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December 1
Stella Solaria
I was about to sin.
Again.
No matter how many times I tell myself it'll be the last time, I always find myself doing it again.
But I couldn't stop. I couldn't help myself.
"Just stop buying them." Bloom's bored voice interrupts my thoughts. I turn around and find her with her arms crossed around her chest, leaning against the door of the kitchen.
With a sad sigh, I return my gaze to the box in my hand, eyeing lustfully the picture plastered on it.
Aunt Jemima.
Maybe another time.
Preferably one when I'm alone.
"Remind me next time when it's time to buy the groceries." Bloom jokes when she sees me reluctantly put down the box of pancake mix. She opens the fridge, takes out a bowl of mixed fruits and pours herself a cup of orange juice.
"Hey, no fair," I whine with a pout. "It's not my fault I don't know how to eat healthily."
"Maybe you should learn then."
"Easy for you to say, you're vegan."
"Not my fault," She shrugs dismissively, placing a spoonful of fruits in her mouth. She eyes my attire and frowns in confusion. "Why are you dressed up so early?"
I look down at my outfit and sigh tiredly. I place my elbows on the counter and rest my head on my hands. "Community service," I answer simply. "I'm helping a doctor at her clinic and she's going to sign my hours."
"Cool," Bloom nods, her mouth full of fruits. "I didn't know you were into medicine."
I lift my head from my hands and start to prepare my lunch in a bowl. With a shrug, I walk to the fridge and take out a frozen pepperoni pizza. "I'm not, but she's a pediatrician that accepts poor families and treats their kids for free," I explain, placing the pizza in the microwave and waiting for it to cook. "Professor Kirke thought it would be nice for me to do my work around children so she signed me up for it."
"Why children?"
"Because it'll look good on my resume." I shrug again.
"Good luck with that, then. I know you don't have a lot of patience when it comes to children." Bloom snickers, throwing her empty bowl of fruits in the dishwasher and leaving the kitchen. "I'm going back to bed!"
I roll my eyes at her, though a smile still makes its way to my lips. Bloom's right, I may not be the best girl for the job, but I know how important this is to some families, so if I end up ripping my hair by the roots, at least I'd know that it was for a good cause.
Or so I hope.
I kill the engine of my black Mercedes when I reach the clinic. I was eight minutes late, but I completely blame the traffic and possibly the gorgeous black dress that caught my attention at a nearby shop. It was on sale and of course I had to rush to get it. Classes start tomorrow and I have to make a good impression of my freshman girls, they always expect me to be on top of the latest fashion trends and I always deliver with the best outfits. But Meredith, the pediatrician, didn't need to know the reason as to why I was late, so I hide the dress under the seat and apply my favorite vanilla-scented lip gloss, fixing my bangs thoroughly. After I fix the corners of my lips, I place my mirror back in my Coco Chanel tote bag and turn off the ignition. I get out of my Merc and walk towards the front door, adjusting my red cashmere scarf around my neck.
Since my community service work required a bit of knowledge in the field, Professor Kirke arranged a meeting with Meredith so I could get to know what I would be doing today. It was a short meeting, but Meredith made sure to show me around and teach me the important things in her clinic. That's where I met Carlota, her secretary and a very nice woman in her sixties who Meredith told me looked after her boys when they were young.
A small noise took me out of my stupor. When I look up I see Meredith standing there with Carlota by her side, a smile plastered on their faces. "Stella!" Meredith exclaims in glee. "So glad to see you again. We've been waiting for you."
I laugh nervously and step inside the clinic, I leave my tote bag on a nearby chair and push back my bangs, a trait of mine that appears every time I get called out. "I know, I got stuck in traffic." I fib a little. "But I'm also glad to see the two of you."
"That's all right, I know the roads are a bit full today since students are coming back from their Thanksgiving vacation." Meredith waves her hand dismissively. "Unfortunately, my son won't be able to come to help us since he's helping a friend move into his apartment."
"Oh," I nod leisurely before waving my manicured hand dismissively. "You don't have to worry, I'm sure we'll manage just fine," I assure her, pulling my scarf and my cardigan off. Sunny days here in Boston were over since mid-September and I was unfortunately forced to trade my heels and dresses for jeans and boots.
Not that I mind, though.
Only God knows the routine I had to go through every day to shave my legs and paint my toenails.
