A Rose With Thorns
Chapter One: Journey Home
Written by: Scandalous Behavior
~ ~ ~ ~
Small spaces, plush chairs, cramped aisles and awful food while thousands of feet above ground was how she would always remember the inside of an airplane as. Not the carrying conversations that seemed to blend with those belonging to others, the immense feeling of being so insignificant when in flight high above ground and water, or the sense of wanting to write into words what her mind wouldn't let her speak.
Almost like turning into a poetic dreamer, she mused, like Mikey.
That thought produced a grin on her otherwise passive facial expression, causing the older man sitting next to her to glance sideways behind his trendy eyeglasses while involved in the latest copy of the Wall Street Journal. Absent-mindedly aware that she was being observed she didn't do as she would normally have given if it had been three months ago, which would be to say some very demanding comment on what he thought he was looking at and enjoy the reddening of his embarrassed cheeks that would come from her raised voice level, instead she looked out the window ignoring the situation.
Had she really changed so much in so little time, she wondered. Three months wasn't that long in fact it felt more like a week. Having been against going anywhere in the first place she was sure her turn around was bound to shock her friends when she returned, as much if not more than it had shocked her parents who agreed whole-heartedly to her decision when she called a week and a half into the vacation to announce her chosen path for the summer. After being brought into that whole new arrangement she had no choice but to get with the program or be forced to spend the summer with the most heinous self-centered girl that made the 'Ashleys' look like her long lost friends. Well at least in comparison, Spinelli thought, no way did she feel close to them least of all the leader of that Cosmo Magazine devouring group. The girl had turned everything they did this summer into a war zone. Never had she come up against such a foe that wouldn't back down. When it came down to it she was Ashley Spinelli, the punkette. The girl that no one messed with unless they had a serious death wish. Why that one girl had become her nemesis she didn't even know all that she could let herself think, and thinking it made her reconsider the sanity of the person who had told her, was that Francesca was jealous. Ridiculous. How could Francesca be jealous of her? It was un-real, un-thinkable, and un-speakable that the Diva of Italy was actually jealous of a tomboy.
Italy. Still remembering the conversation that sent her there which had started due to her parents flat refusal to let her go to Wrestling Camp instead dropping a bomb on her that she was still feeling the repercussions of.
~3 months and a day earlier~
"What do you mean I can't go?" Ashley Spinelli demanded hotly.
Florence and Robert Spinelli glanced at each other, sharing one of those dreaded 'parent-unity' looks and then both of them turned their faces to the enraged brunette standing in the doorway of the Spinelli's kitchen. Her hands were on her hips, in her normal Don't-Mess-With-Me position, and her chocolate-brown eyes searched their expressions for weakness on this subject, yet it was not to be.
"Pookie," Flo started, in her motherly tone, "you are too old to be going to a camp that is mainly boy populated and it is time you broadened your horizons."
Spinelli glanced at her mom like she was speaking gibberish and gave her dad a Please-Translate look.
"What your mother is trying to say, Princess, is that we think you need to start acting you age," Bob explained, practically seeing the steam coming out his daughter's ears, "not that we don't love you the way you are it's just we think that it's time for a change."
"What about what I think or does that even matter? I've been going there since I was seven years old. It's tradition. They expect me there, I have a championship to uphold."
Flo winced at the thought of her daughter wrestling around on the floor with another wrestler, most likely male, that would injure her poor Pookie.
"And the fact that you do concerns us. You are seventeen, Ashley, going to be eighteen and a senior in High School. Too old to be a child and too young to be an adult. What we are going to do is for the best and we honestly think it would be great for you."
Concern lit up Spinelli's eyes, as she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her normally non-interfering parents were interfering with her life and going to screw it all up.
"What are you trying to get at?" Spinelli finally frustrated demanded.
Bob had to admit that maybe they were going about this wrong, although how to break this sort of news wasn't exactly written in any known parent rulebook. He couldn't explain it to himself about the actions a man takes when he has difficulty in his marriage. His wife sat to the right of him at the small round kitchen table, her bright red head seen out of the corner of his eye.
"Princess, your mother and I have something we need to tell you," Bob paused as Spinelli's impatient posture leaned against the arch of the kitchen entrance, "something that I should have told you years ago."
Flo knew of her husband's reluctance to bring up the subject and her own at having to tell of it but she knew for the sake of their independent tough- as-nails daughter it was for the best that she knew.
"You have a sister, Ashley," Flo announced, "She lives in Italy."
A bomb would have been more expected than this news. Spinelli's eyes filled with the incredible discovery of having another sibling other than her older brother, Joey.
"What? Why...How..Why doesn't she live with us?" Spinelli finally managed to get out as she came closer to the table, seeing her father swallow uncomfortably.
"You have a sister, Princess, but she isn't your full sister. Antonia is your half-sister."
"Half-sister? But you and mom have been only married to each other unless you are keeping something else from me."
"No, no, Pookie. We have only been married to each other." Flo interfered, before her daughter's over-active imagine took over.
"When your mother and I had Joey, we had a time when we didn't live with each other," Bob cleared his throat, "we were separated for almost a year when I met another woman and she gave birth to your sister."
"You had an affair?!" Spinelli accused, taking an involuntary step back.
"It wasn't something that I was proud of, I still loved your mother and things got a little out of hand."
"I understand and accept what happened, Ashley," Flo glanced towards her husband, "I wasn't all that happy with him for a long time because of it but then we had you and it's not something that can be taken back."
"Yesterday I got a call from your sister and she wants to get to know you, wants to invite you to live with her in Rome for the summer."
Spinelli honestly didn't know what to attack first, so being as she was always more inclined to act on her anger she glared at them both for the betrayal she felt.
"You expect me to just accept the fact that my parents weren't together but still married when my dad goes and knocks up some woman who gives birth to a sister I never knew I had and now you want me to travel clear across the ocean to Europe where they probably still use clay to build things to see this left out piece of my life?" Her anger was taking over and as Flo stood Spinelli backed away, not trusting herself towards either of them right at the moment.
"Sweetheart we never meant to hurt you."
"You might not have, but you did. How could you keep this from me?"
As Bob pulled away from the table, the anguish clear in his little girl's eyes too much to bear, she turned on the heel of her thick booted feet and the echoing sound of the boots meeting the wooden planks of the staircase sounded in the deafening quiet kitchen.
~
Throwing herself on her bed, she gave into the tears that welled up in her eyes at being left out of something so big in her life. To have a sister, it was something she secretly always wondered about. Not to hide questions only an older sister could answer when mother's opinion wasn't the one you were looking for and the closest thing you had to a sister was as inexperienced at life as you were. An older sister was experience, the whole been-there-done-that scenario. Now it was coming true what she always wished for and she couldn't find it in her heart to be anything but upset, confused, and hurt about being left in the dark.
Rolling off her bed, she grabbed behind her closed bedroom door for her old worn bomber jacket and threw open her bedroom door. Going down the stairs faster than she ever had before she saw the surprise in her parents' eyes but ignored it as she pushed open the screen door, stocking down the couple steps of the porch to the sidewalk. In more of a run, than a walk, she headed to the place where she could always find the perfect person to talk to. A couple houses down from her own belonged to the Detweilers', where her best friend since kindergarten lived. Wiping at her eyes with the back of her jacket sleeves just to make sure no stray tears ran down her cheeks, she wasn't keeping eyes up and when she finally managed to glance up again the sight before her was enough to make her break down right then and there.
