As Our Worlds Collide

Stella

Stella was born in Kenworth, the town she grew up in, as an only child with medium income to her parents. She had beautiful straight blonde hair and green eyes that made everyone adore her. She was so sensitive as a baby, and she would cry nonstop throughout the night, keeping both her parents awake until the sun rose. Her parents were quick to decide they did not want any more children and focused on their lives and Stella's only.

Even though Stella was an only child, she never felt lonely as she always spent time with her mother. They were more like best friends than mother and daughter, and Stella sometimes felt like an adult whilst hanging out with her. She was in a huge rush to grow up and be like her mother, to have her very own estate and a job and go out to parties looking gorgeous. Stella was fascinated by adult life, and sometimes she would pretend like she was one as she posed in her mother's heels and jewelry. Stella was goofy and fun to be around as a toddler, and her presence lightened her mother's mood.

Stella didn't have much of a relationship with her father, as he was usually gone for business trips and was busy at work throughout the entire day during the times in which he was in town. Her mother, on the other hand, was a fitness instructor and would be gone to work during evenings, an hour or two before Stella would go to bed. Stella's home was filled with fitness machines, diet supplies and protein powders. She would sometimes get on the machines for fun and try to work out with them.

From a very early age, Stella was different. She would be engaged with clothes and fashion rather than playing outside with other kids. She would sometimes accompany her mother as she was getting ready for an outing, observing her every move with full focus. She had noticed her mom's increase in beauty after she'd worn makeup, and Stella was astonished by it. Everyone looks prettier with makeup, she'd think. Mom looks prettier, the women in the magazines and movies look prettier after applying them. She wanted to teach herself how to apply makeup on, and she started to learn as she'd watch her mom do it. Sometimes when her mother wasn't around, she would tiptoe to her mother's bedroom and sneak in some of her makeup to the upstairs bathroom. She would lock the door and climb up the countertop next to the sink and sit in front of the mirror, trying to teach herself how to apply the facial cosmetics for hours.

Stella started to become concerned about her facial appearance abnormally, and she would often cry in front of the mirror before school. She felt insecure and would always compare herself to women in the magazines she found in her mother's room at the age of eight. There were times in which she would have panic attacks during class and would rush to the bathroom, bawling her eyes out as she stared at the bathroom mirror.

Throughout middle school, Stella was one of the most popular girls because of her perfect body shape and her pretty face. Additionally, she had a rather nice personality that attracted people towards her even more. She had the prettiest smile, and that smile never faded away throughout the day. She was so joyful and glamorous, and she made a lot of connections with people, making so many new friends. She always had a group of friends following her everywhere she went, and not a single day would pass with her feeling lonely. However, she always suffered alone, tormented by her unhealthy state of mind she thought she'd never escape from.

During her last year in middle school, she got into a relationship with a high schooler named Aiden. Aiden was Stella's first boyfriend and true love, and she felt committed to him more than anyone else. He had middle-length straight brown hair and pale skin with black eyes, and he would normally let his straight hair down without styling it. Aiden was really sweet sometimes. He would write her beautifully written letters of affection and appreciation at least once a week and would surprise her with little gifts every once in a while, such as a bracelet or a rose. Aiden was invited to almost every family event and Stella even had him introduced to her grandparents, and soon became well known in the Brian family.

A year into the relationship, when Stella had graduated to high school, Aiden started pushing Stella to sleep with him. Considering Stella was still a virgin, she did not feel ready and comfortable enough to do it yet. But just in case it happens one day, Stella would think, I should keep my body in shape for when the time comes. Although she was very cautious of the food she was eating, she also started to exercise after school with her mom at the gym. She was eager to get into a more of an hourglass shape than she already was.

A few months into accompanying her mom at the gym, she was getting additionally stressed about finals, alongside school, her diet and body. She would stay up every night to study, and would drink cup after cup of coffee to stay focused and awake. The gym was starting to get too much for her daily schedule, and therefore she quit to focus on her studies. She would have study sessions with her close friends Annie and Isabelle after school at the library, but this time Annie and Isabelle got bored easily and tried to convince Stella to go to the mall together and ditch their studies. Although Stella was sincere about studying, she couldn't help but agree with them, because what harm could a little bit of fun cause? An hour at the mall would do her good, and afterwards she'd go back to the library and finish studying.

An hour turned to two, and then to three until it lasted the entire night. She was so carried away with her friends that she had forgotten her hardest and final exam of the next day, Algebra, which she struggled a lot with.

The night went by fast, and at the end of it, they got a cab with Annie, and laughed and giggled at the things they'd find amusing.

'Tyler really did that?' said Annie, laughing.

'Yes girl, he actually walked into the house without knocking and found me and my mom watching The Titanic with facial masks in the dark and we probably scared the s**t out of him unintentionally, because I could've sworn I heard him jump in the dark. Me and my mom were laughing for a whole five minutes.'

'Is this the location, ladies?' asked the cab driver.

'Yes, thank you sir.' Stella said, as she got out of the car with Annie. She lived just a few houses away from Stella, making it easy for them to see each other often after school.

It was raining heavily, and it was close to ten o'clock. Annie said her goodbyes and rushed home, while Stella stood there in the rain getting wet as she stood still. She was looking up at the sky, thinking about how small her problems and worries were compared to the universe.

I wonder how many others are staring at you with me right now, she thought to herself as she looked at the moon.

'Stella, what are you doing? Get inside, you're wet!' said Stella's mom, after she opened the front door to their house.

Stella zoned back in and looked at her mom, nodding her head and walking inside.

'Where were you? Why didn't you answer your phone? I was so worried.' she said.

'Relax mom, I was at the library studying extra with Annie and Isabelle and I had turned my phone off to avoid distractions.' Stella claimed.

'Oh, alright, I'm so glad.' her mom said, looking relieved. She looked at Stella's hands, noticing the bag she was holding alongside her backpack.

'What's that?' she asked. Stella looked at her hand and lifted the bag, showing her mom a bracelet and necklace she had bought with Annie and Isabelle at the mall.

'Oh, it's a necklace. Aiden got it for me.' she said, as she took the bracelet out, showing it to her mom.

'Oh how lovely, he's so thoughtful,' she said, gazing at the necklace she was holding, 'Well, you're probably tired after all that studying, you should probably go to sleep. I know you'll ace your exam tomorrow.' said Stella's mom, proudly.

At that moment, Stella felt guiltier than ever. But she trusted the small gut feeling in herself that she was going to do fine without studying and still get the marks her mother was expecting from her.