First Date (17 page)

Addy could tell by the Broadway tunes being belted in the shower that Kara had left the computer there for her on her way to the bathroom. Addy pushed the space bar on the keyboard to wake the hibernating computer and saw that Kara had Googled Addy’s name, resulting in thousands of hits. Most of them were positive.

The general conclusion was that Addy remained the “real” one, not putting on airs, not acting like a perfect little lady. Addy was “everygirl” and America loved her. In fact, they loved her more the more flaws she showed.

“We don’t want to see Jonathon Jackson with a perfectly polished debutante,” wrote one popular blogger. “We want someone we can identify with. I would have been right with Addy Davidson last night, sipping my soup the wrong way, cutting from the ‘wrong side’ (how can it be wrong when it feels so right?). I can’t even eat spaghetti without spilling red sauce all over my shirt.”

Addy felt relieved. Then she felt guilty that she felt relieved. Was she actually starting to
care
what “America” thought? She was shaking her head when Kara walked out of the shower.

“Don’t tell me you’re
upset
?” Kara turned her head upside down and twisted her wet hair into a towel-turban. “They like you. They really like you.”

“No, I’m not upset. How could I be?”

“Then what were you shaking your head about? You’re not still wanting to get kicked off, are you?”

“Not really.” Addy shut the computer and looked up at her friend. “I was just thinking that a few days ago I didn’t care what other people thought and now I do. I’m already getting corrupted.”

“Oh, Addy,” Kara crooned, sitting down on Addy’s bed. “Do we need to have the talk about the dangers of being a celebrity? You know, you people never turn out normal, so worried about what other people think you can’t lead a well-adjusted life. So sad. So, so sad.”

Addy hit Kara in the head with her pillow and laughed as Kara used her own words from their first conversation against her. “Ha ha, Dr. Kara. I’m just . . . conflicted. And I’m not used to feeling conflicted. I usually know what I’m doing and I do it. And no one really cares. Now I have no plan, no idea what I’m doing, and millions of people are suddenly interested.”

“Tell me all about it.” “Dr. Kara” smirked. “What was a typical day in the life of Addy Davidson preshow?”

Addy thought about that and raised her eyebrows. “Promise you won’t laugh?”

“Of course not.”

“Of course you won’t
promise
, or of course you won’t laugh?”

“Just go on.” Kara grinned, still sitting on Addy’s bed.

“Okay. Here it is.” Addy closed her eyes and imagined herself in her tidy room. “I’d wake up at 6:00 a.m. and shower, then eat breakfast and read my Bible, brush my teeth and get dressed, gather my backpack and school supplies. School starts at 7:45, but I like to get there early to review for any tests or quizzes, so I get there about 7:20. School ends at 3:00. I go home, work on my homework anywhere from 1–3 hours. More if necessary. I play golf a couple days a week. I clean my room, do the laundry, eat some dinner, and watch TV with my uncle. After that, I read or sometimes go for a walk, then I go to bed.” Addy felt calmer just thinking about her old life.

“Wow,” Kara said, trying very hard not to laugh.

“Go ahead, you know you want to.” Addy pushed Kara, causing her to lose her balance.

Kara righted herself and burst out laughing. “What are you, eighty-five? I didn’t know seventeen-year-olds could be that scheduled.”

“It works for me.” Addy frowned.

“You write all this down, don’t you? The old-fashioned way too, not with any electronic help. I’m right, aren’t I?”

“Yes.” Addy stood and crossed her arms.

“Is it here?”

“Yes.”

“Please let me see it.” Kara jumped up and clapped her hands.

Addy rolled her eyes and walked to her dresser, opened the top drawer, and pulled her planner out from under her T-shirts.

“Aww, it even has your name on it.” Kara opened the leather-bound planner.

Each day had its own page and every hour its own line. Addy’s tiny handwriting filled most of the lines with everything from homework assignments and tee times to housework reminders and grocery lists.

Kara flipped through months of pages, then looked at Addy, her brow wrinkling. “Where’s the fun?”

