Saturday came faster than Stella expected it to. She found herself staring at her door not wanting to go out there. Why? Because she had to ask to go hang out with her new friend, Maggie, who then is going to go to a party that Johnny Tran is throwing. Her hands were shaking as she reached for the door knob but quickly drew back. Why was she so nervous? She had to be calm if this was going to work. She had to just tell this one little lie and was it really a lie? She was just going to leave out the part about hanging out with Johnny at his house while most of the school was there. She took a deep breath in as her hand grabbed the door handle and opened the door. She could smell the bacon as she slowly moved through the doorframe into the hallway. Everyone's doors were open meaning they were already up. She made her way over to the stairs and slowly descended. "Hey you!" Vince shouted from the couch. "I was wondering when you were going to get up." She gave a soft smile to him as she moved into the living room area. She could hear Mia talking in the kitchen. "You want to go down to the garage with me later on? I wanted to show you something."
"Sure. What is it?" She finally found the nerve to speak. He didn't respond as Dom came up behind wrapping his arms around her waist and picking her up. "Put me down!" She shouted with a laugh. "I'll come!" She squirmed in his arms as Tony came through the front door with bags in his hands. "What's going on?" Dom set her back down on to the floor. "Why are we going to the garage so early?"
"Vince has been working on something and he wants to show you." Tony stated. "You should go."
"How long is it going to take?" She looked over at Vince. "I just told my friend Maggie from school that I would hang out with her tonight."
"Maggie?" Tony asked.
"Yes, I met her on Thursday. She ate lunch with me. She asked if I wanted to go to her house for dinner and to watch a movie. Is that okay?" There was silence. "I mean…"
"I don't see any problem with it. As long as you are back by your curfew." Dangit. She wanted to kick herself. Her curfew was ten thirty on weekends. She would make it work as she nodded her head. "Do I get this to meet this Maggie?"
"I can tell her to come by the garage today if you would like to meet her."
"Yes, do that. I'm so glad you are making friends at school, Stel." Tony moved passed her to go into the kitchen. She breathed a sigh of relief. She did it. She him half the truth. The only thing was getting home at ten thirty. She knew the party wouldn't start until nine-ish, so that would give her a hour and a half to hang out and get home. "I'll go give her a call then." She turned to Vince. "You driving?" He nodded his head as she moved into the kitchen where Mia was still sitting at the table. "Hey." She replied softly. She grabbed the phone from the wall and dialed Maggie's number. "Hey, is Maggie there?" She waited. "Hey! It's Stella. My dad wants to know if you can come by the garage later on today and say hey." Stella laughed nervously. Would she think that was dumb? "Great! I am headed there now, so whenever you want to come you can…oh yeah, he said it was okay for me to come over." Stella giggled. "Okay, bye." She hung the phone before turning towards her sister. "You coming to the garage today?"
"Yeah, I was going to come with you guys." Mia stood up from the table. "Is it okay if Letty comes?"
"I don't care. I don't even know why we are going." Stella shrugged her shoulders. "Well I am going to go get dressed. I'll see you down here." She moved quickly out of the room and up the stairs to get ready. Her hands were shaking as she shut the door behind her. She was one step closer to going to Johnny's party.
Maggie and Stella began giggling as they stood in the doorway of the office. "So you'll be at my house by eight then?" Stella nodded her head. "You can wear something of mine. We can eat dinner at my place and then head over there..."
"Excuse me." Vince was standing behind Stella as Stella's heart stopped beating. "Can you move, Stel? I need to get in here." She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in as she moved to the side to let him pass. Maggie began to laugh as she patted Stella on the arm. "I'll see you later on tonight, Stella. Don't forget, eight o'clock." Stella nodded her head as she waved her friend good.
"I like that." Vince replied as he rummaged through the filing cabinet.
"What?" Stella asked.
"That you found yourself a friend. And you are smiling again. Like your normal self." Stella rolled her eyes before leaving the office. "Don't go anywhere, I need to show you something!" He yelled after her. She stopped in her tracks and looked over at the bright blue car that just pulled into the garage. They weren't open today, so what was it? Why was it here? She could hear Vince chuckle behind her as Dom emerged from the car. "What is this?" Stella asked walking over to it. The blue shined bright as the sun hit it just perfectly.
