“You’re Melrose Morgan, right?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Oh my god, I love you.” She pulled a notebook out of her bag. “Can I get your autograph?”
Dallas and I exchanged a glance. I didn’t know what to do with the girl. I wasn’t a celebrity, I couldn’t go around giving people my autograph.
It was weird.
More than that, it was outright bazaar.
“Please?” the girl whined.
I took her book and signed it quickly, just to make her go away. If that made her happy, then fine. She could pretend I was somebody that would give out autographs and have them mean something.
“Thank you,” she said before skipping off to rejoin her friends. A round of giggles came from that direction.
“Did you see that?” Dallas asked.
“The weird girl, yeah, she was right here.”
Dallas speared some broccoli on her plate and waved around the fork in time with her words. “She was a mini-you. Her clothes were the same as you’d wear, her hair was exactly like yours. You’ve got a little fan club over there.”
I looked at the girl again, her dress was very similar to one I’d worn on a regular occasion. It was pink with polka dots. Actually, it was the exact same dress.
“That’s extra creepy,” I said.
“Get used to it, girl. When you show up to the awards with your Simone LePark dress, every Two Dimension fan will want to be you. They’ll copy everything you wear and do.”
Dallas’s words sounded more like an ominous warning than anything else. I’d never thought about it like that before. Cole and I were photographed together quite a bit, plus any selfies he decided to post of us on his social media accounts.
Maybe girls did want to be me. I seemed to have it all, the super-hot boyfriend, getting given designer clothes, and flown in a private jet all over the country. Who wouldn’t want all those things?
I loved Cole, so all those other things didn’t matter to me as long as I got to see him. All the perks could easily go away and I would still be in love with the boy. Free things and fame didn’t matter at all, but I guessed to some girls, they would.
Whether I liked it or not, I was a role model to those girls. They lived their fantasy through me. If they knew me, that somehow meant they were connected to the band in a small way. It was enough to keep them happy.
I was going to have to remember that.
If I did something dumb, they were all going to be disappointed. It would shatter their fantasy and I had no doubt they would turn on me just as quickly.
This fame thing was hard.
But worth it to be with Cole. Everything was worth it to be with him. He never expected anything else other than my company from me. I could play this role for them and save the real me for Cole. I just had to be careful not to stuff it all up.
When I got home that afternoon, the role model thing was still on my mind. But the moment I stepped through the front door, I froze. The dress had arrived.
Jemma ran straight for it, admiring the fabric through the plastic cover. “Ooooh, this is nice. Can I try it on?”
I took the dress from her so she couldn’t damage it in any way with her chocolate-covered fingers. If I knew the dress would be waiting for me, I would have given her an apple to eat on the way home instead.
“It’s really expensive, Jem. You can try it on after the awards before I send it back.”
“You have to give it back?”
“I guess so. She never really said.”
“You put it on then, I want to see it on,” Jemma insisted. When she wanted something, it was difficult changing her mind. Plus, I really wanted to try it on again.
She followed me to my bedroom where I quickly changed out of my boring jeans and T-shirt into the elegant dress. It was exactly as I remembered it, gold, glitzy, and fitted. Simone LePark had made it a bit shorter so it no longer swamped me, it was taken in a little bit too so all my curves were on display.
It was just as beautiful as I remembered it.
“You look like a princess,” Jemma said. She sat on my bed, her eyes widened and in awe. “Are you and Cole going to get married one day?”
I laughed. “I don’t know, Jem. We are still very young. For now, it’s nice just being boyfriend-girlfriend.”
“Can I be your flower girl?”
“Sure. But maybe we’ll both be a lot older so you’ll be my bridesmaid.” She didn’t know what to say to that, all she could do was stare at me with her mouth agape. The idea must have really blown her mind.
I swished and swayed in front of the mirror with the dress on, admiring the way it moved and the way it clung to my shape so I looked like a proper grown up.
Jemma watched me the whole time. She babbled on about how much she loved it until she said something that stopped me completely. “I could never wear a dress like that.”
I stopped and turned around to face her. “Why not?”
“Because it’s expensive. We couldn’t ever afford to buy one like that.” Sometimes Jemma acted a like a normal nine year old. Other times, she would say things that reminded me of our situation. Dad worked his butt off but he still only made enough to pay the bills. Any luxuries were saved for over several months.
Jemma was right.
We would never be able to afford a dress like this. No matter how long we saved for.
I was getting lost in the crazy world that Cole lived in. It wasn’t anyone’s fault but I had allowed myself to get swept up in all the glitz and glamor. The dress suddenly didn’t seem right on my body. I took it off and started dinner.
Jemma played in her room while I peeled carrots and potatoes. The whole time, something was bugging me but I couldn’t quite place my finger on what it was.
When the doorbell rang, I had a horrible feeling that I wouldn’t like who was on the other side.
Chapter Eight
I had to wipe my hands on my apron before I could open the door. I looked like the complete opposite of the girl wearing the designer dress from before. I was back to being Cinderella again – pre-fairy godmother.
