He nods. There’s a moment of silence, and then Gio says, “So what now?”
I let out a shuddering sigh. “I don’t know.”
“Do you still want to break up?”
“Not really,” I confess, “but I also feel kind of weird about us now. It’s just…”
“Complicated,” he completes my sentence, and I nod.
“Yeah.”
“Well,” Gio says, looking into my eyes, “just let me know what you decide, okay?”
I smile, a little sadly. “Okay.”
Chapter 10
The next morning, I drive out to Santa Monica in the Jag by myself. When I arrive, I find an unpopular spot on the beach that is basically empty, and I lay out a towel and sit down to unpack my acoustic guitar. The only thing I want to do right now is enjoy the cool morning breeze and the gentle sun and play some music, forgetting about everything else. However, just a few minutes after I settle down, I notice a familiar sandy-haired boy sitting about fifty feet from me doing the very same thing I’m doing. He’s playing and singing, and I can hear him when the wind isn’t blowing. He sounds good. Damn good.
I smile and pick up my belongings so I can go over and sit by him. “Hey,” I say, walking up behind him.
Dalton looks up, startled, and then he grins widely. “Hey!”
“Can I join you?” I ask, and Dalton nods eagerly. I spread out my towel and lay down my case. “What’s that you were playing just now?”
“One of my songs,” Dalton says. “You heard that?”
“Yeah. It was really good,” I tell him.
“Thanks,” he says, and we sit together awkwardly for a minute. “You wanna hear another one?” he asks.
“Yeah, sure,” I say. I really get into it with him as I’m watching him play. His style of music is strikingly similar to mine, but there’s a slightly different vibe to it… a more W3 vibe. “That was amazing,” I tell him, smiling, when he’s done.
“You wanna sing something together?” he asks me. We decide on a song that has a good male and female part, and then he plays the guitar while we sing. Our voices blend like chocolate and vanilla, and I get goosebumps from more than just the moist breeze passing over me. Every time I hear music that is truly inspired or beautiful, I get chills all over my body that tell me, “That’s it. That’s what you should be doing.” Exhilarated, I turn my head to look into Dalton’s eyes during the second chorus. Our musical chemistry is undeniable.
The song ends, and we’re both breathing a little heavily. “That was… wow,” he says, and we both chuckle. “Hey… by the way, I heard about what happened with you and Gio. I hope you guys can work it out.”
I sigh a little bit. “Thanks…” I lay my guitar down and pull my knees up to my chest. “I’m still pretty lost right now.”
“So JR is your mom, huh?” Dalton says, smirking.
“Yep. The weirdest part is that I’ve been a fan of Jacie’s for years, and I never once dreamed that she was the woman who gave birth to me.” That’s what I’ve started calling her now, since calling her a “mother” is a joke.
“Well, good luck dealing with that effed up side of the family,” Dalton says, making me laugh.
“I don’t really plan on dealing with them right now,” I say. “Maybe someday, but I’ve got enough crazy in my life without that mess.”
“I gotcha,” Dalton says, and then he swallows hard, getting nervous. “Hey, um… Speaking of messes, there’s… something I need to talk to you about.”
“Okay,” I say, confused.
“I know who took your picture,” Dalton says. “I don’t know who posted it online, but I know how it got out there in the first place.”
“Really? Who?”
Dalton sighs and squeezes his eyes shut. “It was me.”
I gasp and lean away from him. “What?”
“It was completely idiotic and immature… I snapped a picture and sent it to a buddy who wasn’t at the party, saying ‘This is what you missed.’ Then he sent it to some others, and they sent it around, and… Anyway, I’m really, really sorry.”
I stay in stunned silence for just a brief moment. “Unbelievable,” I say, angrily packing my guitar away and standing up from the sand.
“Mads, wait… Please don’t hate me for this,” he pleads, standing up and taking me by the arm.
I jerk away from him. “I can’t believe I trusted you. I can’t believe I trusted anyone in this goddamn city.” I pick up my towel and start to walk away.