In front of the Detweiler's house, sitting on the curb with the high school letterman jacket over his broad shoulders, head hidden beneath a trademark red cap was her best friend, T.J. No one could mistake his figure for anyone else but what shocked her was the person to his right, facing Spinelli. The perfect, not-a-hair-out-of-place blond with triumph clear in her eyes was the gray and pink clad figure of Ashley Armbruster. Spinelli's nemesis, enemy and foe. With none other than her perfect pink lips locked with those belonging to T.J. His face wasn't turned to see the stone-like figure of Spinelli not standing but twenty feet from them, but she knew his blue eyes would be closed, as he was not one to keep his eyes open in a kiss if her memory from fourth grade was any sort of reference.
Ashley A.'s eyes were slightly open so that she knew exactly who was watching the scene and a small smile was instantly hidden as she again involved herself in the kiss with one very distraught T.J. Detweiler. Having Spinelli come onto the scene just at that moment was almost payment enough for offering the comfort that she was to T.J, though his lips were seemingly just as practiced as her own and fit perfectly. Not slobbering all over her or inserting his unaccomplished tongue down her throat like so many boys tried. It was a simple, sweet, just touching by lips kiss and it rooted Spinelli to the concrete. Knowing, as many did, that Spinelli was in love with T.J it didn't surprise her in the least to see the jealousy spark into the brunette's eyes. What did surprise her was that Spinelli didn't rage at that moment, didn't march right up to her surgically perfected nose and punch it in for laying lips on someone that Spinelli considered hers alone. If her eyes were any judge it seemed that Spinelli had been crying prior to this, the stained stream evident on the girl's darker toned cheeks. Pushing aside having seen Spinelli with a look of close to that of female emotion she continued to kiss the remarkably apt pupil of Detweiler, blocking out Spinelli's unwelcomed presence.
The trance that seemed to make Spinelli lock her body to the spot was broken as Ashley A.'s eyes were no longer on her and turning she ran. Not clear to where she was intent on running to only knowing it had to be anywhere as long as it was far, far away from there. Her suddenly heavy footed steps made thud sounds as they landed on the cement sidewalk, her eyes emptying themselves of locked up waterworks that seemed to have burst into a flood that the only thing that stopped her travels was running full length into a wall. A wall that instantly reached out to steady her, pull her a little distance from it and look down with pure concern.
Michael Blumberg, the boy built like a solid wall, was taking in the broken- hearted mess that was Ashley Spinelli. Seeing that her eyes were filled more with tears than with a clear vision of what she had ran into, her leaned his head down so that she could take in his image.
"Mikey?" her voice was hoarse and so choked up that he was surprised she could talk.
"Spinelli, what's wrong?"
"I...I can't." The tone of her voice was filled with pain that he pulled her to him, a arm around her waist as they walked and coming to a bench that sat in a small park not a block from where she had run into him, right outside of Kelso's Corner Store, no less and closer to his house than her own, he made her sit down and comforted the petite girl as best he could.
Never in his long memory had he ever seen Spinelli cry as deep and as sad as the tears that ran down her unblemished cheeks right then. Sitting beside her, he let her lean into him as she buried her face in her hands sobbing. Finally after five minutes of letting her cry, his shaggy blond head moved to take in the depressed sight. Taking his left hand, he lifted her face from her hands to meet her eyes with his.
"Are you going to tell me what's wrong or do we have to play twenty questions?" Mikey wondered, thinking now was not the time for poetry.
"My parents,." Spinelli sniffled and cursed herself under her breath for acting like such a girl, "are sending me to Europe for the summer."
Mikey smiled at her, shaking his head at her tears over that.
"It's not the end of the world, the sunset beacons and so the call must be answered." Mikey's lyric way of putting words was making its way back into his conversation skills.
"You don't understand.." Realizing she couldn't tell him, at least not the last part, "I have a sister and my parents are sending me to see her."
"A sister? But I thought it was only you and Joey?"
"So did I. The tricks some parents pull, huh?" Spinelli was calming down by talking out loud though her heart still hurt from seeing the guy she loved with the girl she detested.
"This is great news, Spinelli, you have every right to be upset about it but I don't think those were happy tears you were crying, were they?"
"One day, Mikey, you might see into something you might hate to get the answer to," Spinelli told her friend who looked like a guy to be afraid of but wouldn't hurt a fly.
A question entered his eyes but she shook her head.
"I should be happy about, I am happy about it," Wiping her tears off with her fingers, "I don't know what's wrong with me."
"Not everyday that someone finds out they have a sister," Mikey said, "do you know her name?"
"Antonia and she lives in Rome."
"Italy. One of the great ancient societies that are still evident in every stone and brick."
"They don't use clay?" Spinelli asked, softly.
A teasing light entered his kind eyes.
"No, the Romans were far too advanced to use clay, though that's what brick kinda becomes before it is brick and if you ask Gretchen.."
"I want a simple answer not a hour lecture on the history of the Roman Empire, Mikey." Spinelli referred to Gretchen Grundler's high I.Q. that made any simple thing into a lesson that would do a college professor justice.
Chucking, he nodded his understanding before seeing she was looking better and they walked her to her house. Getting inside after telling Mikey goodnight, asking her parents about her sister now more at ease with it and let herself soak in the information to make herself block the reoccurring image of T.J and Ashley A. in her mind.
~
Calling Gretchen that night, Spinelli pulled clothes from her closet and in true Spinelli fashion tossed them into the two suitcases she would be taking with her. Placing the cordless phone between her shoulder and head, she packed while she talked.
"It is remarkable news to learn of this new sibling is it not?" Gretchen's voice came from the opposite end of the phone line.
"Yeah. Dad let me talk to her right before I called you," Spinelli adjusted the phone as she threw socks and underwear into the suitcase over her shoulder, watching them land safely in the suitcase by the mirror's reflection which was attached to her dresser, "she sounds cool. Accent and all but I'm still kinda worried about the Italian language thing. I don't exactly speak even Spanish that I'm learning at school that well, you know?"
"Not to mention proper English." Came Gretchen's remark.
"Hey, thanks, Gretch, next time I need to feel more self-conscious about my talking I know just who to call," Spinelli sarcastically replied.
"Has your travel plans been finalized?" Gretchen switched to another topic easily.
Spinelli halted in front of her bedroom window as she saw Ashley A.'s rich- girl car pass by and craned her neck to see if he was inside it with the infuriating blond, almost making the phone fall to the floor. Picking it up before it hit her bedroom carpet she put it back to her ear and yanked the curtains closed on her window.
"Spinelli?"
"Yeah, Gretch," Spinelli stated, walking to zip the smaller of the two leather suitcases that had seen better days closed which sat on her bed, "they said tomorrow morning, early."
"That soon?"
"You sound as surprised as I was," Spinelli twisted the zipper on the bigger suitcase, that was stubbornly refusing to shut that she was climbing on top of it and landed on it with a soft thump, then swiftly zipped it closed, "but seems she has some big deal happening the day after tomorrow so it has to be tomorrow."
"Doesn't give us much time to tell the guys."
"No!" Spinelli surprised herself in her quick announcement, "I mean, I thought I'd just tell you and you could tell the guys. Mikey already knows about my going there, just not when."
"Have you told T.J?"
"Um..he wasn't home when I went over to tell him." Spinelli lied, though it was kinda true in her mind.
