Chapter 3: Homecoming: Holden Knight

Beau Spencer. A nightmare dressed in a hot suit. Had Stellar seen the face that hid behind the mask he was wearing, she would have not fallen for his stupid tricks.

Now that she had half a year's worth of pondering, she realized who would fall in love with a girl like her anyway? She never tried to put make-up on. She never dressed in girly outfits. She would always be seen wearing a loose shirt and jeans with a complementary book stuck on her nose as her accessory.

Stellar, for the life of her, was as ordinary as ordinary gets until Beau entered the picture and confused her, making her believe that maybe, just maybe, she was as pretty as her sister.

Air blew past, bringing along with it a scent that made Stellar's legs turn into jelly. She felt her knees buckle after inhaling that familiar spicy… woodsy… warm scent.

It was the same scent that lingered on Stellar's sheets for the entire length of summer until Beau did what he had to do—break her heart.

It took her half a year to forget the sense of belongingness attached to that cologne. It took her half a year to erase it from her memory. But who was she kidding?

Everytime she caught a whiff of the scent from a passerby, her memory would be triggered like a lamp. It illuminated that dark corner in her head where her horrible memories could be found, flashing her stolen time with him in technicolor.

Unbeknownst to her, hot salty tears welled at her eyes. Good for her, Beau's annoyed voice echoed, snapping her out from her trip down to memory lane. "Jeez! What is wrong with your dog, Cassy?"

His thumb was jutting outside the door, pointing towards a chihuahua who was walking in circles inside a playpen. Despite its size, it angrily barked at Beau, promising that if he so much as step closer, it would definitely sink its teeth on his skin.

Stellar's left eyebrow twitched. Oh, how she loved to see that day it would happen. Nothing hurts like a bitch's bite.

"Coco can smell assholes. That's why," Stellar said with a sarcastic smile on her face and totally forgot that earlier, she was afraid of bumping shoulders with Beau. She sniffled and blinked back her tears.

To Stellar's surprise, steel-gray eyes gazed down on her. It held so much animosity, it could burn a hole in her body. Stellar tipped her head to the side, raising a single eyebrow at Beau. His anger-filled gaze made Stellar wonder why he was angry at her when she was the one who was…

Stellar hit the brakes in her train of thought. Going back to the past won't do her anything good. It took her half a year to move on and she would prove to him that he's nothing but a forgotten past.

She saw Beau lift up his hand as if he wanted to touch her. His gesture looked as if he wanted to dry the lone blob of tear at the corner of her eye. At that moment, Stellar had two options to respond to his advances: Fight or Flight. So she chose the one which didn't involve blood spilling on the floor.

"Gotta go," Stellar grunted, sprinting to the left-wing of the house without ever looking behind her back.

In her hurry, she bumped into a side table adorned with her mother's Christmas village collection. "Ouch. That hurts," she winced, grasping the side of her hip.

She skipped and hopped to shake away the pain. But Stellar forgot how much of a klutz she was until she elbowed a nutcracker soldier figurine. It almost dropped to the floor, but a hand caught it in time, saving it from shattering into pieces.

Suddenly, Stellar's heart started hammering in her chest, yet again, when she felt Beau's presence near her, so she straightened her spine and pretend that nothing hurt. Not her bruised hip, which felt as though she was hit by a car, and definitely not her heart which abnormally squeezed like an orange at the sight of Beau Spencer.

Just as Stellar recovered, her eyes then darted to the corner where Beau stood. She didn't have the time earlier to ogle him, but now that she did, she wanted to poke her traitorous eyes for doing so.

How could she tear her eyes away from him now? How could he look so outrageously perfect in that white polo shirt and navy deck shorts? With his hands casually dipped in his pockets, he annoyingly looked like a print ad model.

Fingers snapped in front of Stellar, yanking her back to reality. Tearing her gaze away from Beau, she pressed her lips into a thin line and focused her attention at Cassy.

"What is wrong with you? You're acting so weird right now. I swear," Cassy said. Her brows furrowed as she studied Stellar. "Are you hurt somewhere?"

Chanting in her head the words which she wanted to say, Stellar opened her mouth but not a single note came out of it. "I'm fine," Stellar huffed.

The gears in her mind churned. She really had to stop acting like a fool, or else Cassy would never stop pestering her for the truth. And she didn't know how Cassy would react, especially now that the two started hanging out most of the time… or probably, the two were dating.

Who knows? She never asked the score between Cassy and Beau. More aptly, Stella was afraid of the truth. It took her half a year and an eternity to shake him off of her thoughts, although any attempt she made was futile. First love never dies and stuff.

"Are you sure? Let me see." Cassy, the mother hen, considered no regard whatsoever that a man behind her was standing when she pulled Stellar's pajama up, exposing her hip.

Stellar, on the other hand, nervously stole a peek at Beau and noticed how his Adam's apple bobbed when he swallowed. She then traveled her gaze from his neck up to his eyes, and that was when their gazes met.

Biting her lower lip, she tore away from his heated stare and pried her sister's hand off her pajama. "I'm fine. It's just a bump. It'll heal. Don't worry." She grinned when Cassy shook her head in disappointment.

"Can you walk?" Cassy probed.

"Of course, I ca—" Stellar's voice got caught in the air when Beau swept her off, carrying her like a princess. She tucked her chin on her chest when she felt a wave of heat in her bones. She wanted to protest and punch the guy, but her arms betrayed her by hooking it around Beau's neck.

What the actual F?

"That's better," Cassy trailed off. "Let's go grab the ice pack in the fridge." She clapped her hands and walked ahead of Stellar and Beau.

"I said I'm fine," she squeaked like a mouse, but all she got in reply was Beau's fingers digging on her thigh.

"Annoying," Beau said in a flat tone.

Peering up, hatred filled Stellar's eyes. "You're the one who's annoying." She hammered her head on Beau's jaw, therefore, giving her the chance to be released from his grasp.

Good thing for her, she landed like a cat on the floor, although pain radiated in her hips like a blooming flower. She smirked at the sight of Beau clutching his head, but quickly shivered when his stare sliced her in half. She wanted to dash and hide behind Cassy's back, but she was frozen in her spot.

"Stellar! What is wrong with you? When did you become so violent?" Cassy rushed to Beau's side, checking his jaw. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. I'm good." Beau shook his head, massaging his jaw in a circular motion. Stellar and Beau's eyes met for a brief second before he looked to his side and frowned.

The sisters followed his line of sight and squealed in unison, bolting towards their brother Aquila, whom they fondly called Aki. He was away from home, studying in the seminary to be a Man of God.

"Akiiiii!" the sisters screamed in unison, caging their only brother with their embrace. "We missed you, Aki!"

Aki, in return, hugged his sisters. "Haha! Feels good to be home girls! I miss you too. Where's Mama?"

"She's in the kitchen," Stellar trailed off. "Ouch. Wait, wait. My hip." She then peeled herself from the group. Looking over Aki's shoulder, Stellar gasped, her mouth flying to her agape mouth.

Behind their brother was his long-time friend and schoolmate in the seminary.

"Brother Holden! What an awesome surprise!"

"Hello, Star. Hello, Cassiopeia."

Stellar beamed, loving how charismatic Holden's voice was. He surely would do wonders once he gets ordained into the priesthood. "Stellar, not star. Pffft. How do you always forget my name and not Cassy's?" She narrowed her eyes at him and jutted her bottom lip out.

All Stellar got in response was Holden ruffling her hair. "Just as feisty as I remembered," Holden spoke in a tone filled with so much familiarity, it made Beau Spencer frown.