Diary of a Rocker's Kid (D.O.R.K #1) (11 page)

“Excellent. Can’t wait to meet you!”

Johnny McIntyre can’t wait to meet
me
. “Likewise,” I say. He hangs up the phone, and I come within one breath of passing out.

***

Gio: I’m home. Be on in a few.

After I receive that text, I sit down on the edge of my bed with headphones and controller ready. It may seem silly considering where I am now, but I’m sort of missing my purple bean bag chair. Dad and I had a designated game room in our house in Kentucky, and my chair is worn into the shape of my body because we played so much.

Gio finally logs in, and I add him to a party. “Hey,” he says, sounding beyond exhausted.

“Hey! Everything okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just that the modeling shoot sucked. Guess it was an off day for me.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“Well, I was supposed to be modeling this one collared shirt, and it just didn’t hang right on me—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.
You
were the model?”

“Uh, yeah.” Gio chuckles. “What did you think I meant?”

Ho-ly shit. He models too.
“Nothing…nothing, go on.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I don’t want to bog you down with my problems.”

“No, really, it’s okay,” I say. “What happened?” We start a match, and the sounds of guns firing and character voices join ours.

“Well, long story short, Steph ended up swapping me out with another guy near the end because I couldn’t pull off the shirt. It was made for stick figures.”

“Which you definitely are not,” I say in a flirty voice.
Whoa, did that just come out of me?

“
Definitely
not!” he says. “I’m glad you understand.”

“A wise person once told me that when clothes don’t fit you right, it’s not anything wrong with you. It’s just the clothes. Dammit, I died.” I utter a few more choice words.

Gio bellows with laughter. “Man, I never thought I’d hear words like that coming out of a pretty girl like you.”

Heat rises into my cheeks. “Sorry, I can get a little carried away.”

“You don’t have to apologize. I needed that laugh. In fact, coming home to this made my depressing day a lot better.”

“Glad to hear that…and I’m glad you didn’t find some other girl to come home with after the photoshoot.” Not sure why I just said that, but I guess I can give up on playing it cool. It’s not going to happen.

“I’ll be honest, I have gone out with a couple of teen models in the past,” Gio says, and I immediately feel about as tall as a mushroom. “But I prefer a smart girl to a self-absorbed twig any day.” Since he can’t see me, I smile like the Cheshire Cat. “So what do you do for fun besides playing guitar and video games?”

“Well, first of all, I don’t play guitar for ‘fun.’ That’s going to be my career someday.”

“Right, of course. I’m sure you won’t have a problem with that.”

I smile. “Anyway, I did a lot of horseback riding and outdoor exploration back in Kentucky. Interesting fact: I can shoot a real gun.”

“No wonder you’re so good at this game!” Gio laughs. “I’m impressed!”

“Thanks. What about you?”

“I play sports at school, and during the summer I like to surf. Friday is usually my surfing day with my buddies at Santa Monica. I had to ditch them today because of that damn modeling shoot, but now I wish I had just gone surfing instead.”

“Sounds fun. I’ve never surfed…well, unless you count sliding down hay bales on a metal sled.”

Gio busts out laughing. “No, but that’s a funny visual.”

“Yeah, it
was
fun until I slammed face first into a post and busted my chin,” I say. “That’s why my jawline is ever-so-slightly crooked.”

“Well, you can barely even tell,” Gio says. “I didn’t notice until I was inches from your face.”

“It’s funny, people stared and pointed at us in the hospital, and I thought it was just because of my broken jaw. I think they may have recognized us, though. That happened a few years ago. It’s why I had to have braces for four years.”

“That
all
sounds like it sucked,” he says. I laugh and agree.

As the night goes on, I tell him more stories about my farm antics in Kentucky, and Gio tells me stories about his life on the set. Apparently making a teen TV show involves a lot of pranks, bloopers, and animal mishaps. He has this one story about an elephant that gets me laughing so hard that tears stream down my face. I guess it doesn’t matter how strong you are…when an elephant sits down and rests its front legs on you, you ain’t goin’ nowhere.

We laugh and game long into the night, and it’s two a.m. before we even realize how long we’ve been at it. “I’ve never been able to tolerate a girl for this many hours at once,” Gio says with a yawn.

“Oh, so you’re merely tolerating me, huh?” I tease.

“You know what I meant. This was amazing.”

