Modelland (55 page)

“Of course it concerns me!” Tookie wriggled her arms. “I’m caught in the middle!”

“Yeah, crazy mama. Let go her!” Shiraz yelled.

Both women stared only at one another. Tookie gazed with disbelief at her mother, nearly unrecognizable with the soot all over her wrinkled face, her normally pristine clothes in tatters, and her hair a filthy rat’s nest atop her head. All at once, Tookie realized how little she knew about Creamy. How her own mother was one big mystery to her, except for the clear disdain she had for Tookie. To Creamy, Tookie was a waste of time, deadweight. That was why Creamy was fine with sending her away to become a Factory Dependent. Tookie just didn’t matter. She was in the way. And now, she was in Myrracle’s way.

Tookie’s shock over finding out that the BellaDonna and Creamy knew one another was replaced with rage. Whatever had happened between them, she wanted to know about it. She
deserved
to know. It was time for the truth.

As she stood there in front of her tormenters, Tookie caught sight of the long corridor of the OoAh. A plan began to form in her mind.

“Give her to me, you blind bat!” Creamy screamed, yanking on Tookie’s arm. And at that, Tookie moved a smidgen to the left in the direction of the hallway.

“She is property of Modelland now!” the BellaDonna roared, using Tookie as her tug-of-war rope. Tookie shifted toward the hallway a little more.

Back and forth they went, until they were halfway down the hall. Finally, Tookie broke free and sprinted toward the Flashback Females.

“Tookie, where in the hell are you
going
?” Creamy squawked.

Tookie skidded to a stop in the Flashback room. The three Females sat cross-legged on the floor, calm looks on their faces. They hardly seemed surprised as Creamy, the BellaDonna, Persimmon, Ci~L, Myrracle, and the Unicas tumbled in after Tookie.

“Milky, or whatever you call yourself, leave my premises right now!” the BellaDonna roared. “This is a sacred place, and I will not have your filthy mouth, body, mind, and
bizarre
doll dirty it up any more than you all already have!”

Tookie approached the Female closest to her. “I deserve to know what happened between these two,” she said aloud. “Can you show us?”

The Female frowned. “But it is not your flashback, Tookie. Only the one who is
part
of the flashback may access it and show others.”

Creamy stepped forward, her footsteps making dirty smudges on the gleaming white floor. “Then
I’d
like to access it. We
all
can see.”

“Don’t you dare!” the BellaDonna roared, reaching for her but missing. Exasperated, she groped toward the wall. “Narzz! I need you! Come now! There’s an intruder in my OoAh!”

Behind them, in the projected image of the stadium, Gunnero flinched as though he’d heard the BellaDonna’s message loud and clear. The crowd was getting restless. The Bored was on their feet, trying to calm everyone down and determine the cause of the delay. “Where’s the BellaDonna?” voices cried. “She’s never late like this.” Gunnero promptly abandoned his post and vanished.

Creamy moved toward the Flashback circle. “
Well?
Show us!” she commanded the Females.

The room started to dim and the walls began to pulse.

“Don’t listen to her!” the BellaDonna screamed. She glared around at Tookie’s friends and Ci~L. “All of you, you must leave with me
now!
”

Immediately, Tookie and her friends ran toward the door—the place was in chaos, but still, they knew they couldn’t disobey the BellaDonna. Shiraz made it out first. Then Piper. Then Dylan. Tookie was close behind but tripped and fell. And then Creamy jumped into the circle, making more dust rise off her body in a thick black cloud.

Instantly, the heavy metal doors slammed down, sealing Tookie and Ci~L inside with the two deranged women and the Flashback Females. The sounds of the 7Seven festivities were instantly muffled. The room descended into darkness. An eerie reddish mist wafted through the air.

“No!” the BellaDonna wailed, scratching at the heavy iron and concrete doors with her fingernails, trying to lift them. “Persimmon, do something! Get these doors open!”

But Persimmon just shook her head helplessly. “O beloved BellaDonna,” she said in a monotone. “There is nothing I can do to lift them until the flashback is over. You know that. You put these doors here.”

“Yes!” Creamy hissed triumphantly. “The stone woman is trapped by her own man-made rock!” Then the Flashback Females stepped up to Creamy and leaned their heads close to hers, telepathically interpreting Creamy’s wishes.

“It is so,”
the Females said, lowering their beehived heads.

Creamy turned and faced the others. “Here we go, darlings.”

