Truly, Madly, Deeply: A Dark Louis Tomlinson Fan Fiction

Chapter One: Stole My Heart

I looked the mirror, taking in my appearance. Meticulously flatironed brown hair. Thickly mascaraed hazel eyes. Signature MAC Rebel lipsticked mouth. Yes, on the outside, I looked just like any other one of the girls who flocked the halls of Coral Gables High School, but on the inside, I felt trapped behind the false mask of happiness that my Mom bought for me regularly in the form of Sephora cosmetics. But, I thought with a sigh, I had made a promise. A promise to Mom, Dad, and myself that for my senior year, I would try to be a new Stella Parker, rather than the old version nobody really wanted anything to do with.

A promise that was a lot easier said than done.

Every year, I would show up for my first day of school telling myself that this would be the year that I would finally try to make an effort. To make friends, to try a sport, to ace all my classes. But then Eleanor Calder and her two equally as beautiful an equally as ruthless minions Danielle Peazer and Perrie Edwards would come along and waste no time putting me back in my place. For as long as I could remember, Eleanor had been the prettiest, most popular girl in school, and for just about the same amount of time, she had absolutely loathed me, her favorite extracurricular making my life a living hell. But this year, I wasn't going to let her get to me. Not anymore. After all, 365 days from today i'd finally be out of high school and at the Parsons School of Design in Manhattan, where people cared about more important things than their tans and having the latest Prada handbag.

"STELLA!" I heard my mother yell from downstairs. "It's time to go!"

I took a deep breath and appraised my outift in the full length mirror, even though I knew Mom would find something wrong with it no matter how good I thought it was. Tucking my True Religion stovepiped skinny jeans into my worn Hermes riding boots for one final time, I slipped my leather messenger bag over my shoulder before heading downstairs. I found Mom in the kitchen, applying a final coat of lipstick onto her already perfectly made up face. It took her about thirty seconds to even realize I was standing there.

"Stel!" She said brightly, snapping her Chanel compact shut. "Just the girl I wanted to talk to."

I could feel her eyes looking me up and down as I grabbed an apple out of the fruit bowl and began polishing it on my navy blue tank top.

"Why aren't you wearing the adorable Ralph Lauren sweater I bought for you at Bloomingdales last week?" She asked, frowning at my simple jeans and tank combo.

"Mom, we live in Miami, and it's the middle of summer." I said defensively. My mom hated that I wasn't into any fashion beyond what I could find in the petites section at Macy's. After all, I wasn't planning on becoming a fashion designer, and you didn't need to dress in Dior Haute Couture to be an interior decorator.

"It was just a suggestion." She said dismissively, although I knew she was angry. After all, Julianna Parker ran the most famed public relations agency in Miami. She had singlehandedly molded the spotless reputations of the city's A list whilst my dad, William, handled their legal matters. Together, they had two of the most recognizable names in Southern Florida. My older brother, Asher, was no less ambitious than them, and was up north at Harvard getting his law degree. I was the only flaw in their otherwise perfectly beautiful, glamorous lifestyle.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" I sighed, biting into the apple.

Mom turned to face me. "Do you remember me telling you how I was looking to find a business partner to help me expand the firm?"

I nodded, even though I was positive my mother had never told me any such thing.

"Well, I finally found one! Her name is Jay, and she worked at one of the best PR firms in London until I finally convinced her she'd be better off with me. She just moved here with her kids. One of them is a boy, you're age." She said, looking at me suggestively.