From the back patio, I can see into Gio Abate’s backyard, where he is now shirtless in swim trunks entertaining two girls by his pool. I get the feeling this guy is a player… It seems like things are going really well with the girls he’s got over there right now. I sigh a little bit… What wouldn’t I give to look like one of those lucky bitches? They are gorgeous, sun-kissed, and perfect in every other way. I got my braces off after three long years of suffering before we left home, and then I got my teeth whitened, so at least my teeth are white, sparkly, and straight now. However, I look down at my skin in the dim lighting outside, and it is actually glowing, it’s so white. I cringe, and at that same moment, Ana comes up beside me.
“Oh... my God… this place... is epic!!!” she exclaims excitedly, beaming with a smile that is still prettier than mine.
“Yeah, it really is,” I agree.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Ana asks. She knows I should be exultant right now, so if I’m not, something’s up.
Sigh. “I dunno… I guess I just realized how hard it’s going to be for me to fit in here.”
Ana scoffs. “Uhh, you’re M.A.D.’s daughter. You don’t need to fit in.”
“Yeah, but… I mean, I’m looking a little ghostly at the moment.”
Ana looks down at my skin. “Whoa, that’s… unusual.” She looks perplexed and mildly frightened.
“Yeah… I think I might actually need to get a spray tan while we’re shopping on Rodeo Drive tomorrow.”
“Really?” Ana asks, looking dubious. “Do you really think a fake tan is a good idea?”
“Ana, this is Beverly Hills,” I remind her. “I seriously doubt they’re going to screw up a spray tan.”
Ana glances over at Gio’s pool area and realizes why I’m talking like this. “Mads…” She looks back at me with sympathy in her eyes. “Don’t try to be someone else on this trip, okay?”
“But I don’t wanna glow anymore,” I pout.
She reaches a hand up to my long, medium brown hair and runs her fingers through it. “You’re beautiful exactly as you are.”
“Pfft,” I scoff.
“Mads…”
“Look, I appreciate what you’re trying to do,” I say, “but I think we all know which one of us the guys are going for this summer.”
“Um…” She swallows hard. “Actually, that’s something I wanted to talk to you about. Can… can we sit down?”
“Yeah, sure,” I say, getting a little concerned. She started trembling as soon as I mentioned guys. We go up to the patio and sit in a couple of cushioned chairs away from the door.
“There’s something I’ve needed to tell you for a long time,” Ana says, her hands fidgeting her in lap, “and now that we’re going to be around people, I think the truth is going to come out, so I wanted you to be the first to hear.” She tucks her hair behind her ear and clears her throat. “I, uh… I don’t want attention from guys. I’m a lesbian.”
I can’t say I never suspected that before, but I’m still somewhat shocked. I always thought she would have told me something like that. “What?”
“I never said anything before because of my parents,” Ana explains, “but I’ve known for about four years.”
“Four years? And you never told me?”
Ana nods, with tears in her eyes. “I’m really sorry… I was just afraid the truth would get back to them somehow.”
“But you know I wouldn’t tell anyone if you told me not to,” I protest, feeling a little hurt.
“I’m sorry, Mads,” she says, and then she breaks down in tears.
“Hey… hey, it’s okay,” I say as I’m pulling her into my arms. “I’m so sorry you had to deal with that all by yourself.”
“I’m so afraid I’m going to get kicked out,” she sobs into my shoulder. “You know what my dad thinks of gay people.”
I wish I didn’t, but I do. Nana used to drag me to church bright and early every Sunday morning when I was little, and there were times when Pastor Lincourt would go on and on about the fire and brimstone awaiting those who “chose” homosexuality. I didn’t even understand what was going on at the time, so I kind of tuned it out, but now I’m realizing just how dark the last four years have been for my best friend. “If they kick you out, that’s their loss,” I tell Ana, kissing her forehead. “We would welcome you to live with us with open arms.”
“Thank you,” she says, still crying her eyes out.
Dad and Cass hear her sobs and come rushing out through the sunroom. “What’s going on?” Dad asks, looking worried.
“Well, um…” I decide to go ahead and tell them, since Ana is so distraught she can barely speak. “Ana just told me she’s a lesbian.”
