c h a p t e r 3

I awoke hearing snickering, I opened my eyes, then saw Sting and Shinn. Shinn's fists were clenched and I saw rage flicker in his eyes. Sting had a hand to his lips, trying to muffle the sound of laughing.

I frowned, sitting up but felt weight on me, so I fell back down again. I blushed, remembering that Stellar was with me. I jumped off of the bed, "h-hey!"

"Have a nice time?"

I growled, "shut up! It was completely innocent!"

Shinn sighed, "yeah, they have their clothes on," he said. Sting laughed, pointing to me, "except for your shirt, Auel." I narrowed my eyes, "it was nothing bad, you guys!"

Stellar awoke hearing the commotion, she sat up, rubbing her eyes cutely, "what's going on..?" she murmured, her light and tinkely voice questioned. Shinn smiled at her, looking past me, "nothings wrong, Stellar." She smiled when she noticed Shinn was there, "Shinn!" she smiled, jumping off the bed and launching herself into his arms.

I growled with envy, but remembered that she and him were close friends, so I contained myself. Sting sighed, "well, I guess it was innocent, just teasing you, Auel."

I nodded, "yeah I know."

I ruffled my sky blue hair, stretching then looked for a clean shirt to wear. I found my black sleeveless one and slipped it on, "so, want to go to that concert that's going on tonight?"

"You mean that one in an hour? Yeah, we came here to pick you up."

"In an hour!?!"

The two nodded, "yeah you guys really slept a lot I'm guessing."

Stellar smiled, "it was comfy!"

I blushed, then looked away to hide it from them. "So, got any dates?"

Shinn slapped his forehead, "that crazy Lunamaria chick asked me! Can you believe it?! Then when I said I already have a date, which I dont, she ran to Athrun!"

Sting laughed, "yeah, and he has a date with that other blonde girl, I think her name is.. Cathrine?"

Stellar smiled, "it's Cagalli."

"Oh yeah, and Meyrin asked Athrun too, but he just said he was going with his girlfriend. They were together for a long time, did you know that? And she just came to the academy to be with him."

I nodded, "not like I care."

"Do you have a date, Auel?"

Stellar looked at me when Shinn asked that question, I could see this glint in her eyes. "Eh.. no, all the girls that asked me were ditz." Sting and Shinn laughed, "yeah, probably."

"Well, let's get going, Athrun's meeting us downstairs with Kira and his girlfriend."

I nodded, not bothering to comb my hair again, I thought it looked fine just how it was. Stellar walked with Shinn, as Sting and I talked. I saw Shinn's hand twitch beside Stellars, and then I saw him grab her hand. She looked at him with surprise, then smiled. I saw the blush that appeared on his cheeks.

I sighed, feeling jealous once again, then continued on with the boring conversation about girlfriends with Sting. Of course Sting wasn't interested in girlfriends right now, he said none of them were really all that outstanding, except for this redhaired girl he met awhile ago. He described her fluently.

I yawned, "you know Sting, as much as this is interesting to you, I don't really care."

He frowned at me, "sorry."

We finally made it downstairs from the elevator, and saw Athrun and Kira standing there with their backs to us. Two girls were with them. I recongized them as Lacus and Cagalli. I smirked, then ran up behind Kira, then jumped him from behind, slinging my arm around his shoulders.

He let out a surprised yelp, but then recongized me. I laughed, "shoulda seen your face!"

He smiled, "you never change Auel."

I frowned, "what's that supposed to mean?"

He sighed, "nevermind Auel."

I opened my mouth, but then was glomped from behind by Stellar, "AAAHH!" Stellar smiled, "Teehee!" Kira laughed, "now you know how it feels!"

He turned to Stellar, "so you must be Stellar, Lacus' friend right?"

She nodded, "yep! You must be Kira, the one Lacus is always talking about!"

She blushed, Kira looked at her, grinning. "You talk about me?" She blushed, "oh shush!" I saw Cagalli and Athrun, hand in hand. I smirked, about to say a remark that I knew would bug Cagalli, but Stellar tugged my shirt, telling me not to.

I frowned, wanting to remark her about her dress, "fine it'll be something nice... and teasing," I said, murmuring the last part so she couldn't hear. The magenta eyed girl smiled, "okay!"

"Nice dress Cagalli!"

I saw her fist clench, "oh you're just asking for it arent you?"

I waved me hands in front of me, "not at all! Just a compliment!"

She was about to walk over to me as I saw her fist raise, but Athrun smiled at her, "it is a nice dress you know, looks perfect on you." She blushed, looking away and her fists softening. I rolled my eyes, thinking of how corny that was.

Soon, we headed off towards the stadium, Kira and Athrun with their dates. Lunamaria appeared out of nowhere and was right in front of me, "wow! You look cute today Auel! Want to be my date?" she asked, her bright purple eyes shining at me. I didn't want to be mean or else she would cry, and I hated it when girls cried.

