The next morning Stella woke up to an empty house. Her parents were at work. She looked at the clock on her nightstand and saw it was already 10:30.
She realized she needed to get a move on since it would take her 30 minutes to drive to the hype house, maybe even longer with all the construction.
Stella hopped out of bed and got dressed in the outfit she had showed Mia. She decided it still needed something though so she started looking through her jewelry box.
"Simple Stella, go simple", she kept repeating to herself.
She finally decided on her watch and a turquoise necklace that pulled the color from her top.
Stella looked at the clock again, it was 11. She really needed to get a move on.
She quickly put on some light makeup and ran a flat iron through her hair. It was too hot to really worry about trying to do a full face of makeup or having her hair stay.
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She grabbed her keys and purse and left. After her drive over to the house turned from a 30 minute drive to a nerve wracking 45 minute one, she finally pulled up to the gate.
She repeated the number in her head before looking at the keypad. 4-7-9-3.. As Stella was putting the code in, she realized they had spelled out HYPE on the keypad.
"What dorks", she thought to herself before laughing.
Once Stella made it up the driveway, she saw Ondre standing on the balcony. She got out of the car and waved.
"You made it! I thought I was going to be stood up! I'll be right down." Stella could tell he was trying to be funny but was actually relieved. She felt really bad, there was a bad wreck that had caused traffic to completely stop. Dre disappeared into the house and reappeared at the front door a few moments later.
"Come on in a minute? I've gotta put some shoes on still." Ondre said as he held the door open for her.
Now that they were closer, Stella could see he'd been growing out his facial hair. The camera didn't pick it up as well on their FaceTime calls and all she could think about was how hot he looked with the stubble.
Stella nodded and followed him inside. She waited on the couch in the living room since Tony was still asleep.
Dre came down a few minutes later spinning his keys around his finger. "I'll drive" he said with a smile.
Stella followed him to his car and was surprised to see him walk around to the passenger side. His hand was on the door handle but he just stood there looking at her.
Becoming aware of how awkward Stella felt, Dre spoke out, "Sorry, I've missed seeing you in person. I wanted to take it all in," with a smirk on his face. He opened the door but before letting her in, he pulled Stella into a side hug and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
Stella realized he had been checking her out and began to bite her lip. She slide into the passenger seat and watched him walk around to the driver side. Dre got in and started the ignition.
"Soooo...where are we going for lunch?" Stella asked, trying to keep her cool.
"It's a surprise but trust me, you'll love it" he said while switching the playlist on the stereo while at a stoplight.
"I trust you." Stella said.
"Are you sure about that?" Dre replied with a smirk, before revving the engine.
Dre could see Stella tense up. "Ok ok, I won't drive like a maniac with you in the car." He looked at her as he grabbed her hand.
HOW IS HE SO SMOOTH Stella screamed quietly in her head. She felt so awkward and he was so sly with every little flirt.
As Dre drove them to the restaurant, they listened and sang along to his playlist. Stella couldn't help but sneak a photo of their intertwined fingers. She sent it to Mia with the caption, "I'm falling".
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