Landry in Like (12 page)

“Well, you have a few years to decide that. Do you know what you might like to study in college?”

“I like to write and English lit is my favorite class.”

“Thank you so much for being on today, Landry. Up next, we will be cooking up a spicy new gumbo in the kitchen with Chef Lorenzo. Stay tuned.”

“And we're clear,” the director said.

“Wonderful job, Landry,” Tanna said. “I had another model on a while back who was a senior in high school, and she wasn't half as professional and mature as you came across. Good luck to you.”

I started to say, “Thank you,” but Tanna was up and walking halfway over to the kitchen set. The production assistant came to unhook my mic and took me back to the green room.

“That was great, hon,” Mom said. “You did such a good job with those questions. Way to dodge the gossip part. You might have a career in politics the way you handled yourself.”

“Don't be too impressed. I sweated through the seat of my pants. Seriously, look. My butt is soaked and don't ask me to lift my arms. I am soooo nasty right now.”

Mom laughed. “I did the same thing the first time I had a big presentation in college. Soaked right through my pants. You are
so
my kid.”

“Lovely. Why can't I inherit, like, a yacht or something from you? No, I get your anxiety genes.”

“Ah, but speaking of anxiety genes — I came prepared with another type of ‘anxiety jeans.' I brought you a change of clothes in my bag. Complete with,” she lowered her voice and leaned in, “a fresh pair of panties.”

“So you knew I'd stress out that bad?”

“No, but I always bring backup underwear and pants on my work presentation days, so it's second nature for me,” she said.

“Wait, you still get nervous doing those even now?”

“Yup, fear never leaves me. I just learn to put those feelings in their place and push through it. It's not easy, but I try to think of the reward versus the worst case scenario.”

“All I can think about is the worst case scenario,” I said.

Mom nodded. “But that's not such a bad thing though because it can help you to prepare and be ready for anything that's thrown your way.”

“I never thought of it that way before.”

I took mom's tote bag into the bathroom and changed. When I came out, there was an older woman waiting outside the restroom.

“Excuse me, Landry, is it?” she asked.

“Yes?”

“I'm Perri. You did a nice job on the set today, young lady. You handled yourself with a lot of poise and maturity.”

“Thank you.”

“You mentioned you might want to study English when you go to school because you like to write,” Perri said.

I nodded, and she asked if she could speak to me for a moment. My mom went to check her messages while Perri took me back to the green room, which was empty. She sat me down.

“When I was your age, there weren't a lot of women, hardly any, who were doing TV production work. I got talked out of pursuing it because everyone said as a woman I'd never get hired and it was a long shot, so I ended up getting a job working in the factory in my hometown. It was good work and I had a steady paycheck, but it always bothered me that I let other people talk me out of something I wanted. Then when I had my fiftieth birthday, it hit me. Why can't I still pursue it? And you know what happened?”

I shook my head.

“All my friends said just about the same thing except instead of saying I was too young and a female, now they were saying I was too old to start a new career path. Now think about that for a minute. I was supposed to put my dream on the shelf because other people thought I was too old? Now when I was younger, I listened, but now I was older and wiser and I said, ‘That's your opinion, but my opinion is that I can still try and go after it',” she said. “Anytime you want to pursue something risky, people will try to talk you out of it. They may even think they mean well, but you just let them say their bit, nod your head, and then if it's truly in your heart, you go on and pursue it. You understand?”

I nodded. I told her that reminded me of what my dad said about his friends trying to talk him out of applying for med school and how my mom had people say she shouldn't take the job in Grand Rapids.

“It's a hard life when you pursue something people don't understand. If you want to do that, then you have to be prepared to hear all sorts of comments trying to talk you out of it. But you just keep your focus here,” she said putting her hand out in front of her. “Keep looking straight ahead and stay in your own lane. Don't worry about what someone is doing over here. Know that you have your own plans and goals and you just keep focusing forward and you'll be all right, you know?”

“Thank you. I—I have a lot of friends who… well… they discourage me a little bit from all of this. And sometimes people talk about me when I do things like this. Like, I didn't even tell a lot of people at school I was coming here today because they say stuff like, ‘Oh, who does she think she is going on TV?'”