"She's mine." Vince replied behind her. "And you are going to help me fix her up." Stella smiled. "Come on, Stel. It would be so much fun. We can rebuild the entire thing. You can put some sick decals on it." She shook her head. "What you are too good for us now because you have friends?" She slapped him in the stomach. "Just a few times. If you don't like it, I will leave you alone."'
"Fine." Vince slapped his together as he let out a loud yell that echoed through the entire garage. "Alright, let me grab some things and we can take a look at it." She looked over at Mia who had a smile plastered on her face. She knew she would be happy she was back in the game. But was she? Did she really want to do all this again? All she knew was she a freshmen invited to a juniors party and she was dying to get ready.
Stella grabbed her bag from the closet door and put it over her shoulder as she moved to door hoping the fear that was inside her wasn't showing itself to anyone else. She hurried down the stairs where Dom was waiting on her to drive her over to Maggie's. "You ready to go?" Stella nodded her head knowing her voice would betray her. "Bye!" She shouted hoping everyone heard her. She hurried out the door so no one could stop her and ask questions. She moved down the steps as Dom chuckled behind her. "Slow down!" She opened the passenger side door to his Honda and rolled down the windows. It was still summer outside and she loved it. She wished it would stay this way forever. "Are you excited?" He climbed into the driver's seat and started the car. "You look nice. What exactly are guys doing?"
"Her parents invited me over for dinner and then we are going to watch a movie."
"Are you sure you don't want me to come pick you up?"
"I'm sure. Her parents said they would drop me off." That was the third lie she had told today. Would she be able to keep this up? She put her hand out the window as Dom finally put the car into drive. Maggie only lived a few blocks away. If she really wanted to, she could have walked but Dom was so adamant to drive her. She was grateful for him. She really was. Sometimes she wished he would just let her live her own life, but there were times like these that she truly loved having him in her life. The car came to a stop as she looked up at the dark blue house. It was bigger than hers. The yard was bigger. She gave a smile to her brother as she reached for the door handle. "Have fun!" She nodded her head as she exited the car and hurried up the long driveway to her front door. Maggie was already waiting with the door opened as Stella hurried inside. "Did you have any trouble?"
"No. No questions were asked." Stella blew out a breath. "Your house is huge!"
"It's alright." Maggie laughed. "Come on, we don't have a lot of time. We need to get ready." They hurried up the stairs to Maggie's room.
Cars were lining the street as Maggie's older sister dropped them off at Johnny's house. Stella didn't speak the entire ride to his house. She was so nervous. Her hands were shaking. Her entire body was shaking as she reached for the door handle. "I'll be back here at ten fifteen. Don't be late. I don't want Dominic Toretto to be down my back." Stella laughed as she nodded her head. She slammed the door behind her as Maggie held out her hand. The girls giggled as they walked up the long drive way to Johnny's house. It was most glass and it sat up on a hill. It was huge. She had never seen anything like it. When she was younger. Like nine or ten, her dad would drive around California to look at all the big houses. Stella would find herself imagining living in those houses. What would it be like to be rich and to have everyone serve you? She sighed as they hurried up to the door where Johnny was waiting. "Hey!" He shouted wrapping his arms around Stella's body and lifting her in the air. "You guys made it!" He set her down on the floor as she slowly moved into the house looking at the amazing floorplan. "How did you pull it off?" He asked ushering them more inside. "Does your dad know you are here?"
"No." Stella replied. "And I would like to keep it that way. We can't stay long. I have a curfew." Johnny nodded his head. "Sorry, I just…"
"No, don't apologize. I'm just glad you made it." He smiled down at her. She didn't realize how much taller he was than her. "Are you guys thirsty? You want something to drink?"
Stella nodded her head as she looked back Maggie who was squeezing her hand. This was actually happening. They were at a party that Johnny Tran had invited them too. They stayed behind Johnny as they walked through the tons of people standing in the hallway. The house opened up into the living room where more people were standing and sitting. The music was loud. She overcoming her fear as Johnny handed her a red solo cup. She didn't know what it was it. "It's water." He replied with a smirk. She nodded her head as she took a sip. He was right. Was she a loser? She wanted to kick herself for being so stupid. To be honest, Maggie and Johnny were her only two friends outside of her family. She really didn't hang out with anyone else. "Do you want to go outside?" Johnny knocked her out of her thoughts as she looked over at Maggie who wasn't there anymore. "She just told you she was going to go say hey to someone." The fear was back. She was alone with him. "Hey, are you good? Do you need something?"
