Chapter 19
Stella
W estwood Spring almost feels like a different place during its busiest weeks.
The town is even more alive. Music rings in the air with the burning sun, the flowers glow even brighter, and the streets are a lot busier.
Every single shop is busy at all hours of the day, but everyone is smiling.
It makes it impossible not to smile back.
For the next few days, Layla and I make sure to write together every night after dinner. I spend most of my days exploring the town, visiting more shops. Adrian is always somewhere fixing something, helping someone. He must be so tired of not having a minute for himself.
“Hey, where did your head go?” Layla asks with a playful shove on my shoulder.
I laugh. “Just thinking about how we spent the last few days.”
Layla and I are on my bed, pen and notebooks in hand, writing. The stars’ light is barely peeking through, and a gentle breeze is making its way in from my open window. Outside, it’s quiet.
“What were you thinking about?” Layla asks, scooting closer to me.
“Nothing important—”
Layla sighs. “I thought I was a bad liar.” When I stare at her blankly, she continues. “Stella, I know what it’s like to get caught up in your head. I know how often I say nothing important when I am overthinking something. So lay it on me. We. Have. All. Night.”
I smile. “I won’t let you get away with that answer either next time.”
Layla’s face turns bright red. I laugh.
“I was just thinking about your town,” I admit, my cheeks warming.
“And . . .?” Layla scoots closer, lying on her stomach next to me. She nudges my arm with her own and everything spills out.
“These last few weeks have been amazing. I’ve never smiled so much in my entire life.
Everyone is so kind, and this town is just like a fairytale.
It hurts when I think of leaving. But I’m starting to see the good beyond the fear.
I’ve never felt happier; I’ve never felt more loved in my whole life.
I’ve never been hit with inspiration like I have been in the last few weeks.
Too much about me and my life is changing, and I’m scared . ”
Layla lays her head on my shoulder, listening to my ramble. My vision gets blurry.
Crap, I didn’t realize I’d bottled all this up until I talked it out.
“Stella, it’s okay to change.” Layla’s voice is full of emotions when her eyes turn to mine. “I was scared of change too. I . . .”
Layla sighs, racking her hand through her hair. “I never talk about it, but Adrian left a couple years ago.”
My heart cracks. I’d been getting pieces of the puzzle for a while, but I couldn’t quite see the whole picture. None of them like talking about it, which I understand. But since Layla is willing to share, I listen closely.
“Umm.” Layla tries to gather herself, and I wrap my arm around her.
She takes a deep breath and is a little more collected when she continues.
“It was so hard on us, Stella. None of us will ever tell Adrian, but it was unbelievably hard. Isa was struggling like I’ve never seen her struggle in my whole life.
Hazel wasn’t even a teenager. I stepped up to take care of her the best I could, knowing how hard it was on me when I saw Isa and Adrian struggling to hold everything together. But I couldn’t do it.”
My heart cracks. “Layla . . . You were a child too.”
“I know but . . . I couldn’t be the sister anyone needed anymore. I wasn’t enough. I couldn’t be the sister any of my siblings needed. I needed to change, evolve and grow, but I was just stuck. ”
She stops for a minute, looking into my eyes with a gentle smile, then clears her throat.
“I spent days in the library during those harder days. It became my home. That’s when I knew how I needed to change as an individual.
I had to be someone other than a sister.
I had to allow myself to be me . That’s when I got into writing.
Every struggle, pouring out every word, fixing plot holes, struggling with my confidence as a writer .
. . I went through it alone. But when I finished the book and held it in my hands, I was glad I allowed myself to change into whoever I wanted to be.
How much I fought through the uncomfortable in-between.
” Layla smiles. “Stella, for people like us who want peace, change is scary. But sometimes, you have to go through the change to fully see that you weren’t at peace , but you were comfortable . ”
Thump. Thump. Thump.
I try to hold it together, but crap, her words cut through my composure. I’m overwhelmed by how easily these people see through me. I can see just how much truth is in her words.
That’s why I smile despite my trembling. Change is scary, but I’m a little less scared of it. I’m moving forward, one step at a time.
Slowly, Layla and I get lost again in our writing. Time flies by in a blur of laughter and creativity, and I love every second of it.
I barely register the knocking on my door. A small smile spreads across Layla’s face, and I know she knows something I don’t.
“Layla . . . What’s going on?” I can’t help the grin from breaking free as my friend grabs a pillow to hide her face. “LAYLA!”
We’re both laughing like idiots. The knocking continues.
“If we die, it’s on you.” I get up from the bed to open the door.
“At least it will make for a great mystery book!”
This woman.
When I open the door, I’m shocked to see her siblings. “Hi?”
Hazel smiles and crosses over to hug me. I hug her back with a smile, sending a confused look at Adrian.
He smiles at me, and my heart stops, then gallops right out of my chest. He has a pretty smile . . .
Hazel’s eyes meet mine, full of excitement. “I have something to share with you!”
We’re all smiling as we get settled on my bed, all five of us, since I don’t have a table here for us to get seated around.
“I thought a lot about our conversations, and our busier week with work is coming to an end, so I planned a little something for us to make memories. I planned a trip!”
Her excitement is contagious. “That’s such a fun idea, Hazel.”
She smiles. “There’s this summer camp we went to years ago. It was turned into a vacation site, and it would be the perfect place to relax and reset.”
We’re all grinning.
Isabella shoots me a warm smile. “Do you want to come with us?”
“Of course. I’m in.”
Who is this woman? How did you grow into someone so spontaneous?
Hazel claps. “Great! We can leave when the week is over?”
She says it more like a question than a statement, and I know she’s asking silently if the time works for everyone.
I look around my room. I barely unpacked my stuff—I left it all organized in my suitcase. I laugh a little. “Well, I’ll be ready by then.”
When the four siblings leave my room, it fully hits me that, for the first time in my entire life, stepping outside my comfort zone doesn’t feel scary at all.