The Smile Always Fades

4. No Place Like Home

Friday was a day of dread and misery. How could I have only thought about Bentley the entire day yesterday? Anna asked herself. Even though Shane and her weren't "official", she still felt as though her heart belonged with him. Thinking of Bentley last night put a twinge of guilt deep inside her chest. To make things worse, Shane had come over to hang with Jason before he and Anna went to their dad's house that night.

The moment Anna saw Shane, her heart sank and she cast her head toward the floor. "Hey Anna," he'd said. "Wanna hang with us? We're gonna be playing a mean game of Super Smash Bros."

She had originally wondered why he'd asked. The guys never invited her to play video games with them. Correction: they did, once. But because she was still an amateur, and they were both experts when it came to playing video games, Anna had thrown a fit saying it wasn't fair that they kept winning the whole time and hadn't given her a chance. She had thrown the controller to the ground and that was the end of that. But she had only been eleven at the time, and now she was seventeen. Time to prove to Shane that she was mature now!

She looked at Shane in the eye and had to struggle not to swoon. "Sure," she replied coolly, smiling as bright as she could, considering the mood she was still in.

"Great," he said, flashing her a 100 watt smile. Swoon. Dang it!

The moment they got into Jason's room, Anna's hands started to sweat. Being the only girl in a boy's room, especially with her crush, was a bit intimidating. She took a seat on Jason's bed, right in front of the television screen, and Shane sat right beside her. Jason, as always, was sitting in his favorite blue bean bag chair. "It's my lucky chair," he always said. "Helps me win every time."

Shane handed Anna a controller, forcing her back to reality. Their fingers grazed against each other for a quick second as they exchanged the remote control. Suddenly, Shane's eyes met hers, but she looked away within an instant, feeling a blush flood her cheeks and a smile burst across her face.

Anna was the first to lose...again. But she made it a point to just laugh and act like one of the guys, whatever that meant. She was pretty proud of herself though, because she did manage to get a couple hits in there. Kirby was the easiest character; an amateur gamer's best friend.

Shane and Jason were even getting competitive with her.

"Take this, Anna."

"Nah man, she doesn't have the guts to--no way, she just did!"

"Dude, your sister is a class act," Anna didn't really understand what that last one meant, but it sounded sort of like a compliment. Anna had had a lot of fun too, even though she was hesitant on admitting it.

Once she stopped playing and took her leave from Jason's room, Shane followed her out. "Anna, wait up," he'd hollered, catching up to her. "Hey, I know you're probably going to start getting ready to go to your dad's place. I know this has all probably been rough on you, but I wanted you to know that I'm always around if you need me." He tucked his index finger under her chin and whispered, "Just keep her chin up," then walked back in to Jason's room.

Anna was sitting at her dad and Sandra's dining room table now, eating Seafood Alfredo, yuck. She was thankful of the events that transpired earlier that day or else Anna probably wouldn't have had many positive thing to dwell on during this awkward encounter with her father and his new wife. All Anna wanted to think about was the elated and giddy feelings she experienced as she made her way to her room and started getting ready for the evening she was about to have.

"So Anna," Sandra was saying now, attempting to break the silence. "Have you ever thought of modeling? You have the perfect face and figure for it."

Lady, Anna silently reprimanded, there is no way I will ever enter into the modeling business, but considering your obvious boob job and fake smile, I can tell you tried that avenue of career already. "No, I haven't," Anna smiled sweetly. "But thanks, it's nice of you to think I'm cut out for it."

"Of course!" Sandra perked up. "If you're ever interested, I know someone who would love to meet you, I'm sure! He was my manager when I was modeling for Victoria's Secret."

"You were a model for Victoria's Secret??" Jason choked.

Oh god, Anna thought.

"Yes, I was." Sandra reached for her husband's hand, grasping on to it. "It's how your father became so interested in me." They both giggled and Anna and Jason shared a disgusted look. Sick, nasty, and wrong.

Anna had to admit though, Sandra was pretty. A tall, blond, skinny woman with naturally rosy pink lips and high cheekbones. Her acrylic nails were long and bright red and her eyebrows were perfectly manicured. But Anna could never see herself like that. The sultry eye thing always freaked her out, it made her think of a hooker. Of course, Anna wanted a job, but not one posing in a pink lacy bra with matching panties. She had to much dignity to do that. Honestly, it irked her that Sandra even asked. Did Anna look like a girl who was willing to show off her body just to be oogled at by a bunch of teenage boys and middle aged creeps? No thank you. And what about her dad? He didn't even twitch when Sandra proposed the idea. Did he not mind if thousands of people saw his daughter in just her undies? Ugh, the night was already turning sour and they hadn't even gotten to dessert yet. Did they really have to stay for dessert? Anna hoped not.

"May I use the bathroom?" Anna piped up. "The lemonade is starting to get to me."

"Oh! Let me give you a tour!" Sandra jumped at the prospect of showing off her house.

It had taken forever for Sandra to showcase the house, but she managed to do it without losing her annoying, high-pitched voice. Anna had to give it to them, her dad and Sandra had a beautiful house. It was huge, about the size of a mansion, Anna guessed. With six bedrooms, three bathrooms, a studio kitchen, dining room, living room and family room, it seemed as though they couldn't get a bigger home even if they wanted to. The interior design was even something that you would see in a castle in England.

At the end of the tour, Sandra showed Anna and Jason the pool out in the back. "I would love it if you stayed for a while during the summer with us! We could have pool parties and you could invite any and all of your friends from school. And Anna I'd like to take you to my personal stylist. She could give you a whole new look, if you wanted!" Her smile was so bright that Anna wondered if her teeth were actually made of porcelain instead of real enamel like everyone else's.

Anna was becoming so mad from all of Sandra's remarks that she was beginning to have a hard time seeing. She turned to Jason. "I'm ready to go home now," she snapped, and walked out the intricate, hand-crafted, ivory front door.