Stella roughly shoved her blue bike into the bike rack and snapped the lock shut. Her morning had been a disaster so far. Not only had the hair curler burned her, but then she accidentally stabbed herself in the eye with her mascara and, to top it all off, she hadn't had time to pack her lunch.
She self-consciously ran her hand through her half-curled ponytail — oh, that's right. She had also run out of time curling her hair and was left with a half-curled last-minute ponytail. The music blasting through her earbuds was the only thing keeping her mood in check.
Stella straightened as her older brother passed by her, making a clutter of noise with his friends. They hadn't spoken since That Night.
He didn't notice her, and he and his mates beat her to the school doors. That was a topic, alright. His mates. Or, as Aster would argue, his brothers. Didn't he realize how stupid that sounded? Everyone has their ride-or-dies, but you don't call them your brothers.
Especially not when you already have a brother you don't care to talk to. Or a sister.
But even Stella had to admit, she loved his friends. And she loved that they were his friends. Quinn and Eric were good for him.
Stella pushed the school doors open with a groan for the day to come and was met with another reason to groan. The school was decked out in blue, green and red. It was that time of year.
"Howdy Cobalt," Abigail swung her arm across Stella's shoulder with an easy smile.
"Say that word one more time and I pummel you," She didn't usually show her hatred for the teams this openly, but it had been a long morning.
"Take it easy, mate," She grinned, light green face paint already decorating her cheeks.
"Please tell me Alice doesn't look like a green pompom," Stella groaned, eyeing her friend distastefully, although a small smile was pulling at her lips.
"That's the Cobalt in you," Abigail shook her head in mock disappointment.
Stella lightly shoved her, but she was smiling, "Hey look I gotta go to the dunny, I'll see you later,"
"Alright, cheerio," In a blur of blonde hair and dark eyeliner, Abigail was off to go greet her other friends.
Their school was split into three student-houses, named after a shade of their team colour. The Maroons (Red's), The Sages (Green's) and The Cobalts (Blue's). Most of the year, those categories were nothing but the colour of your school tie, until the last 2 months of school that is. That's when the school went hardcore school spirit and forced the three teams into all sorts of competitions.
It was supposed to be a fun, silly tradition. And that's what it was — until families like the Blackwoods got an opinion.
Stella expertly applied a coat of lip gloss in the bathroom mirror, checked her outfit and left to go to the gym. She liked to waste time in the morning before class, and the bathroom was an easy go-to.
The gym was (as expected) decked out in the colours but also decorated for the assembly, with three different seating spots for the teams. The assembly was a basic introduction to the future 9th graders who were at the school for a tour. It was extremely boring, but they still forced all the other grades to suffer through it so the kids who would be joining the next year could see the 'school spirit'.
However, it didn't start for another 10 minutes and Stella was quickly bored. So, she set out to find her friends. It wasn't hard, considering she easily spotted the Sage chairs.
"G'day Sages," Stella half-grinned up at her friends from her crouching position. Unlike the Cobalts, a good chunk of the Sages were already there and Stella was attempting to hide from them as they weren't too friendly to other teams this time of year (especially not the rival soccer captain).
YOU ARE READING
SUMMER STARS
Teen FictionStella Blackwood always believed her family would be as unbreakable as the stars they were named after. Growing up with her brothers, she was certain they would always stay close, but by her junior year of high school, Stella realized how wrong she...