"I know, but the kids here love him, you should see their faces every time he comes over." she chuckles, placing her white lab coat on. "Hey, he goes to BU too, he's a senior this year."
"Really?" I question her. I don't like to admit it, but I'm a grade-A snooper and I know everyone's business, even if they don't want me to. It's a curse as much as it is a blessing.
Meredith nods. "My three sons go there. Well, actually, my oldest graduated two years ago and my youngest is a sophomore. They all play basketball." (1)
And cue the chocking.
Basketball? Those boys are my ultimate weakness, everything they do is swoon-worthy, and the way they do it is just magical.
I don't talk much to them, mainly because I don't want to get involved in a scandal, but I flirted with almost every player of the team to know them enough. They're players, not only in the court but also in real life. They have a weird rivalry with the football team and their life is practically blogged every single minute of their day.
I have a massive crush on their captain, he's just another breed. Unfortunately, we haven't talked, I don't know why, I guess he doesn't share my same interest, but I really don't care, it's not like it's the end of the world.
"Yeah, their father played too, I guess he just passed it down to them." She shrugs with a smile and I watch as Carlota pats her shoulder softly.
My eyes were watching them exchange some words, but my mind was still trying to decipher who her son was. I rake the memories in my mind, but I still couldn't find the person I was looking for.
He must be a bench player then. (2)
"Hey," Meredith nudges my side with her elbow. "You're ready? The first patient's here."
I break out of my thoughts and look at the direction she's pointing at. Outside the door, a small girl, who looked about five years old, stood there with an older woman, grinning from ear to ear at Dr. Meredith.
Dealing with kids was worse than I thought it would be.
They were relentless, loud, and cried over every single little thing.
I don't know why I never anticipated this earlier this morning, but Bloom was right when she said that I didn't have patience when it came to kids, and it's unfortunate to know that even trying and I'm still horrible with children.
I'm currently stuck in a situation where I have to tell a kid that she's allergic to chocolate and that if she even gets a whiff of the candy, it could end fatal for her. But how do you tell a kid that she's allergic to possibly her favorite candy flavor in the world?
Easy; you don't.
I was tempted to follow that logic but I know better than that, so I crouch down to her height and gently sit her down next to me.
¿Qué pasa?" she asks with a frown, her lips tied together in the most adorable pout.
Oh, did I forget to say that she's from Colombia? I probably did. Only another unfortunate facet in this situation.
"Magda-l-ena," I stumble awkwardly over the letters of her long name. "You can't eat chocolate anymore, honey."
"¿Qué?" she asks in surprise, the chocolate bar she has in her hand stopping midway. She eyes the candy mysteriously and shoves it in my face. "¿Esto?"
I don't know what 'esto' means but I nod nonetheless. "Yes, chocolate is bad for you," I tell her as cautiously as I can. "You have to be a good girl and help mommy with this because she can't afford hospital care if you eat this."
She seems to understand me because the moment I finish my sentence she starts to sob uncontrollably. I sigh in frustration and cradle her little body next to mine. I see Meredith send me an amused smile from the corner of my eyes and I try everything I can think of to stop this girl from crying.
"Hey," I gently nudge her shoulder with my elbow. "Don't worry, you can still eat other types of candies," I tell her, but she shows no signs of stopping. So I sigh and try yet again. "Look, chocolate may be bad for you but at least you won't have to worry about gaining weight and getting pimples on your forehead and - and having all the kids at school make fun of you because your chin is smeared with chocolate . . ." I frown when I start receiving all these memories of me from the past, realizing that instead of helping this girl, I'm going down a trip of memory lane to possibly the worst time in my life.
Middle school.
Ugh. I shudder by just thinking of it.
Magdalena stops crying, her brown doe eyes watching me curiously with that glassy look. I was about to say something when Meredith takes a seat next to us and holds the girl close to her.
"Magdalena," she starts, her accent smooth. "Stella tiene la razón, no puedes comer más chocolate porque te hará mal.'' She tells the girl and I raise my eyebrows, impressed by her language skills. "Ahora, ve a donde tu mami y Carlota te regalará una caja de tus dulces favoritos, sí?" she offers and Magdalena immediately nods, wiping off her nose with her hand and sprinting to God knows where. I only understood 'Carlota' out of that whole conversation.
"You speak Spanish," I state. "Why am I not surprised?"
Meredith laughs and squeezes my shoulder in affection. "Ready for the next patient?"
