Categories > Celebrities > Fall Out Boy > Smile for the Paparazzi
Sorry it's been like YEARS since I updated. My computer had a bad battery or power outlet or something, and when I took it in to get fixed they held it hostage until the part came in from Japan.
Anyway, that's not a very good way to start a story. Here it is...
“Are you not wearing your tie?” Katie looked over from the stoop of their building as she and Gabe waited for the limo her father was sending for them.
“Uh…what tie?” Gabe glanced down at his shirt.
“The one I put with your outfit.” She sighed.
“I thought it was optional.”
“When has your tie ever been optional? Here, put this on.” She pulled a balled up tie out of her bag. He gave her a look, wrapping it around his neck. “It’s for emergencies.” She shrugged as the car pulled up.
“How many tie emergencies are there?”
“You’d be surprised. Ugh, I don’t want to go.” She groaned.
“It won’t be that bad. I don’t think I did this right.” He mumbled, the knot on the tie falling apart as soon as he let go.
“George, can you fix that for him?” Katie waved in Gabe’s direction as the driver opened the door and she climbed in.
“I’m 28 years old, I should know how to do this.” He laughed as the driver adjusted the tie.
“She wouldn’t want me telling you, but she makes me stop for cotton candy every time we drive by a carnival. Just to put it into perspective.” George shook his head.
“Where is everyone?” Gabe looked around as the car pulled up to the front door.
“We’re early, the invitation’s not for another hour or so.” Katie mumbled, typing on her cell phone. It almost immediately beeped, signaling she had a new text message. She read it and smiled as she climbed out of the car, tripping over the stones in the driveway and almost dropping the bags she was carrying.
“That was graceful.” Gabe laughed.
“Shut up, we have to find my mom.” Katie hauled a pile of shopping bags into the house and upstairs. They weaved through the hallways and stopped in front of a door. “Wait here.” She headed into the room, hauling the bags with her. “Hey mom.”
“Oh, it’s about time. I’ve been waiting for you.” Her mother stood up from her makeup table.
“Sorry, there was a lot of traffic.” She shook her head, pulling items out of the bag. “So, we have this dress that’s above the knee. This one has a sheer layer, so it’ll hide any bruising or scars or anything. Then there’s pants. I like the color of this dress, and a couple more I just thought would look nice.” Katie layed them out on the bed.
“I think I like this one.” She picked up a red knee length dress with beads across the top. “Why don’t you go see if your father needs anything, the guests should be arriving shortly. Did Gabe come?”
“He’s outside.” Katie nodded.
“Hello Gabriel.” Her mother called.
“Hi Mrs. Hawk. Thank you for inviting me.” He shouted through the door.
“You know I told you to call me Grace.” She opened the door, smiling and shaking his hand.
“I’ll see you in a little bit, mom.” Katie said, heading out the door.
“We’re supposed to go check on my dad. Sometimes when he’s allowed to dress himself, he has some problems with the matching.” Katie said as they wandered through the house looking for her father. They turned into the living room and stopped.
“Eew, what are you doing here?” Dylan whined, her hands on her hips.
“Why WOULDN’T I be here?” Katie snapped. “Is that what you’re wearing?”
“Do you have a problem with that?” Dee smoothed down the front of her dress. The exact same dress as Katie, but in a different color.
“I texted you and told you what I was wearing.”
“So change.” Dee shrugged.
“YOU live here.” Katie scowled.
“Yeah, which means I was wearing it first.”
“It also means you have more clothes to change into.”
“It looks better on me.”
“Ugh. Fine.” Katie groaned. “Come on Gabe.” She grabbed him by the sleeve and pulled him up the stairs.
“Why can’t you just stay the way you are?” Gabe jogged to keep up.
“We can’t wear the same outfit, we’ll look like freaks!” She swung open a door at the top of the stairs.
“Whoa.” He froze in his tracks. “Is this your room?”
“Unfortunately.”
“It’s so…frilly.” Every piece of furniture was covered in pink and white ruffles and lace.
“It looks like a doll house on acid.” Katie sighed, stepping into the walk in closet.
“It’s like Barbie threw up.” Gabe followed her, laughing. “Does your sister’s room look like this too?”
“Hers is purple.” Katie nodded. “I haven’t worn any of this stuff since high school.” She pulled out a ruffled orange peasant top. “And there’s a good reason.” She tossed it into a back corner.
“I like the poster, though.” He nodded at a giant Midtown poster on the back of the closet door. Katie glanced over and quickly pulled it down, dropping it on top of the discarded dress.
“That’s embarrassing.” She continued digging through the racks of clothes. She gasped and pulled out a long flowy beach sarong with purple and green Indian-looking patterns on it.
“What are you going to do with that?” Gabe wrinkled his forehead.