"Shouldn't you try again in the morning, you won't be seeing any of us for three entire months, Spinelli?"
"I'll try, Gretch, but if I can't you'll tell him and the other guys for me, right?"
Pausing, Gretchen debated why Spinelli's tone was so reluctant to even broach the subject to T.J later this evening or the coming morning.
"If you do not inform him I will have no choice of course. Your absence is hard to miss."
Covering the phone with her palm so Gretch didn't hear her sigh of relief, she snatched her hand back quickly.
"Thanks, Gretch. Listen, I'll call you when I get there, okay? They gave me a calling card so your parents won't yell at you for dragging up the phone bill."
"They would not complain about it."
"I know, but still. Hey, Gretch?"
"Yes?"
"I'm going to miss you."
Smiling on her end, the genius spoke into the phone, "I'll miss you too, Spinelli."
With that Spinelli took the phone in her hand and pushed the END button. Glancing to the curtains that blocked her semi-clear view of T.J.'s house, she closed her eyes.
"I just can't face him right now." She said quietly into the room.
~
The morning sun rose and through Gretchen Grundler's computer activation system the opened the curtains as soon as the bright sun rays hit them, filling the room with sunshine to the bed that the sleeping scientist slept in. Pushing a stray wavy strand of red hair out of her face, she pushed the covers off her body and padded to the bathroom for her morning shower. A feeling of apprehension stuck as she realized just what she had talked to Spinelli about last night and deep down had the knowledge that the brunette had not talked to T.J. about her leaving. The reason for her friend's reluctance to tell the leader of their group still puzzled her as out of all six of them Spinelli and T.J. were the closest to each other.
Dressing in her now customary outfit of a ankle long blue skirt, a long sleeved button down white blouse and pulled her hair back with a head band, she continued her morning routine and went to eat breakfast. Her parents had been up for hours and neither one was at the table, the note-pad voice messaging system, a project she completed for extra credit her freshman year, was sitting at her designated seat and picking it up, she read over it. That T.J. had called already this morning and wanted to see her and the rest of the group at his house in half an hour. Nodding that at least she could get it over with early, the red headed genius finished her breakfast and headed to the Detweiler Residence.
Arriving at the house that was as familiar to her as her own, Gretchen turned off the engine to her car, a present for her seventeenth birthday after winning finals for Energy Conservation in Washington D.C, headed to the front door only to see Vince wave to her at the side of the house, opening the wood gate to let her into the back yard. Passing by the six foot one athlete, Gretchen's eyes sought out where T.J. was and if the brunette was there. Disappointment hit as everyone was now here minus Spinelli.
T.J.'s appearance caught her eye, as beneath his usually mischievous eyes were dark bags from lack of sleep and his entire posture spoke of some great ordeal that he had recently gone through. Mikey was sitting to T.J.'s right with quiet Gus to his left on the deck of the backyard. Vince's shadow came over her right shoulder and his eyes met hers in the same question they seemed to share about their friend.
Glancing up from under the red cap, T.J.'s blue eyes sought out those of his friends and noticed that Spinelli had not yet shown up although he had called the Spinelli household and left a message on the answering machine.
"Where's Spin?" he asked, then seeing looks exchanged between Gretchen and Mikey, added, "and what aren't you two telling me?"
Gretchen gave in, sighing, "Spinelli won't be arriving today, and she is right now on a plane to Italy for the summer."
Four identical looks of shock registered on the four males. Mikey was the one to recover first.
"She didn't say that it would be today."
"Hold the phone," Vincent LaSalle interfered, "you both knew that Spinelli was leaving but she didn't tell the rest of us?"
"Spinelli found out last night that she has a sister that lives in Italy," Gretchen explained, "and in that same time was told that she would be leaving first thing this morning. It didn't leave her much time to tell anyone anything."
"But she told you and Mikey." T.J.'s voice rang of accusation.
"I was run into by Spinelli outside Kelso's right after her parents told her, she was a little upset," Mikey said, "after talking to her I walked her home, though she didn't tell me when she was leaving."
"She informed me last night when after she had returned from talking to Mikey that the date for her departure was this morning," Gretchen saw T.J. taking this all in, "she said she came by last night before she left to talk to Mikey but no one was home."
T.J. paused. Praying that if Spinelli had come by last night that it wasn't when Ashley A. had been there.
"Is she going to be back soon?" Gustav Griswold spoke up.
"Afraid not, Gus, she is spending the entire summer in Italy."
"I guess it's for the best then," T.J. mused, "as my parents told me last night that I'll be sending the summer with my Uncle Adam in Los Angeles."
"Why there, T.J?" Vince wondered.
Bowing his head, the shock of what he had been told still raw on his nerves.
"My parents are getting a divorce."
Amazement froze the other four, not expecting anything like that to be said from T.J.
"Twenty-five years of marriage and now they are getting a divorce," his voice was bitter and not at all the tone they any of them had ever heard him use.
Unable to really say anything, as what did you say to a friend whose family was breaking apart when yours was stable. No words could make it go away. They all stood there for what felt like an eternity and in their company it was comfort enough to the leader of the group that they cared enough to stay. His mind drifted to thoughts of Spinelli.
Why didn't you find some way to tell me, Spin, he thought.
~
The flight landed on Italian soil and the rocky landing woke Spinelli out of a deep sleep. Grabbing her carry on bag that was under her seat, she followed the rest of the group out, glaring at two other teenage girls that were giggling and stopped dead when Spinelli's eyes focused on them.
No one should be that cheerful after a fourteen-hour flight, she thought and was satisfied that they shut up with one look.
Heading out of the terminal and into the airport, Spinelli caught sight of a sign with her name on it. A shock to her system that the girl holding it was about four inches taller than she was, with lighter brown hair but other than that they could pass for twins the resemblance so striking. Although the older girl was dressed in what looked like designer white jeans and a colorful red and yellow tight shirt, hair pushed back from her face with expensive sunglasses. Next to the girl was a guy that had to have come right out of the pages of Playgirl. Dark tanned, pitch-black hair that fell into his left eye and what eyes, a pure jungle green. Making sure her mouth wasn't opened from the surprise of these two or that she found another guy that she found attractive, she headed towards them.
"You must be Spinelli," the girl spoke, a light Italian accent only adding to her loveliness, "I'm Antonia."
"Who else would she be, Toni," the man beside her teased with a surprising American speech pattern, "the girl looks just like you. I'm Rafaele Viscardi, but call me Rafe."
Introduced to them both, Spinelli finally found her tongue.
"Spinelli," she greeted, "and don't ask to call me by anything else."
Rafe winked at her as Antonia smiled.
"That was how I was told you liked to be called," Antonia explained, "I would not like to lose my life so young to you by calling you by your first name, little sister."
"And should I call you Antonia or Toni?" Spinelli asked.
"Call her Toni," Rafe replied, "Antonia's a little too stuffy for even me."
"Thanks, Rafe." The older girl glared.
Spinelli had to smile at the two of them. They were obviously very comfortable around each other and with a saddening thought, reminded her of herself and T.J.
"Shall we go get your luggage, amore mio?" Rafe asked Spinelli.
At the Italian used, Spinelli looked to Toni for help.
"Seems Rafe just came up with your nickname," Toni grinned, "he called you little butterfly."
Raising an eyebrow at the much taller and older man, Rafe only laughed at Spinelli's look of confusion.
