Stars for Sale

Ella

Ella

"Ella! Ella, please get down here right away. I want you to meet someone." 

I was in the sixth grade. My mother had died a year ago, but I had recovered. My father had been sad at first, but three months afterward, he started speed dating, setting up profiles on online dating websites, and generally being a jerk to the memory of Mum. We had become less of a family in that year, making me realize that we weren't that close to begin with. Mum's death had pushed us even farther apart, if anything. 

I stepped on the stairs gingerly. Living in New England was definitely different than Scotland, but it was a nice difference. Father said he'd needed a change of scenery, and I agreed. The fields that had seemed so lovely before became barren and unfriendly after Mum passed. 

When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I saw my father standing with an over-tanned, bleach-blonde woman in her forties, obviously a subject of many plastic surgeries. My father saw me observing their conversation, and beckoned me over to them.

"Ella, this is Robin. Robin, this is my daughter, Ella."

She extended her hand, which had long, talonlike fingernails that were painted a gaudy shade of pink.

"Um, hi," I said, shrinking into what my best friend back home, Charlotte, used to call my 'turtle shell.' I was a very shy person, and still am.I shook her hand hesitantly, and she dropped it as soon as she could and continued looking around the house.

"Well, you certainly have done very well for yourself, Rowan," she said, petting Father's shoulder. "This is such a beautiful house! I would love it if the girls and I could come visit it sometime. In fact, I think the girls are about the same age as you, Eva!"

"It's Ella," I muttered, but she ignored me, planning out an elaborate "playdate" for me and her two girls, Kimberly and Becca. I shrugged and started to go upstairs. I hoped Father didn't keep her for long.