“Really?” Cass asks, and I nod. “Well, that’s great! Why is she so upset?”
“Her father is a conservative preacher.”
That was all I had to say. Cass’s face falls. “Oh…”
Dad comes over to the other side of Ana, kneels next to her, and gives her a big hug. “We’re here for you, okay?” he says simply.
“Yes, we are,” Cass says, coming in front of Ana and taking her hands. “And tomorrow, you’re meeting Stephan Lowe.”
Ana stops crying and looks up at Cass. “What? Really?”
Cass nods. “Steph has some experience with family members rejecting him for his sexuality. If anyone can help you through this, it’s him. I’ll invite them all over for dinner tomorrow night.” In spite of her pain, Ana smiles.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A song about Beverly Hills is playing in my head as Cass takes us down Rodeo Drive in the Tesla. The shops lining the street are just as iconic and ritzy as they appear on TV and in movies, and it would seem that the palm trees have taken over this place. Ana is acting like she’s about to have a seizure next to me. All she wants is to get out and shop. Dad said we could spend as much as we want, and neither of us have ever been able to do that, so we’re both pretty stoked.
“By the way,” Cass says as we’re pulling up to a parking space, “Stephan refused to come to dinner.”
“Aww,” I say disappointedly. “Why not?”
“Because he and Alfonzo insisted on us having it at their place instead,” she says, grinning. “You’re about to have a real Italiano feast tonight.” Alfonzo Abate is Gio’s father, and he’s a major action film star. Cass told us about him on the way over, and I nearly fainted. Our neighbors are gods in LA.
We pull up to one store that Ana really wants to visit, and when we push the door open to the store, even I am at a loss for words… and for breath. The interior of the shop is pristine, and it has high ceilings and walls lined with lit shelves. The merchandise is positioned carefully in each slot to showcase the beautiful, expensive details of each accessory. I don’t know what the actual names of half of these bags are, but Ana tells me all about the clutches, messenger bags, totes, and other types of bags that we’re seeing. Just from spending two minutes in this store, I can tell that this shopping trip is going to be a little overwhelming for me.
After all three of us have bought five different types of bags each, we go down the street to a clothing store. We’re greeted at the door by an associate, who is a tall, dark-haired woman with a smug expression.
“Welcome to Ferria. My name is Meg, how can I help you?”
“Hi,” Ana says. “This is Madison Daley, M.A.D.’s daughter. She needs a whole new wardrobe.”
That was way more information than I felt needed to be shared. “Ana!” I scold, glaring at her.
Meg gasps, and her eyes light up. “Oh my God, no way! You’re M.A.D.’s daughter?”
I can’t help but feel a little flattered at her response. “Yeah, I am.”
“M.A.D. is back in LA?”
Another associate turns in our direction from her place behind the counter. She has mermaid-blue hair, a pierced nose, and bright pink lips. “Yeah, it’s been all over the news,” she informs Meg.
“Why am I the
last to know about this?” Meg asks, looking bewildered. “M.A.D. was my high school celeb crush!”
“Well, I didn’t know we were on the news either, so don’t feel too bad,” I tell her, laughing.
Meg comes to my side and takes me by the arm. “Well, don’t worry, I’m going to personally see to it that you get everything you need today.”
In the hour that follows, Meg stays true to her word. I end up finding a lot of cute clothes I like—even some dresses, much to my surprise. She takes Cass, Ana, and me back to a dressing room with armfuls of clothes in hand, and when I try on my first dress—a strapless black lace overlay dress—I come out of the stall with tears in my eyes.
Ana is outside her stall wearing a bright green dress and notices my distress right away. “Mads, what’s wrong?”
I lift up the top of the dress, showcasing how much room is left in the bust area. “I have no boobs,” I say, mournfully.
“You can always get it altered,” Meg interjects, smiling reassuringly. “Lots of people need their clothes altered. It doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you.”
“I guess,” I say, supposing that all the dresses in LA are made for women who have implants. My cup size is between an A and a B, so I don’t even stand a chance.
“Try on another one,” Ana suggests. “Find one that looks a little smaller on the top.”
