Collection of One Shots

Stella was sitting on a picnic table, watching her friends Ash and Devlyn attempt to hacky sack. The final bell rang, in the distance, signaling that they were officially late.

"I cannot believe I am going to be late, again!" Ash said, shoving the sack into his pocket and grabbing his bag.

Stella laughed and asked "How many is it now?”

Ash mocked a laugh and mumbled "Fourteen." Stella and Devlyn laughed and then Stella ducked under the table and found her best friend, Jezebel Rowan Barakat, sound asleep using her Biology book as a pillow. Above her head, she motioned for the guys, who had recently started debating who was hotter: Jessica Alba or Mariah Carrey, to shut up and come here.

"Shh...” Devlyn said, stifling a laugh. They watched her sleep for a minute or two and then Stella pulled out The Bullhorn.

"This thing is monumental. We have seriously used it on Jez like, 12 times. She is going to kill one of us." Ash whispered, quickly.

"I vote Ash!" Stella and Devlyn say at the same time.

"Apple C!" Stella whisper shrieks. They all whisper-laugh and then it is suddenly serious.

"four...three..two...” They counted down.

BLAAZZZZZOUPP

"Who's There?!" Jez screamed, sitting straight up. She bonked her head on the picnic table and grumbled. Ash, Devlyn, and Stella were in hysterics. “Cruel and unusual…such great friends…three days before my birthday, no less”Jez muttered, rubbing the back of her head.

“Oh, come off it, you laughed plenty hard when we did it to Ash!” Stella said, still giggling.

“Whatever,” Jez said, crawling out from under the table. “Did the bell ring?” She asked. The others nodded and she sighed.

*~* Later *~*

“Okay Class, today you will finish up your cell projects with your assigned partners, and tomorrow we will present.” Mrs. Grover said, clapping her hands three times, signaling to get started. Stella made her way over to her dimwitted partners. Well, one of them was dimwitted. The other was uncharacteristically gorgeous. His name was James Thomas, and he was an idiot.

“Sup dudes?” She asked, plopping down on the hard stool.

“Sky,” James replied, totally relaxed, leaning on the back two legs of his chair.

“Kay, we have what? Twenty-four hours to finish this puppy,” Stella said, rubbing her hands together, feeling like a mad scientist.

“Let’s get finished.” Her partners mumbled a response as she weaved through the groups to get to the back of the room where the project was stored. They were making a larger-than-life version of a cell. All they had to do was add the Mitochondria and label everything.

*~* Later in the class period *~*

“What’s your favorite kind of muffin?” James asked, listlessly.

Absentmindedly, Stella replied ‘Blueberry” and Neville mumbled “Cranberry”. Stella was using her best handwriting to label the Endoplasmic Reticulum, and it wasn’t working out too well. She flung the sharpie across the room and it nearly missed Eliza’s head.

“Whoa!!” Neville yelled, for the first time ever sounding as if he wasn’t about to fall asleep. Stella didn’t care, because apparently neither did her worthless partners. She had done all the work, and she couldn’t take it anymore. She didn’t care if James was gorgeous, or what he would think of her once she had done this or if she would be in trouble, she just acted on impulse.

She grabbed her bag and walked out of the room with a purpose. She could hear people calling after her but she couldn’t care less. She was finally free. She pushed open the back doors and walked into freedom.

*~* That Evening *~*

“GROUNDED?!” Stella screamed at the top of her lungs. Her mother had to be kidding. After all, Stella had only skipped three classes. And one of them had been GYM for Pete’s sake.

“Yes, grounded, young lady. You ditched school! You flung a writing utensil across the room! You’re lucky I’m not making you ride the bus to school!” Her mother raged. Stella ran upstairs, to the attic –her bedroom- and seethed. Jez’s birthday party was this weekend! How could her mother do this? She was seventeen; she could make her own decisions! Her dad would never have grounded her. He would have clapped her on the back and said “Good thing you know how to stand up for yourself!” Not threaten to take her car!

Thinking about her Dad made her tear up, and so she sat on her bed and sobbed. He had been killed by a drunk driver two years ago, and ever since her mother had been a cold-hearted wench. She used to be fun, and spontaneous, but when Phil was killed she closed herself off and never came out.

Stella pulled a notebook out from under her bed and opened it. It was a scrapbook of every picture Stella had of her father. The tears slowed and then came to a stop as she got further into the book. She smiled as she remembered every scene. At the White House, the Louvre Museum, McDonalds. He’d always had his camera with him, no matter what.
She took a deep breath, wiped her eyes of lingering tears, and put away the notebook. She’d vowed that she’d finish High School for her dad, so she got out her math homework and got to work.

*~* The Next Day *~*

“What do you mean you ‘can’t come’? You’re joking right? We’ve been talking about my party for ages! If you don’t come, it will be a disaster!” Jezebel rambled.