“Wait!” Dalton yells, and I reluctantly turn around to face him. “What can I do to make this up to you? I’ll do anything.”
The tears are all evaporated from my body, and now I’m sparking with rage. “You can come home with me and tell my father, to his face, what you did to his little girl,” I spit.
“Oh, God…” Dalton says, looking terrified.
“You owe me at least that much!” I yell.
“Okay, fine!” he says, holding his hands up. “Just… let me get my stuff, okay?”
I stand and stare him down as he packs up his belongings, and then he follows me up to our cars and we drive to the mansion.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We’re standing in Dad’s office, and Dalton just finished telling Dad what he did. Dad has his hands on the desk with his head bowed, and I can tell he’s trying to keep his anger under control. His knuckles are turning white as he grips the edge of the wood, and every visible muscle is tense.
“Please don’t sue my family,” Dalton begs. “We’re doing okay right now, but a lawsuit would break us. I’ll do community service, or whatever else you want me to do, but please—“
“Why do you get a say in this?” Dad demands from him, turning his head up to look him in the eye. “You exposed my daughter in one of the most scarring ways possible. If I had my way, you would get a lot worse than a lawsuit.”
“Mr. Daley, please…” Dalton swallows hard, and I can see the humiliation and pain in his eyes. “It’s bad enough knowing I’ve disappointed my idol.”
“If you were a real fan, you would know how important my daughter is to me,” Dad growls at him, “and you wouldn’t dare to harm a hair on her head.”
“I know, you’re right,” Dalton says. “It was the dumbest thing I could have ever done. But I swear to God, I had no idea it would turn into a nation-wide scandal.”
“So what you’re telling me is that you’re an idiot,” Dad says.
“Dad, please,” I interrupt, not able to take this anymore. “We promised to lighten up if someone confessed.”
Dad takes a deep, shuddering breath, and he looks up at the ceiling as he tries to calm his anger. “You’re right, baby girl. I’m sorry.”
“Look,” I say, looking at Dalton and Dad respectively, “I really just want to let this die. I don’t want a lawsuit or another messy scandal, I just want my life back. He told me he’s sorry, so can we please just let this go?”
Dad looks at me soberly. “Are you sure that’s what you want?” I nod, and he sighs again. “Well… alright then.” He glares at Dalton. “I guess you’re off the hook. You’d better thank your lucky stars that Mads inherited my mercy gene.”
“Thank you, sir,” Dalton says respectfully. “And thank you, Madison.”
“You can go,” I say to Dalton, and he nods dejectedly and leaves. As soon as the front door shuts behind him, I look up into Dad’s eyes. “Breathe, Daddy. Breathe.”
Dad turns away from me and lets his fury emerge in a loud, strangled yell. “That son of a bitch!”
“It’s going to be okay,” I tell him calmly. “The scandal is over. We can get back to living our lives now.”
Dad slowly turns back around, gripping his hair, and nods. “Thank God.”
I move over to give him a hug, and he holds me tightly against him. “So… back to enjoying our vacation?”
Dad chuckles and kisses the top of my head. “Whatever you want, sugar.”
&
nbsp; ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two nights later, around 9 PM, I get a message from Gio for the first time since the sort-of breakup as I’m lazing around on the couch.
Gio: Miss you…
I take a deep breath and release it.
Me: Miss you too.
Gio: Are you busy? I could use a hand on BF.
He’s playing Battlefield, and he needs my help. I smile. There are few things more empowering in life than being a girl that guys go to for help with video games.
Me: Wonder Woman to the rescue ;) Be there in a sec.
I hurry upstairs to my room, where my console is, and I team up with Gio. Then I get another message—
Gio: Put on a headset
Great. Now I have to hear his voice. I put on my headset and my most cheerful tone of voice. “Hey!”
“Hey,” Gio says, sounding a little tense. “Thanks for saving me.”
“You’re welcome,” I say. “How’s it going over there?”
