Something About Ryan

Fourteen

"Callie. Sorry to wake you, but Vinny is leaving in an hour to take us into the city. You should get ready, we've got much to do today." MJ's head disappeared just as my eyes pulled groggily open to a stream of invading sunlight. It was nearly nine in the morning, giving me barely four hours of sleep.

Ryan and I had stayed out much longer then we'd originally intended. My eyelids felt heavy as they wanted nothing more than to fade back to its peaceful slumber. Had I known I would've had to get up so early, I would have never agreed to go shopping with her.

An hour after forcing food and a smile on my face, I was being driven towards the city. My father's wife sat awkwardly on the opposite side of the car with her hands folded in her lap. She looked exactly like a Bellwood house mother, complete with a big and fancy unnecessary Eric Javtis hat.

"You look a little tired over there." She chuckled lightly.

I was still on a Ryan high so my urge to be snarky was subdued. "Oh, uh, yeah, I stayed up late last night working on my film project, yeah, I'm really, really behind."

"Well I'm glad you're taking it seriously. I told you father the academy would be good for you. You're much like him you know, you've got his strong, determined work ethic."

I twisted the ends of my pony tail around my finger. I didn't feel up to par to get all dressed up so I settled on an old ratty t-shirt and a pair of comfortable jeans. "Uh, thanks...I think."

The rest of the car ride was awkwardly silent. I spent most of my time texting Ryan. I couldn't help but smile as I did so, he was annoyingly hilarious.

"I've never seen you smile so much." Mary-Jane smiled as my father's driver let us out in front of a fancy looking boutique selling upscale attire.

"I've been smiling? Hmm, I hadn't realized." I chewed my bottom lip, trying to hold back the threat of another on coming grin. I finally realized that we were walking into the place I'd deemed far too expensive. My mother would have walked right passed the place with a shake of her head, her past of being infatuated with wealth long gone. "Wait, I'm not going in there are you insane. I can only imagine what the prices will be like."

"Your father had strict orders to take you to this exact place and no others."

"Really? I can't fancy him finding such a place...appealing." I turned up my nose as we steeped inside to a brightly lit area with lots of white and crystals. We were greeted by a woman offering us sparkling water.

"Oh no," she tinkled. "Not your father, your mother. He said since he didn't really know what places you'd like, he'd go with your mom's old favorite." She took a sip from a wine glass as she thanked the woman whom offered her a drink.

"My mother shopped here? That I find hard to believe."

She shrugged casually as she walked over to a section titled Little Miss in an elegant scrawl. "Well, they're his words, and I assume he must know better than I do, seeming that we never really got the chance to...actually know each other." She cleared her throat.

I ran an awkward hand over my hair. "Uh, well....yeah." I breathed.

"But!" She chirped, suddenly happy again. "I am a woman, so, I can do a lot better than your father can at helping you find the right dress."

I scoffed. "Well you're already better off then either my father or my self would ever be if we were together, dresses aren't my thing."

"So I've heard." She smiled daintily as she picked up a revolting pink sparkly thing. I shook my head.

"No. Not in a million years."

She laughed. "This is going to be a lot harder then I thought."

Half an hour later a plopped down in one of the chairs by the outrageous dressing rooms as MJ showed yet another frilly dress that I would never wear. "At this rate we're going, I'll just wear a pair if jeans and call it a day." Either it was too sparkly, too casual, too frilly, or too shiny. None of the dresses in this place were for me. This place wasn't for me, heck, my dad's lifestyle wasn't for me! "I give up." I sighed.