Where There's Smoke

My Mother's Daughter

Adrian's POV

Alessia burst in the living room with a calendar in her hand threw it on the table in front of me. I looked over from the laser pointer on the wall that I was teasing Monroe with. This was my third Friday with her. "Your homecoming is at the end of the month. You're going right? I think you should go! It would be fun!" She pounced on the couch.

"Why?" I asked.

"It's your first homecoming in your first year of high school. It could be so fun! We can get you all dolled up! You can dance the night away! You can maybe meet your high school romance! You can see if Mason will go with you! You guys would look, so cute! Tanner and Zariah went to his last week and they're going to hers next week!" She was really excited.

"What does it matter?" I asked.

"I just think you should go. It may be a lot of fun." She pushed her hair behind her ears.

"You just want to relive your homecoming." I rolled my eye.

"I didn't actually go to mine." Her smile fell a little bit. "If you don't want to go it's okay. It falls on a Friday anyway."

"Why didn't you go to yours?" I asked.

"I had a baby at home. We had super separation anxiety. I didn't go to any of my dances. No spring flings, homecomings, or proms." She shrugged.

"Oh." A lot of times I didn't think about how she had me so young. I mean she turned 14 a couple of months after I was born. "Sorry, I guess it slips my mind."

"It's okay; I wouldn't have changed it to save my life. We always did something really fun instead. Chuck E. Cheese top notch pizza." She shook my leg.

"Let's say I do go. I don't have a dress." I rolled my eyes.

"You don't have to go." She laughed.

"No, I'll go. I still wouldn't have a dress to wear." I rolled my eyes and started teasing Monroe again. She looked at her watch and jumped up. She put a leash on Marilyn and motioned for me to follow her. I grabbed my jacket and shoes and followed her. She lived in the part of town that had a bunch of small shops. We walked down the street to a little dress shop. She scooped Marilyn up and walked in. "Hi, what brings you ladies in today?" She asked.

"Well my daughter's homecoming is coming up and she said if we can find a dress she'll go. I accepted the challenge." Alessia smiled. "We mainly want to look around if that's okay."

"Yes, let me know if you need any help." The lady walked away. Alessia handed me Marilyn and started tearing through the store. She kept tossing dresses in the fitting room. I rolled my eyes and went in there. I went through the dresses. "I'm not busty like you. Maybe for my 16th I can go to Dr. Miami." I called out.

"Never, by the way Ashley got the boob job. You just breast fed you for a while. These came from you and puberty."

"I waited for them to disappear, but never did. You were spot on about Ashley. It just couldn't let Bella know she was right." She shrugged.

"Oh, well then you are just hot. Have you talked to her?" I asked.

"Have I talked to whom?" She looked at me.

"Ashley." I set Marilyn on the chair and she laid down.

"No, I haven't. Your grandma told me that she's final out of rehab and she moved back home with her. That's all I know." She shrugged looking back through the dresses she grabbed. Ashley was her identical twin sister, but this was the furthest I've seen them apart. She never talked about her. She never acknowledges her. It was as if she didn't exist. This time last year Alessia wouldn't be caught dead without her hair done, make-up, dressed up, and heels. Let alone picking me up from school and chauffer me to and from dance, work, and whatever other things I have to do that day. I mean just looking at her she had her hair in a messy bun, bare faced, leggings with make-up from work all over them, a hoodie she stole from my Uncle Aaron, and some slides. I never saw myself actually wanting to spend time with her. I didn't want to go, but I knew it meant something to her to be doing this and actually getting to experience something like this. "Do you miss her?" I asked.