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Stella awoke to the bright gleam of the sun hitting Oliver's white walls, the sudden light gave her a cause to immediately bury her face back into her pillow, groaning slightly.
After a few more moments she rose again, blinking over and over until she was finally adjusted to the bright summer morning. She never understood why Oliver left his blinds open, and how he always managed to sleep in anyways.
She leaned forward and grabbed her shoes from the floor of the bed. Her eyes scanned the furniture in the room until they landed on an alarm clock across from his bed. 5:23 AM. Just the perfect time for her to slip out of the house without waking anyone up.
With the shoes in her hand, she slowly climbed outside of the bed and adjusted the sheets before she proceeded outside of the door, stepping slowly down the staircase until the front door was in sight.
"Estella?" Oliver's mom, Janet, called from the living room. She had no need to worry about the volume of her voice because Oliver could sleep through a hurricane. A mug full of coffee was gripped tightly in her hands, an award winning smile on her face. As Stella got closer she noticed that no smile could hide the fact that Janet had definitely not slept the night before. "How are you feeling?"
"Better." She replied as she sat down on their worn down couch. "Not excited for school though."
"Oh nobody ever enjoys school, but you do miss it when you get older." Janet laughed slightly at her comment, "Say, I'm gonna make pancakes for breakfast this morning if you wanna come back over."
"I might take you up on that offer. I don't even know if I wanna see my parents right now."
"And that's totally okay." His mom interrupted, "It was a shock for all of us, take as much time as you need. And besides, this home is basically yours too."
A faint smile appeared on Stella's face. "Thank you, Janet." The brunette had no problem with calling Oliver's mom by her first name. It took years for her to get in the hang of it but it was always something his mom urged her to do, explaining that it made her feel young.
"No problem, now go and get ready." Janet shooed her, leaning back into the couch when Stella got up and left the couch. She took yet another sip of her coffee before she focused back on the tv.
Stella slowly stepped into her house, which was oddly quiet for the frenzy that happened the night before, but it all clicked together when she noticed her mom's keys and bag were out of their usual spot. She let out a small sigh and slowly tiptoed up the stairs until she reached her room at the top.
She set her shoes down and grabbed a towel that was shoved in the corner of her room, slinging it over her shoulder so that she could grab a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie.
The shower was unnecessarily cold, but it felt nice in a way that calmed her down from the stress of her own family crisis. She took her time and finally got out when she felt like a newer person. She quickly pulled on her sweatpants and hoodie and threw her sneakers on before she headed back downstairs.
