"It looks too gaudy," she said, eyeing the red dress she was holding in her hands.

"Shut up, Aunt Stellar. No one is asking for your opinion," she said, craning her neck to look for Noah who was busy on his phone, barking orders to his secretary.

​​

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me aunt?" she told her teenage niece. "We only have a few years gap."

"Doesn't matter. You are my mother's sister. That makes you my aunt. No matter how old you are."

"Very smart of you Venice to know your family tree by heart," she rolled her eyes, calling the teenager her given name that she hates. She marveled at the annoyed reaction of the younger girl upon hearing her own name.

"What are you doing here, anyway? This is supposed to be my date with Noah!" she glared at her mother's younger sister who was acting like a teenager.

She hated her presence at the moment. It was supposed to be her date with Noah. It took her a lot of persuasions, both from Noah and her father for Noah to come with her to pick up a dress for her school dance.

But her aunt Stellar ruined it! When she found out that she was going out with Noah, she invited herself and now she's giving her unsolicited advice on her choices of dresses. She wanted Noah to give his opinion, not her stupid, hippie aunt.

"How come you are calling me aunt and Noah just Noah? He's older than the two of us," she crossed her arms over her chest. She knew the reason why Venice won't call Noah uncle, or why she wanted Noah to be the one who came with her shopping for a dress. She knew the reason, but she was asking just to piss off her snotty know-it-all niece.

Venice gave her a look as if she has no brain and it disgusts her to even answer her stupid question. She also crossed her arms over her breast, which happened to be bigger than her aunt's even though she was younger than her.

"Because Noah isn't our blood relatives."

"Yeah, but Noah is an old friend of your parents." She put a hard emphasis on the word 'old' because everyone in the family knew that Venice has had a huge crush on Noah since she was twelve and that known fact made Venice's father heartbroken.

Hearing the implied meaning of the word old from Stellar, Venice squinted her eyes, and told her aunt, "Why don't you mind your own effing business?"

"Oh my!" she covered her mouth with her hands, widening her eyes in fake surprise, "What would your father say that you can say those words. Isn't it enough suffering that his precious daughter was having a crush on his old friend, now she can be rude too!"

Stellar emphasis on the word old again, and made Venice's nose flared in anger.

"You kept on saying we are just a few years apart and Noah is old, then why are you clinging to Noah?" She uncrossed her arms from her chest and put them on her waist, tilted her chin, and dared her aunt to justify what she just said.

Stellar grinned maliciously and leaned towards her niece who stepped back as if she didn't want to be touched by her. "Because I like old men," she winked at Venice.

Venice may be younger than Stellar but she wasn't as innocent as her father thought her to be. She reads and hears stories from her friends. She even shared an account with her best friend for sites where kids below eighteen weren't allowed.

She understood the implication of what Stellar had just said. She looked at her aunt with her nose flaring, lips curling in disgust, and said, "eww,"

She laughed at her niece in a malicious manner and watched her recoil in disgust. 'Oh, she's too fun and adorable to tease.'

"What's wrong with my preference? You are the same," she said, taunting.

"I am not like you!" She denied vehemently what Stellar said. Her heart was pounding on her chest, and she could feel her cheeks burning in embarrassment with their topic.

"You are not?" she widened her eyes. "But then, just like me you like Noah who happened to be older than us."

Venice got tongue-tied with what her aunt Stellar said. She stood rooted in the middle of clothes racks, brows furrowed in silent anger towards her aunt who pointed out the obvious.

She has been crushing on her father's friend since she became aware of the opposite sex. She likes Noah and not the boys that were the same age as her because she finds them so immature. Unlike Noah.

Noah is always sweet with her. And listened to what the other kids thought of as strange ideas. He would sometimes give her pointers on where she can improve with her studies. And always buys her books, even without occasion.

And now, Stellar is trying to ruin her relationship with Noah, telling her she likes old men! How dare her! She will definitely tell her mother!

She was still shooting dagger looks to her aunt when Noah approached them. He ruffled her hair and asked with a smile, "Got what you want?"

"I can't decide and aunt Stellar with her lack of fashion sense isn't helping!" She stepped closer to Noah and snaked her arms around his waist then stuck her tongue to her aunt.

They may be both like Noah, and her aunt is older than her, but it means she can't do what she can with Noah, like hugging him or kissing his cheeks and people won't put malice on it. Unlike if Stellar was the one doing it. That's her edge with her stupid aunt!

"Do you want to check other stores? I'm sure they have more choices over there."

Venice beamed at Noah and nodded her head eagerly with his suggestions. She would agree to whatever Noah would say to her. To hell with her aunt Stellar's opinion.