Diary of a Rocker's Kid (D.O.R.K #1) (10 page)

I add Gio on the console, and five minutes later he confirms me and we start talking on our headsets as I sit on my bed.

“Hey!” I say.

“
Ciao, bella!
” he replies cheerfully, and I pinch myself again.

“Ow.”

“You okay?” There’s concern in his voice.

“Yeah, I was just being stupid, sorry.” I laughing it off, and we party up.

As we’re getting ready to start a match, he talks to me. “So awesome that you play games. I’ve never had something like this in common with a girl before.”

“Then you’re hanging out with the wrong girls. There are a lot of us out there,” I say.

“Duly noted, although I don’t really need to meet another one right now.”
Oh my God…I hope that means what I think it means.
“You’re still coming to the party on Saturday, right?”

“Yeah, of course! By the way, what’s the dress code?”

“It’s out by the pool, so most girls just wear a bikini and shorts…or ditch the shorts…”

“Got it.”
Shit…that’s the one thing I really didn’t want to wear…

Most of our talk after that is game-related, but I do find out a little bit about Gio over the next half hour. For one thing, he doesn’t mind taking instructions from a girl, which means he doesn’t have an ego problem. Secondly, he thinks it’s hilarious when I cuss up a wall. Whenever I die in game, I have a bad habit of letting my sailor mouth take over. Dad never holds back when gaming and neither do the guys I hear over my headset while playing, so I guess I just picked it up.

Gio chuckles after a particularly rousing swear session. “It’s fun listening to girls swear. You all try to be so dainty, and—”

“
I am not dainty!
” I hate to yell at Giovanni Abate, but seriously. He did
not
just call me that.

“But you’re so pretty and small. How could you be anything but dainty?”

I smile at the ‘pretty’ bit, but I don’t let him hear it in my voice. Instead I mumble under my breath, “I’ll show
you
‘dainty.’”

The next time I die in-game, I go through my entire repertoire of swear words, and Gio almost starts crying because he’s laughing so hard. “Okay, now it’s official,” he chokes out through his laughter. “I’m going out with a guy on Saturday.”

My entire body freezes, causing my character to die on screen. “
Shit!
And…
what
?”

“Oh…did I not mention you’re my date for the party?”

Oh God…don’t pass out, don’t pass out…
“No, you didn’t.”

“Well, you are. Hope that’s okay.” There’s a teasing lilt in his voice.

Don’t. Pass. Out.
“Sounds great.” There wasn’t even the slightest tremor in my voice. I silently congratulate myself on my unexpected poise.

Chapter 11

June 4, 2015

He’s Into Me…?

What the hell…he asked me out. The day after I met Giovanni Abate, he asked me out. At first, I was over-the-moon excited, but now my stomach is in knots and I’m gnawing my fingernails off. I’ve been racking my brain all evening, and I can only come up with three things this could possibly mean.

Scenario 1: He actually likes me.

This would be super weird and something that would never happen to me. It’s too good to be true. I can’t count on this being reality. I’m hoping for it, but I’m not sold on it.

Scenario 2: He just wants me for sex.

This is a little more realistic, but still weird. I mean, I’m not exactly the first thing that comes to mind when a guy thinks about which girl he wants to screw around with for the summer. If he wanted someone for sex, I think he would have picked Ana over me. So yeah…this one’s unlikely too.

Scenario 3: He wants to humiliate me at this party.

This is probably the most likely scenario of all. It’s not that he seems like a person who would do this, it’s just that I can’t imagine this guy actually liking me or wanting to fool around with me. There are too many other options for him. I’m fresh meat, and he sees an opportunity to show me who runs this place, so of course he’s going to take it. I’m such an idiot…and now I’m not sure what to do.

Should I go to this party and risk humiliating myself? Or should I blow off Giovanni Abate and risk pissing him off royally? I guess I should go, but what if something terrible happens and I have to endure the aftermath of it and my father’s wrath?

Or what if Scenario 2 is true? I have a rule about sex that would totally screw that up. When I swipe my V-card, I want it to be with someone I love. As amazing as Gio is, I wouldn’t say we’re in love yet, which means I’d have to say no to his admittedly tempting invitation. It would be so humiliating to have to reject Gio. I don’t know if I could do it. I might give in and lose a part of myself in the process.

