, just remember that. Without a doubt I know you will be fine without me, but I wanted to leave you with something special to me," Vicky confessed, watching nothing but love and admiration shine in Stella's brown eyes. The blonde reached into her pocket and pulled out a small silver bracelet with a beautiful star charm, making Stella gasp at the sight of it.

"It's beautiful," Stella gushed, examining the shining pendant with a wide smile on her lips. The girl felt tears prickle in her eyes as Vicky gently clasped it around her wrist. "I don't know how to thank you," The brunette whispered, her eyes gazing into Vicky's ocean blue ones.

"You don't need to, you're my everything Stell. My best friend, my soulmate." Vicky smiled through tears as she watched Stella's expression morph into confusion. "I've been needing to tell you something for 6 years, and now I'm leaving... I convinced myself to get on with it. Ever since middle school, I've had this massive crush on you and I know you are happy so I don't expect anything from it." The blonde told Stella calmly, both their hands clasped to one another.