Standing on the front door was our mother.
Instantly, I regretted opening the door. I should have just ignored it, pretended I was really into the stranger danger message Dad kept telling us. It would have been reasonable enough.
“What are you doing here?” I angry-whispered before stepping out onto the porch and holding the door closed behind me. I could not have Jemma coming out and seeing her here.
The woman had broken her promise to me.
For another time.
She had to take a step back now I was on the porch with her. “I thought I would pop by and say hello. I haven’t heard from you for a few days and I had hoped we’d be able to spend more time together.”
“I told you never to come here. Jemma is home. We had an agreement, remember? Or do you prefer to break all your promises?” I knew I was being mean but it was justified. She never kept her promises and I didn’t see how she would ever change to be the mother we needed in the future.
“I’m not trying to upset you, honey. I just wanted to see you.”
“I am not your honey. I am not your baby. I am not your anything. You need to do what you do best and leave.”
Her eyes went wide for a moment before delving into sadness. It made my heart pang with guilt for a few moments before my memories of her stamped it out. “I’m sorry I have upset you. I just wanted to see you.”
“You need to leave,” I said through gritted teeth. It was really rare that I got this angry. Now the bull was out of the gate, there was nothing I could do to stop it.
My mother nodded and took another step backwards. “Okay, I’m going. Please call me when you’re ready to meet again. I’m not leaving town, Melrose. Not again. I’m serious about being a part of your life again.”
The look on her face was enough to melt my heart but I remembered why I had made the conditions on
our meetings. I didn’t want Jemma’s hopes getting up just to have them stomped to the ground by our mother.
She walked all the way to her car and I was just about to sigh with relief when the door behind me tugged open. Jemma poked her head out and saw everything.
“Jemma, get back inside,” I warned. Keeping her and our mother apart was in her best interests. There was no doubt I was doing the right thing.
“Mom?” she called out.
I wasn’t even sure how she could recognize her. Jemma was so little when she left that she had barely any memory of her. Perhaps it was the way we all looked so alike that it was impossible to deny she was our mother. Maybe it was impossible not to recognize your own mother.
Mom turned around hopefully and a huge smile spread across her face. “Jemma!”
Before I could stop her, Jemma was through the door and running for the woman. She jumped into her arms and they hugged like there was no tomorrow.
They were too far away for me to hear what they were saying but they both looked very happy. I needed to break them up but I was frozen in place by the look of sheer happiness on Jemma’s face. She had prayed for our mother to return nearly every day and here she was, standing in our yard.
That little girl’s heart was going to be smashed into a million pieces.
They spoke for a little while before Mom left. Jemma was practically walking on air for the rest of the evening. There was nothing I could do now to stop her getting hurt. Our mother had once more broken her promise and we would all suffer the consequences from here on out.
She didn’t show her face at our house for the rest of the week, thankfully. On Saturday I went shopping with Dallas. She needed a dress for a party her mother was putting on. The one thing Dallas loved above everything else, was a good party.
“I want something in red,” she said as we flicked through clothes at the mall. We were in one of the discount trendy stores, what they lacked in good fabric, they made up with in quantity and sequins. It was Dallas’s favorite store.
“Do you mean a dark red, or red red?” I asked. There were so many dresses that we needed to cut down the search criteria.
“Red red. The brighter the better.” Of course, I should have been expecting that. It was difficult to take the pageant out of the girl, she would enjoy being the center of attention for the rest of her life.
That was Dallas.
And that was why I loved her.
The store failed to have the right shade of red red so we ended up at the trusty old favorite – Walmart. My family never had much money and Dallas’ was the same. Her mother saved for months to pay for the dresses for her pageants. Every single cent of the prize money went back into the outfits.
We went for the formal area and looked through the racks of dresses. A lot of people may have made fun of Walmart, but they did offer a lot of dress for the money. I’d worn these dresses to every single school dance and disco since I was five years old.
Dallas flicked through the racks, looking for the dress of her dreams while I trailed behind. I stopped when I reached a blue dress. It was the same blue as Cole’s eyes, as blue as the water at the beach, and as sparkly as a sapphire.
I loved it.
My hand shook with excitement as I pulled it off the rack and held it against me. The whole thing shimmered when I moved. When I looked in the mirror, it looked like it was made for me.
“I am seriously in love with this dress,” I said, catching Dallas’s attention. She stopped to look at me, her hand on the latest red dress she’d found.
“It’s nice.”
“It’s more than nice,” I insisted. Was she not looking at the same dress as I was? It was perfection, outstanding, amazing. It wasn’t just nice.
Seriously.
Dallas shrugged. “You don’t need to buy dresses at Walmart anymore. Not when you have designers giving you dresses. I’m sure the Simone LePark dress is a lot better than that one.”
I should have agreed with her, it was silly looking at clothes that I didn’t need. Even after spending last summer working for Two Dimension on their tour, I didn’t have much money saved. I’d quit my job at Burger Nation so I wasn’t in a position to be buying things I didn’t need.