Finally, what if he actually likes me? I’m leaving at the end of June. I don’t want to start something with him that’s going to have an inevitable end. It would put a dark cloud over the whole summer. Plus, he’s an actor, so every relationship he has is going to be heavily publicized. I’m not sure if I’m ready for that kind of media scrutiny. I just know someone’s going to make a cutting Basket Baby remark and a whole new era of humiliation will begin.

Good God…I’m overanalyzing this. I have a tendency to obsess over things before they even happen. That’s another girly trait I have, I guess…worrying over nonsense things. Who knows, Gio might turn out to be better than the typical rich, handsome douchebag. He might even be my Prince Charming.

Whoops…veering off into fantasy land again…

Back to reality. I don’t know what his intentions are, but…maybe it’s best if I leave them a surprise.

Ttyl,

Mads

***

After breakfast in the morning, while Dad is outside talking to Aunt Melissa on the phone, I pull Cass aside in the kitchen to talk to her about the W3 reunion.

“I already called the others,” Cass says, referring to their former bassist and drummer. “Carl and James are
so
excited. They still live in the area, and they were both thrilled to hear Mike’s back. I think they might even be open to reuniting the band for good, so everything’s moving according to plan.”

“Cass! You rock!” I say, making her chuckle.

“Thanks. Do you have any ideas for the reunion itself?”

“Well, I was thinking…our favorite talk show is
Late at Night with Johnny McIntyre
, and it’s based in L.A. They’ve had actor reunions on there before. Do you think they would do a band reunion?”

“Sweetie, I think any talk show in the area would be
delighted
to host our band reunion,” Cass says. “I think that’s an amazing idea. That’s one of the most popular talk shows in the nation. If I call Johnny’s people, do you want to be the one to propose your idea?”

“Uhhh…” I let out some breathy laughter. “I don’t think I could talk to Johnny McIntyre. Besides, we haven’t even talked to Dad about the idea yet.”

“Honestly, I think the band reunion should be a surprise to your dad. We could have Johnny just invite the two of you on to talk about your return, and then the rest of us could come out from behind the stage and give him the shock of his life.”

“Oh my God, that’s brilliant!” I gush. “Then he’d
have
to cave under the pressure.”

“It’s settled then. You and I will call Johnny after lunch, once we talk to your dad about the interview.”

“Sounds perfect,” I say, giving her a fist bump.

***

Before lunch, Dad takes us into a bedroom that’s being used as a storage room, and we get to see all of their old things. He shows me his vinyls and cassette tapes from way back when, and I get to hold a couple of Cass’s old guitars. She also shows me some of her outfits from performing, which are horrendously nineties, even though the black and silver studs are pretty cool. Finally, someone comes across the object I came here for in the first place.

“Mads…” Ana holds it up so I can see it. “Your basket.” I wade through the rubble on the floor and stretch out my hands, almost afraid to touch it, but needing to.

Dad smiles tenderly as I take the wicker basket and finger the bright pink lace. “The very first place I ever saw you,” he says, coming up behind me. “I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the single greatest moment of my life.”

“Really?” I feel him nod against my head. I lean back against Dad, and his arms wrap around me. “Thank you.”

“For what, sugar?” He kisses the top of my head.

“For caring about me. For giving up all of this. She gave me up, but you gave up your whole life for me.” My throat tightens to the point where I can barely breathe. This basket I’m holding is the only trace of my mother’s influence in my life, and it’s the thing she gave me away in. It’s a symbol of the abandonment, and it’s all I have from her, besides possibly my looks.

“We’ll leave you two alone,” Cass says, and Ana follows her as the two of them leave the room to give us some privacy.

I turn around to face Dad and set the basket down on a nearby box. “Why did she give me up? Did she ever say anything about that?”

“Oh, honey, please don’t worry yourself about that.” Dad grasps my upper arms gently and looks directly into my eyes. “She did not deserve you in the least, and there’s no reason in the world why you should waste one more thought on her, okay? Here, let me show you somethin’ that might take your mind off it.” He leads me over to a small cardboard box with an assortment of autographed pictures in it. He thumbs through them and shows me photos he got with all sorts of celebrities: musicians, actors, CEOs, and even a couple of presidents. There are tons of pictures with pretty actresses in here, which brings a mischievous grin to my face. Now I have an easy point of reference for my AYMM mission, and he doesn’t even have to know about it.

“Hey, can I take these pictures into my room?” I ask.

He looks at me a little weird, but then he shrugs. “Whatever you want, baby girl.”