"Don't know whether to beat me up for calling you that or accept it as a compliment, eh, Spinelli?"
"Something like that."
"Stop teasing her, Rafe and just go get her luggage."
"As you wish."
As he walked away, Toni rolled her eyes.
"Rafe is my boyfriend, he lives in my house that I hope you will come to think of as your house as well."
"So just the three of us?"
"Yes, now how about I let you talk about yourself for a while so we can start getting to know each other."
Spinelli had a feeling she was going to like having an older sister.
In the next three months it seemed to pass in a flash. The Villa that Toni and Rafe lived in was right on the Coast, so they both were great swimmer and sailors, which Rafe was determined to make Spinelli into. Finding out that her sister was a fashion model; a very well known fashion model was a little too much for her to accept. Being around the other Ashleys' caused her to have little respect for that kind of thing but attending a photo shoot with Toni gave her a whole new perspective on it. A lot of work went into a shoot and the photographer, a rather young guy by the name of Lorenzo Maiellano, expected perfection in every shot. Toni said that all photographers were tyrants but Lorenzo was semi-new to the craft and still had some emotions left.
One photo shoot that took place when Spinelli had been there a week was the first time she met the girl who would be the only wrong thing with her visit. A young girl, same age as Spinelli, by the name of Francesca Dibenedetto. Having long silky black hair to her waist, with slightly slanted eyes that made her plain dirt brown eyes look exotic, and she was the embodiment of being self-centered. To find out that Francesca was also a model wasn't surprising what was came when Francesca was introduced to Spinelli and Toni said that Francesca was her cousin on her mother's side. Thankfully no blood was between Francesca and Spinelli, although it came over the next two months that someone's was going to be spilt and it wasn't going to be Spinelli's. Francesca was not only self-centered but also obsessed with Rafe, who was twenty-four and entirely too old for the girl besides him being completely in love with Toni. Toni was twenty-one years old, almost four years older than Spinelli, and the perfect match for New York raised Rafe.
What really got Francesca to be such a pain was when Lorenzo came into the studio early when Rafe was helping set up, that Toni got the idea to throw pillows at him with Spinelli's help and as Lorenzo watched, he took out his digital camera and took pictures of the girls in the pillow fight battle, looking care free that he surmised that Spinelli had just as much if not more potential to be a photographers dream to shoot. With the same bone structure as her sister but with a tougher edge that softened, he was surprised she hadn't been sought after with offers. When asked about this, both Rafe and Toni were not amazed to hear that Spinelli had been entered into a beauty pageant in fourth grade by the terrible 'Ashleys' and won by being herself. Coming into the studio a little time afterwards to see Lorenzo, the ice-princess he longed after made her objection at having an amateur being shot known in a not-so understanding tone.
"If you are going to let this, quell' animale, be modeled than I do not see the reason for me to even work in this industry any more."
Spinelli whispered into Rafe's ear, "I get the last part of what she called me what was the first?"
"She called you a wild animal."
"Okay," Spinelli walked right up to the girl and with a open hand, slapped her hard across the face, "now listen to be, you vain manipulator, I've been called worst things by not much better people than you but I draw the line at this. You have no reason to take your anger out on Lorenzo for taking a couple shots of me with my sister, unless you think of me as competition," Spinelli paused, "do you, Francesca?"
Turning her head to glare straight into the glacier that was in Spinelli's eyes, the girl 'humphed'.
"I do not think of you as competition, Spinelli, I see you only as someone not even fit to wipe by boots."
Toni gasped at Francesca saying such a thing.
"I wouldn't care to wipe your boots, Francesca since you are the type of person who isn't fit to be around others. You try to break up my sister and Rafe because you lust after something you can't have and wouldn't understand even if you tried. They are in love. A four-letter word that I bet you've never said to anyone in your entire life. Maybe to your clothes designer but that's it."
Francesca had the grace to look mildly ashamed.
"Now back off, Barbie before you get more than an open handed slap and I promise you," Spinelli took a step forward, "that when I hit you that precious face of yours is going to take blunt of it."
Francesca turned on her four-inch heels and left. Rafe was laughing out loud by this time and Toni was grinning although she knew she shouldn't have let her sister go off like that.
"So, anyone else want to start something?"
That got all of them, including the softhearted Lorenzo to laugh.
Francesca didn't give up, only made her more determined but she knew better than to face off against her cousin's half-sister. Lorenzo convinced Spinelli to let him do a one-time photo shoot as Toni was thrilled to have a reason to help Spinelli out with her wardrobe and style her hair. Asking her younger sister about her clothes, Spinelli shrugged.
"Never saw the reason to be fashionable, that's an Ashley trait."
"But it never hurts to at least look nice, does it?"
"I guess. Haven't really thought about it."
"Not even for that special guy back home?"
"Who?"
"I think you called him T.J.?"
Glancing away from Toni, she answered, "I don't think I have to worry about where T.J.'s interest is."
Toni didn't push the subject but got Rafe to help literally pick up Spinelli throwing her over his shoulder into a beauty shop. Taking out the ponytail that Spinelli always kept her hair in now, its length to the middle of her back, the beautician tisked over Spinelli's hair as Toni stood off to the side making sure to add suggestions and keep her kid- sister from bolting. As the cutting started, Spinelli winced and then calmed as Rafe started talking about worse things they could be doing to her, making her laugh. Soon her hair was just a couple inches past her shoulders, her head feeling lighter and then Toni instructed the woman to cut an inch width of hair in the front of Spinelli's face to be chin- length, then taking out the a small bottle had the woman take Spinelli into the back. When they came out fifty minutes later the part of Spinelli's hair that was cut to frame her face was a dark purple that complimented her.
Shopping was a whole different can of worms. Rafe was made to come with them, even though he protested more than Spinelli had. Sending Spinelli in dressing rooms with clothes, having her come out to have them give judgment by the time she was done, they had gone to give shops two of which Spinelli had heard were major designers and sought after clothes back home.
"Vio siete bella." Rafe told the girl that was already a sister to him, as they went into the beautiful Villa that night.
"I am not beautiful, Rafe," Spinelli honestly replied, "I never was and never will be."
Toni and Rafe knew that she would never see herself as beautiful until the one person whose opinion mattered spoke those words. Toni had been the same way.
A hobby that Spinelli found out she had talent for was painting. Remembering back in elementary school when she got so caught up in a drawing that she was using the black top as her canvas and her friends were trying to keep everyone from walking or doing anything on it, she found that any sort of drawing calmed her down. At home and in school she welded which was kind of an art, according to Rafe. Singing also was something she found herself doing while relaxing. Both took her mind off things, which any girl could say was a good thing.
The day that Spinelli was to leave to go back home, she hugged both of them for the first time. Rafe handed her two sketchbooks and Toni slipped the amethyst she always wore around her neck that was set inside a small butterfly made of silver on a silver chain over Spinelli's head.
"It's brought me luck, maybe it'll bring you some."
When Spinelli got on the plane, waved goodbye to them from the window seat she sat at. Thankful that she had met two new very important people in her life and also glad to be going home again as well.
~Presently~
Her eyes had closed for an instant only to now again be wide-awake as the Captain's voice came over the intercom to announce their arrival. Touching the butterfly that was around her neck, she wondered what it was going to be like to see everyone again after being gone for so long.
~ ~ ~ ~
Next Chapter coming soon...
