Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 86367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
“Good,” he replies, but I can see he’s a bit nervous. “The movie is amazing. I think people are going to really enjoy it.”
“Now that’s the supportive dad we all love.” I point my spoon at him before I finish the cereal and walk over to the sink to rinse out the bowl and place it in the dishwasher. “Shall we go and glam ourselves?” I wink at my mother. She smiles up at my father, then kisses his lips.
“I’ll call Romeo and see if he’s okay,” my father tells my mother, and I internally groan. “It’s his big day.”
“He’s a big boy,” I remind him, walking to the fridge to grab a water bottle before making my way out of the kitchen toward the massive entryway and to the winding steps to go upstairs.
“Caw, caw,” I call as my voice echoes through the house, and my mother laughs behind me as she follows me up there.
“Mom, seriously.” I look over my shoulder. “This is a bit ridiculous.” I wave my hand around the house.
“It’s because we’re having everyone over here after the movie,” she informs me, and I gasp.
“What do you mean by everyone?”
She finally reaches the second-floor landing, pushing me to the bedroom where they have set up the glam station. “To celebrate the big day, we thought it would be better to do the party here rather than go to some restaurant and not have any privacy. You know how the paparazzi can be.”
“So, like, all of the million family members Gabriella has?” I have to say I love her family, but you really need name tags on people. Also, every time you look around, someone else is pregnant or just had a baby. I think one of her cousins even has like six or seven kids.
“That would be correct.” She taps my nose like she did when I was younger. “Now, let’s get ready.”
I sit in the chair next to my mother as someone starts on my hair, and then I close my eyes when the makeup people begin. “What color is your dress?”
“Black,” I reply, “like my soul.”
“Ryleigh,” my mother hisses.
“Just keeping it real.” I giggle a bit. “I want my makeup as natural as you can make it.” I open one eye, and the girl nods at me. “Just make sure the circles under my eyes are covered, and I look semi human.” An hour passes and no one says anything until we are both done. I open my eyes, seeing my makeup in soft tones of pink and gold, and my hair is slicked back but loose, exactly how I wanted it. “I look fierce,” I declare, turning to the side to see how the back of my hair looks.
“Go get into the dress,” the hairdresser tells me, “and then we’ll put the final touches on you.”
With a nod, I leave the room and go to my bedroom, where the black dress hangs in the closet. Slipping out of my skirt and top, I grab the black lace thong pinned on another plush hanger in little clips, and I have to laugh at the craziness of my real life back home in Chicago compared to this. Back home, my closet is half this size, and all my panties are in a drawer together. Once my thong is on, I glide the lace dress off the hanger before stepping into it. I slide my arms through the delicate lace sleeves that fit snugly on my upper arm and then widen from the elbow all the way down to over my fingernails, which are also painted black. I reach to the back to zip up the zipper to the waist before I walk out of the room and head to get help. I stop at my parents’ closed door, knocking once. “I need help with the zipper. Are you two decent?”
“Yes!” my mother shouts from behind the closed door. Even though she said yes, I still poke my head in before opening it and seeing no one is in the room. I find them in the walk-in closet.
“Hi,” I say, spotting my father zipping up my mother’s black gown. She looks over at me and puts her hand to her chest. “I need help.”
“Um.” My father looks at me for a second. “Um, the front.”
“Yes.” I smile at him. I look at the front that plunges down to my navel in a V. “Isn’t it pretty?” I turn around. “Can you zip the back?”
“Why is there more material on the back than the front?” he mumbles as he zips up the see-through lace that covers the back.
I turn to check in the mirror to get the final look. The top has the illusion that it’s nude under the bodice, but there is a skin-colored material, so I’m not showing off the girls. It goes tight at the waist and around the hips until it kicks off mermaid style. “I’ve seen this dress before.”