Stella After All (One Shot)

Stella After All

The first time I saw her, she was glowing. She was wearing a moss green ball gown. It made her look like a cross between a forest nymph and an eighteenth century princess. It was our freshman ball. She was the Belle of the Ball, and all the boys wanted to dance with her. Gracefully, she went from the arms of one to another. To this day, I still regret not asking her to dance with me.

"Alex, quit dreaming about me and let's go!"

Right now, as I look at Stella Greene and her radiant smile, I realize I'm not over her. And I might never get over her. Three years have passed, but Stella still holds my heart.

"I'm right behind you." And I'll always have your back.

Stella is the kind of girl you can't hold down. You can't tell her what to do and where to go. She has crazy dreams, unlike most of us in our small town. She dreams of flying high, of reaching the stars, which is why we drove three hundred miles to line up for auditions of the Broadway version of The Greatest Showman. There must be at least a thousand people outside the Pink Diamond Theater today, and we are right in the middle-auditionees 501 and 502.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not reaching for the stars like Stella, but knowing myself, I won't let her go on her own. I'm not even expecting to get in, but if I do, hopefully I'll just have a supporting role. That's what I'm used to - being Stella's support, but never her leading man.

A lot of deep breaths and bottles of water later, it's Stella's turn. She's auditioning for the role of Jenny Lind, the European opera singer who goes on tour all over America. That's probably something Stella would do given the chance.

I pat her head and say, "Break a leg."

Stella laughs at this, and before walking through the double doors, she turns to look me in the eye. With her most mischievous smile she says, "I'll break them both."

It's the smile that gets me. She had that same look when we had our first conversation in sophomore year. There was a casting call for the winter musicale at school. We were sitting beside each other, and when I finally had the courage to talk to her, she was called in. Afterwards, I asked her what role she got.

And she said, with that same mischievous smile, "I'm the star."

Without a doubt, she got the part of Jenny Lind and will start rehearsing at the beginning of summer break. I got a callback for next Saturday. Now, I really want to get in so I can look after Stella.

The rest of the week went by fast and before I knew it, I was back in the lobby of the Pink Diamond with Stella. To be honest, I don't even know what role I'm getting a callback for. Supporting roles don't usually need one.

"You know, I have a feeling you're getting more than you asked for," Stella tells me.

"What?"

"I mean your role. I bet they're giving you a bigger one."

"You bet what on it?" I challenge her.

She perks up. She always likes it when we bet against each other because we always bet for...

"If I'm right, you buy me frozen yogurt. If I'm wrong, I'll buy you a strawberry milkshake!"

... food.

"Deal."

I go up on stage, knees shaking, and they make me sing for the role of Phillip Carlyle, the second ringmaster. I see Stella cheering for me and I feel like I always do when I perform in front of her, a mixture of nervousness and confidence. She always applauds me as if she's not the best performer in Staton High.