~Scandal~
November 15-16, 2001
Chapter One: Journey Home
Written by: Scandalous Behavior
~ ~ ~ ~
Small spaces, plush chairs, cramped aisles and awful food while thousands of feet above ground was how she would always remember the inside of an airplane as. Not the carrying conversations that seemed to blend with those belonging to others, the immense feeling of being so insignificant when in flight high above ground and water, or the sense of wanting to write into words what her mind wouldn't let her speak.
Almost like turning into a poetic dreamer, she mused, like Mikey.
That thought produced a grin on her otherwise passive facial expression, causing the older man sitting next to her to glance sideways behind his trendy eyeglasses while involved in the latest copy of the Wall Street Journal. Absent-mindedly aware that she was being observed she didn't do as she would normally have given if it had been three months ago, which would be to say some very demanding comment on what he thought he was looking at and enjoy the reddening of his embarrassed cheeks that would come from her raised voice level, instead she looked out the window ignoring the situation.
Had she really changed so much in so little time, she wondered. Three months wasn't that long in fact it felt more like a week. Having been against going anywhere in the first place she was sure her turn around was bound to shock her friends when she returned, as much if not more than it had shocked her parents who agreed whole-heartedly to her decision when she called a week and a half into the vacation to announce her chosen path for the summer. After being brought into that whole new arrangement she had no choice but to get with the program or be forced to spend the summer with the most heinous self-centered girl that made the 'Ashleys' look like her long lost friends. Well at least in comparison, Spinelli thought, no way did she feel close to them least of all the leader of that Cosmo Magazine devouring group. The girl had turned everything they did this summer into a war zone. Never had she come up against such a foe that wouldn't back down. When it came down to it she was Ashley Spinelli, the punkette. The girl that no one messed with unless they had a serious death wish. Why that one girl had become her nemesis she didn't even know all that she could let herself think, and thinking it made her reconsider the sanity of the person who had told her, was that Francesca was jealous. Ridiculous. How could Francesca be jealous of her? It was un-real, un-thinkable, and un-speakable that the Diva of Italy was actually jealous of a tomboy.
Italy. Still remembering the conversation that sent her there which had started due to her parents flat refusal to let her go to Wrestling Camp instead dropping a bomb on her that she was still feeling the repercussions of.
~3 months and a day earlier~
"What do you mean I can't go?" Ashley Spinelli demanded hotly.
Florence and Robert Spinelli glanced at each other, sharing one of those dreaded 'parent-unity' looks and then both of them turned their faces to the enraged brunette standing in the doorway of the Spinelli's kitchen. Her hands were on her hips, in her normal Don't-Mess-With-Me position, and her chocolate-brown eyes searched their expressions for weakness on this subject, yet it was not to be.
"Pookie," Flo started, in her motherly tone, "you are too old to be going to a camp that is mainly boy populated and it is time you broadened your horizons."
Spinelli glanced at her mom like she was speaking gibberish and gave her dad a Please-Translate look.
"What your mother is trying to say, Princess, is that we think you need to start acting you age," Bob explained, practically seeing the steam coming out his daughter's ears, "not that we don't love you the way you are it's just we think that it's time for a change."
"What about what I think or does that even matter? I've been going there since I was seven years old. It's tradition. They expect me there, I have a championship to uphold."
Flo winced at the thought of her daughter wrestling around on the floor with another wrestler, most likely male, that would injure her poor Pookie.
"And the fact that you do concerns us. You are seventeen, Ashley, going to be eighteen and a senior in High School. Too old to be a child and too young to be an adult. What we are going to do is for the best and we honestly think it would be great for you."
Concern lit up Spinelli's eyes, as she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her normally non-interfering parents were interfering with her life and going to screw it all up.
"What are you trying to get at?" Spinelli finally frustrated demanded.
Bob had to admit that maybe they were going about this wrong, although how to break this sort of news wasn't exactly written in any known parent rulebook. He couldn't explain it to himself about the actions a man takes when he has difficulty in his marriage. His wife sat to the right of him at the small round kitchen table, her bright red head seen out of the corner of his eye.
"Princess, your mother and I have something we need to tell you," Bob paused as Spinelli's impatient posture leaned against the arch of the kitchen entrance, "something that I should have told you years ago."
Flo knew of her husband's reluctance to bring up the subject and her own at having to tell of it but she knew for the sake of their independent tough- as-nails daughter it was for the best that she knew.
"You have a sister, Ashley," Flo announced, "She lives in Italy."
A bomb would have been more expected than this news. Spinelli's eyes filled with the incredible discovery of having another sibling other than her older brother, Joey.
"What? Why...How..Why doesn't she live with us?" Spinelli finally managed to get out as she came closer to the table, seeing her father swallow uncomfortably.
"You have a sister, Princess, but she isn't your full sister. Antonia is your half-sister."
"Half-sister? But you and mom have been only married to each other unless you are keeping something else from me."
"No, no, Pookie. We have only been married to each other." Flo interfered, before her daughter's over-active imagine took over.
"When your mother and I had Joey, we had a time when we didn't live with each other," Bob cleared his throat, "we were separated for almost a year when I met another woman and she gave birth to your sister."
"You had an affair?!" Spinelli accused, taking an involuntary step back.
"It wasn't something that I was proud of, I still loved your mother and things got a little out of hand."
"I understand and accept what happened, Ashley," Flo glanced towards her husband, "I wasn't all that happy with him for a long time because of it but then we had you and it's not something that can be taken back."
"Yesterday I got a call from your sister and she wants to get to know you, wants to invite you to live with her in Rome for the summer."
Spinelli honestly didn't know what to attack first, so being as she was always more inclined to act on her anger she glared at them both for the betrayal she felt.
"You expect me to just accept the fact that my parents weren't together but still married when my dad goes and knocks up some woman who gives birth to a sister I never knew I had and now you want me to travel clear across the ocean to Europe where they probably still use clay to build things to see this left out piece of my life?" Her anger was taking over and as Flo stood Spinelli backed away, not trusting herself towards either of them right at the moment.
"Sweetheart we never meant to hurt you."
"You might not have, but you did. How could you keep this from me?"
As Bob pulled away from the table, the anguish clear in his little girl's eyes too much to bear, she turned on the heel of her thick booted feet and the echoing sound of the boots meeting the wooden planks of the staircase sounded in the deafening quiet kitchen.
~
Throwing herself on her bed, she gave into the tears that welled up in her eyes at being left out of something so big in her life. To have a sister, it was something she secretly always wondered about. Not to hide questions only an older sister could answer when mother's opinion wasn't the one you were looking for and the closest thing you had to a sister was as inexperienced at life as you were. An older sister was experience, the whole been-there-done-that scenario. Now it was coming true what she always wished for and she couldn't find it in her heart to be anything but upset, confused, and hurt about being left in the dark.
Rolling off her bed, she grabbed behind her closed bedroom door for her old worn bomber jacket and threw open her bedroom door. Going down the stairs faster than she ever had before she saw the surprise in her parents' eyes but ignored it as she pushed open the screen door, stocking down the couple steps of the porch to the sidewalk. In more of a run, than a walk, she headed to the place where she could always find the perfect person to talk to. A couple houses down from her own belonged to the Detweilers', where her best friend since kindergarten lived. Wiping at her eyes with the back of her jacket sleeves just to make sure no stray tears ran down her cheeks, she wasn't keeping eyes up and when she finally managed to glance up again the sight before her was enough to make her break down right then and there.
