The next day around lunchtime, the whole Wilde family headed to the house next door. They were invited to have a meal with Justin’s family; a common practice ever since their kids had become close friends. They made sure to visit each other at least a few times a month, and it wasn’t unusual for Stella to eat with Justin’s family when her parents were away, so Mathilda didn’t have to cook for one person. Justin often ate at Stella’s house if his visit extended until dinner time.

Marisa rang the doorbell and a tall, blonde woman opened the door.

“Gideon, Marisa. Lovely that you were able to come. And Stella too of course,” Justin’s mother said with a smile.

“Oh, we couldn’t say no, Linette. It has been way too long since we’ve had lunch together,” Marisa said and they exchanged quick cheek kisses and hugs before walking in.

“Mercedes isn’t here unfortunately. She went to stay over at her friend’s and refused to change her plans since they had already agreed to it,” Linette said.

“Oh, what a shame. It would’ve been nice to catch up with her too,” Marisa said. Stella stayed silent. She was more than happy that Justin’s sister wasn’t joining them. Mercedes always managed to turn every conversation to be about herself, and as Stella had noticed, Justin tended to get ignored by his parents when Mercedes was present.

“Is Justin in his room?” Stella asked. It interested her way more than Mercedes’s whereabouts. After receiving confirmation, she headed up the stairs.

She knocked on Justin’s door before pushing it open.

Justin stood in front of his open wardrobe looking stressed. His bed was covered in shirts.

“Oh, hi Stella. How’s your hand?”

“Still attached and functional,” Stella said and raised her hand and moved it around.

Her wrist was still bandaged, but it was well hidden under the sleeves of her black cardigan.

“It barely hurts anymore. I’m keeping the bandage on for a few more days just in case,” she added and walked to the bed to see the selection of shirts.

She picked a navy blue shirt and placed it against Justin’s chest.

“I have to skip tennis practice though, which sucks since the tournament is coming soon.”

She took a step back to see what the shirt looked like and shook her head.

“Did you manage to paint the room?” she asked and switched the navy blue shirt to a baby blue one.

“We did, even though Quinn wasn’t there either. He apparently wasn’t feeling well, which he completely deserved if you ask me.”

“Hey, we talked about this. He didn’t do it on purpose,” Stella said. She gave Justin the baby blue shirt and turned her back to him so he could change.

“But because of him you fell from the ladder,” Justin huffed and pulled off his t-shirt. “You could’ve been badly hurt.”

“But I wasn’t, thanks to him. Let’s drop this. I’m fine. He’s fine. No hard feelings,” Stella said and peeked over her shoulder to see if Justin had changed already.

He was buttoning the shirt, and Stella caught a glimpse of his chest. Whoever would date Justin, would be the luckiest girl. He looked so handsome.

Stella turned her attention to the selection of ties to pick the best one for the shirt. They always had to dress a bit more officially for these lunches. Stella didn’t mind it . She wouldn’t say no to a reason to wear a skirt.

“Did the principal come to check it?” Stella asked.

“Yes, before we started. She seemed happy with the result. She also said that the new floor should come next week, but we don’t need to worry about it.”

Stella smiled. What a relief that everything had gone well. This was the first big project where they had been given most of the responsibility, and Stella was happy they had lived up to it.

“I was thinking about going shopping tomorrow. I’d buy some stuff we talked about for the lounge. I think I already said we can take our old couches.”

Stella talked while tying a fancy knot on the dark blue tie she had picked. She straightened the tie and smoothed a few wrinkles from his shirt.

“There you go,” she smiled, “as handsome as ever.”

Justin smiled and rolled his eyes. 

Someone knocked on the door.

“The food is ready,” Justin’s mother announced.

When Justin and Stella came from the room, Linette casted an appraising look on her son’s outfit and gave it an approving nod.

“Stella, how is your hand? I heard you hurt yourself,” she asked when they walked down the stairs.

“It is feeling better. I’m sure it’s back to being ok as long as I let it rest,” Stella replied with a soft smile.

When they arrived at the dining room, everyone else had gathered at the table. The food looked delicious. Roasted chicken, potatoes and salads.

“What took you so long?” Justin’s dad asked his son. “Our guests were waiting.”

“Stella helped me to decide on my clothes.”

“Can’t you even pick an outfit without someone helping you with it?”

“You look very handsome, Justin. The blue really suits you well,” Marisa said with a soft tone.

Justin smiled and hurried to his seat. Stella sat next to him. His hands were balled into fists, and Stella touched his arm softly.

The lunch followed a similar pattern as their previous ones. The parents paid attention to their children for about ten minutes to ask the mandatory ‘how are you doing?’ and ‘how’s school been?’ questions before focusing on adult topics like work and bragging about their kids’ success in school. Although in Justin and Stella’s case, it was hard to out-brag the other parents because they were equally good. Frederick and Linette had the numeric advantage of having two children, but Mercedes didn’t exactly shine with her grades, so it balanced things out. Still, Justin’s mother couldn’t stop gushing how some company had contacted Mercedes after seeing her pictures on Instagram.

Justin and Stella were focused on debating if Stella could participate in PE on Monday with her injured hand.

“Mr Armstrong said we’re playing soccer. I don’t need hands for that,” Stella huffed and pierced a piece of tomato on her fork.

“Yeah, but if it rains, we’re playing volleyball.”

“Well, of course I won’t participate then. I’m not dumb. No use in worrying about it yet.”

“I suppose,” Justin shrugged. He still had his reservations though. Even if they played soccer, there was a chance that Stella could be pushed or she could trip and fall, or the ball could simply hit her hand.

“Do you want to come shopping with me tomorrow?” Stella asked to change the topic.

“I’d be happy to, but I have other plans,” Justin said and scratched his cheek.

“Oh? What are you doing?”

Justin glanced at his parents who were engrossed in a discussion with Stella’s parents. He lowered his voice.

“Melanie asked me for a coffee. I promised to go,” he said.

“Oh really?” Stella grinned.

“What?” Justin’s face flushed red.

“Nothing, nothing. Of course you go with her. I’m fine by myself.”

“Are you sure? I can cancel. I’m sure Melanie understands.”

“No way. You go with her. At least I won’t buy too much stuff when I go by myself.”

Melanie would probably never talk to Stella again, if Justin canceled their date because of her. It didn’t matter to Stella, since she wasn’t friends with Melanie to begin with, but it would be cruel to rip the girl from a chance to have a date with her crush. Stella had her own thoughts about the situation, mainly because it had apparently required Stella to not be at school for Melanie to have enough courage to ask Justin out. Stella found it questionable. She wasn’t sure if she could accept someone dating her best friend, if they didn’t have enough guts to ask Justin out without having to wait Stella was out of the picture.

“Well, if you are sure…”

“100% sure. You go and have fun.”