p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The first thing Stella noticed when she woke up was the noise. Granted, this house was always noisy in the mornings (considering the people who lived there) but this was a bit much. When her family had decided to move from Hollywood to Stanton, Connecticut where her dad grew up she had been both happy and sad, as was only natural. Sad because she was leaving all her friends and social life behind. Happy because she might finally get to experience what a quiet morning is like. In L.A. cars were driving past her house 24/7 and there was never a quiet moment. On several occasions she had almost burst into tears because all she wanted was to sleep in late on a weekend for once in her life. Not even here, in this suburban neighborhood, did that seem possible./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Giving up on the thought of sleep she reluctantly got out of bed and out of her bedroom. The house was absolutely amazing, and she had to give credit to her parents for finding it./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Half asleep Stella moved into the bathroom down the hall. For some reason the shower was still on and there were wet tracks on the floor, but there was no one in there. Shrugging, she went on with her daily routine. She brushed her black hair and put on her make up. For now it mostly consisted of products that framed her eyes. She didn't feel like wearing lipstick today./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Now that Stella was a bit more awake she noticed what the house actually looked like. Wandering through her home she saw that it looked more like a warzone. Not just upstairs, but downstairs as well. When she stepped out on the front porch she saw why./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Joining her family (and the mailman for some reason) she watched a deer with her mom's bra on its antler tear apart her little sister's stuffed monkey./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Was that thing in our house?" she asked when nobody acknowledged her. They all nodded silently. "So that's what you were all screaming about," she concluded. "Listen, if you don't mind moving a bit to the side, I need to get to work."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Her dad looked at her. "Oh no, no, no, you're not going anywhere until that monster is gone from the lawn, missy."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""But dad, I'll be late for the opening shift."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I don't care. I don't want you to suffer the same fate as Mr Gigglesworth. Who knows what that guy will eat if he gets the chance. Come on, let's all get some breakfast, okay?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"They all had breakfast around the table and it was the usual routine: everyone was talking over each other, trying to get their voices heard. Stella had to hand it to her mom for being able to listen to all of her four children at the same time and answer them individually. Her dad on the other hand simply tried to keep up. It was fun and all, but when Stella imagined her future this wasn't what it looked like. Having a lot of siblings was nice, but she didn't want so many kids. Maybe one or two at the most. Soon Stella looked up at the clock and saw that too much time had passed./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Alright, now I emreally/em have to go."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Lenny gave her a kiss on the cheek as she passed by him. "Alright, you have a great day, sweetie."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Have a great last day at school. Bye everyone!" she cried from the door, making sure to close it so no more animals could come in. Lenny had been very clear about that as a new standard house rule./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Becky came running after her when she was halfway down the driveway. "Stella, wait! Don't forget my ballet today. It starts at eleven o'clock."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Of course I won't forget, my precious little princess," Stella picked her up and tried to spin her around, but much to Becky's disappointment she could only manage half a spin before she had to put her down. "You're getting too big for me to do that. I thought dad told you to stop growing?" she teased./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"She giggled when she was down on the ground again. "Can I go home with you today?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""No, sweetie. I couldn't get the day off. I'm coming to your ballet on my lunch break, but then I got to work for a few more hours." Her little sister pouted. "But I'll see you after work, after I pick up the boys from school. And when I come home, I'll try to fix Mr Gigglesworth, okay?" Stella tried to cheer her up. Thankfully it worked and her little sister nodded enthusiastically./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Have fun at work today!" She skipped back into the house./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Normally Stella would have enjoyed working in the bookstore. It was nice and quiet and she could read anything she wanted when she was on a break or there weren't too many customers. But some things just ruined her day completely. Like the fact that this is where all the college kids came to by their books. Some of them were cool, but some were total assholes. Like the ones who just walked through the door./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"It was that guy Randy or Andy or whatever his name was. Apparently he was the leader of the frat boys and he thought that entitled him to everything he pointed to. Including her. He always flirted with her whenever they saw each other and no matter how many times Stella said no, he just wouldn't get the point./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The three other guys disappeared behind the bookshelves, but he focused on her./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Hey there, beautiful," he said as he walked up to the counter, more swagger to his steps than was possibly natural. "Where were you last night? We missed you at the party."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Stella enjoyed going to a few parties now and then like so many other teenagers. Most of which her parents didn't know about, and there was no way she was going to tell them anytime soon. These were her rebellious years and she was going to enjoy them as much as possible. That meant going to a couple of parties. It was just too bad the greatest parties were hosted by the college kids, more specifically the frat boys./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"She closed her book with a thud. "It's none of your business where I was, Andy. Now, are you going to buy a book or not?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Whoa, chill." He held up his hands as a sign of peace. "No need to snap. I'll buy a book, if you go out with me."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Stella frowned. "Is that how you ask all girls out? By bargaining with them?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""It's how I ask emyou/em out," he said with a smile that was supposed to be charming, but ended up being plain slimy. Did he really think it was a serious question? How the hell did he get into college in the first place?