With my hands shaking slightly, "Well Mom for me I will luckily starting work on June 7th at AAMCO Transmissions and Total care. It's a garage where I can do what I love and also gain more knowledge to become a better version of myself." I say proudly considering how nervous I am feeling. I'm very excited to start working and start saving money, I am equally as excited to start school and finally make something of myself. 'I wonder if there is a class for diesel mechanics that I can take so that I can learn to work on anything and everything.'
Stella begins to speak pulling me from my previous thought. "I will be working at Hobby Lobby starting on June 6th. I am hoping that while I work here that I can get some ideas to help me with becoming a fashion designer." Stella smiles her thousand-watt model smile to show just how proud and excited she is for her career path. Mom then looks at us both with a thoughtful smile,
"Good job girls I am very surprised and proud. You have really stepped up and taken all of the steps that I would have suggested to start preparing for something this huge. I am sad that I won't have you girls very close, but this too shall be a good thing. You girls are turning into very mature and stunning young woman. Scarlet, have you talked to Camerone about any of this yet? I know that he is very protective over you with everything that you guys have been through?" Just then I felt a ping of guilt as I remembered the look of hurt on his face when I accidentally let it slip about what me and Stella were doing today.
"I mentioned it to him, but I haven't really given him too many details yet. He has been really busy with work. I am supposed to sit down with him tonight and give him all of the information." 'It's not completely a lie...I am going to talk to him about it tonight. I just hope that I don't hurt his feelings with how far away and the apartment and working. He also doesn't know that we have already gotten everything sorted out and planned we just have to start the working.'
I pull out my phone and write a quick text:
Hey Cam, do we need anything from the store to make dinner?
Camerone responded almost immediately:
Nope Scar I already picked everything up that we would need. This way you can' make an excuse and back out of our talk tonight. Love you
I role my eyes I should have seen that coming:
Thanx Cam I'll be home soon to start making dinner so we can talk. I would never try to avoid this conversation. :P Love you.
As I put my phone in my pocket, I look up just in time to lock eyes with Stella who is giving me a questioning look,
"What was that about? Is everything ok?"
Oh, how well Stella knows me. I will talk to her about this, but I don't think that Mama Bear needs to know that I haven't told Cam nearly as much as I made it seem I have. I look at her with an all-knowing look, "Come on let's go look at your car I want to do a tune up and make sure that it is running well." I say this because I know that using this phrase Mama Bear won't ask any more questions or catch on to what Stella asked.
Stella looks down at her hands that are for some reason still nervously fiddling with the hem of her shirt. 'Hmmm that is concerning I wonder what is up? Stella only does that when something is bothering her or if she needs to say something but doesn't think that it is the right time to do so.' Stella is the blunt friend, so I find myself more worried about what she isn't saying more then I worry about how to talk to Camerone about our college plans.
"Ok Scar....Ummmmm.... I actually kind of need to tell you something.... I had this really weird dream...." Stella looked away with a worried expression on her face as we turn and head out the door to the garage where I will work on her car.
Sitting in the garage is her little blue 2010 Mini Cooper, as I look at it, I almost want to chuckle. As someone who may not know her, I would assume that she would have a Lexus or a BMW but being someone who knows her all too well this is the perfect car to fit her personality. I personally would never be caught dead driving a mini but it suites her. I can feel Stella's eyes on me as I go to my backpack to grab the oil filter and the oil, I purchased last night for her car.
Stella
Scarlet is reaching in her backpack that I always feel is like a bottomless pit. 'How do I bring up my dream to Scar she is gonna think that I am absolutely a nutcase. Then again maybe I am, who dreams such odd things about their best friend.' I nervously twist the bottom of my shirt in my hands watching as the cloth bunches up and pulls flat. "Scar I really need to tell you something I just don't know how to say any of this."
She has lifted my car, Mr. Lemon, onto jack stands and is currently fiddling around underneath. "Ella what is going on your acting like you have a huge secret and as your best friend I must know." She pokes her head out from under Mr. Lemon and eyes me.
I decide quickly I need to ask her about her weird reaction and rolling her eyes at her phone before I speak about this dream to her, "Actually Scarlet it will stay a secret till you tell me what that was with your phone are you ok? You almost looked.... sad?" Before she answers she pulls herself out from under Mr. Lemon and all I can hear is a steady stream of liquid. I notice that she is also biting her lip like she is having a conversation with herself about how much and what to tell me.
"I don't know Ella; I just had a conflict with Cam as I was headed over here is all. He asked what I was in such a hurry to do today, and I hadn't said anything to him about college or the apartment this far.... Well needless to say I accidentally let it slip and I think it hurt his feelings." She looked like she was far away and deep in thought. For a second it looked as if she was trying to swallow a lump in her throat and it almost looked like she was trying not to cry. She continued, "...I promised that I would talk to him about it tonight and when he didn't look like he believed me I said...*gulp* I said that I would make his favorite which is my mother's Macaroni and cheese casserole. That seemed to make him forgive me, but I don't know how upset he still is. As for the thing with my phone I was asking him if we needed anything from the store to prepare dinner and much to my surprise, he has already gotten everything haha and he said he didn't want me to have an excuse to not have this conversation with him." She rolled her eyes as she crawled back under my car removing the oil filter and placing the new one in.
I love watching her work she seems so at peace. "Hey Ella, can you hand me some napkins please I need to clean up down here so I can finish the oil change." I get up and grab the blue paper towels that she keeps here for when she works on Mr. Lemon. With ease she crawls out from under the car lifts him up and removes the jacks. She goes over to where she keeps her tools and grabs the funnel placing it and adds the oil to the engine.
"How do you know so much about cars Scar? You are like a professional?" She shrugs her shoulders and says, "My father taught me; his belief was that if you can't fix it then you definitely should not drive it." She shakes her head lightly and laughs. "The first time I tried to do an oil change by myself I made a huge mess I thought that he was going to be so mad at me. But when he got home, he helped me clean it up and helped me to finish the oil change and right when I thought for sure that he was going to yell at me...he hugged me and told me that I did a good job and that he was proud of me." She let out a small chuckle and checked the dip stick to make sure she didn't over fill the oil. 'Now it is my turn to come clean with her about my dream.... but how?'