“The game, or life?”
“Life. I know how the game is going.”
“Well, honestly, it kind of sucks, too,” Gio says.
“Aww, what’s wrong?”
“Well, first of all, the thing with us, of course.”
“Right,” I say, still feeling awkward and a little guilty about it.
“And secondly, Dalton and I are no longer friends.”
I get distracted by that, and accidentally get shot in-game. “Shit! And what?”
“I heard what he did to you. Cass told Steph, who in turn told me. I was furious with him and now we’re not talking to each other.”
“Oh God, Gio,” I say, genuinely feeling for him. “I’m so sorry.” I get an extraordinarily difficult kill in-game, and I cheer for myself silently.
“It’s alright,” Gio says. “Our friendship has been on shaky ground for a while.”
“Oh wow, really?” I ask.
“Well, yeah. He was one of the bastards Raven cheated with.”
“What?!” It’s literally impossible to have this kind of conversation and keep up your game on the console. I get killed again and swear loudly. “Gio, why the hell were you still friends with him?”
Gio sighs. “I dunno… I mean, we’ve been friends for so long, and we have such a good time together. I forgave him because he said he was drunk and wasn’t thinking clearly, but now I’m wondering if he was even telling me the truth about that.”
“I see… Wow. I can’t even imagine Ana doing something like that to me.”
Gio chuckles a little. “Lucky for you, you’re never going to have to worry about that.”
“Damn right! That’s a good thing, I guess, about having a BFF with a different sexual orientation. Incoming grenade!” I warn him.
“I got it,” Gio says. “So… have you thought any more about us?”
Truthfully, it’s hard to think of anything else. All I have to do is look across the lawn, and I’m thinking about Gio. I sit on the couch to watch a movie, and I’m thinking of Gio. I put in my contacts and think of him… I think about him in the pool… in the sunroom… especially in bed… “Yeah, I have,” I say, although I’m not sure I really have an answer for him.
“Any updates?” he asks gently.
I sigh. “I guess I just need to know that you’re totally over her. Like I said, it’s only been a month—“
“Technically two now,” Gio says.
“Well, okay… But I mean, that’s still really soon to get in a serious relationship with someone again.”
“Truthfully, we were over long before April came around,” he explains. “We weren’t even kissing by that point in time. I could barely stand to look at her after all the BS she put me through.”
“Well, that’s another thing,” I say. “How do I know you’re not going to resent me for looking like her? Or hell, sharing her DNA? I mean, we literally shared a womb…”
Gio sighs. “Look… I don’t have all the answers, okay? This is new to me, too. But I really want to be with you. Every minute I’m away from you sucks. Dammit, I died again…”
“Well, if we do stay together, you have to promise that you’re always going to be straight with me,” I say. “If you start thinking of me as Raven or hating me because I look like her, just tell me. Don’t bury it or try to push your feelings away.”
“I can do that,” Gio says. “And you have to promise that you’re never going to cheat on me.”
“Done,” I say. “I’m not a cheater. That is, unless we’re talking about video games…”
“Oh, so that’s your secret!” Gio exclaims, laughing, and my heart melts and breaks all at once.
“I love your laugh,” I say, and I can hear his smile in his voice.
“I love your jokes,” he replies.
“I love your hair.”
“I love your eyes.”
“I love your smile.”
“I love your ass,” he says naughtily, making me giggle. “So, are we back together?”
“I think we are,” I say, smiling. I immediately hear clicking on the other end as the headset drops to the bed, and then I hear footsteps running out the door. I take my headset off, too, and go out and down the stairs, and then through the back door of the sunroom. Gio and I meet in the lawn between our backyards, near the privacy trees, and look at each other in the near-darkness for only half a second before gripping each other in a passionate embrace.
