It was a cold winter, a 14-year-old girl named Stella was walking home from school. It was just another day for her, but little did she know how the things were going to change that night. She was alone as usual because she didn't have many friends at school, and she didn't have any friends outside school. Deep inside she felt so miserable and desperate.
When she came home from school her mom was in the kitchen making dinner. She greeted her and they ate dinner. Her dad was at work, he is a construction worker and he works 15 hours a day, she barely sees him. They live in a small house in Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina. Living , there was hard for them since they weren't rich and since her grandma was diagnosed with cancer and needed to go to a lot of treatments and buy all the necessary medicine.
It was 10 pm, her dad finally came home from work, exhausted and drained. Half an hour later her mom's phone rang, it was her sister, grandma was in hospital, she had some kind of organ failure and she had to be rushed to the ER. By the time they got to the hospital granny was sent to an urgent surgery. They were waiting for the doctor to talk to them but by the nurse's look they knew granny wouldn't make it. Finally, they let them see her through the glass, she looked terribly weak and pale. the next two hours could be described as postponing the inevitable. Although they were expecting it, the whole family was devastated and in a state of shock, the small hospital room was now full of tears and deep sorrow.
During the next few days Stella couldn't eat, sleep or go to school. She was very close to her grandma, most of the time she would spend at her house since she didn't have friends except for the 2 girls from her book club, not real friends, just someone who she shared her ideas about the book with. Almost every day after school she used to go to her house just to talk and be with her instead of being alone and feeling miserable.
Granny's funeral was a week later. That day Stella cried more than ever but she wasn't the only one, a lot of people could hide their tears because granny was special to everyone, she was the only one who would listen to you when no one would, she was 'always there for you' kind of person. After the funeral service, they went to a nearby restaurant, there was a reception, a great opportunity to share all memories once again.
Two years have passed quickly but Stella hasn't felt any better, she couldn't get rid of the anxiety and mild depression from time to time. She was walking down the street, accompanied by certain uneasiness as usual, but this time she going to her therapist. She has been going to therapy for almost six months now. When she arrived to the waiting room, she sat across a girl of her age. The girls was probably waiting for the receptionist to set her next appointment. Stella was rather sure that she had never seen her in those six months. She seemed to be a little bit sad but she didn't say anything, she completely ignored Stella. Four days later Stella went there again and there she was again, standing next to the receptionist's desk. The didn't seem to pay any attention to Stella, she was probably very anxious and too intimidated to talk to anyone, Stella remembered she had felt the same when she first came to that place. Going to therapy makes your feel like you are on an emotional roller-coaster.
Two more months passed and during that period they would regularly meet at the therapist's office. The girls even started to pay attention to Stella, she would greet her in the waiting room, but Stella still didn't know her name or anything else about her.
That day, unexpectedly and without any notice, everything changed. When Stella entered the waiting room, the girl was sitting there waiting to be called in. The receptionist kept apologizing for causing the mess with their appointments. Thanks to the therapy, Stella felt much better and, more important, empowered enough to realize that the mess with appointment was not just a coincidence but a chance for a change. She learned the girl's name, it was Dolly, smiled at her and suggested following each other on social media offering the girl the information about her profile.
When she got home it was already 7 pm, she had a shower, ate her dinner and went to bed. She was scrolling on her phone when she got a text message from someone. It was Doll. they talked for a while, she found out that she lived not so far away from her, she lost her grandpa last September and that loss, along with all other horrible things that had happened to her, urged her to start going to therapy. The found out that they shared the same interests, the same music taste and they even used to go to the same kindergarten. That was quite a new experience for Stella, for the first time in life she had a friend who she could talk to, a friend who listened to her and could understand her.
The next morning she woke up at 5.20, a little bit earlier than usual. She got ready for school and went out. She was listening to music while walking to school, but the message buzz made her music stop playing, so she reached for the phone to read it. It was Dolly, she asked her to meet in a downtown coffee shop after school. Stella got so excited, she finally had a friend she could hang out with.
Suddenly, all the classed, and she had six that day, were not so boring. Even her classmates looked different to her, she could see everything from another prospective, she could understand the hype and the fuss that the girls from her class displayed when talking to each other, she did not have to pretend to understand or to fake her smile. She desperately needed a friend and she found one. Stella felt happiness which she hadn't felt for a long time. She could hardly remember when she felt so joyful and content.
Perhaps, she could even cancel her therapy. What a relief! What a change!