He had followed her home only to humiliate her in front of her mother, calling her names and getting himself slapped in the face when he’d called her a “fucking whore.” Stella hadn’t ever slapped someone, but because it had been well deserved, she had to admit it felt very, very good, even though her palm stung.Shocked by all that was transpiring, Stella’s mother had drawn herself up as high and tall as she could, and with a hard, steely gaze, told Kevin, “Leave. You’re no longer welcome in my house.”Kevin had left almost foaming at the mouth from his rage, the front door slamming behind him. Stella had stared at her mother and whispered a very fervent, “Thank you.”That night Stella had trouble falling asleep, and for hours considered stealing out of her window to go to him. She’d said that she would, and she knew he must be waiting for her.Instead she kept to her bed, filled with apprehension that any angered townsfolk would follow her if she were caught wandering the streets.