"Uhm... o-ok.." I heard myself say.

Everyone was surprised that I didn't turn her down, and I was surprised myself, but I knew she would cry if I didn't take her with me. Stellar looked at me with a strange look in her eyes, was it.. sadness? Jealousy? I didn't know. Lunamaria took my arm and latched onto it, "wow! This is going to be so much fun Auel!"

"How do you know my name?"

"I heard it around, well when people talk about you, they mention your hair color as well and nobody else has your bright blue hair besides you!"

I rolled my eyes, 'stalker..' "that's nice.."

Stellar left my side and went to Shinn, and I frowned at that, not wanting to be alone with Lunamaria. It was kind of my fault I guess, since I said yes in the first place.

We made it to the stadium, then took our seats with our dates. Sting was alone but didn't seem to mind, as he was staring at this redheaded girl in the row in front of ours.

She wasn't that bad looking. Nothing compared to Stellar though.

I sighed, ignoring Lunamaria's endless talking and stared at Stellar, resting my head in my hand, which was propped up from my elbow resting on the arm of the chair. She was talking with Shinn, and he was making her smile quite a lot. She didn't even glance in my direction.

Lacus' head was resting on Kira's shoulder as they talked, and Cagalli and Athrun were fighting over the soda. Lunamaria tried resting her head on my shoulder, seeing how comfortable Lacus looked, but I just shook it off as if it were a fly on my nose.

She whined, but didn't say anything more about it, continuing on with her talking about all the cute guys she had seen today. She always ended her sentences with, "but don't worry, he's not as cute as you." YEAH! Tell me something I DON'T know!

The concert began, and our favourite band right now appeared on stage, it was the band, "UVERworld," which was probably the best japanese band out there right now, next to T.M. Revolution and High and Mighty Color.

They started with the song, "D-Techno Life." I stared at Stellar as she and Shinn watched the performance, she looked like she was enjoying the music a lot. I sighed, "I'm sorry Lunamaria, but I have to go, you can stay here by yourself can't you?"

She nodded, "yeah but why are you leaving?"

"I don't feel so good," I lied, then turned and walked away, leaving the stadium.

I sighed, then went to the park, walking around in the dark by myself. I wanted to be with Stellar so bad, but I was scared, I didn't want to ruin our friendship if something went wrong. I sat down on a bench, thinking to myself. What if Stellar liked Shinn and not me?

I shook the thought from my mind, I hoped that she didn't like him more than a friend, but I couldn't control people's feelings.

------

The next day, everyone was wondering where I had gone during the concert, but I just said I felt sick and went back to my dorm. They knew I was lying, but didn't question it.

I had also been avoiding Stellar reluctantly, I was really confused right now... She knew something was wrong. I was happy that she was back with me after all these years, but I just wasn't sure if she felt the same towards me.

I sighed, walking down the hallway alone, hoping that Stellar was also walking the same way, but not with Shinn. The two had been spending a lot of time together recently, and I wished that he would leave her alone so I could spend some time with her too. I wished that he would start going after some other girl, but I knew that was impossible, since Stellar was like the goddess.

I stared out the window, staring at the ocean, then sensed someone approaching. I turned and saw Stellar gazing at me. I looked at her, "Stellar... what is it?"

"Why is Auel avoiding Stellar?" she asked, a sadness lingering in her eyes.

"I'm not avoiding you, Stellar..." I replied.

"Then why is Auel depressed?"

I looked towards the ground, "I don't know," I lied.

I felt something warm press against my shoulder, it was Stellar's small hand. I looked towards her, and the urge to pull her into my arms was almost unbearable now.

I grabbed her shoulders, pressing her small and soft body into mine, holding her close to me, "Stellar... please don't leave me anymore..." I murmured. She was surprised by the sudden contact from me, after not feeling it for so long.

I felt her small arms encircle me, as she hugged me back, "Stellar will stay with Auel, Stellar promises."

I felt tears fall from my eyes, the tears that I haven't shed for the years that she had left me. I hugged her tighter, closing my eyes, trying to keep the tears in. She pulled away slightly, then wiped the tears away with her hand, "Auel shouldn't be crying, Stellar is here now!" She smiled.

I smiled through my tears, "I know Stellar, I know.."

She gave me one last hug, then surprisingly, a kiss right beside my mouth on my dimple, "Stellar will see Auel later!" She said, then left, leaving me to stand there in surprise.

My face turned red, and I touched my hand to the place her lips once were. I smiled to myself, then shook my head. 'This is so unlike me!! What is wrong with me!?!?'

I frowned, putting my normal face back on, barking at anyone that approached me. Everyone smiled with relief, knowing that I was myself again.

TO BE CONTINUED!