In front of the Detweiler's house, sitting on the curb with the high school letterman jacket over his broad shoulders, head hidden beneath a trademark red cap was her best friend, T.J. No one could mistake his figure for anyone else but what shocked her was the person to his right, facing Spinelli. The perfect, not-a-hair-out-of-place blond with triumph clear in her eyes was the gray and pink clad figure of Ashley Armbruster. Spinelli's nemesis, enemy and foe. With none other than her perfect pink lips locked with those belonging to T.J. His face wasn't turned to see the stone-like figure of Spinelli not standing but twenty feet from them, but she knew his blue eyes would be closed, as he was not one to keep his eyes open in a kiss if her memory from fourth grade was any sort of reference.
Ashley A.'s eyes were slightly open so that she knew exactly who was watching the scene and a small smile was instantly hidden as she again involved herself in the kiss with one very distraught T.J. Detweiler. Having Spinelli come onto the scene just at that moment was almost payment enough for offering the comfort that she was to T.J, though his lips were seemingly just as practiced as her own and fit perfectly. Not slobbering all over her or inserting his unaccomplished tongue down her throat like so many boys tried. It was a simple, sweet, just touching by lips kiss and it rooted Spinelli to the concrete. Knowing, as many did, that Spinelli was in love with T.J it didn't surprise her in the least to see the jealousy spark into the brunette's eyes. What did surprise her was that Spinelli didn't rage at that moment, didn't march right up to her surgically perfected nose and punch it in for laying lips on someone that Spinelli considered hers alone. If her eyes were any judge it seemed that Spinelli had been crying prior to this, the stained stream evident on the girl's darker toned cheeks. Pushing aside having seen Spinelli with a look of close to that of female emotion she continued to kiss the remarkably apt pupil of Detweiler, blocking out Spinelli's unwelcomed presence.
The trance that seemed to make Spinelli lock her body to the spot was broken as Ashley A.'s eyes were no longer on her and turning she ran. Not clear to where she was intent on running to only knowing it had to be anywhere as long as it was far, far away from there. Her suddenly heavy footed steps made thud sounds as they landed on the cement sidewalk, her eyes emptying themselves of locked up waterworks that seemed to have burst into a flood that the only thing that stopped her travels was running full length into a wall. A wall that instantly reached out to steady her, pull her a little distance from it and look down with pure concern.
Michael Blumberg, the boy built like a solid wall, was taking in the broken- hearted mess that was Ashley Spinelli. Seeing that her eyes were filled more with tears than with a clear vision of what she had ran into, her leaned his head down so that she could take in his image.
"Mikey?" her voice was hoarse and so choked up that he was surprised she could talk.
"Spinelli, what's wrong?"
"I...I can't." The tone of her voice was filled with pain that he pulled her to him, a arm around her waist as they walked and coming to a bench that sat in a small park not a block from where she had run into him, right outside of Kelso's Corner Store, no less and closer to his house than her own, he made her sit down and comforted the petite girl as best he could.
Never in his long memory had he ever seen Spinelli cry as deep and as sad as the tears that ran down her unblemished cheeks right then. Sitting beside her, he let her lean into him as she buried her face in her hands sobbing. Finally after five minutes of letting her cry, his shaggy blond head moved to take in the depressed sight. Taking his left hand, he lifted her face from her hands to meet her eyes with his.
"Are you going to tell me what's wrong or do we have to play twenty questions?" Mikey wondered, thinking now was not the time for poetry.
"My parents,." Spinelli sniffled and cursed herself under her breath for acting like such a girl, "are sending me to Europe for the summer."
Mikey smiled at her, shaking his head at her tears over that.
"It's not the end of the world, the sunset beacons and so the call must be answered." Mikey's lyric way of putting words was making its way back into his conversation skills.
"You don't understand.." Realizing she couldn't tell him, at least not the last part, "I have a sister and my parents are sending me to see her."
"A sister? But I thought it was only you and Joey?"
"So did I. The tricks some parents pull, huh?" Spinelli was calming down by talking out loud though her heart still hurt from seeing the guy she loved with the girl she detested.
"This is great news, Spinelli, you have every right to be upset about it but I don't think those were happy tears you were crying, were they?"
"One day, Mikey, you might see into something you might hate to get the answer to," Spinelli told her friend who looked like a guy to be afraid of but wouldn't hurt a fly.
A question entered his eyes but she shook her head.
"I should be happy about, I am happy about it," Wiping her tears off with her fingers, "I don't know what's wrong with me."
"Not everyday that someone finds out they have a sister," Mikey said, "do you know her name?"
"Antonia and she lives in Rome."
"Italy. One of the great ancient societies that are still evident in every stone and brick."
"They don't use clay?" Spinelli asked, softly.
A teasing light entered his kind eyes.
"No, the Romans were far too advanced to use clay, though that's what brick kinda becomes before it is brick and if you ask Gretchen.."
"I want a simple answer not a hour lecture on the history of the Roman Empire, Mikey." Spinelli referred to Gretchen Grundler's high I.Q. that made any simple thing into a lesson that would do a college professor justice.
Chucking, he nodded his understanding before seeing she was looking better and they walked her to her house. Getting inside after telling Mikey goodnight, asking her parents about her sister now more at ease with it and let herself soak in the information to make herself block the reoccurring image of T.J and Ashley A. in her mind.
~
Calling Gretchen that night, Spinelli pulled clothes from her closet and in true Spinelli fashion tossed them into the two suitcases she would be taking with her. Placing the cordless phone between her shoulder and head, she packed while she talked.
"It is remarkable news to learn of this new sibling is it not?" Gretchen's voice came from the opposite end of the phone line.
"Yeah. Dad let me talk to her right before I called you," Spinelli adjusted the phone as she threw socks and underwear into the suitcase over her shoulder, watching them land safely in the suitcase by the mirror's reflection which was attached to her dresser, "she sounds cool. Accent and all but I'm still kinda worried about the Italian language thing. I don't exactly speak even Spanish that I'm learning at school that well, you know?"
"Not to mention proper English." Came Gretchen's remark.
"Hey, thanks, Gretch, next time I need to feel more self-conscious about my talking I know just who to call," Spinelli sarcastically replied.
"Has your travel plans been finalized?" Gretchen switched to another topic easily.
Spinelli halted in front of her bedroom window as she saw Ashley A.'s rich- girl car pass by and craned her neck to see if he was inside it with the infuriating blond, almost making the phone fall to the floor. Picking it up before it hit her bedroom carpet she put it back to her ear and yanked the curtains closed on her window.
"Spinelli?"
"Yeah, Gretch," Spinelli stated, walking to zip the smaller of the two leather suitcases that had seen better days closed which sat on her bed, "they said tomorrow morning, early."
"That soon?"
"You sound as surprised as I was," Spinelli twisted the zipper on the bigger suitcase, that was stubbornly refusing to shut that she was climbing on top of it and landed on it with a soft thump, then swiftly zipped it closed, "but seems she has some big deal happening the day after tomorrow so it has to be tomorrow."
"Doesn't give us much time to tell the guys."
"No!" Spinelli surprised herself in her quick announcement, "I mean, I thought I'd just tell you and you could tell the guys. Mikey already knows about my going there, just not when."
"Have you told T.J?"
"Um..he wasn't home when I went over to tell him." Spinelli lied, though it was kinda true in her mind.
