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.
"We were at that game too! I was wondering where he ran off too that day.. And wow, thats a coincidence that he decided to go to New York. Small world huh?" she says.
"Yeah, I guess so. He's great, and I see where he gets it from! But he really is a great guy, you raised him perfectly." I say.
"Well thank you, but lately he has been losing himself, in a way. Certain things have made him get a big head about his acting. I'm glad he came home for the holidays.. But this time, he is acting himself again, maybe you changed him." she laughs, "None of the other girls he brings home are like you."
I give her a confused look.
"All the other ones are either models, or actors, or singers, and they are too used to being a celebrity.. I like that he found someone outside of his career." she smiles at me.
We finish our lunch and we decide to go back home. On the ride home, she was telling me all about stories of Josh when he was little, and when he first started acting, and some embarrassing things that I never knew about him. Michelle really was the perfect mom. She supports her kids through everything, no matter what she thinks, its all about her boys' happiness.
When we get home, I walk through the door carrying bags of things, still laughing at the story Michelle was telling me about Josh.
"Well hey, ladies!" says Chris.
"Hey honey," she says and gives him a kiss.
"Where did you guys go?" he asks.
"The mall, last minute shopping." she leads me to the room where she is hiding all of the presents until they get wrapped and then we go back to the kitchen, which is connected to the living room. I plop down on the couch.
"Have fun?" I hear Josh's voice beside me and I jump, grabbing my chest like I was having a heart attack.
"Holy shi-" I stop myself remembering that Josh's parents are in the next room. "Crap. Holy crap." he laughs, "How long have you been sitting there?"
"Since before you walked in the door, what were you two laughing about?" He smiles.
I start to laugh again remembering the story she told me. "Oh nothing" I say, "Captain underpants." I mumble.
"WHAT? Mom! you told her about that?!" He says, walking into the kitchen.
"Oh don't be so embarrassed." she says, "you were 5 Josh."
I laugh again, "really Josh, its okay. I promise I won't hold that against you.... Unless I have to." i laugh and then Connor comes down the stairs rubbing his eyes.
"About time you got up." Josh says and tackles him to the ground.
They wrestle for a few minutes and I just watch. I never did that kind of thing with anyone in the orphanage. None of us actually act like we even like each other. Its sad really.
"Well I need to start preparing for the cookout tomorrow. Boys, your dad and I are going grocery shopping, want anything special?" says Michelle.
"Nah," they say in unison. I hear my phone ring from my pocket and I tell them I will be right back.
I walk out onto there back porch, which I am amazed by the view I see. A swimming pool, rows of gigantic houses, rolling hills. Just amazing. But then I snap back into reality and answer my phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey stell, its Ryder" He says softly.
"Oh my gosh, Ryder! Hey! How are you?"
"Um, well still not too great." he says.
"Yeah, me too. Its hard, but remember she is in a better place, as cliche as that sounds." I say.
"Yeah, I know. But where are you? I checked at Josh's apartment to come and check on you, but you weren't there."
"Oh, right. Um, I'm in Kentucky." I say.
"Oh," he says very quietly.
"How's Lucille been?" i ask.
"Quiet." he starts, "Really quiet. She hasn't yelled much since you left, but we don't see much of her." he says.
"I figured I was the big problem there. I'm always the problem." I say and sit at the table they have set up outdoors.
"No stop it. You were just the only one who stood up for herself." He says, "well anyways, I gotta go, lunch is almost over." I forgot he was in school still.
"Oh right, I'll call you when I get back. Bye Ryder," I say and then hang up after he says bye. i walk back inside and I hear Josh and Connor yelling from downstairs. I walk around to try and find the stairs and when I do, I walk down them and find them playing xbox. Josh looks up as I come into the room and he smiles at me.
I make myself comfortable on the couch, while they sit on the floor. I watch them play for maybe an hour and then they both give up and put a movie in. Josh sits next to me and puts his arm around my shoulder. We sit like this for a while, and I soon realize just how tired i am from getting up so early. I shut my eyes and fall asleep.
Josh's POV
She fell asleep on my chest as we watched the movie, I could hear her constant breathing and she would move every so often. I ran my finger tips over her arm and smiled.
"You like her don't you." Connor says.
"Damn, am I really that obvious!?" I say, because it seems that everyone can tell that i like her, like its written on my forhead.
