Relatively Famous (3 page)

Mark shook his head and aimed the car vents at his armpits.
For four hundred bucks, you’d think this shirt would come with its own cooling system.
He gritted his teeth and pulled off PCH into Starbucks. He handed the young woman a fifty-dollar bill. “Grab me a nonfat soy latte? No sugar, or I can’t drink it.” Mark still hadn’t been to bed. A late dinner with the girl had led to the late night of clubbing.

“Sure thing!” the woman chirped. She hopped out of the car, pulling her teeny shorts down and hobbled into the store in high heels.

Mark turned up the air conditioning in the car and leaned back in his leather seat. He pounded the steering wheel a few times in frustration. His professional life had gotten so bad that Mark briefly considered becoming a Scientologist. Those people got all the attention. Or, what was that other popular religion? The one that required you to wear a red string around your wrist? Instead he had started going to Evan Dodd’s health club with the pathetic hope of running into him and striking up a casual conversation. Stupid idea, Mark knew, but he was desperate.

His cell phone rang
,
and he pushed his sunglasses on top of his head so he could read the Caller ID. It was his publicist.

“What’s up?” Mark asked. Maybe this was good news? Maybe early reviews were in on
The Clone Faction
,
and a miracle had occurred?

He listened intently to the frantic woman on the phone. Mark was confused. “They’re saying I have a what? How old?” Mark demanded. This is just what he needed: another tabloid story! “Tell them it’s completely false.” He stopped to listen to another slew of panicked words. “I said it’s not true. As in, there is no truth to it whatsoever!” he hollered into the phone. “Make this go away!”

But even as he spoke the words, Mark felt a rising sense of dread. He clapped the phone shut and repositioned the air conditioning onto his face, trying in vain to cool down.

Chapter 6

Dani swung her book bag to her shoulder and blew her bangs out of her eyes. Her first year of high school was ending
,
and Dani could hardly wait for her summer break. Every day, on her walk to school with Sam, she was amazed at the weight she carried. She needed a ridiculously thick textbook for each of her classes, plus three-ring binders, a bag of makeup to stealth-apply between classes, the makeup remover to use before she went home, a water bottle, and a lunch bag. She was surprised she wasn’t permanently hunched over.

“How was dinner last night?” Sam asked. “Did Alan finally pull out a ring and pop the question?”

“Nope. No ring. No need to fall prey to any cultural obligation like marriage, I guess
.
” Dani tried not to think about how sad her mom had looked last night. “So how did your interview go at the lake?” Dani asked.

Sam’s eyes sparkled. “I got it! I start work on the Monday after school gets out.”

Leila felt that Dani worked hard all year in school and deserved the summer off. But Sam needed to work. Granted, Dani would still have chores around the house and would probably help out at Leila’s interior design business a few times a week to earn some money for that cell phone she wanted so desperately, but Leila mostly wanted her to enjoy herself. She had even upped her curfew from eleven-thirty to twelve-thirty on weekends. Despite being strict in some ways, Leila trusted Dani enough to give her the extra hour.

“I’m only working at the snack bar, but now that I’m in there, I have a better chance of getting a lifeguard job when I’m old enough. The pay is pretty good
,
and I get to. . .”

The details of Sam’s job were drowned out by a thunderous school bus flying past them, a sign that the two girls were late again for school. “C’mon! We better run.”

“. . . and the suits are actually cute this year
.
” Sam continued talking. “Bright red, white stripe down the side. Plus, I’ll get a great tan and. . . Hey! What the. . .?”

Dani and Sam were just arriving at school when they were overwhelmed by a crowd of photographers yelling and photographing them. Dani leaned into the mob and barreled straight ahead, taking Sam by the hand.

“What on earth is going on?” Dani shouted at Sam.

Sam giggled. “Evidently, we are famous, my dear.”

“Dani! Danielle McKinley!” A photographer blocked Dani from taking another step. “How does it feel? What was your first reaction when you found out? Is your mother going to sue for unpaid child support? How is your life going to change now? Are you moving to L.A.?”

“My first reaction is to knock you on your ass. Get out of our way!” Dani tried to push forward.

“We’re seriously going to be late for school, mister!” Sam said. “Whatever you’re trying to do, do it to someone else. You’ve got the wrong girl!”

The man again stopped the girls. “How did you feel to find out that your father is Mark Ocean?”

Dani froze. The only sound now was the rapid clicking of cameras. A TV camera was shoved at her
,
and a fuzzy microphone appeared and dangled above her.

“What did you just say?” She glared at the man who had posed the question.

“We know Mark Ocean is your father, kid. You gotta give us something,” the man said.

Dani held her stare. “I don’t have to give you anything. You’ve made some kind of mistake.”

While the photographers exploded with more questions, Dani pulled Sam from the crowd and walked smoothly toward the entrance of the high school.

Chapter 7

The bell rang, echoing loudly through the halls of Little Springs High School. Dani jerked her French textbook from her locker and slammed the door shut. The stupid bell was making her sudden headache worse. Word about Dani had spread rapidly throughout the school. The last thing she felt like doing was going to her first
-
period class
,
where she was sure to be the topic of conversation. The barrage of squealing, taunting, and finger pointing had already taken its toll on her, and the morning had barely started. Dani leaned her forehead against her locker, willing the day to start over. If only she had left earlier for school. At the very least, she should have worn a better outfit and gone for the darker lip-gloss.

Sam appeared behind Dani. “Oh, my God! Can you believe this? How cool are you? You have officially reached a whole new level of popularity.”

“I’m not cool
,
and this whole thing is a bunch of garbage.” Dani said. “Stop looking so happy, Sam. There is nothing fun about this. I hate having everyone staring at me.”