"Shouldn't you try again in the morning, you won't be seeing any of us for three entire months, Spinelli?"
"I'll try, Gretch, but if I can't you'll tell him and the other guys for me, right?"
Pausing, Gretchen debated why Spinelli's tone was so reluctant to even broach the subject to T.J later this evening or the coming morning.
"If you do not inform him I will have no choice of course. Your absence is hard to miss."
Covering the phone with her palm so Gretch didn't hear her sigh of relief, she snatched her hand back quickly.
"Thanks, Gretch. Listen, I'll call you when I get there, okay? They gave me a calling card so your parents won't yell at you for dragging up the phone bill."
"They would not complain about it."
"I know, but still. Hey, Gretch?"
"Yes?"
"I'm going to miss you."
Smiling on her end, the genius spoke into the phone, "I'll miss you too, Spinelli."
With that Spinelli took the phone in her hand and pushed the END button. Glancing to the curtains that blocked her semi-clear view of T.J.'s house, she closed her eyes.
"I just can't face him right now." She said quietly into the room.
~
The morning sun rose and through Gretchen Grundler's computer activation system the opened the curtains as soon as the bright sun rays hit them, filling the room with sunshine to the bed that the sleeping scientist slept in. Pushing a stray wavy strand of red hair out of her face, she pushed the covers off her body and padded to the bathroom for her morning shower. A feeling of apprehension stuck as she realized just what she had talked to Spinelli about last night and deep down had the knowledge that the brunette had not talked to T.J. about her leaving. The reason for her friend's reluctance to tell the leader of their group still puzzled her as out of all six of them Spinelli and T.J. were the closest to each other.
Dressing in her now customary outfit of a ankle long blue skirt, a long sleeved button down white blouse and pulled her hair back with a head band, she continued her morning routine and went to eat breakfast. Her parents had been up for hours and neither one was at the table, the note-pad voice messaging system, a project she completed for extra credit her freshman year, was sitting at her designated seat and picking it up, she read over it. That T.J. had called already this morning and wanted to see her and the rest of the group at his house in half an hour. Nodding that at least she could get it over with early, the red headed genius finished her breakfast and headed to the Detweiler Residence.
Arriving at the house that was as familiar to her as her own, Gretchen turned off the engine to her car, a present for her seventeenth birthday after winning finals for Energy Conservation in Washington D.C, headed to the front door only to see Vince wave to her at the side of the house, opening the wood gate to let her into the back yard. Passing by the six foot one athlete, Gretchen's eyes sought out where T.J. was and if the brunette was there. Disappointment hit as everyone was now here minus Spinelli.
T.J.'s appearance caught her eye, as beneath his usually mischievous eyes were dark bags from lack of sleep and his entire posture spoke of some great ordeal that he had recently gone through. Mikey was sitting to T.J.'s right with quiet Gus to his left on the deck of the backyard. Vince's shadow came over her right shoulder and his eyes met hers in the same question they seemed to share about their friend.
Glancing up from under the red cap, T.J.'s blue eyes sought out those of his friends and noticed that Spinelli had not yet shown up although he had called the Spinelli household and left a message on the answering machine.
"Where's Spin?" he asked, then seeing looks exchanged between Gretchen and Mikey, added, "and what aren't you two telling me?"
Gretchen gave in, sighing, "Spinelli won't be arriving today, and she is right now on a plane to Italy for the summer."
Four identical looks of shock registered on the four males. Mikey was the one to recover first.
"She didn't say that it would be today."
"Hold the phone," Vincent LaSalle interfered, "you both knew that Spinelli was leaving but she didn't tell the rest of us?"
"Spinelli found out last night that she has a sister that lives in Italy," Gretchen explained, "and in that same time was told that she would be leaving first thing this morning. It didn't leave her much time to tell anyone anything."
"But she told you and Mikey." T.J.'s voice rang of accusation.
"I was run into by Spinelli outside Kelso's right after her parents told her, she was a little upset," Mikey said, "after talking to her I walked her home, though she didn't tell me when she was leaving."
"She informed me last night when after she had returned from talking to Mikey that the date for her departure was this morning," Gretchen saw T.J. taking this all in, "she said she came by last night before she left to talk to Mikey but no one was home."
T.J. paused. Praying that if Spinelli had come by last night that it wasn't when Ashley A. had been there.
"Is she going to be back soon?" Gustav Griswold spoke up.
"Afraid not, Gus, she is spending the entire summer in Italy."
"I guess it's for the best then," T.J. mused, "as my parents told me last night that I'll be sending the summer with my Uncle Adam in Los Angeles."
"Why there, T.J?" Vince wondered.
Bowing his head, the shock of what he had been told still raw on his nerves.
"My parents are getting a divorce."
Amazement froze the other four, not expecting anything like that to be said from T.J.
"Twenty-five years of marriage and now they are getting a divorce," his voice was bitter and not at all the tone they any of them had ever heard him use.
Unable to really say anything, as what did you say to a friend whose family was breaking apart when yours was stable. No words could make it go away. They all stood there for what felt like an eternity and in their company it was comfort enough to the leader of the group that they cared enough to stay. His mind drifted to thoughts of Spinelli.
Why didn't you find some way to tell me, Spin, he thought.
~
The flight landed on Italian soil and the rocky landing woke Spinelli out of a deep sleep. Grabbing her carry on bag that was under her seat, she followed the rest of the group out, glaring at two other teenage girls that were giggling and stopped dead when Spinelli's eyes focused on them.
No one should be that cheerful after a fourteen-hour flight, she thought and was satisfied that they shut up with one look.
Heading out of the terminal and into the airport, Spinelli caught sight of a sign with her name on it. A shock to her system that the girl holding it was about four inches taller than she was, with lighter brown hair but other than that they could pass for twins the resemblance so striking. Although the older girl was dressed in what looked like designer white jeans and a colorful red and yellow tight shirt, hair pushed back from her face with expensive sunglasses. Next to the girl was a guy that had to have come right out of the pages of Playgirl. Dark tanned, pitch-black hair that fell into his left eye and what eyes, a pure jungle green. Making sure her mouth wasn't opened from the surprise of these two or that she found another guy that she found attractive, she headed towards them.
"You must be Spinelli," the girl spoke, a light Italian accent only adding to her loveliness, "I'm Antonia."
"Who else would she be, Toni," the man beside her teased with a surprising American speech pattern, "the girl looks just like you. I'm Rafaele Viscardi, but call me Rafe."
Introduced to them both, Spinelli finally found her tongue.
"Spinelli," she greeted, "and don't ask to call me by anything else."
Rafe winked at her as Antonia smiled.
"That was how I was told you liked to be called," Antonia explained, "I would not like to lose my life so young to you by calling you by your first name, little sister."
"And should I call you Antonia or Toni?" Spinelli asked.
"Call her Toni," Rafe replied, "Antonia's a little too stuffy for even me."
"Thanks, Rafe." The older girl glared.
Spinelli had to smile at the two of them. They were obviously very comfortable around each other and with a saddening thought, reminded her of herself and T.J.
"Shall we go get your luggage, amore mio?" Rafe asked Spinelli.
At the Italian used, Spinelli looked to Toni for help.
"Seems Rafe just came up with your nickname," Toni grinned, "he called you little butterfly."
Raising an eyebrow at the much taller and older man, Rafe only laughed at Spinelli's look of confusion.
