Dork Diaries: Dorky Daughter (4)

A NEW BEGINNING:

*5 MONTHS LATER*

Renée's P.O.V:

Five months since that day. Jordan's rotting in some prison cell. But for me? Everything is getting better.

My parents are no longer busy all of the time. They've found a nice balance between family activities and their jobs.

Throughout it all, Dani has been there for me. I owe his dad a lot for saving me.

I've learned a lot about them through the time we've spent together.

They both have different surnames. Maxwell is a bounty hunter, so it's pretty obvious why he would want to keep his family a secret.

He used to go by Nero, but after his past family fell, he changed his name to Negrini to keep his identity a secret.

Then came the time he trained at the academy. He left Westchester and enrolled there. But instead of military service, he likes to take care of the fight back at home.

I find that admirable. Yet, it's no life for Dani to live with. I guess it's why we gravitated towards each other so much.

Or it's genetic... I heard Mom was the same towards Maxwell.

*RING RING*

Great... A phone call.

RENÉE: "Hello?"

ASHLEY: "Renée, it's your favorite BFFs!"

CHARLIE: "How are you feeling today?"

RENÉE: "Never better. Why?"

ASHLEY: "Oh nothing... Just thought that I should give you the heads up about a certain event that's STARting soon."

RENÉE: "What event?"

CHARLIE: "Are you kidding me? How could you forget it? Your mom won the first one!"

RENÉE: "The Student of Stars contest?"

ASHLEY: "Bingo!"

RENÉE: "Look, my mom may be talented, but it's not genetic. Just because she was born with the voice of an angel, it doesn't mean that I was, too..."

CHARLIE: "Come on, are you going to compare yourself to your mom forever?"

RENÉE: "Seems to be what everyone else is doing to me."

ASHLEY: "Even so, you don't have to be Nikki Roberts 2.0, you're unique in your own way."

RENÉE: "Sure, uniquely cruddy."

ASHLEY: "Ugh, Charlie, can you break through to her?"

CHARLIE: "Why me?"

ASHLEY: "You're good with words. I'm not!"

CHARLIE: "Seriously? Fine... We can't force you to take part in the contest, Renée. But we WANT you to. Not for our own sakes, but for your sake. You may not think you're a good singer, but we KNOW you are."

RENÉE: "I...don't know what to say."

ASHLEY: "Yes or No? The auditions process begins soon."

CHARLIE: "Yeah, all that we're up against is the entire academy. No biggie."

RENÉE: "That doesn't make me feel confident!"

ASHLEY: "Why? Your mom won it."

CHARLIE: "Ashley!"

ASHLEY: "I'm just sayin'..."

RENÉE: "It's just... Back then, Mom had to go up against 31 other participants. That was for Westchester High... NOW? Westchester Academy stands in its place, and there's Five? Ten-thousand students?"

CHARLIE: "But the actual contest only selects 32."

RENÉE: "And what makes you think that I'm going to be one of those 32 chosen students, out of TEN-THOUSAND STUDENTS?!"

ASHLEY: "Besides, I think you-know-who is entering."

CHARLIE: "Oooh! I bet you-know-who would just looooove it if Renée entered."

RENÉE: "Ugh, I told you already... It's nothing like that. I'm not in any rush to jump into another relationship."

Especially since the last one landed me in the trunk of a car!

CHARLIE: "Drop the act Renée, we know that you loooooove him!"

RENÉE: "I do not! Just because you stretch out the word 'love', it doesn't make it any more convincing."

ASHLEY: "Of course you love him. You spend more time with him than you do with us."

RENÉE: "So what? A boy and a girl can be friends, right?"

CHARLIE: "That's what they all say before they become an OTP."

RENÉE: "OTP?"

ASHLEY: "One True Pairing."

RENÉE: "Shut up!"

ASHLEY: "Hey, you asked."

CHARLIE: "And now you're going to get the chance to dazzle him with your amazing singing skills!"

RENÉE: "No I'm not, he probably won't like my singing anyway..."

ASHLEY: "So you DO care about what he thinks about you?"

RENÉE: "THAT'S ENOUGH!"

*HANGS UP*

The absolute nerve of them!

There is NOTHING going on.

NOTHING!