Chapter 13: New Year's Eve 1

Anger boiled in the pits of her stomach. She was used to her mother forcing the siblings to always put their best foot forward for everyone to see. But Aster just reached Stellar's bottom line.

Glaring at Aster, Stellar thought she could silence Aster and tell her the truth—about her relationship with Beau and the reason behind Cassy's engagement. But it was not her story to tell.

Besides, she already made up her mind not to sabotage her sister's chance of having a complete family.

Straightening her hunched back, Stellar held her chin up and spoke the words her mother expected to hear from her, "Who wouldn't be jealous of Cassy? Look at her. She's pretty, educated, and now, she's engaged to the most eligible bachelor in town. So yes, we can say I was a tad bit jealous because she has everything."

Looking at Cassy, Stellar sighed. She gave her sister a wry smile. "But really, I am happy for you, Cassy, and you know that."

She bowed her head and kept massaging her temples. "Everyone in this room knows I was never vocal with my emotions, so I don't know why I have to satisfy outsiders' feelings."

Stellar then lifted her chin up and traced her gaze back to Aster. "Can I leave now, Mom? My head is hurting pretty bad."

She saw Aster flick her wrist, giving her the permission to leave. Immediately, Stellar bolted up to her bedroom.

The first thing she noticed upon entering her room was the velvet box sitting on her bedside table.

Clutching her head, she dragged her feet back to her bed. She had a feeling the present was from Beau, and she was tempted to check it out. But she reigned her curiosity in.

Closing her eyes, she forced herself back to sleep, but it was cut short when a soft knock rapped on the door.

"Star?"

"Oh… come in, Holden," she said with a shaky breath. She pulled the sheets over her body to warm herself up.

"I brought you a banana and a glass of water."

Pulling herself up to sit, Stellar tapped the bedside table. "Thank you. You can place it here."

After placing the tray down, Holden tapped the edge of the bed, asking Stellar's permission if he could sit on it.

Stellar bobbed her head, and soon, the water bed wobbled as Holden sat on it.

"Happy birthday," he greeted her. He dug his hand in his pocket and pulled out an origami lucky star.

"My lucky star for this year! Thank you, Holden!" Stellar beamed and euphoria washed away her headache. She had been receiving origami lucky stars from Holden since she met him on her sixteenth birthday. He was twenty at that time.

Shaking the star, Stellar wondered out loud, "I'm always tempted to open these stars and see what's inside."

"Why don't you open it then? It's yours anyway."

"I don't want to break something perfect." She brought the star closer to her ear and shook it, listening intently to the scratching sound it made. "Any clue what's inside?"

"A smaller star?"

Stellar snorted. That made sense. "Wow. The amount of work you put into these stars, Holden. No wonder something told me not to hastily unfold this."

Holden didn't say more and just smiled at Stellar. "Hope you don't mind," Holden excused, reaching out for the jar of stars on Stellar's bedside table. He then popped the lid open, and Stellar giddily dropped her new set of three stars inside.

For a split second, Stellar felt a knot in her chest as she watched Holden gingerly close the lid of the jar. Her conscience told her that confusing Holden was a bad idea. "Brother Holden…" she murmured.

Holden snapped his attention at her the instant she opened her mouth. "Yes?"

"The girl you said you fell in love with… what is she like?"

"The light in my darkest of nights."

"Oh…" The vowel naturally rolled off Stellar's lips. "Like a moon? Wait. But a moon borrows its light from the sun." Stellar angled her head. "So a star then?"

Holden nodded his head. He met Stellar's eyes and a wistful smile crossed his lips. "Yes, she's my star."

Oh crap. Stellar cursed herself. How could she taint a love as pure as that? Ditching her plans for revenge, Stellar sat in a daze until Holden snapped her out from her trance.

"Why are your eyebrows twitching? You look silly." Holden playfully shuffled his hand on top of Stellar's head.

"I was thinking about asking if you'd want to go out on a trip with me, but… I changed my mind."

"That's not a bad idea."

Stellar's lips quivered. If she could tell him that it was a trip for her to seduce him, maybe he would say otherwise, but she kept her lips tightly sealed. "Trust me, it was a bad idea." She pulled the duvet up and covered her face.

She cursed herself in her head. What the F was she thinking? How could she be so naïve that her initial plan of seducing Holden would work?

A helpless smile crossed Holden's lips. He tugged the duvet down, revealing Stellar's blushing face. It intrigued him what the little star was thinking. "Let's go. I'm up for it. Where do you want to be on your birthday?"

Stellar paused. It dawned on her that it was really her birthday. She glanced at Holden and saw him patiently waiting for her answer.

Well… if she couldn't push through with her plan, she could at least enjoy Holden's company. She had no friends to hang out with, anyway. She either found the people around her too pretentious or too flamboyant to her liking, plus crowds drained the lights out of her. It was the reason why she chose to steer away from parties.

Biting her bottom lip, she thought for a second where she wanted to be on her birthday. Suddenly, a crazy idea lit the bulb in her head.

"How about we ring in the New Year in Hong Kong?"

CREATORS' THOUGHTS
filledelisle

Thank you for sparing your powerstones on Stellar. Unfortunately, we ranked 4 in the polls for WPC151. Don't fret! I'll keep writing this story until the end. Hope to see until we reach the last stop in Stellar's journey!

xoxo,

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