Gio’s lips take mine, and then on a breath he whispers, “I love you, Madness. I know it’s too soon, but—“
“You don’t have to know someone for long to love them,” I say, bringing a smile to his face. “I love you, too.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It’s the day before Alfonzo’s premiere, and Cass, Ana, and I are out shopping for my last-minute accessories and miscellaneous items. Right now, I’m letting them try on some clothes they wanted to buy while we’re out, and I’m looking at myself critically in the fitting room mirror.
“I want to look different,” I say out loud.
“What do you mean?” Cass asks.
“Well, Raven is likely to be invited to this premiere, being an actress and all. I don’t want people to see me with Gio and think it’s her instead of me.”
“Hmm… that’s a really good point,” Cass says. “What did you have in mind?”
“Is it too soon to dye my hair again?”
“It shouldn’t be,” Ana pipes up. “After all, it has been four weeks.”
“There’s a hairstyle that I’ve always secretly wanted to try,” I say, “and I think now would be the perfect opportunity. It’s something that I seriously doubt Raven Redinger would ever be seen dead in.”
“Sounds awesome,” Cass says. “After this, we’ll head to the salon.”
“Madison Daley just suggested a change in her own appearance,” Ana says. “I have never been so proud.”
When we get to the salon, I tell Cass and Ana to go ahead and keep shopping without me. “It might take a while, and plus, I want you guys to be surprised,” I say, and they give each other an amused look.
I request Rick again for my stylist, and after a brief explanation of my desired hairstyle, he grins at me. “Girl, you’re going to burn that premiere down to the ground.”
3 hours later, I call Cass and Ana back to the salon, and their faces freeze in shock as soon as they see me. “Oh. My. God,” Cass says, awestruck.
I dyed my hair black except for my emo-reminiscent bangs, which are streaked with aqua and go down over my eyes and to my right, ending at my ear. There are a few more aqua peekaboos, two just in front of my ears and two on the underside of my hair. Rick curled the bottom of it in natural-looking waves, and Angie got a hold of me, too, and practiced my makeup. I have black eyeliner and dark grey shadow with natural lips. “What do you guys think?” I ask, with a gigantic smile.
Ana looks like she might cry. “Mads… you look famous.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flashing lights through a darkened window. The smell of champagne and new leather seats. The clamor of reporters and fans yelling outside the limo. The feeling of Gio holding my hand and rubbing the side of it with his thumb. His whisper in my ear, “This is it. You ready?”
This is it. My first ever red carpet premiere. I don’t know whether to puke, faint, or get a God complex. Am I ready? The driver comes around the side and opens the door, and Alfonzo and Stephan step out first. The roar Alfonzo is greeted with is nothing short of bewildering.
In spite of my lack of an answer, Gio squeezes my hand and says, “Let’s go.” I look back at him, briefly thinking how picture perfect he looks in a black tuxedo with his hair coiffed to perfection. He looks like the star he is… I’m so afraid I won’t measure up to him out there, but I nod, knowing I don’t have a choice but to step outside.
Gio steps out first, and the cheers for him aren’t quite as loud as his father’s, but still respectable. He takes me by the hand and I step out, and I hear the cheers change to “ooh” and “ahh”. I smile, wanting to laugh at the abrupt change in reaction, but I manage to keep my composure.
I hear a reporter describing us as we pass by him. “Giovanni Abate just stepped out of the limo, and he’s holding hands with his date, Madison Daley, daughter of the recently returned musician, M.A.D. She’s wearing a Stephan Lowe original dress.”
Thank God they didn’t call me “Raven Redinger,” I think to myself. We move on, and I don’t hear the rest of what they’re saying. On the way, Gio gets stopped for an interview with a major entertainment news channel, and he pulls me up beside him as he talks to the reporter in front of a camera. I hope nobody notices how hard I’m shaking. This is so surreal…
“Giovanni, how does it feel to be at another one of your father’s premieres?” the gorgeous, tall, blonde reporter asks him.
“Oh, it’s just another Saturday night for us,” Gio teases, grinning. I smile and watch him proudly. My boyfriend is a charmer.
Diary of a Rocker's Kid (D.O.R.K. Book 1) Page 14
