Hazza and Stell-Bell

I sighed over the phone to Paige, my brother's friends were all in the lounge room, laughing about some fight my brother, Alex, had got into with Harry.

You see, my age group was clearly divided into two groups, Alex and Harry. They used to be close friends until Year 5, when Harry was dating Alice and she hooked up with Alex. They've hated each other ever since, dividing the class. I never got involved, I couldn't really side against Alex, but Harry has always been polite to me and has never given me a reason to side against him, so I haven't chosen a side.

"What?" Paige asked "Don't you sigh at me!" her voice crackled, due to the dodgy reception in Wirrawee.

I laughed "Just Alex's mates, they're bitching about Harry, again"

I could practically hear Paige's green eyes rolling over the phone line, she had sided with Alex.

"Well, he probably deserved it!"

"Harry's not bad! He's always been polite to me!"

"Don't let your brother hear you yelling something like that out!"

I could almost see her hand placed over her mouth in a melodramatic gasp, Paige was a bit of a drama queen.

"I don't care what he thinks, it doesn't even matter!"

I walked up the hallway and into the kitchen-lounge-room area, using my shoulder to hold the phone to my ear as I opened the fridge.

"Okay! I won't bring it up again, you coming to the party next Saturday?"

"Mum's in a bad mood, haven't asked her yet" I heard her sigh, I was about to scold her when I heard my brother yell out.

"Stellaaaaaa" he whined.

"Aleeeeeeex" I replied

"Can you get me a Coke?"

I pulled two Cokes out of the fridge, walking closer to the couch and chucking one to Alex, he caught it with one hand easily, not a blonde hair out of place.

"Thanks sis'"

"It's 'kay bro'"

I smiled at his friends before returning to my conversation.

"I can't do Tuesday! I told you, I have work!"

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

I tried to zone out Mr Star's lecture on The Polynesian Expansion, looking to my left to see Paige doodling in the back of her history text book, and to my right Harry was scribbling something down in his book, before training his chocolate eyes back on Mr Star.

I studied the clock, only twenty minutes left, Mr Star was now handing out a worksheet, asking us to fill it in based on the notes we were supposed to be taking. I smiled as he placed it in front of me, pretending I knew what I was doing, or at least what he was talking about.

"Harry"

He looked up, then around the room.

"Harry" I repeated, slightly louder this time, he looked up at me with questioning eyes.

"Were you paying attention?"

He nodded, oddly silent.

"Can I copy your notes?"

He smirked, raising his eyebrow.

"Weren't paying attention? You little rebel Stella"

I laughed, repeating the question.

"So can I borrow the notes?"

He nods.

"As long as your brother doesn't kill me, that is"

I giggled and he passed his book to me, just as both of us have your hand on the page, Mr Star turns in our direction.

"Miss Capulet! Mr Montague! You were supposed to be taking your own notes!"

He ripped the book out of our grasp, checking the clock.

"You two can finish this in detention"

Harry just sighed, slowly packing up his stuff, I felt guilty, all Harry did was let me borrow his notes, and he got in trouble for it. I was about to apologize to him, buy the bell went and he ran out the door.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

I stood outside the red door; it had DETENTION written on it in big black letters. I leaned against the wall and slid down 'til I was sitting on the ground, I wasn't a bad kid, and I didn't get detention often. I certainly wasn't a straight-A-student or a Teacher's Pet or anything, but I passed with a B-average. Poor Harry, he was top of nearly every class, and I got him detention. He was surprisingly smart for someone so popular, but also cute and good at sport, Alex wasn't near as smart, he got by on looks and sporting abilities.

I snapped out of my little daze when I heard footsteps heading my way, I saw Mr Star with a key in his hand, Harry trailing behind him with his head hanging low. Mr Star unlocked the door, we both followed him in and I took a seat at the back of the classroom, Harry sat next to me.

"Okay, you two are the only ones in here today, and since I have some marking to do and there's camera's installed, I'm gonna leave you here. Don't try to leave, I have your history textbooks here to finish off your work, and stay silent, no talking in detention.

He placed a couple books on the teacher's desk, swiftly walking out the door, and slamming it behind him.

"I'm sorry" I blurted out, I didn't try to but, it just kinda came up. Harry smiled.

"What for?"

"Getting you detention! It was my fault, all you did was be nice to me and it got you detention!"

He shrugged, walking over to the teacher's desk and picking up both books, placing one on my table and sitting down with the other. He pulled a pen out of his pencil case and flipped open his workbook, copying something from the textbook to the workbook.