I nod dejectedly, and when I go back into the stall, I find a purple dress that we got from the juniors section. I slip off the black lace dress easily, and when I put the new one on, I’m pleasantly surprised to find that it fits me like a glove. The dress is form-fitting, which gives me more of a curvy look. It’s made of knit fabric and it has cap sleeves.
I open the door of the stall and step out, feeling a little more confident. Ana and Meg gasp when they see me. “Oh my God, it’s perfect!” Ana says, smiling from ear to ear.
Meg leads me over to a three-sided mirror and stands behind me with her hands on my shoulders. “See, Madison? You look great.”
I smile and nod. Other than my head, which has not been updated to Beverly Hills standards at all, I look great.
Just for “fun,” Cass and Ana drag me to a salon after five exhausting hours of shopping. After we’re signed in and sitting in the waiting room, they take some catalogs from a shelf and try to talk me into changing my waist-length, single-layer hairstyle.
“No. N-O. I don’t want a haircut,” I say. I have a major emotional attachment to my hair. Not sure why, I just do.
“You’re meeting Alfonzo and Gio Abate tonight, Mads,” Cass reminds me. “Don’t you want to look your best?”
“I’ll never impress them anyway,” I protest, “so what’s the point?”
“Okay, you’re definitely getting a haircut now. If nothing else, just for a shot of self-esteem.”
They force me to sit down in a chair, and yet another tall, blonde, tan person comes up behind me to do my hair. “Hi, I’m Rick, I’ll be working on your hair today,” he says in a high-pitched voice. It’s my first time ever meeting a gay guy.
“Hi, I’m Mads,” I say. “Please be gentle, I’m a style virgin.” He laughs at me.
Eventually, Rick talks me into taking six inches off my hair for health reasons, and he dyes it dark brown with reddish highlights. After that, another person gives me a facial and waxes my eyebrows and upper lip. Finally, a makeup artist, a petite, middle-aged Asian woman with on-point black eyeliner and a sweet smile, enters the room and comes up to shake my hand. “Hi, Madison! I’m Angie, and I’ll be doing your makeup.”
“Hi. So, uh… do you think you’ll be able to do anything with this?” I ask with a grin, pointing to my face.
She laughs. “Don’t worry, Madison, we’ll make you look great. Now the first thing I’ll need you to do is take off those glasses.” I take off my glasses and lay them on the dresser in front of me, and she gasps. “Oh my God, you have perfect eyes!” Angie exclaims.
“Thank you,” I say, blushing. She also praises my high cheekbones and plump lips. Angie goes on to describe the different products she’s using as she starts on my makeup and educates me a little on the best makeup to use. Now that I know we’re millionaires, I can actually go out and buy all this stuff. She puts a slightly darker shadow on my eye than I’m used to, puts concealer over the little bit of acne and dark circles I have, and then she finishes me off with pink blush and lipstick. It’s a natural look except for the eye makeup, which gives me a dramatic, star-like look. The makeup combined with my hair and new clothes is making me almost look like a real celebrity.
“Holy hell, is that me?” I ask, gazing into the mirror in awe.
“That is you,” Angie assures me, smiling.
Cass and Ana come up behind me, talking and laughing. Then they see me, and both of them gasp. “MADISON!” both of them exclaim at once.
I stand and turn around to face them with my hands in the air at my sides. “How Do I Look?” I ask, referencing the TV show that Ana used to make me watch.
“Sexy,” Ana says, sounding like she really means it.
“Mads, you look like a totally different person!” Cass exclaims. “It’s amazing!”
I look in the mirror again and smile. I might, might see myself as being a little bit hot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dad is waiting for us on a bench on the patio when we get back, and he stands to his feet immediately when he sees me. As I walk up to him, I watch him clamp a hand over his mouth and fight back tears.
“Hi, Daddy,” I say, trying not to feel awkward that my dad is crying over me right now.
“Baby girl, you look divine,” he says. The corners of his eyes are crinkled up in a smile.
“Thanks Dad,” I say, and I give him a hug. “I think I’ll put my glasses back on now that you’ve seen me, since I can barely see.”
“That’s fine,” he says, giving me a kiss on the cheek. Then he pulls back to talk to Cass. “You ladies ready to go to dinner?”