/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"She took a breath to calm herself down. "Look, Andy, I've told you this a million times, but I'll say it again: I don't like you and I will never go out with you, so stop asking!" She spoke slowly to make sure he got every word of it./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"For a moment he looked crestfallen, but she felt no pity for him. That ship had sailed a long time ago./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Fine, whatever," he brushed it off, trying not to look like his ego had taken a hit. "Come on, guys. Let's hit the quarry," he called out to his friends. They emerged from behind the shelves and left with him, none of them buying a single book. Did he seriously bring his friend along to the bookstore without anyone needing to buy anything just to have an excuse to ask her out?/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"She almost ran to the isle they had been hiding in to see what damage had been done this time. At first she saw nothing and she breathed a sigh of relief. No spit on the floor, no marks on the shelves and all the books were even still in order. It was too good to be true. She began to check the books too just to make sure. After the fifth one she stopped when she saw a dick drawn on the cover./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Aw, come on! Very funny guys!" she shouted after them even though they were long gone./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Whatever. Looking at the clock she saw that she only had twenty minutes until Becky's recital./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Mrs Nolan, I'm going out for lunch now," she called to the back of the shop where the owner of the store had her office./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Okay, be back on time," came the answer from the middle-aged woman./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I will."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"She got into her Audi S6 and drove off. She loved her car, but she had been close to losing it when she told her dad that she wouldn't go to college. Both Lenny and Roxanne had been disappointed when they heard the news, but she managed to make a strong case for herself. She told them honestly that she didn't want to spend a fortune on getting an education that would most likely mean nothing out in the real world, considering the job market for young people today, whether you had a degree or not. It had taken a while, but they finally gave in. She'll admit that she squeezed out a few tears to make it happen, but desperate times calls for desperate measures./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Thankfully they also agreed to let her keep her college fond, as long as she used it for something useful and nothing but, like when she would buy her own place or if she one day decided that she actually wanted to go to college. She happily agreed to those terms./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Becky's recital had been interesting to watch to say the least. Though she had her own solo- in which she was great- most of the focus of the males in the audience was on the dancing teacher. The Russian beauty was almost as curvy as her mother./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"It was over soon and she applauded her little sister, but had to leave quickly to get back to the store on time. She only had an hour left of work, but that was no reason to be late./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Hey, hey, Stella," Lenny said before she could leave. "I talked to the guys earlier and we decided we should throw a little party tonight. Just to celebrate the first day of summer, you know."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Wow, short notice. "When you say little do you mean just-our-families-little or high-school-little where everybody invites everybody?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Well, you know your old man. A real summer-celebration party with less than a hundred people ain't a real party."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Stella laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Hey, I need to go. I'll see you later."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Okay, pumpkin, you take care."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"That last hour went by faster than expected and she hopped right back into the car again and drove towards the school to pick up her brother Greg and their friend Andre./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Giving up on the thought of sleep she reluctantly got out of bed and out of her bedroom. The house was absolutely amazing, and she had to give credit to her parents for finding it./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Half asleep Stella moved into the bathroom down the hall. For some reason the shower was still on and there were wet tracks on the floor, but there was no one in there. Shrugging, she went on with her daily routine. She brushed her black hair and put on her make up. For now it mostly consisted of products that framed her eyes. She didn't feel like wearing lipstick today./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Now that Stella was a bit more awake she noticed what the house actually looked like. Wandering through her home she saw that it looked more like a warzone. Not just upstairs, but downstairs as well. When she stepped out on the front porch she saw why./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Joining her family (and the mailman for some reason) she watched a deer with her mom's bra on its antler tear apart her little sister's stuffed monkey./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Was that thing in our house?" she asked when nobody acknowledged her. They all nodded silently. "So that's what you were all screaming about," she concluded. "Listen, if you don't mind moving a bit to the side, I need to get to work."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Her dad looked at her. "Oh no, no, no, you're not going anywhere until that monster is gone from the lawn, missy."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""But dad, I'll be late for the opening shift."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I don't care. I don't want you to suffer the same fate as Mr Gigglesworth. Who knows what that guy will eat if he gets the chance. Come on, let's all get some breakfast, okay?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"They all had breakfast around the table and it was the usual routine: everyone was talking over each other, trying to get their voices heard. Stella had to hand it to her mom for being able to listen to all of her four children at the same time and answer them individually. Her dad on the other hand simply tried to keep up. It was fun and all, but when Stella imagined her future this wasn't what it looked like. Having a lot of siblings was nice, but she didn't want so many kids. Maybe one or two at the most. Soon Stella looked up at the clock and saw that too much time had passed./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Alright, now I emreally/em have to go."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Lenny gave her a kiss on the cheek as she passed by him. "Alright, you have a great day, sweetie."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Have a great last day at school. Bye everyone!" she cried from the door, making sure to close it so no more animals could come in. Lenny had been very clear about that as a new standard house rule./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Becky came running after her when she was halfway down the driveway. "Stella, wait! Don't forget my ballet today. It starts at eleven o'clock."