“Jez, listen, I’ll make it up to you, I promise, I’ll” Stella started, but Jez interrupted her.

“Don’t even make me any promises. I would not be a smart move.” Jez said, dangerously. Stella held her hands up in defense. Did Jez really think that she wanted to miss her party? Stella wondered. Stella apologized once more before hurrying off to Social Studies. The only class she had with Devlyn AND Ash.

Her seat was placed in between the two boys, which was convenient at times, but now was not one of those times. Ash was mad that Stella wasn’t going to Jez’s party too, because she had been his date. Devlyn wasn’t happy, but he wasn’t flat out ignoring her like someone they knew. They spent the rest of that class passing notes to another, Stella complaining about Jez acting like she wanted to miss the party. Devlyn tried his best to give her advice, but he just had no idea, because this kind of thing never happened with guys.

When the bell rang Stella sighed, knowing the wrath of Jezebel Rowan Barakat was awaiting her in Spanish class.

*~* Fast Forward to Saturday Afternoon *~*

Stella was on the phone with Jez, pacing her room. Jez had suggested that Stella sneak out that night, in hopes of going to her party, but Stella quickly denied. She couldn’t find it in her to disobey her mother like that. But now that she thought about it more, it wasn’t a bad idea. It’s not like her mom would ever know. And on the plus side, Jez had a home slushie machine. Who could pass up free slushies? She knew she sure couldn’t. With those thoughts she made her final decision. Well, next to last decision.

*~* That Night *~*

She stood there, in front of her Mustang, weighing her options. Grounded she thought. One little party wouldn’t hurt anyone she told herself, jiggling her keys into the lock. She sat down on the custom leather seats, breathing in the smell. The smell of freedom she thought. Oh what the heck, let's go! She urged herself. And with that she drove towards Jez’s house.
When she arrived, the house was already full of people and the music was up so loud, the bass was shaking the earth beneath her.

She’d gone for a simple outfit, silky red dress with a thick black belt above her hips, under a black boyfriend blazer and red ballet flats. She looked drop dead gorgeous.

Stella walked into the house with a smile playing across her features. She quickly found Jez, and congratulated her for the 60 millionth times. Jez was officially, as of 5:37 p.m., 18 years old.

Jez looked beautiful as well. She was wearing a dark blue dress that brought out her deep blue eyes and black heels.

The girls roamed the party for a bit, and then it was time for cake. Now, let me tell you this now. Jezebel is rich. So her cake was almost as tall as her. It was ‘splatter painted’ and at the very top it read ‘Happy 18th Jez!’ in rainbow letters. Jez blew out her candles and the servers handed out a piece to everyone.

Much later, it was time for Stella to head home. She got in her mustang and pulled into the road. No sooner had she passed the stop sign at the end of the road she was struck on the driver’s side of the car by a Ford Explorer. The blow spun the small car around in a full 360 and skidded to a stop, and into a light pole, not 30 feet from Jez’s front door.

Jez, Ash, and Devlyn who had seen the whole thing sprinted to Stella’s Mustang. The second Jez got to the car; she fell to the ground, choking on her tears. Ash, who was braver, reached in and felt for a pulse. He yelled that he found one, and Devlyn, despite the gory mess, threw open the door of the now dented Mustang and carried Stella bridal style to his own car. He told Ash that the keys were in the ignition and to get in the car. Jez, who was paler than normal, walked stiffly to the car and sat up front and didn’t dare look back at Devlyn and Stella.

Ash raced to the hospital and Stella was instantly taken care of. Jez called Stella’s mom, with the help of Ash, for she had broken down when Stella’s mom had asked what had happened. Devlyn was pacing the Lobby angrily, hollering at anyone who tried to calm him down. Jez was hugging her knees in one of the plastic chairs in the waiting room, while Ash handled the paperwork.

Stella’s mom arrived shortly after they called her. They waited for about 3 hours, until finally a familiar doctor walked through the E.R. doors. They all collected around him and he looked at them, falsely cheery.

“Well?” Devlyn snapped.

The doctor hardly flinched and said “She’s stable”. These words cause Stella’s mom and Jez to collapse into each other, shedding thankful tears.

Ash wrapped his arms around Jez and Devlyn pressed on “Define ‘stable’”.

The doctor replied “She’s going to live, for one. But, she does have a broken leg, and 2 broken ribs. She may be concussed but it won’t be for certain until tomorrow. She is awake now, if you’d like to see her.” The four of them rushed to the room that the doctor hollered after them.

Stella was lying on the bed with tubes coming out of her everywhere. But none of that mattered to anyone, just as long as she was alive.

Stella blinked a few times and then said in a hoarse voice “Heck of a birthday present, huh Jez?” Those words helped each person breath a little easier, knowing that Stella could joke around. They knew everything would be fine.