Hard To Love (a Josh Hutcherson Fan Fiction)

Chapter 10

Stella's POV

6 am. I wake up at 6 freaking A.M. Of course I, having the luck that I do, would wake up in a new house, with new people, and unfamiliar surroundings and not be able to go back to sleep. I look over at Josh. He is too peaceful to wake. I get up and decide to walk around the house to find the bathroom. 

"wow, you rise early, huh?" I hear Josh's mom, Michelle come around the corner, fully dressed and ready to leave. 

"Yeah, couldn't fall back asleep, but I was trying to find the bathroom actually." I say shyly. 

"Oh, its around the corner to the left, I was just about to head out to get some Christmas shopping done, I like to go early to avoid crowds, ya know?" she smiles at me. 

"Um, yeah.." I reply, awkwardly fiddling with my cast. 

"So what happened to your arm, sweetie?" she says.

"I tripped and fell," I lie, over the years, lies have become my second language. "New York streets aren't always reliable." i laugh.

"You got that right! Any big city is like that." I nod in agreement, "So did you and Josh have anything planned for today?"

I shake my head, "not that I know of."

"Well good! you can come with me to go shopping! I could use a girl's second opinion! Boys aren't always reliable when buying gifts." she says.

"Um, yeah that sounds nice," I smile at her.

"Great! I have always wanted to have a daughter, now I can at least pretend you are one!" she jokes.. My expression goes blank. Daughter. A word never used to describe me. I can feel my palms get sweaty and my head feeling light headed. Anxiety attack. No, Stella. You have done so good, deep breath. In. Out. OK, you got this, get it together. I don't know why little things like that trigger them, but they do. And I hate it. 

"Well, you go ahead and get ready.. We should head out in about 30 minutes." she says, I nod my head and rush to the bathroom. I wash my face and tie my hair into a messy ponytail. I figure makeup isn't necesary. I look the same without it anyways. I put on a black longsleeve v neck and jeans, and then slip my shoes on and we leave. 

"So how do you like living in New York?" she asks as she drives the BMW suv. 

"Um, I like it a lot. The area that is... Big cities have art, and character, and I like that." I say. 

"Yeah, I know what you mean! I pretty much just stay here in Union.. Not much of a big city, but We are going to stay here at least until Connor finishes school." she says. She seems like a very genuine person, and she is very easy to talk to. I could see us getting along really well. "How long have you lived in New york?"

"Almost 3 years now. When does Connor finish school?" I ask. 

"Well, he is a genius, so he might finish early, but as of now, he is only 16 so we have a little while left." I nod my head, and we ride the rest of the way in silence. 

We arrive at the mall and she picks out a few things for Josh, some that I help with, and then a few things for Connor and Chris. Once we are done, it is only about 11 in the morning, so we deicde to go grab lunch at a local cafe. 

"So how did you meet my son?" She asks, raising an eyebrow at me and smiling. 

"Well, I was here in Kentucky, but in Lexington, visiting a, um, well I guess you could say childhood friend, who goes to the University there, and Josh was there at the football game. Then he moved to New York for his acting break and we somehow ran into each other again." I say, and shrug my shoulders.