“Mm-hmm, people can be jealous, and jealous is an ugly thing to be.”

One of the production assistants came in the room and told Perri they needed her.

“Landry, you have a good head on your shoulders, and I think you will be just fine as long as you don't worry about what other people are saying. They can talk all they want, but you don't have to listen,” Perri said as she stood up. “Good luck to you, honey. I will be rooting for you.”

“Thank you. And I'm glad you didn't listen to all those people who tried to talk you out of everything.”

She leaned forward and winked. “Me, too.”

A
fter we left the station
, Mom told me she had a surprise for me and she pulled up to the mall.

“As proud as I am of how you handled yourself in these interviews that you've done, I'm even more proud that you went ahead and did them even though you were terrified,” she said. “Anyone would be scared to go on TV and talk, and the fact you get shy on a good day and still went ahead and did it shows you are maturing. So I have decided you can take a little of your modeling money — just a little bit — to pick something out. Now I'm only giving you fifty bucks here because you haven't made that much yet, and I'm expecting you to use it somewhat wisely.”

“Thanks for reminding me I've made next to nothing,” I said.

“Well, other than babysitting and pet sitting, there aren't a lot of avenues for a kid — sorry,
young adult
—
but just don't spend it all on bubble gum and lip gloss, ‘kay?”

Bubble gum and lip gloss? I was not a little kid… although I had to admit I had planned to cruise the Little Rose cosmetics counter until she said that. Now I couldn't do that without looking superficial. Whatever. Part of me wanted to look at clothes, but a bigger part of me wanted to hit the bookstore.

“I think I want to use it on books,” I said.

“Sounds good to me. We can get lunch at the bookstore, too.”

We walked into the store, and they had a new display of brightly colored covers with gorgeous etchings on the front — all classics.

“Mom, look how beautiful these are. Feel how soft the covers are! I have to get a copy of
Jane Eyre.”

“But you have a copy — a hard cover one.”

“Yes, but look how pretty. And look at the font. It's so different from my book.”

“Hon, it's the exact same story.”

“Mother, I don't know how to explain why, but I need this one —
oooh
, etchings! Each chapter heading has an etching. And look — a map. Mom, it has a foldout map, too.”

“You want to spend sixteen bucks for a pretty cover and a map?”

“It's so much more than just a pretty cover. There's a new introduction and notes. It's just… so… awesome.”

“If it means that much to you then how about I buy it for you and you pick out another classic you haven't read before?”

“Best. Mother. Ever,” I said. “Now which one to choose. Some of these we read in class and I hated them. This one here was total dullsville.”

Mom picked up the book about surviving in the wild.

“I hated that one, too, at your age. Read it again in college and, yup, still boring. How about Jane Austen? Or another Bronte sister?” she asked.

“Tori read
Pride and Prejudice,
but she wasn't sure I'd ‘get' it,” I said, making finger quotes and frowning.

“Well, I think you'd like Austen. But let's go with a different one.
Persuasion
was my favorite in college.”

“You think I'm ready for that?”

Mom nodded and said she'd buy it for me, too. Wow, two books and so far I hadn't even made a dent in the money Mom was letting me use. I ended up going over to the young adult section and saw they had the new
Skylar Halston
book. I was obsessed with
Skylar Halston
mysteries and had been reading them for years. As I was thumbing through the new book, a salesperson came around the corner.

“Did you see our new
Skylar Halston
display?” she asked.

I saw where she was pointing and my mouth dropped open. Not only did they have all the books, but they had something new and exciting — Skylar computer games. I pulled out my cell phone and called Peyton. She answered on the first ring.

“How was the interview?” she asked.

“Forget about that. I'm in the bookstore right now and there is a display with… wait for it… Skylar Halston computer games.”

“Shut up. Shut up right now. No way!”

I picked up one of the boxes and starting reading the back to Peyton.

“Skylar, Sterling, and Caramel go to visit an old friend at her new bed and breakfast for the weekend, but little do they know that the inn they're staying at is haunted and the guests keep disappearing. Can Skylar solve the mystery or will the B&B guests be D.O.A.? Find out in
Breakfast Comes with a Side of Apparition.”