My heart sprouts wings and takes off into the sky, even though I can barely keep my eyes open. “It was for me too. I’ll let you go so we won’t be falling asleep and tumbling into the pool tomorrow.”

“Yeah, that would be a bad day,” Gio says with a lazy chuckle. “See you tomorrow.”

“See ya.” I take my headset off, turn off the console, and fall into bed, not even bothering to squirm underneath the covers before falling asleep.

***

I wake up around ten a.m., and the first things my eyes fall on when I push myself up are the basket and the pictures beside my bed. I rub the sleep out of my eyes, and then I reach down off the side of the bed and grab the basket. I search through the bedding for anything that might give me an additional clue, and when I lift up the pillow, I gasp. The note is lying there on the bottom of the basket. I find another clue when a long, dark hair comes up with it.

“She had dark hair,” I whisper. That eliminates the blondes, redheads, and light brunettes I saw in these pictures with Dad. I look at the note then, and I can’t stop the tears that build up and roll down my cheeks.

She’s yours. Take good care of her.

That’s all it says. No “Tell her I love her,” no “Make sure she knows I tried,” no “I’ll miss her”…not even a name or an initial to remember her by. The handwriting is neat, elegant, and even a little uppity in nature, and the paper is fine stationary. My guess is that this person is from a family that’s afraid to even admit they
have
emotions, let alone express them.

Whoever she is, she obviously didn’t want me to find her, or she would have left some indication of who she was. I can’t stop thinking about what Cass said, though…
she looked back
. All those things she did in the past proved she regretted what she did. The problem is she never came after me when we left California. She didn’t even send out a media Amber Alert, which means she still didn’t want the world to know she was my mother.

I feel my face tighten with resolve as I look from the note to the hair to the basket.
Mother Dearest, I’m coming to find you, whether you want me or not.

Chapter 12

June 6, 2015

Mission AYMM Update

I found some more clues today, so I thought I’d add them to my growing list. Here are the clues I’ve gathered so far—

Clue 1: She’s an actress.

Clue 2: She looks like me.

Clue 3: She’s away on a film shoot.

Clue 4: She lives in L.A.

Clue 5: She has dark hair.

Clue 6: She has elegant handwriting.

Clue 7: She likes ruffles.

Surely all of these clues combined will be enough to lead me to her without any testing or record searching. I mean, she’s a celebrity, for God’s sake. How hard can it be? I have a couple of suspicions already, but I’m not going to say anything yet, because I don’t want to jinx it.

Here’s hoping…the longer I have to wait, the more I’m torn apart on the inside.

Ttyl,

Mads

***

“Damn my stupid breasts!” I yell as I’m getting dressed for Gio’s party.

Ana comes to stand beside me in front of my full-length mirror. “What’s wrong?”

“I hate swimsuit tops, and I
especially
hate being between cup sizes,” I rant, scowling at my body in the mirror.

“Sorry, girl.” Ana moves behind me to see if there’s any way to tighten my purple bandeau top. “It doesn’t look like anything can be done to fix that. Why did you get it too big?”

“They didn’t have any A cups, but I really liked the style. Now I’m regretting it.”

“Can’t you just wear another one?”

“This one makes me look bigger. I don’t want to look flat-chested in front of Gio’s friends.”

“Well, all right.” Ana shrugs at me in the mirror. “Just be careful if you get in the pool. And you might want to stuff it a little to make it tighter.”

“Good idea.” I go in the bathroom and stuff some cotton balls down in the bottom of it just above the underwire. After I’m done, I actually look like I have a hint of cleavage. “You’re a veritable genius!”

Ana smiles and comes into the bathroom with me. “It’s a time-honored fashion tradition. If you want to be safe, just don’t jump in the pool at all…or if you do, don’t move too much.”

“Got it,” I say, feeling jealous of her perfectly symmetrical C cups for a moment.

We head straight over to Gio’s pool party, where a lot of people have already arrived. Gio’s best friend is the first one to recognize us, and he immediately climbs out of the pool to greet us, dripping wet and smiling.

“Hey, ladies!” Dalton says, and we say “Hey” back. “Can I show you to the bar? Gio’s busy inside right now, but he’ll be out in a minute.”

I look over at Ana. Aside from the glass of wine we drank here with Dad’s permission on the night of the dinner, we’re not supposed to be drinking at all. Ana just shrugs.

“Yeah, sure,” I say, not wanting to look lame.

