Stella, 10

Possible Careers for a Diva in the Making

I have a bunch of ideas of what I want to be when I grow up. I’ve kind of lost count, though. At first I thought I might want to be a superhero, but then I realized there were no superheroes left alive. I want to be an actress. I want to be a pop star, a girl who’s in fashion shows, a diva. I have a band from Girls Rock Chicago. I’m both guitarist and singer. I have a bunch of favorite songs, like, “Miracles Happen” by Myra.

Making Friends, New and Old

There’s a new boy in my class named Demarion. He’s African-American like me, except he’s almost the same shade as my mom. He has curly hair like me, only his goes up. I have a lot of friends. Some of the boys in every grade, I know. I still have a crush on my third grade crush. My friend Kya is in my class. It’s been a while since we played together. She’s good at gymnastics.

I remember that one time me and Erin were practicing for the winter talent show at church last year. You would not believe what happened. We accidentally lit the chalice a little too many times, and…a hole burned in it! I tried blowing it out, but that just made it more creepier. I bet you’re wondering what the solution was, right? Puddles. We used water.

I keep getting into getting all of these camps. Camp Independence, YMCA, Peace Camp in Pennsylvania, I think. They’re summer camps. If I go to Camp Independence this summer it will be my fifth time. It’s so fun. You get to go swimming, and canoeing and stuff. It’s kind of far away. I took a double-decker Amtrak train to get to my Nana’s house in Pennsylvania.

Silliness Runs in the Family

My parents are really silly. Imani can be a goofball sometimes. Atena’s excited about almost everything these days. Sometimes she gets a little too excited. Imani knows how to have the funniest sarcasm in almost everything.

Imani didn’t tell me and Duncan that she was actually a woman until probably maybe last summer vacation. I kind of felt surprised at first. When our friends got married, Imani was one of the groomsmen. I was wearing my blue satin dress. I had a cast at the time. Duncan was little. He was behaved for the occasion. Mom was wearing a dress too. And Imani was wearing a suit. Back then we called Imani Ian, or Papa. Those were good times.

One not-so good memory was when I was playing with Duncan. We were playing “Where’s Stella? There she is!” He liked that game. We heard arguing, and so I peeked out and saw what was going on. Duncan wanted to see what was going on too, and Mom and Imani were arguing.

I’ve been mature ever since I was little. Duncan can be kind of awkward sometimes. When I was about five or six, I was almost as cuckoo as Duncan. Duncan is kind of still cuckoo. And he’s a cuckoobutt. (We make up names that end with butt for each other.)

Sometimes it took me a while to catch him when he was running around at home. When our parents were talking to each other I was in charge of him. I manage to capture him sometimes and we get to play Tickle Torture. He likes that game. He loved that game when we were younger.

Stella’s Fashion Adventures

What are the latest fashion trends in town? Something sassy, like I am. Sassy sassiness. My favorite colors are gold and silver. They’re shiiiiinnnnny. Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnny. (Your editor is going to be like, what the heck was that?) I had to stop wearing earrings for a while. I had some Claire’s earrings and my panda earring got stuck in my ear. We had to go to the physician’s office, and they had to use scissors to get it out. I hate it when sharp things get close to me. I screamed so loud they heard me from the waiting room.

I like to keep my shoelaces untied. It feels better. UNICORN BUTTS! Is your editor a boy or a girl? She’s going to be so surprised when she finds out what I was yelling. Is this the silliest interview you’ve had so far?

Stella loves Big Freedia and the TV shows Glitter Force and Austin and Ally. At interview time, she had three wiggly teeth.