Look out for the <> and happy Wednesday!

Stella POV

I sat on the sidewalk waiting for Alice to finish her group meeting on the Saturday morning so we could go dress shopping. I still had no idea why she wanted me here so early when clearly she was still in her meeting. Anger bubbled within me as I chucked a rock into the parking lot. Bed could have held me captive still, I could have been in my warm home, but instead I was waiting for someone that was late on the cold sidewalk.

With the weather changing around me, it caused a feeling of bitterness to come. I was never a fan of cold or cold weather things. That was why I was in LA, when it was summer all year round. But with the leaves on the ground, I knew that snow would come soon enough, which meant frozen weather, leaving me cold and sour.

I took a deep breath and tried to look on the bright side of the situation. Only a few months and spring would come with flowers. Spring was rebirth, green, and lively. That thought pushed me forward with hope.

<>

Breaking me from my thoughts was when I heard a snap of a branch behind me. I turned around to see Gray standing, looking down at me from across the sidewalk. I wasn't sure if he wanted me to notice because his eyes held some kind of concern, as if he was worried that I would be in the mood to start a conversation he didn't want to have. "Hey," I said plainly to him as his posture loosened.

"Hey," he replied simply as he took a step forward as if wanting to close the gap between us.

Silence spilled into the space between us like lava. "What are you doing here?" I finally asked Gray as he stuffed his hands into his pockets, as if hiding something from me.

"Just taking a walk."

I hardly believed that. No one wanted to go walk around school on a Saturday morning. Something else was up, but I needed to approach this carefully in order to get the questions I needed answered. "At school? Do you live close to here?"

"Not far."

As I stared at him, I realized we hadn't had a conversation since he came over a few days ago. It wasn't that I didn't want to talk to him, but other things pulled my attention, especially when my dad told me he wanted to spend more time with me. That late night conversation over a glass of milk practically knocked my socks off. "So how did you do on that last test?"

A hint of a smile appeared on his face, as if proud of the memory. "I got a B-."

Everyone said he didn't care about school, but that smile told me otherwise. I smiled back at him with excitement. For someone that never studied before, that grade was fantastic. "That's awesome. Congratulations!"

He nodded, then looked at the school as if knowing our moment of privacy would end any moment. "Hey, what are your plans for Monday night?"

I quickly thought about what I had on my plate and suddenly none of it seemed important, not as important as what he was asking. "Nothing."

"Would you be interested in another study group? I feel like there is so much I need to catch up on."

I smiled at the thought that he wanted to hang out. He asked me to hang out with him, which meant something, didn't it? "Of course. We can do that."

"Do you want to meet at my place this time?"

His place sounded like such forbidden fruit, and it caused excitement to build within me. Homes were so personal, and it showed that he wanted to let me in as a friend. This showed me that Grayson was human, and he had a heart. He was more human than most people at this school and no one would see that. "Sure. That sounds good. I can't wait."

"Cool, I'll give you my address at school on Monday."

"I'll be waiting for that moment," I said a little too eagerly.

He smiled back at me as if liking that comment, then turned on his heals. "I'll see you later Stella." And with that, he walked off.

I looked at the ground and realized that was the first time he said my name in full. Besides the time when he was angry and referred to me as Stell, but this time was different. He was calm, and he said my name with such grace as if he hung onto every letter, fully and deliberately. The thought caused a blush to rise in my cheeks. "Grayson.... what to make out of you?" I asked myself under my breath.

"Hey, girl! Ready to go?" Alice's voice rang out, causing me to turn to see her walking up to me dressed in the latest Jackson Hole fashion.

"Ready for this!" to be over.... But in the back of my mind, I knew it wouldn't be that bad. It would only be for a day trip. I hadn't been to a mall in months, and it could be fun. At least I told myself it would be fine.

"Great! Let's get out of here! You can map it right?"

I nodded as I pulled my phone out of my pocket. "Sure can."

As I followed her to her small SUV, I double checked the address with a frown. "So, are you sure that Idaho Fall's is the best place to go shopping?" I asked as I looked at the map on my phone. Idaho Falls was three hours away, and I was sure there had to be a mall closer than that. In LA there were at least three malls within a 40-minute drive of my house.

"Nope, best mall shopping is there."

And I wondered if it was really the best shopping. For the drive, it better be massive. But then again, I already saw the way people dressed here, so the mall couldn't be that good.

Before long, we were on the road, making it over the Teton pass. As the snow turned back into dead grass, I knew we were leaving the mountains far from us. Alice continued to chat about her volunteer project and now it will get her into the college of her dreams, and I listened politely, knowing that I didn't have much choice in the matter.

"Your mom works for UCLA. Are you planning to get there for school?" Alice asked, finally taking a break from her self-induced conversation.

