Ball of Fire- A Dexella AU

VII

MARELLA REDEK STOOD anxiously in front of her bedroom mirror, attempting to tame her hair. It had been a terrible idea to attempt to lace the entire thing into one of those cute floppy buns, and now she had to try and untangle all the strands of hair from each other.  

She didn't know how she hadn't realized that a boy as good-looking as Tam Song was in her class, and was eagerly preparing for the car ride to The Vacker Mansion. She could even deal with Biana for a few hours if it meant that Tam got to drive her there. 

After changing into a tight, red long-sleeved cropped shirt that showed off a little bit of her stomach and high-waisted frayed denim shorts, she slipped on her favorite red ankle boots and headed out the door. 

Before leaving, she turned around to say goodbye to her mother. "Hey mom. I'm going to Biana's house. Remember her? I've told you about her before. But guess what?! A good-looking guy is going to drive me there!" 

She heard a honk from outside the door and opened the curtain a tiny bit to see a shiny black car parked outside her house. 

"And there he is! Bye Mom!" Marella called out to her mother, who had not even turned to face her daughter. Marella sighed, and opened the door, wondering why she still tried. 

"Hey Marella!" Linh called, waving out from the passenger window. "Do you want to ride shotgun, because I can change seats and move to the back if you want?!" 

"Nah I'm fine," Marella said, even though she secretly wanted to, but Linh was far too innocent and sweet for Marella to take the seat from her.  

Tam had both of his hands firmly planted on the steering wheel, his eyes staring straight ahead. Marella noticed that his knuckles were turning white from holding on so tightly. 

Linh saw her staring and laughed. "Tam's not very good at driving, so he's feeling extra-stressed, especially since we're going to Biana's house."

"Shut up," Tam muttered under his breath, as he took a sharp left turn that would have caused Marella to fall over and smack into the window if she hadn't had her seat belt on. 

"What do you mean, 'especially since we're going to Biana's house?'" Marella asked. 

"Oh you didn't know?" Linh whispered conspiratorially. "Tam's had a crush on Biana since freshman year! But she doesn't know he exists." 

Marella felt her heart sink deeper into her chest. Another boy who liked Biana. She should have known. Why did she even try anymore when every guy that she liked would like Biana over her? 

"No I don't, stop it," Tam said, though Linh's statement was already confirmed by the blush riding up his pale cheeks. 

The car ride remained silent for the most part, with occasional questions from Linh, but Marella couldn't really focus on them. All Marella could think about was the fact that Tam liked Biana just like every other guy on the planet. 

As they pulled into the ginormous drive-way that was lined with giant cherry blossom trees that draped the car with pink flowers, lined with ginormous carved hedges. As they drove up the circular road that led to their driveway, the legendary Vacker Mansion was revealed. 

With hundreds of white columns and four magnificent stories, the mansion in total including the backyard covered around 15 whole acres of land. It reminded Marella strongly of the White House. As the car drove up the circular street path towards the overly gigantic golden gates that an 18 wheeler would comfortably fit under. There were two automatic white knights that stood post at them. Linh tried to speak to one of them, but discovering they were simply machines, she sat back down in her chair, pouting.