Stolen Kisses and Competitions

Love at First Sight - 4

Two years later

Today Stella Bell turns 20 years old, she's excited. Right now her life isn't exactly what she wants it to be. She works in a clothes shop, makes money and lives with her best friend Maddie. Stella went to university for a year to study education, hated it and dropped out. What she really wants to do is study dance and now she's twenty that's exactly what she's going to do. Stella's parents are not too happy about Stella dropping out of university, but they've always done their best to support her and her sister's passion for dance, especially since their dad used to be a professional dancer. Still dropping out of university was a big deal so Stella had been given an ultimatum. If Stella did not have a place at dance school by the end of the year she had to go back.

For her birthday Stella invited Maddie and her sisters to go and see a dance show with her. The show was all part of Stella's plan to get into dance school, hopefully with Maddie and her sisters. She'd heard that two of the featured dancers were students and she aimed to find out which school they go to, then get an audition. The rest would take care of itself, she was talented, and she'd get in easy.

So there they were in the audience of that show and it was amazing! The dancers were incredible, especially the students. They were a boy and a girl who were both about eighteen, the girl had a beautiful name: Sapphire, Sapphire George. Stella thought that was so glam, so flashy and cool, and she wanted to be that girl, and if she got into their school she knew she could be.

During the interval Amber slipped out of her seat, a few seconds later Hazel followed, Stella didn't notice.

"Amber!" Hazel called "We don't have long until the show starts again!"

Amber ran towards her sister but didn't respond, instead she breathed "It's him right? You saw it too."

"Yeah." Hazel said reluctantly "That's him."

"He looks different." Amber's voice was hazy "We could check. We could go and get a program, just to be sure we're not losing it, both of us."

Amber laughed feebly but Hazel shook her head. Over the last two years she had built her whole reality around the fact that she would never see Alfie Bailey again. He wasn't allowed to just resurface dancing so amazingly with a beautiful girl. It made Hazel feel scared and inadequate and uncomfortable and broken and abandoned, for some weird reason, excited. The show was hard to watch but somehow Hazel managed to sit through it, gripping Amber's hand tightly for comfort and praying for the pain to end.

But it turned out that it didn't end even when the show finished. Stella mentioned going to the stage door and against all better judgements, Hazel agreed to go with her. She didn't want to think about it but she knew that she was excited about the idea of seeing Alfie again. There had been something between them, Hazel knew it when they kissed and she knew it in that moment. If there was even the smallest chance of rekindling that, Hazel was going to take it.

So they went. Hazel and Stella walked together and waited, hidden in a small crowd by the back of the theatre. Stella approached a pretty blonde girl about the same age as her and they started chatting about something. Hazel couldn't bring herself to join in. her heart was pounding and her eyes were laser focused on the door, waiting.

Any second now...

The door opened and Hazel's heart somersaulted before she even saw Alfie, but there he was. His dark hair was shorted than before and curled so it no longer fell into his deep blue eyes. She was losing herself again, she could feel it. His eyes flickered upwards in a way from which it was impossible to tell if he recognised her or not. Hazel knew she looked the same. She didn't do anything, she just stood there watching him, waiting.

He looked up again and this time their eyes met. Hazel saw his lips curve into a delicious smile and felt the corners of her own mouth tug upwards. Then a stunning girl appeared next to him. Sapphire. She took his hand and he turned his world-burning smile on to her. Hazel could see their love for each other at first glance. She felt herself shiver. The temperature seemed to have dropped at least five degrees.

Sapphire whispered something to Alfie and they walked off together.