Confessions of a Fake Princess

Chapter 4- Pampering with a Side of Sightseeing

After everyone relaxed for a little, Krissy wanted to go sightseeing around Los Angeles with me. My twin, being the more gregarious one of us, wanted to get to know her environment and a little about the people of this totally new place, so she grabbed my hand and dragged me out the door, leaving Colleen in charge of the younger ones which wasn't a great idea. Celeste wasn't exactly known for her reliability. Oh dear. Only my twin. 

Kris said they were going to go "sightseeing" but what she really meant was that they were going to the mall. The mall was my twin's absolute favorite place to go, even ranking above the basketball courts. Kris was a girly girl and they thrived in the huge place with all those stores packed into it. Me on the other hand enjoyed a nice library or cafe where I could blend into my surroundings and do all the things I loved. Read, blast music, and think. Not Kris's element. 

Our destinations were the girly stores in the mall. I did have to class up my wardrobe eventually if I was going to play the part of popular. Most populars wore what seemed to be too small clothes. Crop tops, tanks that showed too much skin in the arm and neck spaces, short-shorts, ripped jeans, and dressed that ended where the thigh started. I thought they looked slutty, but that's what made them look so "good." The angel gone bad sort of look. We headed to a fairly well known mall in Glendale called the Galleria and I knew I had to say something to my suspicious twin who was looking at me like I had sprouted another head. Krissy knew me well enough to know I hated shopping and everything to do with it. The worst lie I could have thought of popped out of my mouth before I could stop it. "I want to turn over a new leaf before we go to college next year," I blurted awkwardly. Oh god. Even I wouldn't have believed that. Kris just shrugged inattentively and grasped my hand tightly. "Let's go shopping then!" she said with enthusiasm only a real shopper could have.

Two hours and a million shopping bags later, I finally managed to drag Kris out of the mall and back to the car that she had rented for our outing. I really wanted to eat something after that and decided on going to the Cheesecake Factory in the Americana, another place that was very well known on the big wide world of yelp. After stuffing my face with huge portions of a bunch of different fatty foods, slices of delicious cheesecake, and watching Kyra take two bites of her salad, we wanted to explore the Americana, so we did.

I immediately raced to Barnes and Noble's to find a good read for the hotel room, but Kris headed for the Apple store to check out some overpriced, over the top fancy technology. I sighed dejectedly. I had thought that moving might have brought us back together again, but I realized nothing would. I would just have to make it on my own. That's what growing up is, right?

While curling up in a cute reading nook in the huge bookstore with a book by my favorite author, my phone buzzed annoyingly. I checked it, huffing until I looked at the contact. It was Mystery Boy. He had texted: You look cute when you read. My head whipped up and my eyes studied my surroundings, but I could not find the tall boy with floppy auburn hair anywhere. I sighed and flipped my hair returning to my book, not one for boy drama, but what I didn't notice was the boy one floor above me, gazing down at me with a small smile.

When we returned to the hotel room, Colleen flounced out the door with a tiny wave. Seeing her attire of a sparkly, short pink dress and cream platform heels.

She was probably going out to find some party to go to. After their parent's death, she had become a party animal, drinking and attending parties non-stop. She used drinking, drugs, and parties to forget about them and us. Then, one day, she got caught by the police and went to jail for a few days. Kris and I had to work overtime and at many different jobs to scrape together enough money to bail our older sister out. After that, Colleen had stopped going anywhere other than the bathroom and her bedroom, so depressed that she almost committed suicide. Claire had helped her down off the roof and immediately called me. We had gotten Colleen professional help after the incident and she slowly started getting better. I guessed that the move and selling their house had made her revert back into what she was after the crash. I knew all I could do was brace myself for the storm ahead.

I was absolutely exhausted. I had fed everyone that was here and bathed Cassidy and Christopher, putting them to bed by tucking them in and kissing them. Kris had went out after Colleen had gone and Claire was old enough to get ready for bed by herself. I had without complaint taken over the job of my parents along with Kris, Colleen too busy and caught up in her own world to take any responsibility. I was just about to get ready for bed myself when I heard my phone buzz for the second time today. Mystery Boy: Goodnight Kara, read the message and for the first time in a long time, I truly smiled.