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Of course I won't forget, my precious little princess," Stella picked her up and tried to spin her around, but much to Becky's disappointment she could only manage half a spin before she had to put her down. "You're getting too big for me to do that. I thought dad told you to stop growing?" she teased./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"She giggled when she was down on the ground again. "Can I go home with you today?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""No, sweetie. I couldn't get the day off. I'm coming to your ballet on my lunch break, but then I got to work for a few more hours." Her little sister pouted. "But I'll see you after work, after I pick up the boys from school. And when I come home, I'll try to fix Mr Gigglesworth, okay?" Stella tried to cheer her up. Thankfully it worked and her little sister nodded enthusiastically./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Have fun at work today!" She skipped back into the house./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Normally Stella would have enjoyed working in the bookstore. It was nice and quiet and she could read anything she wanted when she was on a break or there weren't too many customers. But some things just ruined her day completely. Like the fact that this is where all the college kids came to by their books. Some of them were cool, but some were total assholes. Like the ones who just walked through the door./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"It was that guy Randy or Andy or whatever his name was. Apparently he was the leader of the frat boys and he thought that entitled him to everything he pointed to. Including her. He always flirted with her whenever they saw each other and no matter how many times Stella said no, he just wouldn't get the point./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The three other guys disappeared behind the bookshelves, but he focused on her./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Hey there, beautiful," he said as he walked up to the counter, more swagger to his steps than was possibly natural. "Where were you last night? We missed you at the party."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Stella enjoyed going to a few parties now and then like so many other teenagers. Most of which her parents didn't know about, and there was no way she was going to tell them anytime soon. These were her rebellious years and she was going to enjoy them as much as possible. That meant going to a couple of parties. It was just too bad the greatest parties were hosted by the college kids, more specifically the frat boys./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"She closed her book with a thud. "It's none of your business where I was, Andy. Now, are you going to buy a book or not?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Whoa, chill." He held up his hands as a sign of peace. "No need to snap. I'll buy a book, if you go out with me."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Stella frowned. "Is that how you ask all girls out? By bargaining with them?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""It's how I ask emyou/em out," he said with a smile that was supposed to be charming, but ended up being plain slimy. Did he really think it was a serious question? How the hell did he get into college in the first place?/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"She took a breath to calm herself down. "Look, Andy, I've told you this a million times, but I'll say it again: I don't like you and I will never go out with you, so stop asking!" She spoke slowly to make sure he got every word of it./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"For a moment he looked crestfallen, but she felt no pity for him. That ship had sailed a long time ago./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Fine, whatever," he brushed it off, trying not to look like his ego had taken a hit. "Come on, guys. Let's hit the quarry," he called out to his friends. They emerged from behind the shelves and left with him, none of them buying a single book. Did he seriously bring his friend along to the bookstore without anyone needing to buy anything just to have an excuse to ask her out?/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"She almost ran to the isle they had been hiding in to see what damage had been done this time. At first she saw nothing and she breathed a sigh of relief. No spit on the floor, no marks on the shelves and all the books were even still in order. It was too good to be true. She began to check the books too just to make sure. After the fifth one she stopped when she saw a dick drawn on the cover./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Aw, come on! Very funny guys!" she shouted after them even though they were long gone./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Whatever. Looking at the clock she saw that she only had twenty minutes until Becky's recital./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Mrs Nolan, I'm going out for lunch now," she called to the back of the shop where the owner of the store had her office./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Okay, be back on time," came the answer from the middle-aged woman./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I will."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"She got into her Audi S6 and drove off. She loved her car, but she had been close to losing it when she told her dad that she wouldn't go to college. Both Lenny and Roxanne had been disappointed when they heard the news, but she managed to make a strong case for herself. She told them honestly that she didn't want to spend a fortune on getting an education that would most likely mean nothing out in the real world, considering the job market for young people today, whether you had a degree or not. It had taken a while, but they finally gave in. She'll admit that she squeezed out a few tears to make it happen, but desperate times calls for desperate measures./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Thankfully they also agreed to let her keep her college fond, as long as she used it for something useful and nothing but, like when she would buy her own place or if she one day decided that she actually wanted to go to college. She happily agreed to those terms./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Becky's recital had been interesting to watch to say the least. Though she had her own solo- in which she was great- most of the focus of the males in the audience was on the dancing teacher. The Russian beauty was almost as curvy as her mother./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"It was over soon and she applauded her little sister, but had to leave quickly to get back to the store on time. She only had an hour left of work, but that was no reason to be late./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Hey, hey, Stella," Lenny said before she could leave. "I talked to the guys earlier and we decided we should throw a little party tonight. Just to celebrate the first day of summer, you know."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Wow, short notice. "When you say little do you mean just-our-families-little or high-school-little where everybody invites everybody?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Well, you know your old man. A real summer-celebration party with less than a hundred people ain't a real party."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Stella laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Hey, I need to go. I'll see you later."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Okay, pumpkin, you take care."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"That last hour went by faster than expected and she hopped right back into the car again and drove towards the school to pick up her brother Greg and their friend Andre./p