A Taste of Hollywood

One

"Isn't it just beautiful, Ella?" Mom said in awe. I looked around. "Mom, it's a city," I said.

We were in Jack's limo on our way to the new house. I'm not pumped to be living in Hollywood, though. If I could pick, Mom would've married Jeff and we would be living with him in his apartment in Baltimore.

"I know, but it's still Hollywood," she gushed.

I rolled my eyes.

"Ella, you'd better stop being so sour, because if you keep that attitude around Jack, I swear-"

"Mom, I'll shape up, cripes," I said, raising my eyebrows and turning away to look out the window.

My mother turned the other way, towards her window.

I admit I felt a little bad. But I also felt I'd proved my point: I didn't like her married to Jack.

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"Jeanette! Ella!"

Jack's voice made me want to turn around and go back to the limo.

"What do you think of the house?" he went on, putting an arm around Mom's shoulders. Mom grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

"It's beautiful... So far," Mom teased. "And you, Ella?" Jack pressed. "It's... A house," was all I said.

Jack nodded and kept walking.

"This house was built for the famous actress Daphne Douglas back in 1952. Then, it was altered for Henry Cooper hen Daphne died in 1979. Finally, Emma McHenry had it altered just a tad more in 1990. She committed suicide by poisoning herself with an unknown chemical last year. Emma had been six of my movies, so I bought the house. As you can tell, it's definitely got some history," Jack gushed.

I felt like covering my ears. But I just let Mom grip my limp hand and kept walking.

The house was in full view now. Jack led us to the glass doors and two doormen opened them. We entered.

A grand staircase was in front of us, a sparkling golden chandelier above us, yellowish-golden marble floors beneath us, and four doors beside us.

"We don't go in those doors," Jack said. "Those are the 'apartments' of the butler, assistant, and two maids."

Impressive, I couldn't help thinking. Okay, yes, I couldn't wait to post an amazing pic on MyStory on Snapchat.

"We call this the main hall," Jack said, and he led us up the staircase.

"Ella, there's a room under the stairs that you can decorate however you'd like if you want," Jack told me. "Like, a girl-hideout or something?"

He looked hopeful. The look crushed my heart. I smiled and nodded and said, "That'll be fun when I have sleepovers."

Based off of the grin that brightened his face, I think I chose the right actions.

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Jack gave us a quick tour of the house. It was actually pretty big. Here's what it was:

1. Kitchen
a. first door on right of long hallway at top of stairs
b. huge fridge
c. door leading to dining room
d. window overlooking yard
e. yellow walls
f. white and silver swirled floor

2. Bathroom
a. second door on right of long hallway

3. Jack and Mom's room
a. first door on left of long hallway
b. king-sized bed
c. window overlooking city
d. huge TV
e. walk-in closet with huge mirror
f. bathroom with glassed-in shower with shower that has three nozzles above you, five by your back, one on the right, and one on the left
g. painted white

4. guest room (x4)
a. two on right side of hall, two on left side
b. each with bathroom
c. all dark green

5. My room
a. queen-sized bed
b. bedside table with awesome purple lamp
c. walk-in closet
d. bathroom
e. painted purple
f. fuzzy aqua carpet
g. posters on walls + bulletin board
h. desk with hot pink lamp and drawers full of AMAZING stuff

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I was pretty proud of Jack and his maid for decorating like this. I'm sure Mom gave tips, but my room is pretty awesome.

I began decorating with my additional stuff, though.

I plugged in my laptop and set it on my desk, put some pictures on the bulletin board, put a line of candles in my windowsill (pine - green, blossom - pink, rain splash - blue, autumn - brown, lavender - purple), some peace-sign stickers on the walls, some beads in my doorway, and a bookshelf full of books.

I was even more satisfied when I finished.