I sighed, and mimicked his actions, copying down words from one book to the other. It was silent for a few minutes, the only noise being his pen tapping on the table in some sort of rhythm.

"Why don't you hate me?"

I was a little taken aback by the question, I was aware of the feud, and obviously Harry was, but I was possibly the only person in the grade who didn't pick a side.

"Why would I?"

"Because your twin brother hates me! We've hated each other for five years now! Why wouldn't you choose his side?"

"I didn't choose a side, he's my brother, so I can't side against him, but you've always been nice to me, so I'm not gonna side against you either."

He gave me a quizzical expression, as if I was an interesting painting, or an equation that didn't make sense.

"You, are one of a kind Stell-Bell"

I laughed, Harry used to come over to our house a lot when he was friends with Alex, he always called me Stell-Bell, ruffling my blonde curls and winking his hot-chocolate eyes. I could definitely see why he was popular, he was very charismatic, he had black hair, deep-brown eyes, olive skin, he certainly wasn't ugly. My brother had the classic blonde-hair-and-blue-eyes thing, as did I. They were both good at sport, which was always a major part in a small town like Wirrawee, but Harry was also academically gifted, and nicer than my brother. Harry had probably only gone out with eight girls, and always dated, never hooked-up. Alex hooked-up, no-strings-attached, and was pretty bitchy to those less popular than him, but he was my brother.

I smiled at Harry, and asked him about question sixteen. We spent the whole detention talking, laughing, he was funny, always knew how to make me smile.

"I wish we could just talk, like normal people, without this whole feud thing" I admitted, he nodded.

"We can, just not in public." He winked, as pulled his phone out of his bag, passing it to me.

"Put your number in, we can text without anyone knowing"

I smiled, and put my number in as 'Stell-Bell xx', before passing him my phone. After he put his number in he gave my phone back, when I saw he had put it in as 'Hazzaaaaa ;)' I giggled to myself, always the charmer.

We both put our phones back and continued our conversation, consisting of whether 'Aladdin' or 'Hercules' was better.

"But Aladdin sings!"

"So does Hercules!"

"But Hercules has so many inaccuracies! At least Aladdin doesn't butcher mythology!"

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

I tugged on the hem of my blue dress, Paige had forced my into it for her 16th birthday. The dress was a sky blue, strapless, and there was a diamond cutout on the back, I paired it with a long silver necklace with a sparrow on it and silver pumps, leaving my blonde hair down in natural curls.

"I dunno Paige, do you think it's too slutty?"

Paige rolled her eyes and smirked.

"How you gonna impress Harry without a little sluttiness?"

I shot her a look and elbowed her in the ribs, over the last week I may have developed an incy-wincy-little-baby-crush on Harry, and had made the mistake of informing Paige.

"Shut up! It's not like we're dating!"

"You can't, really. It's so Romeo-And-Juliet, a forbidden love, doomed to never be!"

She placed the back of her hand on her forehead and leaned backwards, pulling the 'damsel-in-distress' face she had perfected in Drama class. I just rolled my eyes, she was so theatrical.

I heard a knock on the door.

"Is anyone naked?"

I rolled my eyes at my brother's antics.

"No, you can come in."

The door swung open and my brother stepped in, dressed in red Vans, skinny jeans, a red and white striped top and a black jacket for Paige's party.

"Aww! Look at my little sister! All grown up!" he hugged me and ruffled my hair.

"Alex! We're twins! You're not older than me!" I laughed, he just ignored me and wakled to Paige.

"Happy birthday Paige! You look pretty tonight" he winked and hugged her.

"Thanks Alex, we're gonna go to my house, wanna lift?"

He nodded and mumbled something about getting his stuff before leaving the room.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

I sipped my Coke as I scanned the room for someone I knew, Paige had ran off with Tammy as soon as he winked at her, and Alex had already taken Bonnie into the toilet stalls, leaving me alone at my best friend's party. My eyes flitted past Harry, deep in conversation with Adam and Clay, he caught my eye and winked, so I poked my tongue out at him, he jutted his bottom lip out and furrowed his eyebrows as he crossed his eyes, making me giggle and nearly spit my Coke everywhere. Harry said something to his mates and left them, starting to walk my way.

"Hey Stell-Bell" he smiled, I smiled back.

"Hey Hazz, having fun?"

He shrugged nonancholantly.

"You?"

I shook my head.

"My best friend and brother both ditched me, I have no-one to talk to"

He pretended to wipe a tear from his eye, pulling an over-exaggerated frown.

"Shut up!"

