Ange (girlxgirl)

Chapter Forty-five

I make it through the last two weeks of the school term without telling Katherine or Dad, but not telling them makes me reserved with them, just in case something slips out unintentionally. I can only go on for so long like this, they have already started to become cautious of my behaviour.

After school I have avoided being home, I go to Natalie or Emma or Carol's house after school and on weekends to parties or nightclubs.

On the Thursday that school ends, Katherine, Dad and I are all sitting down for a dinner because Dad is going to Sweden for work and I know that it is the only chance I will have in a while. I prepared a cake earlier when Katherine was out so she couldn't ruin the surprise.

"That was great, Kath." Dad commends, picking up plates and putting them in the dishwasher.

"Yeah, real good. I'll get the cake." I open the fridge and pull out the cake. I feel more excited then the other times as I cut into the cake and hack out three pieces each.

"Ah, it is rainbow," Dad says surprised.

I see my chance. "Yeah, just like me." I reply casually, sitting down with my cake and eating it without looking at their reactions for a while. I can't help myself, I look up and observe how they are taking this.

Katherine gives my Dad a look and Dad just looks plain confused. At least Katherine got my joke.

"I mean, I brought a circle pan just so it represented me even more."

Katherine laughs, but still looks a me with a mixture of confusion, shock and happiness. Dad looks even more confused.

"What does that even mean, Ange?" Dad asks, mad that he is left out of the joke.

"She's gay, Brad!" Katherine says exasperated, shaking her head at Dad's thickness and winking at me.

I smile at her, suddenly feeling a rush of gratitude and love towards her.

"Oh... Oh... Oh... Thank God." Dad says relieved and leans back into his chair. This isn't the reaction I was expecting. "I mean, I thought you were on some party pill that made you see in rainbows and circles."

"Nar, I have already had them."

"What?" Dad says angrily.

"I'm kidding," I laugh.

"Oh Lord," Dad sighs at me.

"Or am I." I whisper in a conspiring tone and looking up from my cake with my eyes wide.

"Eat your cake," Dad says wearily and smiles at me.

Katherine and I laugh.

"Your Mum would be proud of you," Dad adds as an afterthought.

"Thanks, Dad."

When I wake in the morning, Dad is already gone and I find Katherine in the library.

"Hello." She says as I enter the room, looking back inside from the window.

"Hey." I sit in the armchair across from her.

"I'm proud of you." She smiles at me kindly and tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Thanks." I reply, looking out the window and into the garden. Holidays make the weather seem ten times better.

"What are you going to do in your time off?"

"Probably go see Jo again, maybe go for a ride in the hills, hang out with Carol and Emma."

"Fun, what is on the agenda today?"

"Relax, maybe take some photos, I still have a stack to develop though."

She nods at me and then returns to her usual gaze out the window.

"Hey, didn't you have a girlfriend once?" I ask cheekily.

She turns quickly and looks at me. "How would you know that?" She smiles at me mysteriously.

"Oh, please. You modelled for some of the biggest fashion labels around. You were in nearly all fashion magazines and on all the billboards at one time and you nearly had your own fashion label. Google isn't going to forget who you are and just so you know, I didn't google you. When people knew you were my stepmum it was all the school spoke about for a while."

She laughs and shrugs. "I was like you in my younger years. I was on drugs and partying nearly everyday. To make it worse, I was a celebrity, I could get away with everything and nothing. I had so many relationships and yes, I had my 'celebrity gay phase.' I will never forget my first girlfriend before I was famous, God, she was so wild." She recalls with nostalgia and smiles at the memory.

"So then why did you end it with her?"

"The usual reasons," she sighs. "Clash of interests, cheating, ran out of love, et cetera."

"Why did you end modelling?" I know I'm close to cross a line here, but I'm being cautious with my questions.

"Things happened. I just couldn't do fame anymore."

"So, what was your first girlfriend's name?"

"Surely Google told you that?"

"I didn't pry on your life on Google," I answer, offended at the accusation.

"Well, my first girlfriend was Amy Shields, but that isn't exciting. My last girlfriend was Jas Basbu."

I stare at her with my mouth open. "No way!"

"Yeah," she laughs.

"She is like so fricking famous."

"Yeah, she was back then also."

"So you're telling me, that mentioning to me that you dated Jas Basbu just skipped your mind?"

She laughs. "Go take your photos." She gets up and leaves me in the library to process that my stepmum dated one of the most recognised persons on the earth.