Stay Courageous

Chapter 11

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Dear Reader,

So the character for this chapter is none other than my personal favorite, Zoe! :) This is what I imagine her to look like but keep in mind she usually wears darker makeup. Happy reading!

-SJ

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Emily's POV

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It was the summer of 2013, between seventh and eighth grade. The last time I talked to Stella Ridley, it was less than enjoyable. Still, it was one of my most important memories. It's not every day you lose your best friend.

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Emily's flashback

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"I'm so excited that Zoe's finally coming home!" exclaimed Stella. Zoe had been at the Children's Hospital of Dallas recovering from a liver transplant gone wrong for about two months. Today was the day she was finally coming back from Sandhills and Stella and I were ecstatic.

"I know, right! Everyone's gonna be so to see her. I was texting Bennett last night and he said even some of the boys were waiting to see her. Maybe he was even talking about Josh! How happy would that make her?" Stella gushed. Zoe'd been crushing on Josh all year it seemed like. But that wasn't what caught my attention at all.

"Speaking of Bennett, how is he? I haven't talked to him since Valentine's day," I felt my eyes dart to the left as I lied through my teeth.

Stella smiled a smug little smile. "Oh, he's good. We text a lot," she said while she talked with her hands. It annoyed the shit out of me when she did stupid girly things like that!

"Oh, well, I just wondered if you ever found out who he liked or not. Cause, you know, even after Valentine's day it's still a mystery to us," it took all my willpower to keep from smiling.

"Oh, not telling," she said. "He does flirt with me a lot though." That little bitch.

"Does he? Cause Robert told me that he likes Ashley," I lied again. But I knew what I was doing.

"Really," said Stella, looking down and fidgeting with her bedspread that we were sitting on. I could hear her tone getting harder and the air filling with more and more tension by the second. "Well, why don't I just text him and ask him right now." She whipped out her hot pink iPhone. That color! Ugh! I read their iMessage conversation over Stella's shoulder.

Stella: Hey, I has a question.

Bennett: Yeah?

Stella: Promise you'll tell the truth? :3

Bennett: Yeah.

Stella: Who do you like?

Bennett: tbh, I like Emily. Don't tell.

Stella's jaw dropped and it was my turn to show off a smug little grin with a wiggle of my eyebrows.

"You already knew that, didn't you?" she whispered through gritted teeth. "AGH! JUST ONE MORE THING IN MY LIFE THAT CAN'T GO RIGHT! JUST ONE MORE THING WHERE MY BEST FRIEND CAN ONE UP ME!" she screeched again and threw her phone across the room and it flew through her bathroom door. I heard the phone hit the tile and the glass shatter to a million pieces. Wow, I meant to make her mad, but never this. Who gave her the right to flip out on me?