No Such Thing

Chapter 9

Playlist:
Outlaws - Alessia Cara
Don't Stop Me Now - Queen
Just A Feeling - Maroon 5
Thinking Out Loud - Ed Sheeran
Paper Hearts - Tori Kelly

"Stella." Mm five more minutes. "Stella, I know you can hear me." I know but I'm ignoring you. "Stella you have sixteen missed calls from Jo." This was the best sleep I've gotten in ages why did Jo have to ruin it? "Stella, love, you'll hate me if I don't wake you up for work stuff. C'mon now." I hate to admit it, but I love the way he says my name. It sounds like a song. "Alright. You leave me no choice." A second later I was squealing, kicking my legs in the air. Ryder had picked me up and thrown me over his shoulder. "What are you doing? Put me down!" "That got the job done though. Didn't it?" He smirked at me as he set me down in my hanging chair in the living room and handed me my phone. I groaned in protest and proceeded to listen to my voicemails. "Thanks for letting me know you were going to a red carpet event. Not like it's something you tell your agent! Look at that, you're front page news. Ryder Wells? I'm never letting you live this down. Where the hell are you? Answer my calls! Stella!" Front page what? All I had to do is type my name in Google and there I am, headlining every tabloid and entertainment column you can think of. Pictures of Ryder and I at the CFDA Awards everywhere. Ryder Wells's new girlfriend? Hilarious. My Twitter mentions are flooded with teen girls either trashing me or praising me. And my followers are through the roof. Great. I close my eyes and rub my temples. My hands are moved away from my face and Ryder is kneeling in front of me. "What's the matter? Ice princess doesn't like being the center of attention?" I know he's accustomed to always being in the eye of the media but I'm not. And I hate it. "Not that kind of attention. Especially when I'm the center of stupid rumors that aren't even true. I knew we should've walked separately. Now I'm like your accessory." "Are you kidding? You're no one's accessory. You could've easily walked that carpet and still be the new it girl. It's not about me. It's about you." He's always seeing the upside of everything, at least that's how he acts with me. "What are you doing today?" "I've got nothing planned out. My friends said they wanna do something later tonight and to invite you. You know, if you're interested." "I'm down." I really was. I liked his friends, they were pretty cool people. Nothing like that ratpack he's always caught with. "Really? You don't have to." He sounds so careful and apprehensive.. "Yeah. I wouldn't say yes if I didn't want to. I think you know that by now." His brows were furrowed together. "I just don't want to force you to do anything you don't want to." Okay.. "What do we do the rest of the day then?" "You actually want to spend an entire day with me?" He held his hand to his heart dramatically. "Don't be such a drama queen. And don't make a big fuss about it or I'll change my mind." "Alright alright. Well how do you feel about going to a museum?" "Which one?" "Any one you like." "Hmm... I'm not feeling artistically snobby enough for the MOMA today. Actually I'm not feeling very artsy at all. Scratch the Met.. Natural History?" "Okay, Ben Stiller. Let's get a move on then. Chop chop." He was wearing a grey v-neck and jeans, which means he left my place to get clean clothes and came back. He didn't even have to come back... Yet he did. He's really stringing this game along.

I make myself a cup of coffee to give my brain a boost in mentally organizing an outfit while also curing the pounding hangover headache I had. Which reminds me... I don't remember how I even got home last night. I decide on wearing something simple. A black Alexander Wang t-shirt and some ripped boyfriend jeans. My black Saint Laurent boots are my go-to even though everyone is probably tired of me wearing them constantly. I grab my matching wide-brim hat and my Chloé bag. "Look I know the tortoise beat the hare in the fairytale, but there's no need to take so long." I walk out and kick him in the leg. "I'll get you a prime time comedy show. Let's go, rushy."

"Quit it!" Ryder is trying to pry the scary looking weapon from Attila the Hun's very large hand. "I've always wanted to be a warrior." "You're gonna get us kicked out!" I start reaching for his hands trying to pull him away. "Come on. Live a little!" While my hands are in the air he lunged at my stomach by surprise and gets me in a full-on tickle attack. "No no no get off get off GET OFF!" How ridiculous I must look in public jerking uncontrollably, laughing like some kind of blonde bimbo. I pry his hands away from me and pause momentarily before running as fast as I can. Like I give a shit what anyone thinks. "Oh that's how we're playing, Stel!" I heard that awful nickname from a distance as I kept dashing through the rooms of the museum, holding my hat to my head as best as I can. "Just try and catch me, rye bread!" "Oh you're fucking dead now!" I slid across the floor trying to find a detour to throw him off. I turn the corner and keep running paying no mind to each security guard who yells at me to stop. When I reach the wild animals exhibit I realize the constant footsteps I heard behind me had ceased. Ryder was nowhere in sight. Did I finally scare him off? Took long enough. I rested against the glass between me and the elephants to catch my breath. "Gotcha!" I scream as Ryder comes up behind me and lifts me into the air. "Asshole! You could've given me a heart attack." "What heart?" I smack him on the arm and he bites his lip. "Guess someone didn't like being called rye bread huh?" "Alright stellar eclipse." I'll hand it to him that was a good comeback. "I have an idea." I pull out my phone and headphones. "What are you gonna beat me over the head with those and throw my dead body into a sarcophagus?" Doesn't sound like the worst idea. "No, here just put one on." He looks at me skeptically but complies with my request. What's the perfect song for the moment? Scroll scroll scroll. Aha. Don't Stop Me Now. He smirks at me and figures out what I'm plotting as the song begins to play. And there we are dancing and lip syncing through every corner of the place like we're fresh off the Broadway production of Grease. A couple of severely disturbed young adults receiving very judgmental looks from all of the museum patrons, but I don't think I've ever had so much fun. Fuck. I can't keep doing this. I'm letting him get under my skin. But then again.. We can be friends... Right?