“Just let us take these things inside,” Cass says. We take the bags inside the house and change into semi-casual attire, and then we file out of the house to go to the Abate-Lowe villa.
Their entire mansion is beige in color, made of stucco, and the windows and uniquely-shaped towers give the home a sense of character and elegance. There’s a bright blue fountain out front that is already lit for the night. We approach an ornately-carved cherry wood door and Cass rings the doorbell.
Alfonzo, a distinguished, older version of Gio, opens the door and grins when he sees Cass. “Ciao, bella!” he says.
“Ciao, Alfonzo!” Cass replies, and they kiss each other’s cheeks like Europeans do. “This is Mike Daley, his daughter Madison, and their friend Ana. Everyone, this is Alfonzo Abate.”
“A pleasure to meet you all,” he says, with a toothy grin and a moderate Italian accent. “Please, come in.”
Stephan Lowe, a thin, flamboyant, designer-clothing-clad African-American man, hurries down the steps as soon as he hears us. “Cassidy, my darling!” he says in a high-pitched voice, immediately embracing Cass when he reaches the tile floor.
“Hi, honey,” she says.
Stephan looks behind her at Ana. “My God,” he says, letting go of Cass and approaching Ana. “Who is this vision of beauty?”
Ana is visibly shaking. “H-hi, Mr. Lowe. I’m Ana. I’m a huge fan of yours.”
“Steph is my preferred name, honey,” he says. “Are you a model?”
“Uh… I-I want to be,” she says, swallowing hard.
Stephan smiles. His teeth are radiant white, like Cass’s. “We’ll talk about that later,” he says, and I hear Ana suppress a squeal. “Anyway, pardon my rudeness,” he says to Dad and me. “Are you Mike and Madison Daley?”
“Yes sir,” Dad says, extending his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both.”
“Likewise,” Stephan says, shaking his hand. Then he turns to me. “You look very familiar… Have we met before?”
“Highly unlikely,” I say, grinning. “I’ve been out of town for the last 16 years.”
Stephan giggles. “Well, at any rate, you’re adorable. Not sure if you’re worth missing out on sixteen years of W3 for, though,” he jokes, winking. I smile. He’s a true Weep With The Willows fan.
At that moment, Gio also comes down the stairs, looking unfairly handsome in a navy polo and plaid shorts. “Hey everyone,” he mumbles, looking mildly pissed off. I wonder if we’re the problem or if he’s mad at somebody else.
When he gets closer, I briefly look over him a little more closely. He’s tall, tan, and ripped with piercing silver eyes and black hair so thick you could bury your hands in it and lose them. His gaze is intense as he fixates on me, and he gives me the same confused look that Stephan did originally.
“Well, you are all in for a treat,” Stephan says. “Alfonzo prepared dinner himself, so everything you’re eating tonight is authentic. We’ll start off with a 1965 Pinot Grigio and—“
“Take your glasses off,” Gio interrupts suddenly, looking directly at me. Everyone falls silent, waiting on my response.
“Um… excuse me?” I reply. Who does this rude bastard think he is?
“Giovanni!” Alfonzo roars with a scowl. “Mind your manners!”
Gio softens and looks a little apologetic. “Sorry… never mind. I just thought you were someone I know.”
“Well… if it means that much to you,” I say, smirking a little, and I take the glasses off. Alfonzo, Stephan, and Cass all gasp, and Gio’s eyes widen.
“She does look like…” Alfonzo’s words trail off.
“Oh, my God,” Cass breathes. “I didn’t even think about that earlier. The resemblance is… scary.”
“What resemblance?” I ask, nervously. Everyone in the room is staring at me except Dad and Ana.
“You just look like someone we know,” Stephan says, smiling. “That’s all. Anyway, I’m simply dying for some antipasto, so let’s show them the dining room, Alfonzo.”
Alfonzo and Stephan lead us to the traditional, luxurious Italian dining room, but I’m too stressed to really pay attention to my surroundings. Who do I look like that would evoke this kind of reaction? Why are Gio Abate’s eyes glued to me like I’m an alien from outer space? I mean, not that I mind the attention, but…
Diary of a Rocker's Kid (D.O.R.K. Book 1) Page 4
