Seventeen-year-old Stella Wendlerson never imagined herself at her own mother's funeral. She stood in the cold winter air, gazing at her mother's grave. Everyone around her wept, but she stood still, unmoving, and stared. Her crystal blue eyes gazed without blinking and without shedding a tear. Stella's mouth was locked tight, her full pink lips pursed together. She didn't intend to speak to anyone at the funeral, especially since she barely knew anyone there.

Nearly all day, people came up to her, hugged her tightly, and said things like, "Oh you poor child, I'm so sorry." Hah, yeah right, she thought, sorry my ass. Half of the people at the funeral never even knew Stella existed or even if they did, they didn't give a damn about her.

Stella's mother was never home. She lived a life that only evolved around work, friends, and parties. The woman would always be out of town on business trips and whenever she was home, she'd be out partying with her co-workers and friends. She was a blur in Stella's life and the only time Stella saw her was in the morning, soon she'd be out of the house, gone. And now she's gone for good, Stella thought to herself as she brushed off snow from her wavy, dark brown hair. She watched her mother's friends weep and hold each other with grief, wiping their tears delicately with a handkerchief.

Jolene Wendlerson would bring her friends to her house occasionally, but Stella knew she hated introducing her daughter to everyone. "This is my…daughter" she would say with hesitation, always pausing before the word 'daughter' as if she herself didn't believe it was true. Every time she said that single sentence, Stella would have the sudden urge to jump onto Jolene and smack her in the face to remind her mother that she was still there, living in the empty house while Jolene was out of town or partying until morning. Rage filled inside Stella as she remembered all those times she was introduced to everyone with awkwardness. Her mother's friends always looked shocked when Stella was introduced. Obviously, while away, Jolene had never mentioned a word about her own daughter.

Stella glanced at the photograph of her mother on the grave and studied it, taking in her mother's beauty and flaws. The photo showed her mother dressed in a white blouse, a perfect glistening pearl necklace laced around her neck that made her neck look slightly longer, and her pale blonde hair was up in an elegant bun with every strand of hair perfectly in place. Her eyes were a blazing green, staring right at Stella and piercing through her skin. Stella glanced away for a moment, fighting back her anger, and studied the photo once more. She noticed how much different she looked from her mother. Each part of Stella's features was structured differently from what she saw in the photograph. Her mother's lips were thin, curled up slightly forcing a smile. Stella on the other hand, had large full lips which her friends called 'the Angelina Jolie lips.' "Angelina don't got shit on you, Stella!" her friends would often joke at school.

The snow began to fall faster, slowly covering the photograph, forming patches of white on the black clothes of everyone around Stella. She felt she looked much different than her mother, but she wasn't quite positive though. Since her mother was barely ever around, Stella's image of her own mother was practically erased from her mind as well as her mother's voice, and that stolid smile in the photograph.

Now as Stella stood in the bitter coldness among Jolene's friends and family, she felt as though she didn't belong here. She felt as though she never belonged to Jolene. Stella heavily sighed and walked towards her car without looking anyone in the eye. She heard the whispers and gasps of the people around her, but she didn't care. She just needed to get the hell out of this place.

She climbed into her black Infiniti G35, which was now covered in snow and rested her head against the steering wheel. Stella's head pounded as she replayed the entire day in her head.

That morning, Stella's alarm clock rang obnoxiously around 7'o clock causing her to spring out of bed; her eyes wide awake as she quickly rummaged through her closet.

"Shit, shit, shit, SHIT!" Stella angrily whispered to herself as she swiftly climbed into a pair of ripped jeans, pulled a white tank over her head, and threw on an adorable Cheeky sweater that Avril Lavigne was seen wearing a few days ago. She quickly inspected her reflection in the mirror, fixed her flawless dark hair that looked stunningly good even if she just got out of bed, and she approvingly smiled, satisfied with her appearance.

"Ugh, shit. You were supposed to wake me up at 6:30" Stella angrily turned off the alarm clock. No time for make-up, she thought after seeing it was nearly 7:15. As she grabbed her books and ran towards the door, she noticed her mother, Jolene, briefly glance at Stella and then continue reading her Marie Claire. Jolene was leaning against the kitchen counter, her morning coffee in her hand, paying no attention to Stella. Her pale blonde hair was already done, straightened perfectly which made it noticeably longer, reaching all the way to her breasts. Jolene was still in her robe. It was the robe she bought a while ago when she was in London.

She set down her coffee, cleared her throat, and waved good-bye to Stella.

"Have a good day at school, Stella" Jolene half-heartily said, keeping her eyes on the magazine.

"Wow, and she remembers my name." Stella sarcastically mumbled under her breath as she ran out the door and into the cold winter air. She half-hoped her mother heard her sarcastic remark, but then again, her mother was the one who bought Stella all the expensive clothes that she just couldn't resist no matter how infuriated she was. She knew her mother bought Stella so many things out of guilt for being a bad mother, but Stella felt that her mother didn't really care.

"Bye!" She called back flatly.

Stella got into her car, turned up the heat, and hurriedly drove towards her school. Her perfectly manicured fingers drummed impatiently against the steering wheel. Outside, the snow began to cover the New Jersey world. The buildings covered in snow glistened and glimmered under the morning light and the decorative Christmas lights created a peaceful aurora. Stella smiled, she absolutely loved winter.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hey everyone! This is my first account & first story on fanfiction. I wasn't too sure where to put my story because I pretty much thought of everything, but it's A-LIST inspired. (because of the whole girl moving to cali to live with her dad thing) Hope you like it and i'd love it if you reviewed it. Peace & Love -- SUNSHINE. (This is chapter one and it's still in progress. If you want to continue reading my story don't forget to finish up Ch. 1 which is STILL in progress :D )