“Turn around.” She waved at him, unfolding the piece of fabric. “Wait, unzip me. Then turn around.” He undid the zipper and walked out of the closet, sitting on the bed. Her phone beeped again from her purse next to him.
“Who keeps texting you?” He peered in the bag, trying to see the screen.
“No one. It’s just a friend.” She muttered.
“Do you have a new boyfriend? Why haven’t I met him?”
“We’ve only been going out like a week.” She emerged from the closet, pinning her hair up in a loose, messy bun on the side of her head.
“That’s impressive.” Gabe raised his eyebrows. She had wrapped the sarong and tied it around her neck like a halter top and buckled a wide black patent leather belt under her bust to create an empire waist. Her black fish nets and gold gladiator sandals made the outfit look like it came off the pages of a fashion magazine.
“Can you check in my bag for a safety pin? If I sit down this entire thing is going to open.” She said, turning around and looking in the mirror. She mimed sitting down, but quickly stood, holding the dress together when she flashed her underwear at herself. She glanced back, but Gabe was digging around in her bag. He zipped open the inside pocket and rummaged around for a pin, taking the opportunity to discreetly look at her cell phone. The name was listed only as B.
“Mystery texter says they miss you.” He smirked, handing her the pin.
“You read it?!”
“I couldn’t help it, it was right there. And I’m nosy.” She fastened her skirt closed and grabbed her purse.
“Let’s go. The people are probably here by now.”
“You okay?” He watched her hobble to the door.
“These shoes are a size too small.” She winced.
As they slowly made their way down the stairs, the entire first floor of the house was swarming with people; friends, relatives, business acquaintances, people Katie had never met but her father probably owed them a favor. Someone called Katie’s name and she abandoned Gabe in search of the voice. She saw her mother’s best friend waving at her with a martini in her hand. “Hi Aunt Tammy, how have you been?” Katie smiled politely. Tammy was probably the biggest airhead she’d ever met.
“Doesn’t your mother’s work look fabulous? That Dr. Sherman sure is a professional.”
“Well, he wouldn’t be doing surgery if he wasn’t. Pretty soon she’ll probably start looking younger than me.” She chuckled.
“Well that’s when you know it’s your time to start.” Tammy nodded, with grave seriousness. “Now. Grace told me you bought her outfit for tonight.”
“I did.” Katie nodded.
“I didn’t know you did your styling for mature women, I thought you mostly worked with pop stars.”
“I will style whoever wants me to. It just happens that most of my customers are my friends, and my friends are under 30.” She shrugged.
“Wonderful, because we’ve been invited to a benefit for some dreadful artist and I have no idea what to wear. It’s an avant-garde, Dali, Alice in Wonderland sort of thing.” Tammy shuddered at the thought.
“I’d love to help, just give me a call. I should go make the rounds and say hello to everyone.” Katie said quickly, escaping before Tammy had the chance to say anything else.
“Where’d you get THAT dress? I haven’t seen it before.” Katie turned around to see Dylan scowling at her.
“My closet.”
“Is that the ugly sarong I got you in Spain?”
“Yeah.” Katie shrugged.
“It almost looks good.” Dylan raised her eyebrows.
“Thanks, I guess.” Katie smiled and walked away.
Katie was on her fourth rum & coke, slightly stumbling over herself as she searched around for where she’d left her purse. After almost an hour of dodging her parents’ friends, she found it tossed on a table behind the couch. She opened it and pulled out her phone, noticing that she had a message and 5 new texts. She scrolled through the texts, grinning.
From: B
I still miss you.
From: B
Call me when you get home.
From: B
It’s so boring here without you.
From: B
Are you having fun yet?
From: Sisky
What are your feelings about plaid?
She sighed and shook her head, pressing the button to listen to the voicemail, afraid of what it would say. The message clicked on and an Australian accent drifted down the line. “Hey Katie, it’s Michael…Chislett. If you couldn’t guess. So Adam’s insisting on wearing a spandex unitard on TRL next week, you need to talk him out of it.” There was a rustle and Bill’s voice was heard.
“It’s fluorescent! We need your help! Call as soon as you get this.” She shut the phone and made her way to go find Gabe. She spotted him in a corner talking to one of her father’s work colleagues and limped her way over. She was pretty sure that her feet were bleeding by now.
“Hey.” She tugged gently on his sleeve to get his attention.
“Kate! Did you know this guy invented aerosol cheese.” He grinned drunkenly.
“That’s great. We’ve got to go.” She waved at the man and pulled Gabe towards the door.
“What’s up?”
“Sisky wants to wear a fluorescent unitard on MTV.” She sighed.
“Awesome, can he get me one?” He mumbled as she shoved him in the back of the limo. He passed out by the time they were half way home.