“We
must
own this,” Peyton said.

“I'm definitely getting it, but there's a second game on a haunted miniature golf course.
Putt Putt and Lies
. Should I get a second game or the Skylar Halston themed pencil case with a tiny spy glass on the zipper pull? I can't decide, but I don't have enough for all of it.”

“Take a pic of the pencil case and send it to me.”

I sent her the pic and she said it was adorable.

“Yeah, but if I take it to school… Yasmin and those girls think those books are for, well, you know, they're sort of over it,” I said.

“But it has a tiny magnifying glass. Wait, in the picture, it shows something behind the pencil case. What's that big notebook looking thing?”

I went to look and realized it was a Skylar notebook that said, “Perfect for solving mysteries or writing your own,” on the label. I had to have it.

“Pencil case, schmencil case. I need this notebook,” I said.

“Definitely. You write. You must get it. I'll see if my mom will take me to the store later and maybe I can get the other game. What do you think about us playing them together? Then we could solve two mysteries instead of just one… or is this something you want to do by yourself?”

“It would be more fun to play them together. Okay, I'll get the game, the book, and the notebook.”

After we hung up, I decided to call Tori and tell her about the Skylar stuff. She and I always used to go together to buy the latest mysteries. She was going to lose it when she heard there were now computer games. Tori picked up the phone and I filled her in.

“Oh yeah, I already got the B&B one,” she said. “I'm halfway through it. It's pretty good though.”

“Oh, why didn't you tell me?”

“I dunno, I thought you were over that stuff,” she said. “Didn't think Skylar Halston was your thing anymore. I gotta go. My grandma's calling on the other line. See ya.”

I felt kind of weird after my conversation with Tori, so I ran over to show Mom what I found.

“I want this pencil case for writing stuff. Look at the tiny magnifying glass,” I said.

“And a future writer needs a place for her pens and pencils. I'll buy it for you,” she said

“Honest?” Who was this woman and what did she do with my mother?

“Well, let's just say the fact you said, ‘pencil case' for writing and school supplies as opposed to ‘makeup bag for lip gloss,' made me happy,” she said.

We went over to the café and got hot chocolate (a vanilla soy latte for Mom), turkey club sandwiches, and split a giant lemon bar. Mom flipped through a business magazine, while I flipped through a magazine with Talisa on the cover.

When we were done, we went up to the counter. After I paid for my purchases, Mom told me to go wait by the door for her to check out. I went to look at the sale books by the door and she walked up.

“Kid, you impressed me so much today, so there may be some surprises in the bag.”

“What? Who are you? Seriously, where's my real mom? Unless you plan on always being this generous, and then I'm not sure how much I care where that other lady is,” I said smirking.

“And there's the girl I know,” she said laughing. “Let's just say you wanting to spend your money on books is something I can get behind, and the fact you're interested in classics? It's like a parents' dream. I'd love to see you follow in my footsteps with studying business, but I can see you have your own path and reading is your thing, so… well, my dad always said books and knowledge were a good investment.”

“Can I see the bag?”

We went to the car, and I saw Mom had gotten me all the Bronte sisters' works in the classics series.

“Thank you, thank you,” I said as I started taking pictures of the book covers with my phone.

“What are you doing?” Mom asked.

“Posting the books on my social media page. Ooh, when I get home, I'll take a picture of them spine out on my shelf. It'll be so cute with the hardcovers all matching. See how the ivy on the spines links up so they all look connected?”

“I didn't notice that in the store. Cute.”

I took pics of the Skylar stuff I bought, too, but just posted that picture on the social media site where I followed a ton of book bloggers and readers. I knew if I put it on my regular page then Yasmin or someone would say, “Aren't those books for, like, younger readers or something?” But then it started to bother me that I was hiding something I liked, so I decided to post it anyway. Within a minute, I started getting “likes” on the Skylar picture. I saw Kyra, my new friend from the Wild Card
American Ingénue
webisode wrote, “I am obsessed with Skylar Halston mysteries!!” Even Arianna Seymour posted three pink hearts in my comments section. Apparently, I wasn't the only Skylar fan. Then I saw it… on my public site where I post all my pictures… a comment from…. Talisa Milan.

