Page 11 of Doll Face

“Hey, Mom,” I greet her. “Hi, Dad.” I smile.

“Hello there, sweetie.” He hugs me too.

“Mom, Dad, this is my girlfriend, Kenzie.” I introduce them and they both shake her hand.

“It’s nice to meet you both, Barbie’s said so many nice things about you.”

“She’s had the kindest things to say about you, too. You make our daughter very happy,” my mom says.

“I try,” Kenzie says sheepishly. “She makes me very happy, too.”

“Young love is something you should hold onto; it’s a rare thing,” my dad adds and looks at my mom adoringly. They’ve been married since they were both eighteen and they have the best marriage I’ve ever seen. It’s something I hope to have for myself one day.

“Got it, sir.” She looks at me, causing me to blush.

“Why don’t you go save your sister from the buffet and take her home? I know she doesn’t want to be here, and you two shouldn’t be subjected to a boring work fundraiser,” Mom says.

“Are you sure?” I ask.

“I’m sure, it’ll be your time to do this soon enough.” My mom winks.

I snap out of the memory, thinking about how simple it was to introduce Kenzie to my parents and how much they liked her from that moment on. She was eventually invited to all of our family gatherings, and my parents asked about her a lot after we broke up. I always felt like they missed her just as much as I did after Kenzie left. It was like she had become a bonus family member that was ripped away from all of us.

Chapter 5

Kenzie

“Kelly?” I pick up my phone and look at the caller ID, wondering if the contact is still correct. It’s been years since she called me.

“Yup! Wow, you still have my number? That’s so sweet!” she says, practically gushing.

“What can I do for you?”

“I was hoping you could accompany my sister to a charity ball tomorrow night.”

“What? Does Barbie have any idea that you’re calling and asking me this right now?”

“Nope! And you’re not going to tell her.” She giggles. God, I forgot how mischievous her sister could be.

“Why wouldn’t I tell her?”

“Because you want to take her to this ball. I don’t know what’s going on between the two of you but I can tell you want to take her. Don’t make me ask someone else,” she threatens.

“Alright, you got a deal.”

“Just don’t tell her you’re going or she might … umm … back out.”

“Jesus. Sure. So am I sneaking into this thing, too?”

“Well, no. I’ll leave your ticket at the box office under Campbell.”

Barbie and Kelly’s last name. I remember that easily; it had almost been my last name.

“Okay.”

“And wear something nice! You’ll want to dress to impress.”

“You do realize I’m a model, right? Dressing to impress is literally my job.” I laugh.

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