But Sam could not hide her excitement. “Are you going to call your new daddy after school? Do you think he’ll fly out here? Are you going to change your name? Hm…Dani Ocean. Good ring, don’t you think?” Sam beamed and clapped her hands together. “This is all fantastic. Mark Ocean, I mean,
my
Mark Ocean, is your dad!”

“Yeah, it’s just fantastic. I can’t think of anything better.” She set one hand on her hip and cocked her head. “This blows and you know it. Don’t look so disappointed in me, Sam. I’m not the least bit happy about this bag of lies.”

“Well, I know it’s a shock. Of course, it is,” said Sam. “But just think of how everything is going to change for you now? You finally have a father. And a famous father, at that. What is wrong with you?”

Dani shut her eyes. “My head hurts,” she said, turning back to her locker and working the combination, “I can’t be here.” She took her book bag and started to leave.

“Wait! Where are you going?” Sam called. “Dani? Don’t hide from this! Embrace it! It’s a good thing, you’ll see!”

“I’m not embracing anything. I’m going home
,
and I’m going to clear up this disaster!” Dani said. She had never skipped a class–let alone ditched school– but she wasn’t worried about her attendance record just now.

Dani exited through a back door that put her smack next to an overflowing dumpster. She stood behind the large metal container and peeked around the corner, looking for anyone armed with a telephoto lens. This is what her day had been reduced to: hiding behind malodorous garbage. Dani made a beeline for the sidewalk. She quietly crossed the street behind the school and headed for home.

Her mom would explain everything. Leila would laugh at the lunacy of the notion that Mark Ocean was her father, and call somebody to set things right. Dani rushed down the road, cut through a neighbor’s yard, and came out at the back of her house. She relaxed slightly at the sight of the white Cape house and the lush landscaping in the backyard that Leila worked so hard to maintain. It felt good to be home. The small pond her mother had put in was calm
,
and a fountain bubbled water into the air. The sound was immediately soothing.

Dani opened the sliding door into the kitchen. “Mom! Mom!”

Leila appeared and wiped her eyes. “Dani? What are you doing home?’ She sniffed and forced a smile.

Dani stared at her mother and began shaking her head slowly back and forth. Something was horribly wrong. And Dani knew what.

“Oh, no, Mom.” she dropped her bag to the floor. “No, no, no. Please, tell me this isn’t true.”

Leila sat down. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry, Dani.’

Dani sat down stiffly next to her mother. “Why didn’t you come get me?”

Her mother shook her head. “I tried to leave a few minutes ago, but before I even got to the car, some jerk jumped out and nearly scared me to death. When he started asking questions about you, I ran back inside. I’ve been trying get to you without having him follow me. Guess I was too late.” Leila closed her eyes in disbelief. “I’m so sorry. I’ve been trying to protect you from this for years.”

Dani felt her heart start to pound. Her mother’s words were not just an apology. They were an admission. “You told me my father was your college boyfriend. You told him you were pregnant and he left you? That’s what happened. You always tell me the truth and so that’s what happened, right?” She heard the pleading tone in her voice and felt her body begin to shake. “My father is some nobody who disappeared. Tell me that’s right!”

“I did tell you that. And, yes, he
was
a nobody. Now I’m going to tell you the whole truth. Please keep in mind that you are, and always have been, the most important person in my life. Always, Dani.”

Dani was silent.

“Okay, here it goes,” Leila started with a shaky voice. “Mark Ocean
is
your father. We went to college together and dated for a few years. Of course, his name wasn’t Ocean back then. It was Mark Schneider. Anyhow, we were totally in love. I adored him, Dani. He was gorgeous and fun and exciting and I was in heaven. But I never thought we would be together forever. He was a great boyfriend, but he wasn’t the sort of man I pictured myself with for the rest of my life. Mark was a drama student, and he was very talented. I used to watch him in our college plays. Honestly, he was a wonderful actor. But he became obsessed with becoming famous. It got to the point where that’s all he talked about. How many people actually become movie stars?” Leila managed to laugh. “Not many, right? Who knew? Mark was determined that he would make millions. I got so tired of hearing about which celebrities he would work with and what kind of mansion he would buy when he became famous.”

Dani sat frozen. Were these words actually coming out of her mother’s mouth?

Leila continued. “So, when Mark moved to L.A., I figured that was the end. It was the right time to end things between us.” Leila paused and focused her attention out the window, appearing to struggle for how to continue. “He called me after he got there to say he’d landed a bit part in his first movie. I was sincerely thrilled for him. So then, well, …”

“Then you found out you were pregnant with me,” Dani prompted coolly.

Leila nodded. “Three weeks after Mark left school, I found out I was pregnant. I didn’t tell Mark. I couldn’t. He started off well in L.A.
,
and he was getting everything he wanted. Then he was offered the lead in some terrible movie about genetically engineered alligators. There was no turning back for him.”

“My father was in
DNA Gators
?” Dani momentarily set aside her feelings. “That movie was huge!”

“Yeah, well, it may have been huge, but Mark obviously let his ego get in the way. He made some successful movies for a while, and he could have been a Will Smith
,
but instead he’s…well, instead he’s Mark Ocean. Anyhow, yes, I made the choice not to tell him, Dani. Mark didn’t want to be a father.”

“You don’t regret anything?” Dani strummed her fingers on the countertop, trying to control her rage. “Nothing?”

“I made the choice I thought was best at the time.”

“You don’t regret lying to me all these years?” Dani’s voice grew louder. “Telling me that my father rejected me? Wanted nothing to do with me? When the truth is that my father didn’t even know about me?” She jumped off the stool. “I had to find out about my father from a bunch of people I don’t know! How do you know what he wanted? Maybe he would have married you and raised me? Maybe he did want to be a father? I guess we’ll never know, huh?” Dani kicked her bag across the floor and ran up the stairs. A door slammed shut.