Dalton leads us past some attractive people in bikinis and swim trunks to the outdoor wet bar, where they’re serving margaritas. I figure just one won’t hurt. Dad doesn’t want us getting
drunk
, and one margarita is not very likely to accomplish that. Dalton hands us each a margarita, and Ana and I smile at each other as we both take our first sip at once. Our faces scrunch up at the taste of it. That was almost as strong as I would imagine rubbing alcohol would taste.

“Mm…strong,” Ana says, trying to disguise our liquor virginity.

“Yeah, Gio came up with this particular margarita. He likes them loaded with tequila. You’ll get used to it.” Dalton notices more guests coming in. “I gotta go help some more people. Let me know if you need anything.” We nod, and he hurries in their direction.

“I guess he’s the stand-in host when Gio’s not around,” I observe as we walk away from the bar.

Ana and I find some chairs to sit in between the pool and the hot tub, and she takes another sip of her margarita.

“This is pretty good,” Ana says. “Strong, but good.”

I take another sip, and my tongue starts to get used to the zing of the alcohol and I taste the other flavors. There’s salt around the edge, and the flavor of the drink itself is fruity with a hint of coconut. “I’ll have to agree with that.”

“What do you think Gio’s up to?”

“Probably screwing his backup date,” I joke.

Ana’s jaw drops in horror. “
Mads!
”

I giggle at her reaction. “I’m just kidding!”

“You need to think better of yourself, though,” Ana says with a serious gaze. “Gio Abate
likes you
. Don’t screw this up because of your low self-esteem.”

I take off my glasses for a minute so she can see my eyes better. “I really am
just kidding
. Relax.”

An Asian girl in an orange string bikini approaches me, squinting at my face. “Raven?” she asks.

“Um…no, my name is Madison,” I tell her.

“Oh, okay.” She immediately smiles and relaxes. “Sorry, I thought you were someone else.”

“It’s okay,” I say. She starts to walk away, and then she takes another look at my face.

“You’re really not Raven?” She glances at Ana as if to gauge whether I’m telling the truth or not.

“She is definitely not Raven,” Ana says.

“Okay. My bad. Enjoy the party.”

“Thanks, you too,” I say, and she walks away. Ana and I look at each other with wide eyes. “Well, I guess my mysterious doppelgänger now has a name.”

“Raven…” Ana repeats. “Where have I heard that name before?”

At that moment, a loud, piercing whistle comes from a balcony on the back of Gio’s house. The throng of guests looks up in the direction of the sound.

“
What up
, party animals?” Gio yells through his hands from the balcony, eliciting a cheer from all his friends. He started some pop music that is now blasting out of speakers all around the party area. “Who’s ready to get this thing started?” Another cheer. People are still pouring in. The party has grown to roughly seventy people. “Before you get too busy, I just wanna give a shout-out to my guest of honor tonight. Madison, can you stand up, please?” He looks right at me, and I slowly stand up from my chair, feeling hot and a little shaky. “Allow me to present Madison Daley, my date tonight, who also happens to be the daughter of the Grim Weeper of Weep With the Willows.”

The guests gasp and murmur among themselves. My glasses are still off, so everyone can see my face. “This is her first party here in L.A., so everybody make her feel welcome, all right?” All of his friends clap for me, although some of them still sound confused. I must
really
look like this Raven person. “Enjoy your night!” Gio goes back inside, and immediately I’m swarmed by people…and questions.

“Are you really the Grim Weeper’s daughter?”

“The Grim Weeper is back in L.A.?”

“You look super familiar…have we met before?”

My answers become robotic and preformed.

“Yes, I’m the Grim Weeper’s daughter.”

“We’re back in L.A. for the summer.”

“No, we haven’t met before.”

“I don’t know if W3 is making another album.”

“No, my dad is not home right now.” Dad and Cass are out again tonight, doing God knows what. Ana stays right by my side until some girls start talking to her about fashion, and eventually she abandons me to go and talk to them. I put my glasses back on, hoping to deter some of the curiosity, but people know who I am now, and they’re on me like flies on honey.

By the time Gio finally comes down to talk to me, I’m about ready to kill him. “
Ciao, bella!
” There’s a drink in his hand and a massive, wicked grin on his face.

“How do you say ‘bastard’ in Italian?” I reply, making his abs clench with laughter. My scowl fades into a smile when he slips his arm around me.

“Sorry about that. I just didn’t want you to have to deal with people mistaking your identity all night,” he explains.