Dallas was right.
My cellphone beeped with a message just as I was placing the dress back on the rack.
Can’t wait to see you, beautiful.
Who cared about a dress when I had a boyfriend that sent me messages like that? He was all I needed, and he liked seeing me in the Simone LePark dress.
My life had seriously changed. In just two weeks’ time I was going to be walking the red carpet at the Major Music Awards with him. We would have the eyes of the world watching us.
But I still liked the Walmart dress.
Chapter Nine
Los Angeles always filled me with awe. There was something magical about it. I always assumed every car on the road had a celebrity in it, and every person I saw was in the movie industry and just waiting to be discovered.
I loved being driven down the roads with all the palm trees lined up like soldiers. The houses were big, the designer stores were flashy, and the possibilities were endless.
In just a few hours I would be with Cole and the band, strutting down the red carpet like we owned the place. I had everything in my bag and was ready to be transformed into someone worthy of being on Cole’s arm. After the millions of people seeing us together, I wasn’t going to be able to pretend I was anonymous anymore.
The driver dropped me off at the hotel where we were staying. Normally the band stayed at the mansion owned by the record label but it was too far away from the venue today. Apparently walking to the awards was better than waiting in a queue to be dropped off for a couple of hours. Limos would be bumper to bumper all afternoon and into the evening.
My room was next to the guys’ rooms. They were having interviews done when I arrived so I left them to it. I needed the time to get ready anyway.
Cole had organized a woman to do my hair and makeup, she arrived only a few minutes after I did. We were on a schedule, so timing was everything.
I dragged a chair from under the table into the bathroom and sat down. Megan got straight to work. She put my hair into rollers and then started with the makeup. I wanted something natural, not a look that made me seem like I was under a pile of makeup.
She curled my lashes, covered all my pimples, made my cheeks rosy with blush, and then slicked over my lips with a shade of red. Makeup mission accomplished.
My hair was another matter. Normally I would just brush it or put it up into a ponytail. Megan pinned it into an updo, sweeping it to one side where she plaited it and then twisted it around into a loose bun. The whole effect was amazing, making me look way more sophisticated and beautiful than normal. She finished the whole thing with a generous cloud of hairspray.
I liked Megan.
She could visit me any time she wanted.
“You’re good, sweetie. You look gorgeous, have a good night,” she said as she left. I was just one stop on her busy schedule. There would be plenty of girls looking beautiful tonight thanks to her.
All I had to do was get dressed, slip on my shoes, and I was done. Which was good timing, because I only had ten minutes left before the boys were to leave the hotel.
I looked at the Simone LePark dress as it hung on the wall hook. I’d been extra careful to make sure I didn’t crease it or damage the fabric in any way possible. It was still elegant and amazing.
Time was ticking down and all I could do was look at it.
The dress wasn’t me.
Millions of girls would see me tonight, they would want to be me as I walked next to Cole. Did I really want them to see me in a dress that was worth tens of thousands of dollars? I would look nice, but why did the dress have to be so expensive?
I was a role model now. Kids liked to copy me and it made them happy to think that it could be them. There was no way they’d
be able to feel that way when I was in the designer dress.
I couldn’t do it.
I was not ready to tell kids that they had to have a million dollars to be beautiful.
Thankfully, I’d brought another dress with me. Maybe it was my instincts, telling me that I would need it, but I had thrown it in at the last minute.
I slipped into the dress quickly, completely running out of time to change my mind again. One quick glance in the mirror and I would have to do. After all, I wasn’t the center of attention tonight, it was the boys’ spotlight. They would all look amazing. I didn’t have to see them to know that.
Their room was buzzing with activity when I got there. The guys were all dressed and looking exactly like I knew they would. The moment I saw Cole for the first time, he completely took my breath away.
Dressed in a black suit with a blue shirt underneath, the look was topped off with a bright red bowtie. They were going formal to the awards and Cole did it better than anyone else.
Anyone else in the world.
He gave me a devastatingly handsome smile and hurried to get to me. “Mel, you are going to make all the other girls jealous tonight. Words can’t even describe how hot you are right now.”
Cole gave me a sweet kiss on the cheek so he wouldn’t disturb my makeup. “Did Simone give you another dress? Or is my memory just shocking?”
I didn’t know how he would react to what I was about to tell him. A bundle of nerves pitted in my stomach. “Your memory is fine, it’s not her dress. I actually got it at Walmart.”
His eyebrows shot up. “That dress is from Walmart?”
“Yeah. I don’t want kids to think they need to have lots of money to look nice. Do I look okay?” Doubt suddenly overcame me. Maybe I had made a huge mistake. I probably had a few minutes to change if Cole completely hated it.
“You look gorgeous.” He kissed my temple. “You’re doing a good thing. I’m proud to have you by my side today. We even match.” I hadn’t realized his shirt was nearly the same shade of blue as my dress. We looked like a coordinated couple.
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