“Move it, bitch!” The girl glared after I accidentally bumped into her. The airport in Phoenix, Arizona was packed with people. It was about 6.30 in the evening, and I had no idea who was supposed to pick me up. Heck, I had no idea who I was supposed to live with! My eyes stung from all the crying a few hours ago. I was merely in a loose tank, shorts and flip-flops, and the only other forms of clothing I had were the ones in my beach bag- in fact, the things inside my beach bag were the only possessions I had right now: an extra tank and shorts, some sun block, sunglasses, my phone, and my wallet, containing my savings and the extra wad of cash the police station offered for my plane ticket.
“Jessica! Jessica Bowen!” I turned around and I saw a familiar face- a woman, probably at her mid-forties with wavy black hair, and a slightly tanned complexion. She was in jeans and a blouse that fitted her perfectly. She looked tired, but nevertheless, relieved.
“Do you remember me? I’m Stella Gomez, I’m- I was your mother’s best friend, and I’m your godmother.” She smiled and took my hand, leading me out of the airport and into the parking lot, where her car was. The next thing I knew, we were driving away from the airport.
“I’m so sorry about your loss, Jessica, your mother and father were one of the nicest people I’ve met and-“
“It’s okay,” I looked away because my eyes began to sting again, and tears were beginning to form. I didn’t want her to see me crying.
“It’s okay, Jessica, you’ll be okay. Living with us won’t be so bad. We’ll be family,” she smiled.
“Thanks, uh-“ I wasn’t sure what to call her though.
“It’s Stella, since I’m not so sure you’d want to call me ‘mom’, although I don’t have a problem with that.”
“Okay, Stella, just call me Jess,” I smiled a little.
“Okay.”
“So, do you have any children?” I asked curiously.
“I have two crazily wonderful boys,” she smirked. “You used to play with them when you were kids, but that was a long time ago, you probably have forgotten.”
“Oh,” was all I could say. In a matter of about 20 minutes, we arrived in Scottsdale in a comfortable silence. The next thing I knew, we were waiting outside of Pizza Hut for our dinner-take-out.
“You probably don’t have any other clothes besides the ones in your bag, right?” She asked as we were driving ‘home’. I nodded.
“Okay, so tomorrow, we’re going shopping, okay?” I smiled.
“Thanks, Stella,” I said.
“It’s my pleasure, dear, I mean, I’ve never had a daughter to buy clothes to, so I’d love to do this,” she smiled warmly. When we arrived (we probably did, since she stopped the car in front of a house, so…) I got out of the car with my bag, holding two boxes of pizza, and followed Stella to the front door. She took out her keys and opened the door to the living room. It was quiet, so no one was probably home.
“My husband’s on a business trip, so he’s not around. The boys are probably upstairs.” She said, taking the pizza from me and making her way to the dining area. I put my bag on the couch and followed her.
“John, Stephen, dinner’s ready!” Stella called out. John and Stephen, the names sounded familiar. I helped Stella set the table as a boy appeared in sight.
“What took you so long, mom? I thought we were gonna starve and-“the guy with curly black hair said and stopped when he saw me. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion and turned to Stella. “Uh, mom? Who’s…”
“Oh, John, this is Jess. Don’t you remember Jessica? When you were kids?” Stella smirked as she set four plates on the table. John! Now I remember! But wow, we were so little when we played; I doubt he even remembers me. I gave him a small smile and his eyes suddenly widened.
“Woah, Jess?!” He smiled and quickly pulled me into an unexpected hug. I felt so weird; I ended up awkwardly patting him on the back.
“Yeah, John, I remember you too,” I smirked.
“But what are you-“ he was about to ask when Stella shot him an ‘I’ll tell you later’ glare. Thank God, I didn’t have to explain.
Wait, if this is john-
Oh no, Stephen.
And just to confirm my suspicions, a guy about the same height as John entered the room, looking bored; His black hair was straightened so it slightly fell above his chocolate brown eyes. His complexion was slightly darker than that of John’s, who looked pale. At the sight of me, he immediately glared.
“Hey, this is-“John started, but Stephen cut him off.
“Jessica Bowen,” he said, making it sound like a snarl.
“uh yeah, and Jess, this is-“
“Stephen Gomez,” I mimicked his tone. And at that, I immediately knew why he was mad at me, but hey, the feeling was mutual.
“Well, now that we all know each other, let’s eat,” Stella came in between us, glaring at Stephen.
We all ate in silence when Stella cleared her throat.
“So boys, Jess will be staying with us until she graduates high school, which is a year after this summer, or until she wants to leave after that.” Then she turned to me. “Jess, dear, you can stay here as long as you want, don’t you worry,”
“After dinner, I want you boys to lead Jess to the guest room and make her feel comfortable, alright?” she was responded by groans coming from the boys’ full mouths. I stayed quiet the whole time. I looked down, concentrating on my food. Occasionally, I would feel Stephen’s eyes on me, but I ignored it and pretended not to notice.
After dinner, I helped Stella clean the table when she shrugged me off.
“You don’t need to do this, sweetie, now, come on, the boys will lead you to your room.” She gestured to John and Stephen. John gladly carried my light bag and led me upstairs, and Stephen followed. When I arrived at my room, Stephen went and walked towards his room, shutting the door quite loudly. John, on the other hand, stood and smiled at me.
“Do you need anything?” he asked.
“No, thanks. I’m just tired, and I need sleep, so, goodnight,” I smiled and closed the door as he left. I didn’t even make it to bed; I just sank there and started crying quietly.
I didn’t wanna be here.
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AN. You guys hi so it's not that good but it'll get better, okay? should I continue this or