He held his hands up, as if proclaiming his innocence.

"I didn't say a thing!"

I rolled my eyes, trying not to laugh.

"You wanna go talk? Somewhere quieter?" he asked, oddly shy and looking down at his shoes. I took his hand in mine, leading the way.

"I know just the place"

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

I laughed, leaning against the inside wall of Paige's old cubby house, the one we had played in at the age of six. Harry leaned against the wall next to me, the cubby was so small we had to squish in, but I didn't mind.

"I like being with you Stell, you're so easy to talk to"

It amazed me how Harry could turn such a goofy conversation so serious, so fast.

"So are you, I feel like…" I paused for a moment, trying to find the right words "I can be myself around you, like I don't have to hold anything back, you know?"

He nodded, squishing slighty closer to me.

"You know, your brother could never find out we're friends, he'd shoot me"

"I don't care, you're my friend, he's my brother, I'm not gonna announce it to him, but I'm not gonna hide it from him either, if we're friends, then we're friends"

He smiled at me.

"You Stell-Bell, are one of a kind"

And he kissed me, he kissed me. I tried to think about the fact that my brother was gonna kill us, that we'd have to keep it a secret, but all I could focus on was the fact that I had my hands around his neck, pulling him closer, and his calloused hands were tangled in my hair, and I was kissing him back.
Holy Shit, I'm kissing Harry Montague.

I pulled back first, him following soon after.

"I'm sorry Stell, I just, I…" he trailed off, running his hands through his dark hair "I like you, like really like you, and I know it's ridicolous for you to feel the same wa-"

I cut him off quickly.

"Harry!"

He looked a little taken aback, worried even.

"Don't be sorry" I leaned in closer to him "I like you too"

He smiled his hand sneaking around my waist.

"Does this mean we can be more than friends?"

This was a bit Romeo-and-Juliet…

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

I laughed at Harry's incredibly corny joke as we stood in line for the movies, we were dating now, but we had to be a little Romeo-and-Juliet about it, keeping everything hidden.

"Okay, how 'bout this one? A grasshopper walks into a bar, sits down, orders a beer. When the bartender walks over to him and goes 'you know, there's a drink named after you', and the grasshopper goes" I cut him off before he could finish the sentence.

"Really? There's a drink named Kevin?!"

He stared at me wide-eyed, before bursting out in laughter again.

"How did you know that?"

"My brother and I used to have corny-joke competitions, I know every one in the book"

By now we were at the concession stand, I went to get $20 out of my purse but Harry bet me to it.

"No, no, no, no, no. My mother would shoot me if she found out I let a lady pay" following with a wink. I just rolled my eyes and thanked him, picking up the popcorn and Coke.

We settled at the back of the theatre, Harry had chosen some movie called 21 Jump Street, it was supposed to be funny. I scanned the room while the trailers played, scoping out the people walking into the theatre, there was a lot of teenage couples, holding hands and whispering, some families, some middle-ages couples, then a big group of guys walked in, they looked about my age.
Shit, I knew those guys.

"Harry" I whisper shouted

"What?" he replied

"My brother! He's over there!"

Harry shot up, trying to see him, when he caught a glance he turned to the ground, trying to hide his face behind the back of my head.

"What are we gonna do? He can't see us!"

"Easy, we just wait until the lights turn off, then they can't see us."

He nodded, looking to the ground, I turned away from where my brother was, pretending to be deep in conversation with Harry, as he picked something off the floor. Luckily, the lights dimmed soon after, so we could cuddle up and watch the movie, not that we were actually paying attention a lot…

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

I shivered as I walked, the chilly air getting through my thin dress. Harry must've noticed, and took his jacket off, draping it over my shoulders. He couldn't really walk me all the way home, but he said he'd walk me to the edge of the block.

"Hazz, I told you not to walk me home! You're house is on the other side of town! You still have to walk back!"

He just kissed my cheek.

"An extra few blocks is worth it, if it's with you"

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help the blush.

"You're so cheesy"

"I prefer to think of it as charming"

I laughed, Harry stopped walking, we were at the edge of my block.

"I guess you have to leave now.." he trailed off, looking at the ground.

"I guess so" I replied, as the silence set in.

"Hey Stell-Bell, I'm sorry you're caught in the middle of Alex and I, you shouldn't have to lie to your family and friends and stuff just 'cos we don't like eachother, it really has nothing to do wi-"

I cut him off, pressing a finger to his lips to shut him up.

"It's worth it if it's with you" I winked, he smiled.

