Enemy Fire | J. Saltzman - Legacies [3]

T W E N T Y - O N E

Stella finds herself staring at Josie as the girl sleeps. She catches herself before it becomes creepy, but to Stella, there was something so incredibly beautiful about the way her girlfriend lies curled next to her, her hand subconsciously tightening around Stella's as the girl tries to slip away. She presses a soft kiss to Josie's forehead before stepping out of the room.

Leaning her head against her now closed door, Stella lets out a low sigh. The truth weed is starting to wear off, leaving Stella exhausted, but she knows that her words have consequences, especially with her cousin.

She lets her eyes wander up and down the hallway: on one end, she knows that path will lead to her cousin who is probably waiting to berate her with questions; on the other end stands a blond boy who seems to just be watching the mostly empty hallway from his bedroom door. Against her better judgment, Stella walks in his direction.

His eyes snap to her as her footsteps echo in the hallway. As he turns to walk into his room, Stella holds out a hand and says, "Wait. Please?"

The boy sighs before turning back to the girl who stops in front of him, his arms crossed. "What do you want?" He asks.

Clenching her jaw, Stella wills her annoyance to simmer down. "Look, I know we don't know each other, but I also know that despite what happened today, I've really only heard good things about you, so this is me trying to make an effort." She sticks out her hand. "Maybe we should start from the beginning. I'm Stella."

He does not reach forward.

She lets her hand drop. "Ok..." Pursing her lips, Stella looks down at her now clasped hands. "Look, dude, I know you don't like me, but there are only so many kids here, so you're gonna need to eventually."

"Why? You made it very clear you don't care about me or my dad," Aaron replies, his voice clipped and sharp. "Besides that, the only thing I've heard about you is your little dip into dark magic—"

"Wait, are you seriously annoyed with me because I used black magic?" Stella arches a brow. "What, do you have a double standard or something? Half the kids in this school have used black magic. I'm not special."

"I don't care about the black magic," Aaron says. "Maybe I just don't like you."

"Fine," Stella snaps. "I'm trying to be civil here for the sake of everyone else at this school, especially the twins."

He bites his lip. "Well, I don't think the twins really care anymore about how we interact."

"You mean Lizzie?" Stella shakes her head as a laugh falls from her lips. She backs away from the door as she says, "Well, consider this a welcome present. When Lizzie avoids something, she throws herself into other things, for instance, Fundraiser Day? Just saying, she's not a lost cause. I wouldn't give up just yet."

As she walks away, she can practically taste his hesitation. "Yeah, well, you don't know what you're talking about!" He shouts after her.

"Great comeback, newbie!" Stella replies before turning the corner.

Finding Hope isn't difficult at all. In fact, it only takes a couple of seconds to realize where she would be, and then a minute to get there. As Stella walks up to the room, a voice that certainly isn't Hope's reaches her ears.

"...In the few days I have known you, you have not asked me a single thing about my life." As she listens to Cleo, Stella stops a good distance from the room and presses her back to the wall.

"You're right," Hope replies. Stella can just make out her cousin's figure in front of the fireplace through the small, distorted view she has. "I'm sorry. Earlier, you mentioned you had been blocked. What happened?"