"That's the plan," I said as I looked out the window.

"Gosh it must be so nice to have an entire plan made for you."

"It is really nice. It makes my life easy to plan." And that is how my whole life would continue. It was tidy, and that was what I needed to survive.

"Jealous," she nodded as she turned on some freeway, passing small towns along the way.

I couldn't say that this area was beautiful, but there was something about its rugged terrain that provided some kind of charm to the landscape.

"So, did I see you talking to Gray on the sidewalk?"

"Yeah, he was going on a walk. It was only for a second," I said as I turned my attention back to her as she drove.

"So how was the study group? Did you find out any juicy information about him?"

She just wanted to find any rumor to spread about him. Alice was a good person, I really believed that, but her weakness was gossip and she would tell anything story to anyone just to have a conversation. "He's quiet. Nice, but quiet. We didn't talk much, just about school."

"Did he tell you he is almost failing every class? Timberlyn told me he's the dumbest person in her class. Can't answer a single question."

Her statement offended me and caused anger to boil up within me. "Does he choose not to answer questions, or does he not answer questions correctly?" I asked because in my mind they were completely different things. I studied with Grayson, and dumb was not what I would call him. He just had a lot on his mind, more than I think I would ever know. Those other thoughts were just more important to him for whatever reason. Just because school was not important to him didn't mean that he was dumb.

Alice frowned. "I don't understand why you are always defending him."

"Someone has to." since no one in this school will.

"I just find it odd and all. Stella, I'm looking out for you. There's a reason he has no friends," she pointed out with concern in her eyes, as if she actually believed he was dangerous.

I frowned at her, not liking her statement. Yes, I agreed that there was a reason he was alone, but it wasn't the reason her or the whole school thought of. He put himself into the place he was because he wanted to be there for some reason. It was as if he believed himself to be dangerous, but I was sure that was because he was listening to the school rumors too much. We quickly let the conversation die out and soon the chatter was replaced with upbeat songs.

Before long, I found myself looking at my reflection in a dressing room mirror of some store I was not familiar with. I turned around in the short dress I wore then pulled on it to make it longer, but it did little for coverage. For my taste, this dress that was too short and too tight, but Alice insisted I try it and I didn't want to say no to such a simple request. But now that I was in it, all I wanted was to take it off.

"Stella, get your butt out here, I want to see that dress," Alice whined on the other side of the dressing room curtain.

I frowned at the red curtain as if she could see it. But she would never see the frown on my face, nor would she see me in this dress. The most she would think would be that I couldn't wear this dress for any other reason than me being uncomfortable in it. "Um, it doesn't fit," I lied.

"That's not true. It's your size," she said and walked into the dressing room without asking permission.

I instantly covered my body, although it was fully covered in the tiny dress. There was some kind of invasion of privacy that happened here, and I wanted her out.

She looked at me from head to toe, then brushed her blonde hair from her face with a huge grin. "Gosh. You look hot! Stella, please tell me you're going to wear this to homecoming."

I shook my head as I pulled on the dress again. There was no way in Hell I would wear this thing anywhere besides the dressing room. "Nah, wasn't thinking about it."

"But it's so perfect! Why not?"

"Because it's a little too expensive for my liking," I lied, even though I did not know the price of the dress.

She pulled the tag out from the back of the dress and smiled. "A clearance dress is too much for you?"

I nodded as I looked at the cheap price on the tag.

She chuckled as if I was joking, but I wasn't. "Fine, I'll get it for you."

"You really don't need to," I said, trying to get out of this.

"But I do, this dress was made for you. It will be an honor to get it for you," she beamed as she made me twirl around.

"Thanks....that's so kind."

"Of course! This is what friends are for!" she cheered, then grabbed my hands and gave a little jump as if this was the most exciting thing she had ever done in her life. "Gosh, you are going to have all the heads turn at the school dance."

"Cool." But it was anything but. This dress was anything but predicable and I wasn't ok with falling out of my old habits when they had gotten me so far thus far.

Alice let go of my dress as her face turned serious for a moment. "So what do you think about my dress?" she asked as she gave a twirl.

I looked at the small strapless light pink dress silently for a second. It was pretty I guess, but it wasn't my style. But she wanted me to gush about this so I would have to. I could only be so different and having different fashion tastes would just add another topic of why Stella was an outsider. "It's great on you. It's really stunning."

"You think so?"

"Totally."

"I knew it! Great, I'm going to get it," she said, then popped out of the dressing room, finally leaving me alone.

In the privacy of the small changing room, I looked at my reflection again and frowned at the mess I got myself in. I should have spoken up, but it was too late now. I was going to wear this dress, and this dance was going to be the worst thing in the history of ever.