Stella's POV
It seems like my legs have taken control of me because before I know it, I'm leaving Storm's house and running in the bitter wind.
I need to get out of here.
I need to go home.
I need to shut myself in my bedroom.
I need to bury myself under my duvet.
I need everybody to forget my existence.
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"Stella! Stella! What's the matter?"
Kate's voice rings in my ears but as I dart further into the house and up the stairs, her voice becomes faint. All I can hear is the pounding of my shoes against the floorboards, my heart hammering in my chest and my ragged breathing. As soon as I find myself in my bedroom, I slam the door shut, locking it before anyone can try to get in.
"Stella! Let me in! Please! I just want to help!" Kate's muffled begging seep through my door.
I try to tell her that I want to be left alone but my voice is gone. Disappeared. Just as quickly as the old Stella, who would be outside, enjoying her youth. Instead, there's a new one, crying her eyes out until they're sore, dampening her pillow in the process...
My tummy rumbles like thunder, reminding me that I haven't eaten any dinner. I stretch my arm to retrieve my school bag. Unfortunately, a pencil case and books are inedible. I guess I have to go downstairs and face the awkwardness. While I unlock my door, my mirror hung next to it shows my reflection in the corner of my eye.
My bloodshot eyes stand out horribly from my tanned skin tone, my black hair is dishevelled and my nose is as red as Rudolph's. I scowl and I watch deep lines in my forehead appear. If anybody who didn't live at my house caught sight of my appearance, they'd probably think I had poured a whole bottle of soap in my eyes, was involved in a hurricane and had a cold. My tummy groans in hunger, prompting me to go downstairs.
Quietly(to not draw attention to myself), I unlock my door and turn the handle gently. Nobody's upstairs, meaning that they're probably having dinner. Tiptoeing across the landing and down the stairs, I try to avoid the places in the floorboards which I have discovered to make creaks that can be heard from the level below.
"Jake, use your table manners!"
"Josh, you're going to make yourself sick!"
"Evie, stop annoying Jake!"
"Ellie, if I'm not talking to you, can you not get involved, please!"
Pity for Kate and Harry overwhelms me. Even though it was by choice, looking after five children, each of them having their own problems, cannot be easy. I take the last step and take a few steps away from the bottom of the stairs. All of them are seated at the table and have stopped talking as soon as I come in full view, staring at me as if I'm an alien and not a human being like the rest of them.
Harry has just taken his head out of his hands, probably frustrated due to the chaos at the dinner table and Kate has a stern expression on her face, that has just relaxed. I guess that Jake was showing the chewed up contents of his mouth because the twins are looking away in disgust up until now, Josh is taking advantage of this by helping himself to extra portions and both Evie and Ellie were both wearing scowls of annoyance, which have just now vanished.
I scrape my foot uncomfortably: I prefer total confusion than deathly silence.
"You OK?" Kate asks gently.
I shrug. Is it a yes or a no? Am I OK?
Kate takes it as a yes.
"You hungry? Harry bought some McDonald's."
"Yeah and I totally wouldn't have if I knew that Jake would show us his chewed up fries," Harry adds darkly.
Jake sticks his tongue out at him.
"Jake! Don't be so rude!" Kate tells him off,"Now, Josh, stop taking the food that I left for Stella!"
I munch my ketchup-dipped fries next to Ellie and when dinner is finished, World War Three breaks out because the twins want to watch 'Frozen' while the boys want 'The Incredibles'.
"Frozen is horrible! Let it goooo! Let it goooo!" Jake does a croaky, pitchy imitation of 'Let It Go' that I'm surprised that none of our ears are bleeding.
The rest of us cover our ears, begging Jake to stop 'singing'(more like screaming) and Harry murmurs," Great! It's already enough that I have to stop World War Three happening. Now, Jake might make us all deaf."
"How about us girls can have a girlie night and watch Frozen together on my laptop and you boys can have a boys night and watch The Incredibles together?" Kate shouts her suggestion over the racket Jake is making.
"Yay! Girlie night!" Evie exclaims, agreeing to compromise.
"Sorry but I might miss girlie night. I'm kinda tired and want to have an early night," I excuse myself.
I'm really not that tired and I just want to lock myself in my bedroom for some 'me time'.
"Awww. Please, Stella," Ellie wheedles and she uses my weakness: the sad puppy dog eyes.
"OK," I agree reluctantly.
"Yas!" Kate exclaims, dashing off to fetch her laptop," We'll meet in the twins' bedroom."
When I was first taken into Kate and Harry's care, the twins had to move to the loft because it's much more spacious than the box room, which was then given to me. They've done a remarkable job with two single beds with rainbow-coloured blankets, a plain white wardrobe with the artwork of the twins pinned onto it and a chest of drawers painted with a variety of pastel colours while the wooden walls are painted with different species of animals, from the tiniest to the most enormous.
Evie and Ellie push the two single beds together and we all take a spot as Kate joins us, not only with her laptop but a family size bag of popcorn and Oreo bites.
"Couldn't let the boys wolf them down," Kate whispers, quietly chuckling at the same time, taking the spot we saved for her in the middle.
Her fingers tap the keyboard as she types in the password and sets up the movie.
"Turn off the light, Evie," Kate tells her.
Evie jumps off the conjoined beds, tucking her feet into her panda slippers before creeping along the floorboards to the light switch.
CLICK!
We're left in total darkness.
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Orange flames lick at a sign, hissing like a snake as it spreads at the speed of light while the sky turns scarlet. Like it's angry. Angry at this town. Angry at this family. Sirens fill the air while bright flashing lights stand out in the pitch-black night; grey clouds of toxic smoke rise higher by the second, hiding the twinkling stars.
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A take a deep breath. I shiver even though my pyjamas are soaked in sweat. My judgement tells me it's the early morning. I can't go into school today.
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Author's Note
What do you think of the chapter? What do you think Stella's dream was about?
YOU ARE READING
THE PAINFUL TRUTH
General Fiction'Our greatest challenge isn't speaking up against our enemies, but defying those whose approval we seek the most'. Storm Jackson is a thirteen-year-old girl who everybody envies. She's smart, popular and pretty, with well-off parents and a big house...
