Girl Crush | Alex Alvarez

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍: 𝐍𝐎𝐓-𝐒𝐎-𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐒

"Sorry, I'm late! My tennis class got over like twenty minutes ago and I had to get on the bus and holy cow, look at the bling on that ring."

"Wow, I should have taken it off before we discussed the whole engagement thing, huh?" The lady who seemed eerily more like Pen than Pen herself did laughed nervously. I gave her a comforting smile as Alex stood next to me, grabbing my shoulders softly. "Dad, Nicole, for the first time ever, my girlfriend Stella!"

"Girlfriend? Little Stel and my son—I bet ten bucks on that but I would hate to see your Mami lose money," Victor joked as he got up to hug me, "How 'ya doin', Stella?"

"Surprisingly great—it's so wonderful to see you again, and your fiancée! You look a lot like someone I know if only I could remember..."

"You're really funny—Alex is lucky to have you as his girlfriend, Stella. I'm Nicole," Nicole introduced herself as I sat by Alex. Victor walked toward the door hesitantly as he spoke. "So sorry, Stella, but we should get going. Hope you don't mind if I take him with me for dinner?"

"By all means," I smiled, "I'm always looking for new ways to get rid of him."

"And here I was thinking you were all set on wearing that teeth necklace someday." Alex scoffed sarcastically as he feigned disappointment. I pecked him goodbye as I rushed out the door. "This was really nice. I hope you come again soon, Victor."

"Bye, Stel."

I waved goodbye as I rushed down next door to my own house. Ever since everything with Alex, I felt like I barely spent any time in my own house. My parents were almost always away for work and my sister spent more nights with her boyfriend, but they were all here today and I wanted to get some family time before either of them left again. I turned my key with a smile as I opened the door, only to find my parents with guilty faces and an angry Vero. "Woah, what's wrong?"

"Mija, thank God you're here—" Mom's soft tone was harshly interrupted by my sister. "No, you are not beating around the bush for her. Tell her, and tell her now."

"Vero, we told you we're sorry."

"I don't want your apology. I didn't want you to lie to me, but look where that got me in the first place." Vero scoffed as she threw her hands in the air. I examined her swollen red eyes and puffy nose—she was crying before I got here. "Vero, calm the hell down. What's going on, you guys?"

"What's going on is that our parents are having us move to Connecticut," Vero explained with a bitter smile, "And their so-called business trips were them transferring us to new schools and setting everything up so that we wouldn't have to waste time when we get there."

I breathed shakily. "We're not—we're not moving to Connecticut. We're not. We can't be!"

"I'm sorry, Stel. We didn't know how to tell you and I hope you understand that we just wanted you to feel comfortable there, baby."

"Oh, my God. How long have you kept this from us?" I laughed as tears threatened to spill. Dad and Mom looked at each other hesitantly before answering. "About a...month."

"A month?" Vero and I yelled. "It's not that long, you should stop over-reacting."

"Why would you lie to us?" I asked as Vero shook her head in denial. "We didn't want the two of you to worry. Connecticut isn't that different from Los Angeles. You'll have new friends, a new school, new surroundings—it's gonna be a fresh start for you."

"I never asked for a fresh start," I explained with a sad smile, "And I won't have a new Alex."

"You want me to tell the boyfriend whom I was planning to go to college together with that I'm abandoning our dreams?"

Mom scoffed. "Vero, you've had lots of boyfriends before. This one isn't any different."

"You out of all freaking people on Earth should know that Lucas is the first guy I have actually cared about and actually loved for a change. Never mind that you're basically telling us that we're moving away from the place we've spent our entire lives just for a fresh start?"

"I know it's hard, but you have to try, mija. This will be good for you, I promise." Dad's sad face made me want to cry more than Vero had. My sister cursed under her breath as she slammed her door shut. Mom flinched and Dad comforted her. "You understand, don't you Stella?"

"Actually, I really don't."