"Don't know whether to beat me up for calling you that or accept it as a compliment, eh, Spinelli?"
"Something like that."
"Stop teasing her, Rafe and just go get her luggage."
"As you wish."
As he walked away, Toni rolled her eyes.
"Rafe is my boyfriend, he lives in my house that I hope you will come to think of as your house as well."
"So just the three of us?"
"Yes, now how about I let you talk about yourself for a while so we can start getting to know each other."
Spinelli had a feeling she was going to like having an older sister.
In the next three months it seemed to pass in a flash. The Villa that Toni and Rafe lived in was right on the Coast, so they both were great swimmer and sailors, which Rafe was determined to make Spinelli into. Finding out that her sister was a fashion model; a very well known fashion model was a little too much for her to accept. Being around the other Ashleys' caused her to have little respect for that kind of thing but attending a photo shoot with Toni gave her a whole new perspective on it. A lot of work went into a shoot and the photographer, a rather young guy by the name of Lorenzo Maiellano, expected perfection in every shot. Toni said that all photographers were tyrants but Lorenzo was semi-new to the craft and still had some emotions left.
One photo shoot that took place when Spinelli had been there a week was the first time she met the girl who would be the only wrong thing with her visit. A young girl, same age as Spinelli, by the name of Francesca Dibenedetto. Having long silky black hair to her waist, with slightly slanted eyes that made her plain dirt brown eyes look exotic, and she was the embodiment of being self-centered. To find out that Francesca was also a model wasn't surprising what was came when Francesca was introduced to Spinelli and Toni said that Francesca was her cousin on her mother's side. Thankfully no blood was between Francesca and Spinelli, although it came over the next two months that someone's was going to be spilt and it wasn't going to be Spinelli's. Francesca was not only self-centered but also obsessed with Rafe, who was twenty-four and entirely too old for the girl besides him being completely in love with Toni. Toni was twenty-one years old, almost four years older than Spinelli, and the perfect match for New York raised Rafe.
What really got Francesca to be such a pain was when Lorenzo came into the studio early when Rafe was helping set up, that Toni got the idea to throw pillows at him with Spinelli's help and as Lorenzo watched, he took out his digital camera and took pictures of the girls in the pillow fight battle, looking care free that he surmised that Spinelli had just as much if not more potential to be a photographers dream to shoot. With the same bone structure as her sister but with a tougher edge that softened, he was surprised she hadn't been sought after with offers. When asked about this, both Rafe and Toni were not amazed to hear that Spinelli had been entered into a beauty pageant in fourth grade by the terrible 'Ashleys' and won by being herself. Coming into the studio a little time afterwards to see Lorenzo, the ice-princess he longed after made her objection at having an amateur being shot known in a not-so understanding tone.
"If you are going to let this, quell' animale, be modeled than I do not see the reason for me to even work in this industry any more."
Spinelli whispered into Rafe's ear, "I get the last part of what she called me what was the first?"
"She called you a wild animal."
"Okay," Spinelli walked right up to the girl and with a open hand, slapped her hard across the face, "now listen to be, you vain manipulator, I've been called worst things by not much better people than you but I draw the line at this. You have no reason to take your anger out on Lorenzo for taking a couple shots of me with my sister, unless you think of me as competition," Spinelli paused, "do you, Francesca?"
Turning her head to glare straight into the glacier that was in Spinelli's eyes, the girl 'humphed'.
"I do not think of you as competition, Spinelli, I see you only as someone not even fit to wipe by boots."
Toni gasped at Francesca saying such a thing.
"I wouldn't care to wipe your boots, Francesca since you are the type of person who isn't fit to be around others. You try to break up my sister and Rafe because you lust after something you can't have and wouldn't understand even if you tried. They are in love. A four-letter word that I bet you've never said to anyone in your entire life. Maybe to your clothes designer but that's it."
Francesca had the grace to look mildly ashamed.
"Now back off, Barbie before you get more than an open handed slap and I promise you," Spinelli took a step forward, "that when I hit you that precious face of yours is going to take blunt of it."
Francesca turned on her four-inch heels and left. Rafe was laughing out loud by this time and Toni was grinning although she knew she shouldn't have let her sister go off like that.
"So, anyone else want to start something?"
That got all of them, including the softhearted Lorenzo to laugh.
Francesca didn't give up, only made her more determined but she knew better than to face off against her cousin's half-sister. Lorenzo convinced Spinelli to let him do a one-time photo shoot as Toni was thrilled to have a reason to help Spinelli out with her wardrobe and style her hair. Asking her younger sister about her clothes, Spinelli shrugged.
"Never saw the reason to be fashionable, that's an Ashley trait."
"But it never hurts to at least look nice, does it?"
"I guess. Haven't really thought about it."
"Not even for that special guy back home?"
"Who?"
"I think you called him T.J.?"
Glancing away from Toni, she answered, "I don't think I have to worry about where T.J.'s interest is."
Toni didn't push the subject but got Rafe to help literally pick up Spinelli throwing her over his shoulder into a beauty shop. Taking out the ponytail that Spinelli always kept her hair in now, its length to the middle of her back, the beautician tisked over Spinelli's hair as Toni stood off to the side making sure to add suggestions and keep her kid- sister from bolting. As the cutting started, Spinelli winced and then calmed as Rafe started talking about worse things they could be doing to her, making her laugh. Soon her hair was just a couple inches past her shoulders, her head feeling lighter and then Toni instructed the woman to cut an inch width of hair in the front of Spinelli's face to be chin- length, then taking out the a small bottle had the woman take Spinelli into the back. When they came out fifty minutes later the part of Spinelli's hair that was cut to frame her face was a dark purple that complimented her.
Shopping was a whole different can of worms. Rafe was made to come with them, even though he protested more than Spinelli had. Sending Spinelli in dressing rooms with clothes, having her come out to have them give judgment by the time she was done, they had gone to give shops two of which Spinelli had heard were major designers and sought after clothes back home.
"Vio siete bella." Rafe told the girl that was already a sister to him, as they went into the beautiful Villa that night.
"I am not beautiful, Rafe," Spinelli honestly replied, "I never was and never will be."
Toni and Rafe knew that she would never see herself as beautiful until the one person whose opinion mattered spoke those words. Toni had been the same way.
A hobby that Spinelli found out she had talent for was painting. Remembering back in elementary school when she got so caught up in a drawing that she was using the black top as her canvas and her friends were trying to keep everyone from walking or doing anything on it, she found that any sort of drawing calmed her down. At home and in school she welded which was kind of an art, according to Rafe. Singing also was something she found herself doing while relaxing. Both took her mind off things, which any girl could say was a good thing.
The day that Spinelli was to leave to go back home, she hugged both of them for the first time. Rafe handed her two sketchbooks and Toni slipped the amethyst she always wore around her neck that was set inside a small butterfly made of silver on a silver chain over Spinelli's head.
"It's brought me luck, maybe it'll bring you some."
When Spinelli got on the plane, waved goodbye to them from the window seat she sat at. Thankful that she had met two new very important people in her life and also glad to be going home again as well.
~Presently~
Her eyes had closed for an instant only to now again be wide-awake as the Captain's voice came over the intercom to announce their arrival. Touching the butterfly that was around her neck, she wondered what it was going to be like to see everyone again after being gone for so long.
~ ~ ~ ~
Next Chapter coming soon...
~Scandal~
November 15-16, 2001