Chapter 2: Stella Stone
Brawly made his way over to Roxanne. Stella watched as this teenage guy with blue hair and toned arms picked up Roxanne and hugged her tightly.
"Hey, looks like we're in homeroom together" Brawly winked at Roxanne. Roxanne rolled her eyes.
"Whatever. Hey. This is Stella, guess who she is!" Roxanne clasped her pretty little hands together in excitement.
Stella looked uneasily up into Brawly's grey-ish blue eyes. She hoped he wouldn't recognize her, but deep inside she knew he would.
"HA! I sure do! It's little Stella! Hey, Stoney's brought her 'round to Dewford several times to pick up some rocks. 'Course I was still little, but I don't think I could ever forget those silver eyes. Nope." Brawly laughed boisterously. It echoed through the court yard, and even brought curious on lookers who were pressed up against the bay window, trying to see what could be happening between these three famous forces of nature.
Well, forces of nature was an exaggeration, but they sure were famous. And the whole Hoenn region loved to talk about them, as well as the other gym leaders, the elite four, and Steven Stone.
"Well so you know each other. Great" Stella sensed some bitterness in Roxanne's voice, but dared not to read too much into it. "Listen, Stella, you should go to your homeroom because class is going to start soon."
Stella did as she was told, all while not breaking eye contact with Brawly. It was bad news that he would be attending the same school she was. Why did life love to throw random obstacles at her? The last time she had seen Brawly was six weeks ago, something Brawly hadn't mentioned to Roxanne.
"To tell you the truth, I'm quite captivated by fighting types. I was wondering if I could have a talk with you…Brawly?" Stella needed to get him alone.
"Be late if you want to" Roxanne taunted.
…
"We only have five minutes so hurry. I'm trying to be a good student this year" Brawly said to Stella. The smile he had on earlier was completely gone.
"Brawly, when I'm here…just pretend I'm not. I don't know if you still-" Stella suddenly jumped.
"Um, could you tell me where room 305 is?" a short girl with mousy brown hair and the greenest eyes shyly asked the duo. The girl smelled like roses and freshly cut grass. She was short and her school uniform seemed kind of big on her.
"Yeah, it's the next wing over. Don't worry, teachers are chill on the first day" Brawly informed the girl.
"Thanks" the girl mumbled and then shuffled away.
As soon as the threat was gone, Brawly turned to Stella and grabbed her by the shoulders.
"Hey Stel, why don't we catch up some other time? I've really gotta get to class. See ya!" Brawly ran towards his classroom, leaving Stella in the dust.
She still felt the warmth of his hand on her shoulders and couldn't help but feel empty again. Brawly had Roxanne now, and it could have never worked out. Steven hated Brawly's father, Chris, with a passion after Chris banned Steven from working in the nearby cave.
…
Stella entered her homeroom class her eyes wide open and attentive. She had to be careful about her actions because cameras would be everywhere.
A group of girls in the corner of the classroom stood in a circle, snickering and gossiping to each other, occasionally taking glances at Stella. One girl suddenly detached herself from the group and approached Stella. She seemed to be the leader, as when she left, the whole pack followed behind her. Her hair was a turquoise green and her brown eyes were full of maliciousness. She was tall and skinny, and her facial features were what one would consider beautiful.
"So…you're Stella right? Congrats on making it in the school…if you know what I mean" She smirked and her friends giggled. Stella knew exactly what she meant. Almost no one had gotten into this prestigious school by merit, but rather with money or celebrity status.
"Yeah thank you. I'm sorry…I didn't catch your name?" Stella asked.
"I'm Sierra. My father owns the ferry company in Slateport" Sierra twirled her blue-green hair around her finger "Do you want to eat lunch with us today?"
"Yeah, that sounds cool. I'm up for it" Stella smiled. These weren't the girls she generally made friends with, but they would have to do for today.
…
Stella walked from the main hall into the courtyard to eat her lunch. Right before she could meet up with Sierra and her crew, she bumped right into another girl. It was the short girl from earlier, who had asked for directions.
"Oh no! I'm so sorry! Please, I will get napkins. Oh what have I done?" The tiny girl ran off towards the cafeteria searching for napkins while Stella stood there wide eyed. Stella had not received a single drop of food on her, but rather had spilled her entire lunch on the poor girl.
"Here. I'm sorry. It won't happen again." The girl took the napkin and began cleaning up the mess.
"Hey. It's okay. Dude, don't worry, it was totally my fault! I can't look at where I'm going. I'm just a giant klutz." Stella bent down and helped her pick up the spill.
But the girl just stared at her, almost trembling, her eyes filled with fear. Was she scared of Stella?