"Hey! That's my line" he laughed

"G'night Stell-Bell"

"Night Hazz"

He leaned in to kiss me, but we were cut off my a scream.

"Stella Ann Capulet!"

I turned around to see a blonde guy standing on the other side of the road, Alex.

"Shit."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

I slammed the door behind me, screaming at Alex through the thick wooden door. I changed into my pyjamas, a grey singlet top and some rainbow striped shorts, throwing Harry's jacket on my bed.

I heard Mum knocking on the door, Dad asking Alex why he had a black eye.

"Stell.." came the quiet voice of my Mum outside the door. I got up to unlock it for her, before sitting cross-legged on my bed, hugging my purple cushion.

Mum opened the door, peering in and looking me over, before sighing and wrapping me in a hug, I leant in, trying to stop the tears from flowing.

"Hun, what happened?"

And it just came out. Alex and Harry, Harry in class, detention, dating, the movies, everything up to just before I got home.

"Well, Harry was about to leave, when Alex saw him, and Alex swung a punch, something about violating his little sister. It hit Harry square in the eye, but he swung back! Alex deserved it, an eye for an eye. Harry apologised to me, but I told him to go home, that we'd talk later, and ran back to the house. I didn't know what to do! Harry just kinda stood there, before nodding and walking off. Alex followed me all the way home, whining and moaning, so I told him that he deserved it, and he yelled at me, and now he's just being bitchy!"

Mum listened to everything, nodding and hugging when it was needed.

"Well, I suggest you talk to both boys, starting with the one in this household"

I nodded, crawling out of her arms and heading to the door, but not before thanking her and kissing her cheek.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Alex was on his bed, clutching his nose and groaning, I opened the door silently leaning on the doorframe.

"If you're gonna die, please be quieter about it"

He looked up, gesturing to sit down on his bed.

"Stella! Any guy on Earth! And you choose to date Harry Price!"

"You're blaming this on me? It's not my fault you punched my boyfriend!"

"Your boyfriend? No! You are not dating Harry!"

"Yes I am! Whether you like it or not! I don't care that you hate him, that doesn't involve me!"

"Yes it does! You're supposed to stick up for me, I'm your brother! Plus, it's Harry! It's not like he's fricken Romeo!"

By now we were standing up, screaming at eachother and using extravagant hand gestures.

"You're the one making it a Romeo-and-Juliet situation! Harry didn't do anything wrong! You're the one that hooked-up with your best mate's girl!"

Alex didn't reply, the red slowly draining out of his face.

"I know, I know that was wrong, but I said I was sorry and tried to make-up. Harry was the one that stopped being my friend"

"No it wasn't, you stopped being a real friend the moment you touched Alice, all that time ago."

I ended the conversation, walking out of the room, slamming the door behind me. I stomped all the way to my bed, where my phone was buzzing and blasting out 'Back For You' repeatedly, I picked it up and slid the 'accept' button across.

"Stell-Bell! I'm so sorry! I know I shouldn't have punched him, but I was angry, and he swung at me, and I'm so, so sorry now! Please forgive me!"

I tried not to smile, I knew I should be mad at him, but it was pretty hard to hold out.

"Hazz, calm down" I sighed "This would be so much easier in person"

"Then I'll come over! Please, I just need to talk!"

"Okay, meet me out the front, we'll talk"

I hung up, before walking over to the window, looking out at the few lights left on in Wirrawee.

"Oh Harry, what's going on Harry?"

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Harry's blue car pulled up outside my house, he opened the door and stepped out, still dressed in his white shirt and dark jeans from the movie theatre.

"Stell-Bell" he ran and hugged me, whispering apologies in my ear repeatedly.

"Hazz, shh, come talk over here"

I sat down on the cement path, pulling him down with me, he sat next to me, tracing patterns on my hand.

"Stella, I'm so sorry for punching Alex, you shouldn't be getting involved in this, it's not your fight!"

I nodded, shushing him again.

"Harry, I forgive you. But you guys need to sort this out! It was a mistake, a long time ago, and all this stupid, bitterness needs to be dealt with."

He nodded, I texted Alex to come out, and went inside.

They never told me what happened, all I know is that when thay came back inside, they were laughing like old mates.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Students stood in shock as Harry and I walked hand-in-hand down the hallway, guys shooting me confused glances, girls shooting me glares, Paige just winked. But even more surprising, was Alex standing next to Harry, the two chatting and laughing as if they'd been friends forever.

The stupid fued was over, it was no longer 'Romeo-And-Juliet', we could just be Harry-And-Stella.

Hazza and Stell-Bell.