More characters will start to appear in the next couple chapters. This is still a sort of an introduction.
Anyway, that's not a very good way to start a story. Here it is...
“Are you not wearing your tie?” Katie looked over from the stoop of their building as she and Gabe waited for the limo her father was sending for them.
“Uh…what tie?” Gabe glanced down at his shirt.
“The one I put with your outfit.” She sighed.
“I thought it was optional.”
“When has your tie ever been optional? Here, put this on.” She pulled a balled up tie out of her bag. He gave her a look, wrapping it around his neck. “It’s for emergencies.” She shrugged as the car pulled up.
“How many tie emergencies are there?”
“You’d be surprised. Ugh, I don’t want to go.” She groaned.
“It won’t be that bad. I don’t think I did this right.” He mumbled, the knot on the tie falling apart as soon as he let go.
“George, can you fix that for him?” Katie waved in Gabe’s direction as the driver opened the door and she climbed in.
“I’m 28 years old, I should know how to do this.” He laughed as the driver adjusted the tie.
“She wouldn’t want me telling you, but she makes me stop for cotton candy every time we drive by a carnival. Just to put it into perspective.” George shook his head.
“Where is everyone?” Gabe looked around as the car pulled up to the front door.
“We’re early, the invitation’s not for another hour or so.” Katie mumbled, typing on her cell phone. It almost immediately beeped, signaling she had a new text message. She read it and smiled as she climbed out of the car, tripping over the stones in the driveway and almost dropping the bags she was carrying.
“That was graceful.” Gabe laughed.
“Shut up, we have to find my mom.” Katie hauled a pile of shopping bags into the house and upstairs. They weaved through the hallways and stopped in front of a door. “Wait here.” She headed into the room, hauling the bags with her. “Hey mom.”
“Oh, it’s about time. I’ve been waiting for you.” Her mother stood up from her makeup table.
“Sorry, there was a lot of traffic.” She shook her head, pulling items out of the bag. “So, we have this dress that’s above the knee. This one has a sheer layer, so it’ll hide any bruising or scars or anything. Then there’s pants. I like the color of this dress, and a couple more I just thought would look nice.” Katie layed them out on the bed.
“I think I like this one.” She picked up a red knee length dress with beads across the top. “Why don’t you go see if your father needs anything, the guests should be arriving shortly. Did Gabe come?”
“He’s outside.” Katie nodded.
“Hello Gabriel.” Her mother called.
“Hi Mrs. Hawk. Thank you for inviting me.” He shouted through the door.
“You know I told you to call me Grace.” She opened the door, smiling and shaking his hand.
“I’ll see you in a little bit, mom.” Katie said, heading out the door.
“We’re supposed to go check on my dad. Sometimes when he’s allowed to dress himself, he has some problems with the matching.” Katie said as they wandered through the house looking for her father. They turned into the living room and stopped.
“Eew, what are you doing here?” Dylan whined, her hands on her hips.
“Why WOULDN’T I be here?” Katie snapped. “Is that what you’re wearing?”
“Do you have a problem with that?” Dee smoothed down the front of her dress. The exact same dress as Katie, but in a different color.
“I texted you and told you what I was wearing.”
“So change.” Dee shrugged.
“YOU live here.” Katie scowled.
“Yeah, which means I was wearing it first.”
“It also means you have more clothes to change into.”
“It looks better on me.”
“Ugh. Fine.” Katie groaned. “Come on Gabe.” She grabbed him by the sleeve and pulled him up the stairs.
“Why can’t you just stay the way you are?” Gabe jogged to keep up.
“We can’t wear the same outfit, we’ll look like freaks!” She swung open a door at the top of the stairs.
“Whoa.” He froze in his tracks. “Is this your room?”
“Unfortunately.”
“It’s so…frilly.” Every piece of furniture was covered in pink and white ruffles and lace.
“It looks like a doll house on acid.” Katie sighed, stepping into the walk in closet.
“It’s like Barbie threw up.” Gabe followed her, laughing. “Does your sister’s room look like this too?”
“Hers is purple.” Katie nodded. “I haven’t worn any of this stuff since high school.” She pulled out a ruffled orange peasant top. “And there’s a good reason.” She tossed it into a back corner.
“I like the poster, though.” He nodded at a giant Midtown poster on the back of the closet door. Katie glanced over and quickly pulled it down, dropping it on top of the discarded dress.
“That’s embarrassing.” She continued digging through the racks of clothes. She gasped and pulled out a long flowy beach sarong with purple and green Indian-looking patterns on it.
“What are you going to do with that?” Gabe wrinkled his forehead.