Hi Landry. I'm a big Skylar Halston fan myself. Grew up on those mysteries. xxx Talisa

I had been following Talisa's account since, well, since forever, but after the
Ingénue
Wild Card experience, I had tagged her in the picture my mom took of Talisa, me, and Jem Jade. I saw it said she was following me after that, but I thought it was just her publicist running her site or something. This was major. MAJOR.

“Mom, Talisa just commented on my post.”

“Talisa, who?” she asked.

Um, how many people named Talisa did she know? “Milan, the model.”

“Oh wow, that's great.”

I asked her what I should write back.

“You could ask her what was her favorite of the books.”

“Can you imagine if I get to be on the set of the photo shoot with her and we could talk about the books in person?” I said. “Maybe she'd let me… brush her hair.”

Mom burst out laughing. “Okay, you might want to keep that to yourself so she doesn't call security.”

“Mo-
om
, I was kidding!” I said. “Well, sorta, although I bet her hair feels like spun silk, unlike mine which feels like hay dried in the sun.”

“Hey, now. You have my hair, which means you have to get the exact ratio of conditioner right so it doesn't turn to a limp, greasy mess or, like you said, hay dried in the sun.”

“How do you get the ratio right?”

“Well, when you get older, your hair doesn't get oily as fast as it does at your age, so I don't have to worry about over-conditioning it in the morning and it going limp halfway through the day.”

“My bangs do get greasy pretty fast.”

“I used to use baby powder on my bangs after gym class.”

“That's genius,” I said. Who knew my mother had beauty secrets?

“I never thought I'd hear you say that to me,” Mom said laughing. “I used to use this super strong astringent on my skin when I was your age. Oh, it was so awful. It probably could have stripped paint off of furniture, but I was obsessed with keeping my skin shine free. However, I did more harm than good with that stuff. I also tried using milk of magnesia as a face mask because one of the supermodels who was big when I was a kid recommended that.”

“Did it work?”

“Well, she said to sleep in it and you'd wake up to porcelain, glowing skin. I woke up to white, crumbling bits all over my pillow and hair,” she said.

Scratch that off my list of things to try.

“What about for your hair? Grandma said she caught you trying to thicken your hair with beer.”

“Yes, that was in college and it was so nasty. I also did apple cider vinegar and it smelled awful. But white vinegar isn't too bad as long as you rinse it to get the smell out. It helps remove all the styling residue.”

“Sometimes I wish I had super dark hair like Devon's. Her hair is gorgeous.”

“She does have nice hair. I used to wish for dark hair, too, and I dyed mine a few times, but I, like you, was meant to have the color we were born with.”

“Wait — you colored your hair? You never told me that before. You always said we should stick to what nature intended.”

“Oh, and trust me, you should. If you saw pictures of me with red hair, you'd agree. And me as a brunette was cute for two days until it began to fade,” she said.

“Do you have any pictures?”

“Grandma might. The dark hair did bring out my eyes, but it just wasn't me.”

“What about the red?”

“Imagine my hair if I dipped it in fruit punch. Your friend Peyton has beautiful dark red hair, but mine just appeared artificial. I should have been happy with what I had because so many girls in my dorm were bleaching their hair to get my — our color.”

“Yeah, maybe, but I still want to see photos.”

We got home and Peyton called. She wanted to know if I could spend the night and we could play the Skylar game.

“That sounds like fun,” I said after Mom said I could go.

“I thought we could ask a few people to come over to play, but I don't know who else is still into the series. India never was, and Devon doesn't read as much as she used to. Can you think of anyone?” she asked.

“Ashanti reads the series and Thalia might be interested. Tori likes them.”

“You want to call them and see if they want to come over? My mom said she'd be okay with a few extra people staying over.”

I called Thalia and her mom said she was babysitting tonight, so I called Ashanti next.

“Hey, I got a new Skylar Halston computer game, and Peyton is going to have a few people over to play it and spend the night. Would you like to come? It'll be super fun.”