{WATTYS 2021/2022 SHORTLIST}{Editor's Pick} {Featured Story}
One girl. Two boys. An impossible choice.
Stella LaFever, a theatre student from California, can't wait to spend a summer in Newport, Rhode Island, with her best friend. She is in despera...
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Chapter Song: Wannabe, The Spice Girls
I was late. Right now. This minute. I was late.
My body had been conditioned to freak out when it wasn't where it was supposed to be, and a knot of anxiety was twisting away inside my chest.
My life had always been synced to the tick of a clock. Each minute accounted for. The family schedule. My personal schedule. The Naval Academy's schedule.
But right now, I wasn't on a schedule. I wasn't supposed to be in a car with Stella, driving towards the hospital. But I was.
It was as scary as it was freeing.
I turned my phone off and focused on the road.
And of course, Stella.
That black storm cloud I'd noticed hovering over her pretty pink sunrise was thundering.
Her face was in her hands. My heart was in my throat. I couldn't imagine what she was going through. My grandma was seventy-five, but she was healthier than most of my friends.
I gripped the steering wheel as I rolled to a stop at a red light.
"Tell me a story," Stella said. Her voice was strained, like she was trying to hold back tears.
"A story?" I repeated.
"Yes. Tell me a story about anything. Just talk. I need a distraction."
I swallowed. What could I tell this girl that would distract her? "Do you want to hear a funny story?"
"Funny's good."
I had plenty of embarrassing moments to share, so I picked the first two that came to mind. "Would you rather hear about the time South convinced me to rollerblade through downtown tethered to his bike? Or the time Nora dressed my brothers and me up like The Spice Girls?"
Stella's face slid out of her hands. "The Spice Girls?"
"Oh yeah," I said, cracking a smile. "Nora was an indomitable twelve year old. She could convince us to do anything. I had on one of her old sparkly dance costumes and this pink feathery thing—"
"A boa?"
"That's it. A pink boa."
Stella let out a little laugh.
"It was hot," I added. Wanting to hear her laugh again. "I've heard several times that I look good in sparkles."
