Stella had been introduced to a lot of new things since she moved to Alvik. One of those things was friends. That is, friends that aren't animals or relatives. She still didn't really know what to say or do when she was with other people around her age, which made it terrifying to be alone with Tessa.
Tessa was just like every other popular girl Stella had come across. She smiled and was sweet to people, but talked bad about them behind their backs. Knew exactly how to be mean without actually saying anything mean. And in some strange way, she managed to be manipulative and absolutely wonderful at the same time. She was radiant, confident and a social genius. She reminded Stella of her mom.
"What do you think about this one?" Tessa asked and held up a small dress against her body. She and Stella were in the upstairs living room surrounded with clothes. "Do you think I should wear it to the party?"
"It looks great."
"I agree, but do you think it's good for a pool party?"
"Ehm... I don't know. I've never been to a pool party before. I've actually never been to any kind of party before."
Tessa gave Stella a look that supposed to be comforting, but looked more like pity.
"You haven't missed anything special. It all seems nicer than it actually is." Wow, that was a surprisingly nice thing of Tessa to say. "You know, you should actually be happy that you don't have any friends. I mean, at this party, nobody will care about your outfit but everyone will look at me." Ouch. That's more in line of what I suspected. Tessa sighed. "It's a lot of pressure to be popular."
Stella's heart felt heavy. She wanted to storm out crying, but instead she smiled and said:
"You could wear whatever. Everything looks super nice on you."
"Thanks, I know." Tessa pulled up another short and tight dress. "What about this one for you?"
"I don't know. I don't usually wear tight things. It makes me uncomfortable."
"Come on. You should try it on."
Stella pulled the dress on over her head and went to the mirror. She turned around a few times. There was no denying it, the dress was made for her.
"I like it," Stella said to Tessa.
"You should definitely wear it. I bet Kian is going to like it."
"I don't know..."
"Come on. I actually think you have a chance with Kian. It's nice to have a boyfriend. Ben is the best thing in my life." Tessa's voice changed in to a darker and more serious tone. "He loves me more than anything else. If someone tried to get between us, I would kill her."
Stella got a lump in her stomach. It sounded like a threat.
"You don't have to worry. Nobody can compete with you."
The doorbell rang. Stella hoped it was Ben.
"Finally," Tessa said. "That's the other girls.
"Other girls?"
"Yeah, Aimee and Francis, I asked them to come over so we all could get ready together."
Tessa ran downstairs. Stella could barely handle the social pressure of being with Tessa and now she had to spend time with two more. Her mouth got dry and her pulse started beating faster.
Aimee and Francis reminded Stella of Yin and Yang. Aimee had dark features and clothes while Francis was fair and wore a baby blue dress. Both had impeccable manicures, blow dried hair and perfectly bleached teeth.
Tessa poured up some champagne while Aimee and Francis unpacked their bags. The living room looked like a store after a storm. The floor was covered with expensive clothes, makeup and hair products.
They were all nice to Stella and asked her a lot of questions, but it was clear that neither of them listened or cared about her answers. They were too focused sipping champagne, queuing songs to the playlist and checking out themselves in the mirror. Stella didn't mind. In fact she thought it was nice that nobody really cared, it made it easier for her to relax.
"Soooo," Aimee said while putting on mascara. "Do you have a boyfriend Stella?"
"No. No boyfriend," Stella said and took a sip from her glass. "Or maybe. I don't know."
Suddenly Stella had everyone's attention. Even Tessa's.
"What? Tell us everything!" Tessa said.
"His name is Tristan. He's from around here, he's really kind and funny. We've been on a few dates and yesterday we had our first kiss."
The others made a happy squeal when they heard the word kiss.
"Ah, he sounds amazing," Francis said. "But Tristan, I don't reckognize that name."
"He is around my age, so a bit younger than you guys."
"Do you have any pictures," Aimee asked. Stella shook her head. "Well, then you have to describe every detail of him.
Stella finally felt like one in the gang. She wasn't just Ben's little sister, she was their friend.
After two bottles of champagne, tens of outfit changes and hundreds of laughs it was time for them to go to the party. They were all in a great mood. For the first time in her life Stella felt confident. She was almost soaring with excitement.
When the taxi rolled up at Kian's parking lot there were already a lot of people there and the music was pumping loudly. Stella, Tessa, Aimee and Francis joined the party in a united front. They felt unstoppable. The others were like superstars, especially Tessa. Everyone wanted to talk to them.
All the guests at the party were young, beautiful and charismatic. It was as if they had just walked into a teenage-movie. But there was only one person Stella wanted to meet - Ben. She looked for him everywhere, but couldn't find him in the sea of people.
Kian's house was just as impressive as Ed's. There was a bar, DJ and dance floor on the beach. There were also people dancing on the terrace and swimming in the pool. It looked like a PR party for Ben's business. There were vitamin bottles everywhere.
"STELLA!" Stella turned around and saw Kian screaming from the jacuzzi. He was surrounded by girls that were all over him. "Come here!" Stella shook her head. She had no interest of competing with an army of girls for his attention. "Come on beauty!"
Kian jumped up from the jacuzzi, ran up to Stella and threw her on his shoulder.
"Stop," Stella laughed. "Put me down!"
"No way. You're going in the jacuzzi!"
Stella jokingly hit Kian on his back until he put her down. He was radiant with charm and positive energy.
"Thank you for inviting me. The party is great."
"Of course! Speaking of great, you look amazing"
"Thanks. Hey, have you seen Ben?"
"Come on. Am I not enough?"
"Kian, you are more than I can handle."
They laughed.
"He's still at work. Come on. Let's dance."
Kian took Stella's hand and dragged her to the dance floor on the beach. The music relaxed her body. She started moving with the rhythm and all her thoughts about Ben and the company ran off her body.
After a few songs she felt two big, strong and gentle hands on her shoulders. She turned around and was pierced with Ben's mysterious eyes. His hands slid down her arms to her hands. Right then and there, everything else around them disappeared. Stella's world evolved around her and Ben.