***

Google search:

Kelsie Walderman Michael Daley.

Pictures of Dad and the tall, blonde, blue-eyed actress populate near the top of the screen. Dad was with her in more than one of these photos, and she has a bit of a reputation, so I figured she might be a good bet. Studying her face, though, I don’t see any resemblance other than the eye color. There are also no articles that even begin to link her to me. I guess this one is another internet dead end.

As I’m typing in another actress’s name, my phone goes off. The screen lights up with a text message.

Gio: Hey neighbor ;)

My heart jumps. I wasn’t sure if I should expect to hear from him between now and Saturday.

Me: Hey! What’s up?

Gio: I’m at a modeling shoot right now with Steph, but I just wanted to say that playing BF with you yesterday was awesome. You wanna play again when I get back?

Me: Sounds great. What time do you think you’ll be back?

Gio: Probably sometime after dinner. This is taking forever.

Me: Well, just shoot me a text when you get back, and I’ll hop on my console.

Gio: Awesome. See you then.

Me: Okay, ttyl.

I played it cool, but I was a little disturbed to hear that he’s at a modeling shoot. All those insanely sexy girls, probably posing in provocative ways…then again, he did just ask to hang out with
me
when he gets home, so I guess that’s a good sign? I just hope I’m not getting friend-zoned…

Nope, can’t be that, either. He asked me to be his date on Saturday.

Gio Abate is coming home to play
Battlefield
with me instead of coming home with a model.

***

Later, as we’re all eating lunch out on the back patio, Cass and I propose the
Johnny McIntyre
idea to Dad, minus the part about the W3 Reunion. He hesitates at first because he thinks Mother Dearest might see we’re in L.A. and come back, but Cass reminds him how demanding a film shoot is and that it’s very unlikely she’d be able to leave early without throwing off the whole production. He continues to protest because he doesn’t want to deal with media attention.

“I just don’t see the point,” he says.

I wipe my mouth after my last bite of chicken Caesar salad. “The point is that we get to go on
Johnny McIntyre
and tell the world what we’ve been up to since the disappearance. Don’t you want to give your fans that closure? Don’t you want to put an end to all this speculation once and for all?”

“Uh…” He lets out a deep sigh. “I guess it would be all right. But just that one show, since it’s our favorite. I don’t wanna go on a whole damn media tour or anything.”

I try my best to suppress a squeal, but it comes out anyway. “Thanks, Daddy! Cass and I will take care of everything, don’t worry.”

After lunch, Cass and I go into her bathroom in her room and lock the door, blocking the opening between the door and the floor with a towel. We don’t want to take even the slightest risk of Dad hearing us through the door. Cass gets a hold of Johnny’s people, and she gives them a brief synopsis of our plan. They like it so much that they get us talking to Johnny himself. Cass gets him on the phone, and she tries to hand it to me, but I’m shaking too much to take it.

“Come on, Mads,” Cass whispers, strained and irritated as she holds out her phone to me.

“I…I can’t…”

“
Take the phone.
”

I let out a breath and try to channel some Zen. “All right.” I clear my throat, and then I accept the phone with a trembling hand. “H-hi, Johnny.”
Oh my God, oh my God, I’m talking to Johnny McIntyre!

“Hi, Madison!” His voice is deep, pleasant, and middle-aged.

“H-hi.”

“Listen, I just have to say, I’m honored you chose my show to help reveal your father’s return to Los Angeles. However, I do have some questions about the specifics of your plan.”

“Um…okay.”

“Is your father currently working on a new album?”

“Well…not yet. But I think he might want to.” Technically, it’s true. He
might
want to.

“All right,” Johnny says. “And do you have his permission to be setting up this interview?”

“Yes, he’s all for it,” I say, once again mildly stretching the truth. “However, we do want to keep the reunion with the other bandmates a surprise, so we didn’t tell him about that part.”

“Oh, I understand,” Johnny says. I briefly explain the plan to him, and he repeats it back to me. “So this interview would be revealing to the world where you’ve been living for the past seventeen years, what you’re doing in L.A. now, and the surprise reunion, is that correct?”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much it.”

“Well, just so you know, I think it’s a
fantastic
idea. I look forward to working with you and the others. I actually just had a cancellation for June 17. Do you think you could do the interview on that day?”

“Yes, absolutely,” I say, giddy with excitement. I had no idea we’d be doing this interview so soon.