Here we go
, Tookie thought nervously.
Am I
really
ready for this?

All at once, Tookie felt that familiar tingling sensation. A pinprick of light appeared at the end of a tunnel. More light streamed in, and shapes appeared. The shapes became buildings, and then Tookie was standing in the O, alone. And yet … much about her surroundings looked different. A stadium stood off to the side, but it was made of ancient stone. The M building glistened a tad less, but it was still a shimmering behemoth.

“Tookie?”

Turning, Tookie saw Ci~L across the O. “What’s going on?” Tookie cried, rushing over to her.

“I—I don’t know.” Ci~L spun around, taking in their surroundings. She ran her hands down her face and took a couple of deep breaths. “
When
is this, I wonder?”

“Shhh,” Creamy hissed from close by. Tookie caught sight of her too, standing on the edge of the golden walkway, still caked in filth. The BellaDonna stood next to her, covering her eyes. Persimmon was at her side, staring straight ahead.

Just then, a stream of girls in yellow uniforms walked off an escalator onto the ground. The escalator was alongside the electromagnetic sphere that housed War of Words class—except instead of being suspended in the air as it normally was, the structure was on stilts. The girls’ uniforms looked similar to ZhenZhen’s upperclassBella one, but instead of pants, they had on skirts that stopped at their knees. The flashback followed two of them, one with very dark hair and olive skin, the other with blond hair and beautiful pink cheeks.

“I
still
think my argument that fuller lips and butts are no longer on trend is correct, but yuck, so cruel. I hope I got my point
across in rebuttal without hurting anyone’s feelings,” the olive-skinned girl said. “Pouty, tarty, juicy plump lips … don’t go well with slender, tender, slimmer, thin hips!” She sang this last part, stretching out her arms as if completing an aria. She was undoubtedly the BellaDonna, but she couldn’t have been more than eighteen years old.

“You always manage to win War of Words but never lose friends. That’s a gift, Ladonna,” the blonde said brightly, reaching over and giving the brunette a friendly hug.

Ladonna?
Tookie thought.
Oh my God! Is that the BellaDonna’s real name?

Ladonna playfully smacked the blonde. “Like
you
aren’t full of magical gifts, seven of them to be exact, little Miss Future Triple7? Sometimes I wish those magnetowaves would scramble your brain so the rest of us could shine.”

Then Ladonna started belting out a song about being free as a bird. “One more War of Words and we’re free for a whole month!” she gushed. “Go-See-Go can’t come soon enough.”

The blonde poked her side, smiling brightly. “That’s just because you’re jonesin’ for that hunka man of yours.”

“Shhh!”
Ladonna whispered, glancing at an enormous BellaDonna statue across the square. It had the same defined lips and arched eyebrows as Ladonna.

“That’s the Queen BellaDonna,” Ci~L whispered, as though reading Tookie’s thoughts. “Our BellaDonna’s mama. I think they’re from a long line of royal Intoxibellas or something.”

Just then, a third girl ran up to the group. She had silky brown hair, smooth tan skin, and large, alluring tiger-striped eyes. She wasn’t in a yellow upperclassBella Modelland uniform like the others, but instead wore a long couture gown. It was flesh-toned
and made of the finest lace and tulle. Tookie leaned forward, frowning.

Ladonna’s eyes widened, admiring the brunette girl. “Nice
vestido
, girlie!”

“Yep,” the new girl said, doing a shimmy and a twirl. “I just came from a fitting with Guru Applaussez. It just needs a few more tweaks. I’m going to wear it for the big day. It’s kind of hard to walk in, but easy to turn!” She spun like a top, completing four circles, spotting perfectly.

The blonde clapped gleefully. “You’re definitely going to be chosen to be a 7Seven wearing that, Latta.”

Latta
. The name rang through Tookie’s mind like a siren.

“I hope so. Because if they don’t pick me, I think I’ll literally die, Percy,” she replied.

Someone in the room gasped. Tookie turned and saw Persimmon the Mannecant in the corner. Her head shook with sorrow. Was she Percy?

Then Tookie’s gaze moved to the brunette girl again. There was something vaguely familiar about her mouth, her eyes, the color and tone of her silky skin, but Tookie was too scared to admit the undeniable truth. Then her gaze returned to the dress and her heart stung once more. It was the dress Creamy had specifically picked out for Myrracle for T-DOD at the Jurk boutique one year ago. Creamy had chosen it, touched it. Even though it was
vintage. Old
.

