3. Aunt Sophia
1341 Words
Stella knocked on her Great auntie Sophia's door. She yelled," Come in Stella!"
Stella came in and kissed Sophia's cheek.
" Here are the books I borrowed. I really liked the Count of Monte Cristo. Dantes revenge as he becomes the count is quite riveting." Stella said.
She walked into her bedroom and put her bag down. The guest room really, but she was the only visitor her aunt ever got.
There was a beautiful dress on her bed.
"Sophia? Is this for me?" She asked.
Sophia nodded. "Happy birthday child."
Stella smiled and hugged her great auntie.
" I have some other books for you to read, look on the kitchen table." She told Stella.
Sophia turned and walked to her large bureau. She pulled out a set of car keys and the paperwork for her nearly new car.
"Stella, I have another gift for you, here." She handed her the car Keys to her newer model Buick SUV.
Stella looked at the keys.
" I can't take your car." She said.
" I don't drive any more, you enjoy it now." She smiled.
" Mom and dad won't let me keep your car Auntie." She said.
" Well, tell them that you are borrowing it, I mean it needs to be driven." She smiled.
Stella looked at the envelope, it was an after visit summary from Sophia's doctors visit to an oncologist.
She opened it and read...leukemia.
She looked at Sophia, her eyes welled up.
Sophia grabbed the envelope.
" That was not what I meant to give you, I'm so sorry.
I meant to give you the paperwork for the car." She fumbled through her drawer and pulled it out.
Stella put the car Keys down and pulled Sophia into a big hug." I'm sorry."
" I want to stay with you whenever you need me?" Stella cried.
Sophia said," Of course, you are my girl."
" Stella here, look at this picture, your uncle Dean and me, we were so young." She smiled.
Stella looked at the picture, it looked just like her.
" Why did you never remarry after uncle Dean died?" She asked.
" Dean was my whole life. I loved him so much." Sophia smiled.
Stella thought about Drake now. Was he her lover?
Well at least the one time he was.
She touched her neck where he had kissed her.
She looked away and smiled. He was her secret.
"Why are you smiling like that Stella?" Aunt Sophia asked, seeing right through her.
Stella took her hand. " I kissed a boy on my birthday." She looked down.
"Maybe a bit more than kissing, a lot more."
" Oh, who was it dear?" She asked, seeing Stella was a woman now.
Stella's cheeks were red.
" A friend of David's, Drake Palmer. I had a crush on him my whole life, so it seems.
She grimaced. " Well he was mean to me back then. He called me names, they all did."
Sophia smiled,"Why did you kiss him then?" She asked.
" He asked me to come to his house, I didn't think he wanted to do that, with me.
I mean I'm just one of the boys. A Tom boy." She said, kicking her leg back and forth in her chair.
" Well, you are not a Tom boy anymore my girl." She grinned.
" Let's go in and cook some meatballs, I'll show you the recipe that I snared my husband with." Sophia's eyes twinkled.
Stella jumped up and walked with her beloved auntie, holding her arm.
Drake...
Although Stella's bed was pink and full of frilly pillow cases, Drake thought it smelled like a woman.
He inhaled her scent again. He rolled over and hugged her blanket to him one last time.
He smiled. "You little sexy vixen."
He heard someone coming. He jumped up and hid behind the door.
David was looking for Drake, he was gone a long time.
He saw his feet under his sisters door, hiding?
He thought it was weird, he turned around. He didn't want to ask him what he was doing.
Drake came out of the room and hurried back down stairs.
David smiled, "there you are man." He patted his shoulder.
" Hey, where uh..where is that little twerp of a sister of yours at?" Drake asked David.
David shrugged. "That kid, who knows she is always taking off getting in trouble.
Mom and dad leave her alone far too often, if you ask me. They are never here anymore."
Drake nodded. He wondered about her, she was all alone in this big house.
David told him," Yeah, I guess she had a birthday last week, no one remembered it, poor kid.
Mom felt bad later, but Stella just shrugged it off.
I'm sure she was totally destroyed. All alone on your 18th birthday, you know teenage girls." He laughed.
Drake said,"What day was this?"
" Oh, last Friday." He said.
David wondered why all this interest in his sister. He kept quiet.
Drake thought back to that night.
It was her birthday. She was looking for some fun. He felt kind of bad for her.
He grabbed a beer and turned his attention to the game.
Stella....
Stella got ready for bed at Aunt Sophie's. Her phone rang.
" Hey, it's David. I'm just checking in on you." He said.
She said," I'm okay. Thanks for caring."
" Hey, did you by chance run into Drake lately?" He asked her.
She said,"Yeah, I did."
" Oh, how did that go then?" He asked furious now at Drake.
" Ask him, if he remembers me, I don't think he even knew who I was to tell you the truth. I ran into him at the diner." She said.
"Tell me little sister, did you too, uh...you know hook up?" He asked her point blank.
" What does that mean exactly, like s*x?" She asked, embarrassed.
" Yes Stella, don't play dumb. It means sex."He said.
" Well, what did Drake say?"She asked.
" Nothing." He said.
"I'm sorry David but it's my business really." She answered.
He grunted."Oh, by the way...happy belated birthday."
She was angry now and hung up on him.
David tried to call her back. He realized how he had come off. He was too forward with her, he should have lead with the happy birthday thing first.
She didn't answer his next call.
He texted her. " Sorry twerp."
She didn't respond to that either.
Stella stayed with her auntie for the whole two weeks of her spring break.
Her auntie was the only one in this world that paid attention to her.
Her parents, Leslie and Baron were too busy working.
Her brothers: Darrel, David, and Daniel, were all very tight knit. They didn't have any time for a little sister.
She drove her new car home after the long two weeks and ran up to her room.
She lay on her bed. She looked at the ceiling.
" I need a hobby." She said as she lay there thinking.
Stella got her running gear on and headed out the door.
She liked to exercise.
She ran a few miles in the affluent neighborhood that her parents lived in.
"Just keep your head down, forget about going home to that empty house." She was a very fast runner.
Stella was breathing heavy, she sat down at the park bench to catch her breath and stretched.
She saw Drake Palmer driving in her neighborhood. He didn't see her.
Stella made her way home, his car was parked in her parent's driveway.
She knocked on his car window.
He saw her all sweaty with her hair up in a pony tail. She wore tight running pants and an old t-shirt.
He thought she looked very cute. Her hair was shiney and very long.
She had no make up on, but her cheeks were rosy.
He rolled down his window.
" Stella Fella how are you twerp?" He said impulsively.
- Writer