"I'm just nervous." She blurted out as she quickly covered her mouth. "No, I'm good." Johnny put his hand on top of hers and squeezed. "This is my first time being away from anyone from my family. I've never been to a party before. I don't know what I am doing and I don't think I can pretend."
"You never have to pretend with me, Stella." He didn't let go of her hand as he grabbed himself bottle before pulling her towards the glass door. "JT, where you going?" A guy shouted from across the room. Johnny held his free hand up in the air pointing to the outside. "Who is she?" Stella tightened her grip onto her cup as she heard the girls whispering about her as she walked past. "Don't mind them." Johnny whispered into her ear. "You are safe here." She nodded her head as they walked outside. A soft breeze had come as she listened to the music outside. It wasn't same as the inside. The pool was glowing with so many floats in it. The same amount people that were inside were outside. She couldn't help but laugh. She didn't imagine this at all. "What are you laughing at?" His smile was beautiful as he looked back at her. She shook her head as he finally released her hand and sat down on the bench by the pool. "I'm really glad you decided to come. I know that you aren't supposed to be talking to me."
"You have a beautiful smile." Stella immediately closed her eyes and pressed her lips together. "I just…" She stopped talking as Johnny began to laugh. "So, this is your house?"
"Yes." He laughed again. "Stella…" He ran his hand down the side of her face. "Relax. It's just you and me." She nodded her head as she looked around again. "I throw these when my parents are away which is often. They don't care. The house is so far away from everything, it doesn't really bother anyone. And people are..."
"Scared of your father?" He nodded his head. "Why am I here, Johnny? I'm a freshmen and you are a junior. It doesn't make sense." He let out a chuckle as he ran his hands over his hair. "I just want to know why me?"
"Why not?" He whispered. "I don't know...I just ran into you during orientation and I just couldn't take my eyes off of you. You are beautiful. You make me smile…."
"We've only known each for a couple of days now. You know that my family doesn't…I'm only fourteen." Her words were getting jumbled up. "There are way better girls out there that would love to be with you."
"Stella…" He cupped her face in his hands. "We don't have to do anything you don't want to do. You know where I stand."
"Stella!" Maggie shouted from the balcony of the house. "My sister in here. It's ten twenty."
"Oh shit!" Stella shot up moving thru people and hurried into the house. Maggie met her at the bottom of the stairs grabbing her hand as the two sprinted outside to the street. She had ten minutes to get home. It was going to take ten minutes to get to her house. Her hands started shaking again as they climbed into the car. Was she caught? Was she being stupid? What if this was a joke? "Holy crap, Stella!" Maggie shouted knocking Stella from her thoughts.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to be out there with him for so long." Stella finally realized that she didn't hang out with Maggie at all. "I'm a horrible friend."
"No!" Maggie laughed. "You were hanging out with Johnny Tran. He was holding your hand and your face…" Stella couldn't help but laugh. She was correct. He was touching her. He was being sweet. She ran her hands over her face as she took in a deep breath. "He likes you, Stel."
"My dad would kill me." There wasn't much time to talk anymore as the car stopped in front of her house. She squeezed Maggie's hand before opening the door. "Thank you so much!"
"I'll see you Monday!" Stella nodded her head as she closed the door and hurried up the steps to the front door. She took a deep breath in before opening the door. She didn't know what time it was. She slowly shut the door behind her as she noticed the lights were off. "Did you have fun?" Dom's deep voice sounded from the couch where he put down the magazine. His face was stern as she nodded her head. "How late am I?" She whispered.
"It's…" He looked at his watch. "Ten thirty two." A relief ran through her entire body as she threw the pillow at him. "I didn't realize what time it was."
"How was the movie?" Dom asked.
"It was good. We just talked a lot. Maggie is really nice." She heard footsteps behind her as she quickly looked up. "Where is Pops at?"
"The diner. He was just closing up. We have an audit coming up." Mia replied. Stella nodded her head. "You want to sleep in my room tonight?" Stella was silent. "We haven't hung out in so long."
"Yeah, that sounds nice." Stella looked over at Dom. "Thanks for waiting up on me." She followed Mia up the stairs as she relived the few hours she had just spent with Johnny Tran. She had gone to party and spent the entire time with the person who threw it. She wondered what Monday would hold for her? Would her family find out? Would she be the talk of the school?
AN: Let me know what you guys think! I am going to do the next Monday at school and then skip a couple of years ahead!