A Silver Lining

Chapter Twenty One: Past & Present

6 Years Ago:

Rainy days aren't at the top of Stella's 'things-I-like' list. Honestly, it was quite the other way around. You don't only have to deal with mud, puddles, and slugs but also both shoes and dresses get dirty which her mother wasn't a big fan of. No matter how many times she tried to explain that it never happens intentionally, she never bought it.

Well, the reason might be her obsession with puddles and playing with specks of dirt when she was little.

But I'm a grown-up girl now, she would reason with her mother.

But if she found Stella going back like this again, she would surely be busted. And here she was following Luna, through the muds and whatnot of the woods.

"Come on Stella, don't be such a weirdo, they're just muds," Luna said while walking up the hill. Her wavy hair waves in the air along with the wind. Her dress full of muds. But she looks so confident doing so, unlike Stella.

"Try to make my mother buy that," she glared at her best friend who giggled.

Luna's mother, the lady in her early forties, unlike her mother, was quite fine with it. She had two more sons who were both in high school now and were real troublemakers. That might be the reason for her being grown bored and tired of making her kids listen.

Unlike Luna, Stella was the oldest one. And for that she has to be the role model to her younger sibling, in which she was doing a great job.

Stella herself wasn't a troublemaker. She was always the quiet and the invisible one. She spoke very little, sometimes when even her opinions were wanted. The reason she always has difficulty in choosing options for her. She likes to listen. A lot. Some can call her creeper for the way she listens to strangers talking about their problems.

But she couldn't help herself but be curious. It was a great distraction for her. From all the craps that go in her house once in a while. She would learn some lessons from their story. The reason she likes to read.

She was spoiled. By both her parents. But that never helped her to forget how crappy their relationship was. They would be fine. For days. For months. Then one day, she would have a disagreement, and there they went again. Soon it would be gone and they would pretend everything was fine. Like nothing had happened.

Except it had. And Stella knew it.

But Luna never had to go through all that she goes. Her family was happy. Really happy. Stella was always jealous of her best friend for that.

That's why she never tried to explain about her family to her. That and because she won't understand.

"Oh yeah, your mother gets quite thrilled when you get dirt all over yourself." Luna's voice brought her back to reality.

"Thanks for noticing." She retorted.

"But look at the bright side, she won't be home. She's at the office," Luna turned around. "Get yourself clean before she comes back."

"That's a lot of help," Stella rolled her eyes.

Stella wished Ed was there with them right at that moment. Luna was always the troublemaker among the three of them. Her, Ed and Stella were friends as far as Stella could remember. Ed knew how to keep Luna in the bay, most of the times by bribing her. Unfortunately, Ed moved out of the town last month with his family. Now with him gone, there's no one left to stop Luna from following her death wishes.