Chapter 13: Confrontation Of Plans

With Stella...

"I should've brought my cellphone," Stella mumbled as she counted her ribbons for the seventh time. "Yeah, and I should've brought my cord to plug into the phone outlet to connect to the Internet."

It was getting darker in the room, and Stella looked up. "Gah, this place needs some light!" she remarked disgustedly and walked to the wall beside the door. Stella looked and turned pale. There was no light switch. She looked up at the ceiling. There wasn't even a light!

"Grand, just!" Stella retorted to herself. "Nooooo light!"

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Stella rushed over to her laptop, closed it, and shoved it quickly back into her suitcase. Right when she closed her suitcase, the door became ajar. Stella looked through the crack of the door and saw Jake.

"Yes?" she inquired loudly.

"Come, Stella," Jake told her.

Stella frowned and walked over to him. Jake opened the door all the way and grabbed onto her paws. She resisted the urge to pull her paws away from him and smack him across the face. Jake led her out of the room, down the hallway, and back into the dining room they had been in earlier. Stella realized the dining room didn't have a light either but instead was lit by candles. He led her over to a chair and pulled it out. She sat down slowly in it, and he pushed it up to the table.

Jake rushed into the other room and left her alone in the dining room. Well, Stella knew that Jake's no-name friend was standing in the doorway because of the strange presence in the room. When Jake returned, he put a plate with a warm sandwich in front of her. She frowned when she saw no napkin, and Stella picked it up cautiously and ate it slowly. Jake was just watching her, and it made her feel uncomfortable when hamsters watched her while she ate. She knew Mike never stared at her when she was eating...

Jake started talking. "Well, how is it, Stella?" he inquired.

Stella nodded. "It's good," she whispered.

He looked toward the floor and said, "Chad told me to tell you he said hi."

Stella looked up abruptly. "Who's that?" she asked.

"My friend..."

"Oh."

"He told me to marry you. And I'm going to."

"...What?" Stella turned very pallid.

"Chad. He said I was supposed to marry you. And I'm going to."

"...I'm sorry, now what again?"

"Chad told me to marry you, and I'm going to marry you."

"Who or what gave you the right to say that?"

"Your father."

"Okay, that's it! What's going on around here?!" Stella was screaming by now.

Jake got up from the table. "I deserve you, Stella, NOT WHOEVER THAT WAS! I DESERVE YOU, NOT HIM!!! I ASKED YOUR FATHER, AND HE JUST CAME OUT OF NOWHERE!!! WHO ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO MARRY?! ME, STELLA, ME!!! I'VE BEEN GONE FOR A LONG TIME, BUT I'M BACK, STELLA, I'M BACK, I TELL YOU!!! I'M BACK, STELLA!!!!!"

Stella turned paler and shouted back, "It matters who I like and who I don't! And I like Mike WAY better than YOU!!!"

"I don't care!" Jake screamed. "I ASKED FIRST! I ASKED FIRST! I ASKED FIRST!!!"

"I don't care who asked first!"

"I STILL ASKED FIRST!!!"

Jake was sobbing by now. He ran over to the wall and started banging his head against it. Stella watched with fear in her eyes as he screamed, "I'M BACK, STELLA!!! I'M BACK, STELLA!!! I'M BACK, STELLA!!!"

Jake's no-name friend rushed in and pulled him away from the wall. Jake was trying to pull himself away from his friend's clutches, but his no-name friend held him back. Jake continued screaming at Stella and continued sobbing. "STELLA!!! I DESERVE YOU, NOT HIM!!! ME, ME, MEEE!!! STELLA!!! ME, ME, MEEE!!! ME, MYSELF, AND I!!! WHY AM I NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU?! WHY DO YOU LIKE HIM?! WHY DON'T YOU LIKE MEEE?!"

Stella shrunk with fear as she screamed, "Leave me alone, you monster!"

"WHY DON'T YOU HEAR ME?! WHY DO YOU LIKE HIM?! WHY DON'T YOU LIKE ME?! I'LL BE GOOD TO YOU, I PROMISE!!! I LOVE YOU, STELLA!!! AND NOW, I'M BACK, STELLA!!! DO YOU HEAR ME?! I'M BACK, STELLA!!!" Jake sobbed as he continued to try to get away from his no-name friend.

Stella couldn't listen to him anymore. She stood up and ran out of the room with her face in her paws. Jake continued to scream at her, and Stella raced down the hallway. She ran into the room and closed the door shut hastily. Stressful tears were running down her face, and she leaned back against the door.

Jake continued screaming, and she could hear him, too. Stella tried her best to ignore him, but he wasn't going to stop. After a few more minutes of him screaming, there was suddenly a loud knock on the front door of the house, or that was where Stella thought it was. She listened closely as Jake stopped screaming immediately and ran toward the front door. Stella could hear someone at the door, most likely a neighbor, telling him to be quiet and that they had company over or something like that. She couldn't quite hear exactly what they were saying.

Stella walked over to the bed and cleared it off. She shoved her suitcase under the bed and climbed onto the bed. Stella lied back onto it and looked at the ceiling. She wondered how long it would be until Jake either started screaming again or came into the room. She frowned. Too bad there wasn't a lock on the door.

After a few more minutes, she heard a quiet knock on her door. Stella sat up quickly to see Jake open the door and walk in. His no-name friend was following close behind him, making sure he wasn't going to hurt himself.

"Stella." Jake's voice sounded like a broken record.

Stella stared at him.

"Well, Stella...," Jake mumbled, "...uh, you know... I just want to tell you that I'm going to marry you in five days. Chad said he was arranging it for me, so don't worry about that. That was what I wanted to tell you."

Stella nodded stiffly. She resisted the urge to smack him and scream at him, but she knew she couldn't win now because the game was already over and won by Jake.

Jake nodded also. "Good night, Stella," he whispered as he walked out of the room with his no-name friend following him.

Stella bowed her head and sobbed once the door was completely shut.