"Dude, I have grown up with you all my life, you aren't that hard to figure out. But I don't blame you," he looks down at Stella and whispers, "shes hot" he says and I throw a pillow at him and laugh.
"Connor come help me with these groceries!!" My mom yells from the top of the stairs.
"well thats my que, be back in a sec." he runs up the stairs to help my mom.
I feel Stella's weight being shifted off of my shoulder, "So you like me huh?" she says.
I look down and cover my face, "how much exactly did you hear?"
"Enough." she smiles and gets up. She reaches out for my hand, "C'mon, we can't make him do all the work," I take her hand and we go and help put away groceries.
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Mom sets the table and we all sit down to eat dinner together, Stella being on one side of me and Connor being on the other. We serve up our plates, and my dad clears his throat, "So Stella, we don't know much about you, tell us a little about yourself."
I see her nervously filddle with her fork and then she sets it down and clears her throat, "well, I'm 18, and I like photography, um," she adjusts how she sits in her seat and then she looks at me with nervous eyes, "I'm homeschooled, just like Josh was. and uh there really isn't much more thats important."
"Any siblings?" Connor butts in, "like hot little sister or something?" i can see her face turning blank.
"Connor shut up." I say and slap him. I put my hand on Stella's leg under the table and give it a reassuring squeeze. She looks at me and smiles.
"No just me," she says.
"You mean your parents didn't see how beautiful you turned out and then want to make more?" Connor says and then laughs, I slap him again.
"Connor seriously stop." I see a tear flow down Stella's face and then she gets up and walks away into my bedroom. "Great Connor, now you did it." I get up and run after Stella.
I open the door to my bedroom and she is sitting on my bed in a ball, "Stell? You okay?"
She sits up and looks at me, "I can't do this anymore Josh. I can't lie to them. I knew questions like this were going to come up, I just knew it, but I convinced myself that they wouldn't. I'm sorry I shouldn't have walked out like that."
"No its okay," I hug her, "Do you want me to tell them so you don't have to?"
"No.. I need to. Just let me have a minute, and don't let me go." she sighs, "I had a small one this morning." she says.
"What?" I say
"Anxiety attack. I had a little one this morning. I haven't had one in a while but it just happened.." she says.
I run my hand over her head and smooth her hair back, "we'll fix that. Together, I promise."
She nods, "I think I can tell them now. Just if I can't keep going, you have my permission to finish."
We walk back into the kitchen and sit at the table,
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry or anything," says Connor.
"no no, its not your fault." she says, "you didn't know. But I think i need to tell you something."
I see my mom look at her and squint her eyes, then she glances at me and I nod.
"Well, you see, I don't have any real siblings, or parents. I have been an orphan all my life. And I made Josh promise not to tell you guys that, but now I see that you needed to know. I'm sorry I walked out earlier, just sometimes those kind of family questions kinda get to me." she stays calm through the whole thing and sits back down at the table, "oh and my broken hand isn't because I fell, I punched a door." she laughs.
"aw sweetie im so so-" my mom continues, but Stella stops her.
"No no, don't feel sorry for me. Its fine really, I am going to tell you all the same thing I told Josh when he found out, do not feel sorry for me. I have gone all my life like this, its nothing to feel bad about." they all nod there head and we start eating again.
"well I was thinking we could all go out for ice cream after dinner!" my mom says, breaking the silence, we all nod and smile.
We finish dinner and put the dirty dishes in the sink, and then we go put warm clothes on.
"i think they really appreciate you telling them, Stella." I say as I watch her put her jacket on.
"I hope so.." she says. I walk up to her and look her in the eyes.
"you're so beautiful, you know that?" I say, putting a strand of hair behind her ear.
she puts her hand on my cheek and then gets up on her tippy toes and leans into my ear, "liar." she whispers and then kisses my cheek, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand straight up and give me the chills. She leans back down and smiles and then walks out of the room.
I know I wasn't supposed to fall for her. I don't know if its a good idea or a bad idea, but one things for sure, every day I spend with her, I fall more and more, little by little, and for some reason, I don't really mind.
Authors note.
hey guys, sorry this chapter was a little bit boring and short, but it was more of a filler chapter for whats to come! I appreciate your feedback! and thank you to all of my readers!