Tookie’s stomach turned over as the weight of what she’d just discovered fully hit her.

Latta was Creamy! Her mother! And Creamy, the BellaDonna, and Persimmon had once been best friends on their way to becoming Intoxibellas at Modelland.

All at once, they were whipped out of the flashback, back in the Flashback Females’ room once more. The BellaDonna and Creamy were staring at one another, their faces two inches apart.

“Ladonna,” Creamy hissed.

“Cremalatta Defacake,” the BellaDonna answered.

Tookie widened her eyes, hardly believing what she was hearing.
Cremalatta
. And … 
Defacake?
Disgusting!

She stared at her mother. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this? Why didn’t you ever tell me you were a B-B-Bella here?”

Creamy just shrugged. “Oh whatever, Tookie. It’s one minor detail of my life I just … left out. Get over it.”

Ci~L sniffed with disdain. “You’re telling
Tookie
to just get over
it? That’s rich, considering it’s obviously something
you’re
clearly still seething about!”

Tookie’s mind continued to spin. “Creamy, is this how you knew so much about Modelland? Is this how you knew Myrracle was going to g-get chosen?” Daughters of Intoxibellas had almost a 100 percent chance of getting into Modelland, after all, higher than the chances of SMIZE finders.

Before her mother could answer, the Flashback Females looked at everyone, communicating without moving their mouths.
“We’re going back in, everyone. To a different flashback now. Hold on.…”

There was a whoosh, and the tingly feeling gripped Tookie once more. When the pulling sensation abated, the group had landed backstage at a busy fashion show. Magical disembodied hands flitted around Ladonna and the other Bellas, dressing them in feathery frocks of red, black, and orange. Percy’s dress was so elaborate that twice the number of hands swirled around her, getting her dressed. Mannecants fluffed their hair and did final touches on their makeup. It was clear without anyone having to say anything that Percy was the star.

Ladonna peered through a curtain, then gestured for someone to come forward. “It’s okay,” she whispered. “Drop off the stuff and work next to me. We’re safe back here.”

A warm-skinned man, handsome in an approachable, non-Bestostero kind of way, rolled in an enormous crate on wheels and began to unload it. His strong back muscles flexed. Magical hands scurried over and began to rummage through the items he’d unpacked. Gracefully and secretly, the man reached for Ladonna’s pinkie and quickly spun her around.

Ladonna giggled. “Cremalatta, Percy, this is him. The first and only love of my life.”

“Holy hell!” Ci~L blurted out, watching the flashback. “The BellaDonna was dating a
civilian
? You’re kidding me!”

“Be quiet!” the present-day BellaDonna shrieked. She stared at the man in the flashback with a devastated look on her face.

Meanwhile, the young Bellas in the memory greeted Ladonna’s beau. “She’s told us so much about you,” Percy said brightly, her whole face a smile. “Anyone who makes Ladonna happy makes
me
happy.”

“Ladonna’s told me about you too,” the man said, bowing kindly to Percy. “She says you have the chance to be a rare Triple7.”

Percy ducked her head modestly. “Let’s hope so.”

Cremalatta just stared darkly at the boyfriend, then pulled Ladonna aside. “I can’t let you do this,” she hissed to her friend. “It’s one thing if you were going after a Bestostero. But
he’s
against the rules!”

Ladonna waved her hand. “I am so tired of rules. Every day my mom comes down on me about some old or new rule I’m not following. The pressure is eating me alive. I think those rules are simply to punish us.”

“What rules?” Tookie whispered to Ci~L.

“The cardinal rule at Modelland is that a Bella cannot date a civilian.” Ci~L rubbed her palms together. “This is priceless. Methinks Mizz BellaDonna will think twice before lambasting me again about going
off message
!”

“One minute to the start of the show!” a fashion assistant in the flashback called from the edge of the curtain. “Percy, you’re first! Best Go-See-Go model leads the show! Ladonna, you’re second!”

Ladonna turned away from Cremalatta and clutched her beau’s hand. She hid their interlocked fingers behind a large clutch purse she had in her other hand. Nervously, she began to hum a lullaby.

“You’ll be wonderful, darlin’,” the man whispered. He nervously glanced around and then started to dance with her in time with her humming. His movements were utterly graceful, his body one long, sinuous muscle. “And have I ever told you that you have the voice of an angel? It’s even more beautiful than that breathtaking face of yours.”