Stella was your average college freshman—she thought, anyway. She wasn't the brightest at her school but she turned in her assignments and tried her best. For some reason or another, not many people wanted to be friends or even acquaintances with her. Stella would go out of her way to try and talk to her classmates, yet her efforts were always in vain. While her roommate Cleo spent her nights at a big social event, Stella spent her time doing homework, making meals for herself, and catching up on new animes.
Today was a Friday, which meant her roommate Cleo would definitely be out for the night. When Stella walked inside the kitchen to have an afternoon snack, she noticed that Cleo had brought in the mail for her to sort. Stella rolled her eyes as she pulled up a seat and went to work. It was mostly bills with a couple of letters from her mom and little brothers, which brought a small smile to her face. She was just about finished when she noticed an interesting-looking envelope that had been written in flowing black ink. She picked it up and looked at it closely, "To Miss Stella Abberra… From…-" She raised her eyebrows in surprise, "Lord Diavolo? Of the Devildom? Odd…" Stella flipped over the letter to find a beautiful wax seal with an interesting symbol: the center had a 7 pronged star with words too small for her to read, and a downward-facing moon with wings on its sides, a tail, and horns.
She carefully opened the letter, making sure not to ruin the wax seal, and opened the letter, "Dear Miss Stella Abberra, we are pleased to inform you that you have been selected to be a part of our new student exchange program! If you are indeed interested, send a letter of your response as soon as you are available. Signed, Lord Diavolo" Stella looked at the letter curiously, "I didn't sign up for a student exchange program…" she muttered to herself. She shrugged and put it by her bedside, 'Maybe it'll be fun, would be alot more interesting than this college…" Just as she was heading back to the kitchen, her roommate sauntered in, extremely drunk, "Hey- *hic* Stellanore…" Cleo waved as she leaned on the fridge.
Stella waved back confused, "Hi Cleo. I thought that you wouldn't be back until tomorrow…" Cleo nodded and waved her hand nonchalantly, "Normally I *hic* would be gone all night… But some gals were saying stuff that… I thought you should know…" Stella raised an eyebrow, "Okay… What'd they say?" Cleo opened the fridge door and scoured for a snack before she went back out with her friends, "Oh the usual… That you're weird and a loner… That your eyes make you look like a freak and that they match your nerdy personality… I'm surprised no one told you, practically everyone talks about you at least once..." Stella felt extremely hurt, she knew that people would gossip about anything, but everyone knew? Everyone but her? She looked at Cleo, tears forming in her eyes, "Why didn't you tell me? Did you even try to stop them from saying horrible things about me?"
Cleo turned to her, a protein shake in her manicured hand, "Sweetheart, here's the thing…." she pointed the shake at Stella while closing the door, "I never had an obligation to stand up for you. I just needed someone to pay at least half of the bills, and you were the schmuck I ended up with!" Stella took a step away frightened, she had never seen Cleo like this before! Is this what she was holding back behind her made-up face and fake smile? Her heart wanted to deny it and say it was the alcohol talking. But deep down she knew that Cleo had been holding back her retorts for a while, but in her drunken state she finally let them out.
Cleo sighed, "I'm going now, don't blow up the house while I"m gone…" and left with a huff. Stella stood in the kitchen for about a minute, trying to compose herself. She was furious at Stella, and everyone else that had talked behind her back all this time. She was also heartbroken that the one person she had some trust in betrayed her without a single thought. She made her way back to her bed, feeling numb both emotionally and physically. But when she was under the covers, she let all of her tears out in a silent sob. When the next morning came, her eyes were still red and her pillow soaked with her tears. She groggily got out of bed and made her way over to her bathroom to wash her face.
After she had freshened up, she made sat down on her bed and thought about what to do. "I can't stay here anymore… I'm not welcome nor do I want to associate with jerks like these…" Her mind briefly thought of doing something illegal or stupid, but she thought that the best revenge would be proving her fellow students wrong. She then remembered the envelope she had received last night, "Lucky you came along…" she muttered as she looked over the letter once more. "Send a letter of my response huh…" she rummaged through her desk and found materials to send a letter back to the "Devildom" or wherever the letter came from.
"Dear Lord Diavolo, I would love to attend this exchange program of yours. Things haven't been going too well at the current college I'm attending, so I'd be happy to transfer as soon as possible. I'll try and get my affairs in order the day I write this letter, but I look forward to attending school at the Devildom. -With much excitement, Stella Aberra" She sealed the envelope, grabbed her backpack, and headed out the door. The rest of her day would be spent demanding to be in a new apartment and requesting to be taken out of her classes. A lot of teachers were confused and asked a lot of questions, such as "Why are you leaving when you're doing so good?" and "Are you coming back?" She left her answers vague and continued on her way.
She was exhausted by the end of the day and happy to have some peace and quiet in her temporary apartment. She didn't get to have any of her furniture moved to the new apartment, but she did get to bring some blankets and pillows. She made herself comfortable on the floor after changing into some comfy nightwear and tried to fall asleep. 'Tomorrow will be better…' She thought to herself groggily as she floated off into the land of dreams. Little did she know that this would be her last night in this apartment, or on this campus for at least a year. For tonight was the night that she would be whisked away to the Devildom, the home of Demons, to be apart of Lord Diavolo's student exchange program.