Chapter 2: Embarrassing Revelations

A white screen came down in front of the stage. Bloom stepped out from behind it and snapped her fingers, like she was signaling to someone. A projection appeared on the screen. With it came my most embarrassing child photos. THE. MOST. EMABRRASING.

" This is Stella when she accidentally went potty on herself." Bloom said in a baby-talking voice. Everyone started laughing. My cheeks burned a little, but I couldn't help but think that if this was her attempt at 'ruining' my social life, then she has to do much better.

"And this is Stella when she got a boo-boo from too much sun." The picture showed me at 11-years-old and extremely pink skin all over. Yeah. That was a bad summer.

How in the world did she even get these pictures? We were never friends so it's not like I gave them to her before. Looking over at Brandon, I see he is staring at me. Probably gauging my reaction to this. I give him a weak smile, reassuring him that I was fine. He gave me a grin back and turned a glare on Bloom.

"Is this what you call entertainment? Because I'm getting pretty bored over here." He yells. Wow he's defending me. That is hot.

Bloom glowered at him before saying," Fine. This is the last one. Hopefully you will like- Oops, that wasn't suppose to be in there!" she exclaims without remorse as I look at the screen. The picture wasn't that much of a shock to me in my heart. I knew they were messing around with each other. But everyone around me gasped as they witnessed the picture of Sky and Bloom locked in and intimate embrace, kissing rather passionately.

Brandon looked confused as he looked at the picture. He turned to me. "Who is that?"

I couldn't respond because my eyes filled with tears and my throat was chocked up. I just shook my head. Bloom looked at me with a grin and mouthed, "Sorry", to me. This was an all time low. Even for her.

I ripped my hand from Brandon's as I raced back through the now empty house and to the car. She just had to ruin everything. I was fine with being the hottest girl in school dating the hottest guy in school. We were the picture perfect couple. I even over-looked his little affair. Now everyone knows. Everyone.

Don't cry. Don't cry. I'll do that later tonight, but not here. Not were everyone will see me and call me weak. As I approach the parking lot, yeah she has a freaking parking lot, someone grabs my shoulder and spins me around.

"Stella, are you okay?" Musa asks sympathetically. I wanted to say, "No I'm not okay, jackass," but I refrained.

"I just want to go home. Where's your car?" Before she could respond, Sky comes running to the scene. Yippy.

"Stella! Wait!"

"I'll go get the car," Musa says.

"Stay away from me Sky." I warn as Musa searched for her car. For some reason he can't take a hint because he grabs my arm and forces me to look at him. \

" It was nothing. I swear! That was an old picture. I promise babe. Just hear me out." He pleaded as I struggled against his painful grip.

"Let me go you good for nothing son of a bitch! I hope you like your little slut." By now we have attracted the crowd from the backyard to the front yard. I have no idea how I am able to still keep my tears at bay.

"She said let her go." Someone stated. I turned around to see Brandon staring at Sky with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"Stay out of this Newbern," at this Brandon tensed even more, "this is my girlfriend not yours."

" Ex-girlfriend big head. Get it right. We are OVER!" I shouted just so everyone could hear.

Sky releases his grip a little and I take full advantage. I turn my body from his and kick him in his "private area". He makes this chocked gurgling sound and falls to the ground.

"Hey! What's your problem?" Bloom exclaims as she too marches up to me. I then notice that Brandon is behind, still keeping a respectful distance, but close enough for me to know that he has my back.

"I would stay away from me if I were you. Trying to embarrass me with those pictures was one thing, but stealing my boyfriend… If you thought I was your enemy before, you haven't seen anything yet." I promised in my most menacing voice.

"Stella, you don't scare me and you never will. Stealing your little boy-toy is just a tip of the iceberg." She replies snottily.

Musa pulls up the car next to me. Thank god. "Let's go Stella." She says.

"Gladly." Just before I approach the car, Bloom says, "Don't you wanna know how I got the pictures?"

"I don't really care anymore, slut-bag. Go tell someone who actually does."

"Well if I were you, I'd ask your supposedly 'best friend' about it." She stares pointedly at Musa.