“Turn around.” She waved at him, unfolding the piece of fabric. “Wait, unzip me. Then turn around.” He undid the zipper and walked out of the closet, sitting on the bed. Her phone beeped again from her purse next to him.
“Who keeps texting you?” He peered in the bag, trying to see the screen.
“No one. It’s just a friend.” She muttered.
“Do you have a new boyfriend? Why haven’t I met him?”
“We’ve only been going out like a week.” She emerged from the closet, pinning her hair up in a loose, messy bun on the side of her head.
“That’s impressive.” Gabe raised his eyebrows. She had wrapped the sarong and tied it around her neck like a halter top and buckled a wide black patent leather belt under her bust to create an empire waist. Her black fish nets and gold gladiator sandals made the outfit look like it came off the pages of a fashion magazine.
“Can you check in my bag for a safety pin? If I sit down this entire thing is going to open.” She said, turning around and looking in the mirror. She mimed sitting down, but quickly stood, holding the dress together when she flashed her underwear at herself. She glanced back, but Gabe was digging around in her bag. He zipped open the inside pocket and rummaged around for a pin, taking the opportunity to discreetly look at her cell phone. The name was listed only as B.
“Mystery texter says they miss you.” He smirked, handing her the pin.
“You read it?!”
“I couldn’t help it, it was right there. And I’m nosy.” She fastened her skirt closed and grabbed her purse.
“Let’s go. The people are probably here by now.”
“You okay?” He watched her hobble to the door.
“These shoes are a size too small.” She winced.
As they slowly made their way down the stairs, the entire first floor of the house was swarming with people; friends, relatives, business acquaintances, people Katie had never met but her father probably owed them a favor. Someone called Katie’s name and she abandoned Gabe in search of the voice. She saw her mother’s best friend waving at her with a martini in her hand. “Hi Aunt Tammy, how have you been?” Katie smiled politely. Tammy was probably the biggest airhead she’d ever met.
“Doesn’t your mother’s work look fabulous? That Dr. Sherman sure is a professional.”
“Well, he wouldn’t be doing surgery if he wasn’t. Pretty soon she’ll probably start looking younger than me.” She chuckled.
“Well that’s when you know it’s your time to start.” Tammy nodded, with grave seriousness. “Now. Grace told me you bought her outfit for tonight.”
“I did.” Katie nodded.
“I didn’t know you did your styling for mature women, I thought you mostly worked with pop stars.”
“I will style whoever wants me to. It just happens that most of my customers are my friends, and my friends are under 30.” She shrugged.
“Wonderful, because we’ve been invited to a benefit for some dreadful artist and I have no idea what to wear. It’s an avant-garde, Dali, Alice in Wonderland sort of thing.” Tammy shuddered at the thought.
“I’d love to help, just give me a call. I should go make the rounds and say hello to everyone.” Katie said quickly, escaping before Tammy had the chance to say anything else.
“Where’d you get THAT dress? I haven’t seen it before.” Katie turned around to see Dylan scowling at her.
“My closet.”
“Is that the ugly sarong I got you in Spain?”
“Yeah.” Katie shrugged.
“It almost looks good.” Dylan raised her eyebrows.
“Thanks, I guess.” Katie smiled and walked away.
Katie was on her fourth rum & coke, slightly stumbling over herself as she searched around for where she’d left her purse. After almost an hour of dodging her parents’ friends, she found it tossed on a table behind the couch. She opened it and pulled out her phone, noticing that she had a message and 5 new texts. She scrolled through the texts, grinning.
From: B
I still miss you.
From: B
Call me when you get home.
From: B
It’s so boring here without you.
From: B
Are you having fun yet?
From: Sisky
What are your feelings about plaid?
She sighed and shook her head, pressing the button to listen to the voicemail, afraid of what it would say. The message clicked on and an Australian accent drifted down the line. “Hey Katie, it’s Michael…Chislett. If you couldn’t guess. So Adam’s insisting on wearing a spandex unitard on TRL next week, you need to talk him out of it.” There was a rustle and Bill’s voice was heard.
“It’s fluorescent! We need your help! Call as soon as you get this.” She shut the phone and made her way to go find Gabe. She spotted him in a corner talking to one of her father’s work colleagues and limped her way over. She was pretty sure that her feet were bleeding by now.
“Hey.” She tugged gently on his sleeve to get his attention.
“Kate! Did you know this guy invented aerosol cheese.” He grinned drunkenly.
“That’s great. We’ve got to go.” She waved at the man and pulled Gabe towards the door.
“What’s up?”
“Sisky wants to wear a fluorescent unitard on MTV.” She sighed.
“Awesome, can he get me one?” He mumbled as she shoved him in the back of the limo. He passed out by the time they were half way home.
More characters will start to appear in the next couple chapters. This is still a sort of an introduction.
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