“What?”

“Fun. You know, going out to the movies or hanging at the mall with friends? Don’t you ever have fun? From this, it just looks like your life is all work and no play.”

“Sure, I have fun.” Addy grabbed the planner from Kara’s hands and returned it to her drawer. “My best friend, Lexi, and I hang out all the time. Uncle Mike and I golf and bowl together. We go out to eat. I help with clubs at school . . .”

Kara raised her eyebrow.

“Okay, maybe I don’t have the most exciting life, but I want to get into an Ivy League college. And my uncle doesn’t have a ton of money, so I need scholarships. And good grades. And great scores on my SAT and ACT.”

Kara sat still, saying nothing. A first for her.

“Okay, I’m a loser.” Addy sat on her bed. “You happy?”

“No. And neither are you. But I can help you.”

“Oh, I don’t like the sound of that.” Addy pulled the pillow from the head of her bed onto her lap.

“Come on now. Just think of me as Dr. Fun. I’m going to teach you how to have some excitement in your life—let loose.” Kara grabbed Addy’s planner from her dresser and tried to write
spontaneous fun
on the day’s date but kept misspelling
spontaneous
, so she just crossed it out and left the word
fun
followed by five exclamation points.

“First assignment. Grab the first outfit you can see and let’s go out.”

“Out? We’re prisoners, Kara. Or have you forgotten?” Addy crossed her arms.

“Fun Rule Number One,” Kara began, throwing on her clothes and running a brush through her still-damp hair. “Fun is an attitude, not a location. Got that?”

“Got it.” Addy saluted.

“Then say it.”

Addy obeyed, got dressed, and walked out the front door for her morning of spontanious, spontaineous, spontaneus fun!!!!! The morning lasted exactly sixty seconds. Right up to the point that an angry mob of girls met her walking toward the breakfast tables.

“Addy Davidson,” Lila spat. “Aren’t you just everybody’s favorite little loser?”

The other girls closed in, leaving Addy feeling claustro-phobic. Kara leaned in to Addy’s ear and whispered, “Fun is an attitude, not a location,” and both girls laughed.

“Are you
mocking
us?” Renae piped in. “How dare you!”

“How dare we?” Kara snorted. “You’re surrounding us like vultures to roadkill. How dare
you
.”

Addy wanted to say something, but she wasn’t sure what. Kara was being a little harsh, but so were those girls. But Addy couldn’t stand up for them, not after all Kara had done for her. And she couldn’t join Kara, or Addy would lose any chance of getting to talk with them.
God, what do I do?

The mob of girls was looking at each other, not sure if they should attack or scream or run off and tell Hank.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Kara said. “Were you trying to intimidate us? And we interrupted. How rude. Go ahead now. Tell us everything you planned to say. Come on. Now I know you’ve got a speech or two prepared, right?”

The girls huffed and stammered but, in the end, simply walked off.

Kara glowed as she watched the retreat. “And that, my friend, is the fun way to deal with bullies.”

Chapter 26

A
ddy returned to the trailer to rest from her morning of “fun” while Kara was off talking to her family. Addy picked up one of her mother’s journals and began reading.

This medicine man is ridiculous. He has been here less than two weeks, and he acts like he is in charge. He is even going around to the men in the village saying Josh is a fake. That his medicine is just “magic.” This from the man who tells pregnant women to chew a flower to make their babies smarter. Josh has prevented a spread of a nasty virus with the medicine we brought in. He saved a woman’s life last month when she developed an infection from some of their “herbal” remedies. And he is the fake? I just wish my Quechua was better so I could tell this man what I really think about him and his medicine and his lies. But my Quechua is awful. The most I can do is smile and nod and say some Tarzan phrases. Somehow I just don’t think, “Husband mine smart. You smell. Leave” would be very effective. Or Christlike. But I’m just so frustrated. I didn’t think it would be like this. We came here to help. To serve. And we are being treated like primitive idiots.

