At 7:58 Stella ran across the street to Starbucks.
"Stella! Stella Bennett? A small voice asked. Stella looked around and saw a small girl at a table. She tilted her head.
"Yes?"
"Hi! Oh, great, I'm Iliana!" The girl smiled. Stella stared at her small frame. Upon closer inspection, she was obviously college-age. Her perfect complexion and liquid eyeliner gave her an airbrushed appearance. She was slight, a mere five-foot-two. Stella nearly towered over her at five-foot-six.
"Hi." She said. Iliana smiled wide.
"Can I have my list?" She asked. Stella nodded and handed her the crumpled piece of paper. "Thank goodness! I'd forgotten who was on it. I'll give it to him at VIP. That'll be alright." Iliana mumbled.
"Who is Cameron?" Stella asked. Iliana's mouth fell open.
"Who is Cameron?" She asked. Stella stared blankly in reply. "Cameron Quiseng?"
"Key-seng!" Stella exclaimed. "I couldn't figure out how to say it."
"Key-seng, right, right." Iliana mumbled. "Cam is the bass guitarist for Allstar Weekend, silly!"
"Okay? Well ... have a nice night." Stella said as she walked away.
"Wait!" Iliana yelled after her. "You looked them up, didn't you?" She smiled as Stella turned.
"A bit." Stella replied.
"Did you like them?" Iliana asked eagerly.
"Not really." Stella shrugged.
"Challenge accepted." Iliana smiled. "Come with me." Iliana took Stella's hand and dragged her toward the highway.
"Where are we going?" Stella asked. "You don't want to get a drink here, or something?"
"Of course not. They have really bitchy barristas now. I live just up here to the right ..." Iliana trailed off. "Why did you want to get me my list? Why not just leave it?"
"I figured it had a purpose." Stella shrugged. "I just moved here, so I was hoping to ... I don't know."
"Make a friend?" Iliana smiled.
"Sure." Stella mumbled. Iliana asked,
"Where do you live, then?"
"Oh, um, I'd rather not ..." Stella said as Iliana chuckled.
"Am I really that threatening?" She asked.
"Most threats don't come labeled." Stella retorted.
"True." Iliana nodded. Well, I live just up here to the right." Stella and Iliana walked a few minutes before heading into a slightly run-down house. "I know it's not much, but I fell in love with the neighborhood, you know?" Stella nodded.
Iliana opened the front door and the girls walked into a surprisingly antique living room.
"Wow." Stella said. "I did not see that coming." Stella's fingers grazed the wood paneling of the sofa, adoring the pink paisley pattern. Iliana blushed.
"I like to think of myself as an interior decorator. On the side, of course."
"What's your actual job?"
"Oh, um ... I do ... consultant work?" Iliana said hesitantly.
"Consulting for whom?" Stella asked suspiciously.
"It's freelance work." Iliana admitted. "I'm a private investigator. She led Stella into her bedroom. It was cast in an eerie glow, Stella realized, from five different computer screens. "This is why I can't afford a better place. The electric bill is a huge chunk of change." Iliana shrugged.
"Family business?" Stella guessed.
"Indeed! Like the mortuary business, you know?"
"Hopefully with different results?"
"Mostly." Iliana said. "Mostly."
"What do you know about me?" Stella asked.
"Stella? Donatella Bennett from Maine. Your dad's an investment consultant, your mom was stay-at-home until she was arrested on charges of production and distribution of LSD. What's interesting about you, is there is no trail leading to you. There are no phone records from the past week. There are no college applications. No car purchases. No house purchases. I had to work backward from your Twitter." Iliana said.
"Nice work." Stella said.
"Thank you."
"So how does a girl like you get into a boy band?"
"Band!" Iliana yelled. She covered her mouth. "Sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scream. I mean ... they're not a boy band." She whimpered.
"It's alright." Stella said, a bit startled. "Band, then. How did you get into a band?" Iliana smiled nostalgically.
"I met them bowling once."
"Okay."
"Then I looked them up on Youtube."
"And ..."
"That was it." Iliana shrugged. "I was gone."
"You watched their videos and ... that was it?"
"You can't help falling in love with them. They're so adorably stupid." Iliana smiled.
"You're very cheeky." Stella said. "I like it."
"Thank you." Iliana sat in her desk chair and pulled various websites and videos up on her screens. She pointed to the one on the far left.
"That is-"
"Life As We Know It." Stella finsihed.
"Good, you know it." Iliana smiled. "Pardon the pun. Their most recent music video." She pointed at the screen directly in front of her. "This is their upcoming tour schedule."
"Are you going?"
"We're going." Iliana smiled. "I was going to take my friend, Sarah, but I'm sure she'll find someone else. You need an Allstar Weekend education."
"Whoa. I don't want to go see them live. I just moved, I've got loads of things to do-"
"Like what?" Iliana asked, eyes narrowed.
"Like ..." Stella trailed off.
"Making friends. Which you will do at the show." Iliana swiveled back to face her screens. She pointed to the three upmost screens, each with a different boy's face on it. "The one on the far left," Iliana pointed, "is Michael. He plays drums. I like to call his little groupies the 'baby girls.'" Iliana giggled. Stella stood, her face stoic. "Well, Adubbers would think it's funny." Iliana scoffed.
"Adubbers?" Stella asked.
"Oh, dear Lord." Iliana spun to face Stella and asked, "Have you ever been in a fandom?"
"A fandom?"
"Sweet baby Jesus. I can't believe you'd just return-" Iliana rolled her eyes.
"I'm confused. Have I done something wrong?" Stella asked.
"You're going to need a lot of work. Go home, be back here at 8."
"Why should I?" Stella asked.
"You want a friend, don't you?" Iliana asked. Stella thought back to the letter her father sent with her. A friend is the closest thing I'll ever have to family.
"Of course."
"Well, you've got me!" Iliana said, cheerfully. "Soon, you'll have an entire fandom."
"I still don't know-"
"Go home." Iliana pressed.