I turn slowly back to the car window. Musa looks at me guiltily and remorsefully. "I'm so sorry Stella. I just….I really needed the money."

I stared at her in disbelief. "I can't BELIEVE you! You sold me out for MONEY!" My best friend. My best friend gave the enemy ammo for the destruction of my life. I can't believe this.

"Stella please. Just get in the car and I'll explain on the ride to yo-"

"NO!," I interrupted, "I'm not going anywhere with you. You're just like everyone else. A lying skank!" I scream. By now the tears have inevitably fallen down. Darn it.

I run off down the sidewalk. Someone is yelling my name, but I don't really care. I just can't trust anyone anymore. NO ONE.

I know it is pretty stupid for me to be walk alone, in the dark at like midnight, but right now I'm beyond caring. When Bloom's gigantic house is finally out of my view, I take off my heels and start walking. Not too long after I hear a voice yelling my name.

"Stella, wait up!" Brandon jogs up next to me. "Why would you run off like that? You know how dangerous the streets are at this time of night. I haven't been here long, but being out in the middle of the night alone still doesn't sound like a good idea." He ranted as he stepped in front of me. He must be pretty conditioned if he ran after me and isn't out of breath.

" I know, I know. I just…. I had to get away from there." I said as I tried to surreptitiously wipe my eyes. I didn't do a very good job because his face softened. He reached his hand out and softly brushed a tear away from my cheek. "Don't cry Stella." His rough hands were gentle against my skin. We had one of those intense staring sessions again. I think he realized what he was doing, because his eyes widened and he slowly dropped his hand.

"Sorry." he says sheepishly.

"It's okay, really. I just really need to get home now."

"I'll walk with you. I mean, I can't let you walk all alone." He proclaimed.

The walk to my home was silent, yet nice. His presence was such a comfort to me. Much sooner than I hoped, we approached my yard. "This is it." I told him.

He walked me all the way to my door. It was like he didn't want me to leave yet. The strange thing is, I didn't want him to leave either.

"So… tonight sucked." He said

I laughed without humor. "Yeah. Not the best night in history."

"Well, I think there has to be one good thing from tonight. At least one good thing for me."

"And what would that be?"

"Meeting you of course." He smiled my favorite smile.

This guy right here….. I just don't know. For some reason he seems to like me.

"I would really like to see you again. We can even go out tomorrow if you want. Wait… I'm getting ahead of myself. Do you even want to see me again?"

Do I ever! " Yeah…. I do. It's just that I'm not looking for a relationship right now. As you saw I just broke up with my ex."

"It didn't look like a winning relationship to me." he mumbled.

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"I'm just saying he that he seemed like a douche who has no qualms in hurting a girl. Emotionally," he touched my exposed arm, " or physically." His jaw was clenched as he saw the slight bruise I am just now noticing.

"He isn't abusive like that. And honestly you don't know enough about me to be passing judgments on my relationships." I stated defensively.

He raised and eyebrow at me, a skill I have yet to acquire. "Well that's why I would like to get together sometime. So we can get to know each other better. As friends if you want."

I pretended to think it over. Like I would actually say no. "Well, I have church early tomorrow morning. You wanna come with?"

He suddenly got very tense. Kind of like he did when Sky called him Newbern. " I don't… go to church….anymore." He said stiffly, not meeting my eyes.

O…Kay? " That's fine… We could go out afterward if you want to."

He seemed to relax a little. " Yeah. Since I already know where you live, I'll pick you up at… 2?

"Sounds good to me." I smile.

"

Well then… goodnight, Stell. See ya tomorrow." He grinned and began to walk away.

I frowned. "-a." I said after him. "It's Stell-a."

"Sure sure." He smirked. "See ya at two, Stell." With one last grin, he jogged off.

In bed that night, I thought about the disastrous night at Bloom's and my chance meeting with the mysterious Brandon. That worst night of my life might turn out to be the best.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Since it's the summer, you can expect fast updates like these. I'm just so bored these days. So tell me what you think. Oh and if you hate Bloom now, you just wait. I got a few more tricks up my sleeve. That is, if you Review and tell me what you like.