Addy turned the page and noticed her mother’s handwriting was smaller than on the previous page. More controlled.

I just read what I wrote. Am I still struggling with the same old issue? Still? My pride is hurt so I lash out. God, when will I learn? The worst thing I could do is go yell at the medicine man. In my pride to protect our reputation, I would ruin any chance we had to minister to him. Thank you, God, for making my language skills so bad that I couldn’t say something I’d regret. Thank you for protecting me from my own stupidity. Again. Help me love this man, to show him grace. Help me turn the other cheek so he can see you in me and want to know more about you. You are why I’m here. Forgive me for forgetting that.

Addy shut the journal and sobbed. God couldn’t have spoken to her more clearly had he come down, sat on her bed, and talked to her himself. She got down on her knees beside her bed.

Forgive me, God. Forgive me for even thinking about being mean to those girls. Forgive me for not saying anything to them, for not saying anything to Kara. What kind of friend am I? I haven’t even told Kara I’m a Christian. I’m so scared, God. I don’t feel strong enough to be your light here. I’ve barely even remembered to pray this last week or so. I’ve gotten so caught up in everything here. I’m sorry. I don’t know what to do. Help me. Help me talk to Kara about you. Help me be kind to the other girls. Help me be like my mom. I want to show grace to the people around me. Show me how I can do that
.

Chapter 27

A
ddy didn’t get a chance to speak to Kara right away. When Kara returned, Addy was called out. The girls were being interviewed by a teen magazine, and the reporter wanted to speak to each girl individually. After that, Addy was rushed to Ruby so she could get ready for the night’s episode. Five more girls would be asked to leave.

“Well, if it isn’t my little star,” Ruby declared. She was always happiest when Addy was in the news. It meant she’d get to “do her magic” a little bit longer. Apparently the pay for making over mousy teenagers was better than styling the desperate housewives of Rutherford County.

Addy smiled and tried to focus on showing grace to one person at a time. For now, Ruby was that one. Addy asked Ruby questions about herself and her family and was surprised to learn Ruby was one of nine children.

“I grew up on a farm in Oklahoma,” she said.

“You must have had a fun childhood.”

Ruby picked up a curling iron and smiled. “I’ve got some stories.”

“Can you tell me some?”

Ruby spent the next thirty minutes regaling Addy with stories about life on the farm. Addy enjoyed hearing about Ruby’s mom shooing cows away with hickory sticks and threatening neighboring pigs with a rake.

“Your mom sounds like quite a character.”

“With nine kids and a big old farm to run, she had to be tough. But she was the best mom in the world.”

Addy felt tears prick her eyes, faced again with the reality that she’d never have stories like that to tell. But Ruby was on a roll so Addy didn’t have time to dwell on her thoughts. By the time Addy’s hair and face were all done, she was not ready to leave.

Ruby promised to come back with more stories tomorrow. “Thanks for listening, Addy.” Ruby patted Addy’s hand. “I haven’t thought about home in a long time. That was fun.”

“I enjoyed it. But I want to see some pictures next time.”

“You got it, girl,” Ruby promised, humming to herself and gathering her kit.

Addy looked up to see Lila walking toward her.
Oh boy
.
Help me, Lord
.

“Let’s see how tough you are now, now that your little bodyguard is gone.”

“Listen, Lila. I need to apologize for today.”

“You better believe you do.”

Addy closed her eyes. This wasn’t going to be easy. A dozen retorts were coming to mind, none of them kind or loving. “I was rude to you this morning, and I shouldn’t have been. I don’t want us to be enemies. I’m sure we could find some common ground somewhere. I’d like to try.”

“You bet we can find common ground,” Lila spat. “We will both do anything to win this competition. But it won’t work with me.”

“What won’t work?”

“Oh, you might have that ditzy Kara on your side, helping you win. But I’m not that gullible. I’m in it to win it, and no one is going to stand in my way. So you can just drop the ‘nice girl’ act.”

Addy held her breath. How was it that “nasty” came so easily to her and “nice” was like a foreign language?