“It’s okay. By the way, who the hell is Raven?”

“Oh, they already figured that out, huh? Don’t worry about it, she’s just a mean girl from Wilcox who is
never
invited to my parties. Or any parties, really, unless she throws them herself.”

’Kay, so my doppelgänger is definitely not my mother. I was way off.

“Anyway, there are some people I want you to meet, so let’s go this way,” Gio says. He leads me through the mass of near-naked bodies to a corner of the patio where about ten people are hanging out in a group. “
Ciao, amici
!”

“Hey!” Everyone greets us with wide smiles.

“Madison, this is my ‘beach gang.’ They put up with me every Friday at Santa Monica for surfing, and we all go to Wilcox. Everyone, meet Madison Daley, the newest addition to our group.”

Wow…he’s already accepting me into his group.

“Hi, everyone,” I say, swallowing a surge of anxiety. I have never been this popular
anywhere
.

They all start talking to me, and there’s one girl in particular that catches my eye. She’s Hispanic, with gorgeous dark hair and eyes, and she’s fixated on me much like Gio was when we first met. Gio introduces her as Zuri. Over the next twenty minutes, his friends ask me the same type of questions everyone else did, and I end up telling them my whole life story. Zuri pulls me aside after I’m done, and we sit down together at a table with an umbrella.

“I’m Zurina Juarez,” she says, and we shake hands over the table. Her voice is low-pitched and her diction is smooth, like a reporter’s or a radio host’s. “I run a student news blog at Wilcox. I have to say, your story is truly fascinating. I can’t imagine being
that
isolated my entire life.”

“It was hard,” I admit. “I’m hoping that phase of my life is over now.”

“It definitely seems like it! You picked the right person to go out with if you don’t want to be isolated. Gio is one of the friendliest people I’ve ever met. He’s pretty much the king of Wilcox.”

“Wow.” I giggle. “Should I be intimidated?”

“Oh, not at all!” Zuri says. “In fact, we’re all a little intimidated by you. Now that you’re back, I bet your family is going to take Los Angeles by storm. Anyway, I keep the blog going during the summer, keeping people up-to-date on Wilcox happenings and such. Do you mind if I write a story about you? I know you’re not a Wilcox student, but I think a lot of the teens in L.A. would still be interested to hear what happened to you.”

“Actually, could you wait to write that story? We have this big interview planned with
Late at Night with Johnny McIntyre
, and it’s supposed to be our first exposure to the media since the disappearance. After that, you can write whatever you want.”

“Oh, of course!” Zuri nods with understanding. “Thank you for telling me. I’ll be sure to link that interview when I write my article.”

Gio interrupts us by sitting down next to me. “You ladies getting along?” he asks.

“Definitely, she’s great,” Zuri says with a smile. One of the surfer guys motions to her to join him, and Zuri holds up a finger like ‘
One second.’
“Gotta go, the boyfriend’s calling. Don’t hesitate to call on me if you need
anything
, all right?”

“Thanks,” I say. “See you later.”

Gio takes me around the pool to the hot tub, where a cluster of couples are already getting drunk and making out. When they see us coming, they clear a space for us, and I smile at Gio as we lower ourselves down into the warm, bubbling water.

“Must be intoxicating having that kind of power,” I comment, and Gio laughs as he sits down beside me and drapes his arm around my shoulders. I’m loving the thought of spending this whole evening attached to his hip.

“You get used to it,” he says. “Eventually, it gets kind of annoying. Sometimes I wish someone would stand up to me for once.”

“Well, at least you’ll never have to know what it feels like to be invisible.”

Gio’s eyebrows furrow as he studies my face. “Do you feel invisible?”

I glance up and around at the people on the patio who are still scrutinizing Gio and me. “Well…not anymore. But I used to.”

I turn back to look at him and see his lips pulled up in an adorable dimpled half smile. “I know why people didn’t notice you before. They couldn’t see you behind all that glass and plastic.” He tugs on my glasses again.

I roll my eyes, take my glasses off, and set them on the side of the hot tub. “Better?”

“Much,” Gio whispers, and his eyes light up with desire at the sight of my face. I bite my lower lip, but it doesn’t stop my smile. Our legs meet beneath the surface, and his closeness sends chemicals racing through every cell of my body. God, I want him…
so
bad. The desire intensifies with every inch he closes between us. By the time he’s three inches away from my lips, I’m begging for his kiss on the inside.