Stress shopping is the worst.
And I don't mean the shopping part.
I'm talking about the I-bought-too-many-clothes-now-I-can't-take-them-to- my-car-alone-because-I-ran-out-of-hands - part.
And also because I'll probably receive a very interesting phone call from daddy telling me that I spent too much and that if this happens again, he'll cut off my credit card.
I don't understand why he says that and then never actually does it, but you won't see me complaining about it.
After a tedious day at Meredith's clinic, I decided to treat myself to a little shopping spree and release some tension for tomorrow.
I don't usually get nervous for firsts day, principally because I don't really get nervous about anything, but tomorrow I'm starting a new course the dean told me to pick up and I'm not exactly thrilled because I'll be sharing a class with med students. I hope the professor doesn't expect much from me since I'm a terrible student and everything that had to do with academics flew out my window the second I received my high school diploma two years ago.
Taking a left turn, I round the curb and park my car outside of my apartment. I see from the corner of my eyes Musa's head pop through the window and I signal her to come help me with the bags.
"What's up?" she skips next to me and I see her raise an eyebrow when she notices the large bags of clothes. "Really? Another shopping spree?" she asks sarcastically, folding her arms across her chest.
"You know me," I grin sheepishly, handing her a bag. "Couldn't help myself."
"Aren't you tired of that lame excuse?" she rolls her eyes and peers inside the trunk. "Did you at least bring food?"
"I thought Bloom was cooking today," I respond with a frown.
Musa throws her head back in frustration and groans. "She just left to go out with Sky. I bet she probably has her tongue down his throat right this second." she shakes her head. "This means you're cooking, right?"
I scoff and hold up a finger. "One, gross," I pretend to gag. "And two, you know I don't cook."
"Of course, princess," she rolls her eyes. "We're ordering pasta then," she announces, dropping the bags she held to the floor and running to the kitchen.
"Pasta?" I gasp in horror, mirroring her early actions and following after her. "Over my dead body! You know how many carbs are in a simple bowl?"
"Too hungry to care," Musa responds with a nonchalant shrug. "Besides, I already ordered it. A large bowl with cheesy breadsticks. Bloom can eat too if she comes later."
I sigh in frustration and go back to my car to continue to unload my shoe boxes. Musa goes back to her room and I ponder on how I'm going to fit all these new pairs of shoes into my closet.
(1) I initially wanted football to be the sport, you know, with the whole quarterback type of thing and the uniforms and the aesthetic, but I was talking with a friend and she mentioned Kendall Jenner and how she seems to have a thing for basketball boys and I thought I should try the sport out and see if it vibes with this story. Newsflash, it does. Hopefully you guys like it as well because I'm in love with the concept and don't think I'd ever want to change it.
(2) A bench player is pretty self-explanatory, he's the guy that's always benched, never plays but still flaunts and walks around like he owns the place.
For everyone wondering, this is a long, alternate universe story I've planned since June. I've been putting it off because yes, it features school romance, but it's not your typical high school story with the handsome, quarterback male lead and your shy, bookworm female lead. I really like Brella's characterization in the original Winx Club show and I wanted to portray those characters in a normal, day to day life story fiction.
I'm going to warn everyone here; it contains sexual content, possibly even sex scenes. I think this is the reason why I hadn't published it until today, I don't know if everyone's comfortable with seeing these types of stories for Winx characters, but I can't seem to shake this story off my mind and it's gnawing my head every day. I just want to read everyone's thought and stop keeping it to myself.
I will say though, if you aren't comfortable with reading sex scenes (which I assure, I will try to not to post lots of them), either skip over the scene or don't read my story.
Another thing is that Stella and Brandon are not teens here. Brandon's a senior, so he's 21 years old since this story starts in December and his birthday is in September, and Stella's a 19 year old sophomore. I'll try to incorporate the other characters, but I'll also add some characters that are solely mine and created out of my own imagination.
Last thing to warn! This is a slow-burn romance story, meaning you have to expect lots of chapters before Stella and Brandon officially become boyfriend and girlfriend!
In regards to my other stories, I will discontinue The Triangle and place Adoration on hold. However, I'll leave them up because I know people like to read them and because I want to see how much progress I accomplished in my writing.
Merry Christmas to you all! I hope you stay safe and follow Covid-19 measures accordingly.
Thursday, December 24,2020.
3,021 words.
