Hidden Beneath the Mask
Disclaimer: Well two shows I do not own: "Good Luck Charlie" and "How to Rock", so try not to give me grief as I'm not claiming them.
A/N:
Chapter 4 (Home Cooking)
After school, Skyler was happy to be home and away from everyone else. The apartment she lived in was a small, two-bedroom apartment with completely bare walls and tiny rooms. The carpet was a drab grey. The box living room only had a couch, television, TV-stand, and a round dining table behind the couch in the middle of the room.
Her father didn't want any decorations like she did, but in the house, his word was law. It wasn't like he was a bad man, he really wasn't, and she did love her dad with all her heart. She may have resented him a little bit for forcing her away from PJ, and moving away when they lost her mother, but she didn't dislike him. He didn't talk much anymore, and was often fondling his small pistol that he had for protection. He was frightened a tad of LA, so he was often concerned about robberies.
Though they had two bedrooms, he often fell asleep on the couch. She usually had to cover him up with a blanket and make sure he was okay. His bedroom was just as empty as the living room, anyway. He had his double bed propped against the side wall, with the window in the middle of the bed. His dresser was on the other side of the room, and often he just dropped his clothes on the floor when he got dressed. It was up to Skyler to pick them up and wash the laundry, as she washed the dishes, cooked, cleaned up, and did everything else in the house. Her dad could take care of himself though, he was just stuck in a rut, to be honest.
Grace often asked why she never let any of her friends over, or even Grace herself, but she didn't want them to see how she lived. When she entered the house, her dad's head jerked up from the couch he was lounging on. He smiled at her and slowly sat up. "How was school, dear?" She smiled back at him and dropped her backpack next to the couch before sitting beside him.
"It was okay." He didn't know she went by Molly, nor did he know the troubles that she had. While they did talk about everything, she didn't want to burden him or guilt him over the past. Those were her cross to bear, not his.
"Make any friends? You should invite your friends to dinner some time. We've been here for over a year and you've never invited any over, you're not embarrassed of me are you?" He bowed his head and leaned forward. Skyler felt a great deal of pity. Was he really this bothered by the lack of friends she was bringing to the house? "I know our apartment isn't much to look at, it's just that all those decorations were your mom's, and…it's difficult to put them up."
"I understand." He just wasn't ready to do that, and to be honest, a little part of her wasn't ready either. Molly might say to throw them on the walls anyway, that the place stank worse than a sewer, but Skyler never felt it was appropriate to bring that persona home to her. "It's hard to forget her. You should get back on your feet soon, Dad, you can't be depressed all the time…" Of course, she was one to talk, but how could she ever take her own advice? "Grace and Nelson are finally going on a date, Daddy."
He often heard about the people in her life, and wanted to meet each-and-every one of them. "Really? I'm impressed, I thought you said those two were clueless about each other? Well regardless, I'm happy for them." He lifted his eyes up to her and raised up a hand, tucking her hair back with a smile. "Your mother would be proud of you, you know that?"
"Thanks Daddy…" Her cheeks burned and she quickly looked off to the kitchen. She could smell food already cooked, which was a bit of a surprise. "Did you make supper?"
"Yes, I thought it might be a good idea to at least try to get up off my ass." He chuckled softly and Skyler gazed to him with pride. It was a step in the right direction for him. Maybe if he actually got a chance to get back on his feet, she could certainly try herself. "Your friends…they don't, they don't seem like they know you all that much." Her heart jumped into a panic and she quickly looked over at him, ready to faint on the spot. Did he know about her persona? How? A lump began to form in her throat, and the urge to flee was stabbing at her. "Don't be afraid to show your friends who you are, Skyler…you're a beautiful, sweet young girl with a soft heart. They need to see that."
"So I don't talk much, I'm a little shy…" David looked to her with a gentle smirk and skeptical eyes. She started to lean back, wondering if she should make a break for it. "What makes you think my friends might not know me all that well?" He took a deep breath and pushed himself off the couch.
"Oh I don't know, if the fact that they've never been over to the house isn't one sign…there's a poster on the wall down at the supermarket that's promoting the coming battle of the bands. The lead singer of the Perfs group on that poster looks so much like you…" She started to pale as her father began moving to the kitchen. He did know about The Perfs group, but since he'd been afraid of leaving the house for so long, he'd never seen any of her bands. He often told him that she was just a fan of the group, that a girl named Molly Garfunkel was the leader. "But then I thought, 'no', it couldn't be you. So I don't know…"
"Yeah, maybe your eyes were playing tricks on you, Dad." He was getting older, but if there was one thing that was certain, he never had poor eyesight in his life. "My friends know me very well." Or well, they knew Molly. Grace was really her only 'true' friend, the other girls in the group were only there because of the popularity and fame. They were the roadies that could care less if their leader was there or not.
So maybe she was being dishonest to Grace, but she was scared to change that. Everyone needed a good friend to back them up, to lift them up when they were down and to smack them in the face when they were being too full of themselves. PJ had Emmett for that, Kacey had Stevie, and Grace might be that person for her. However, if Grace knew she hid who she'd been, then she might not want to be her friend anymore. She couldn't lose anyone else in her life, she just couldn't!
"I don't want to lose Grace, Dad. I lost mom, that baby, PJ, I don't want to lose Grace." David frowned and slowly looked back at her.
"If Grace is a true friend, and genuine, she wouldn't leave you. Right?" Skyler swallowed and started to nod. Her eyes were beginning to sting, forcing her to fight the urge to tear up. She bit her lip as her father walked over and put his hands to her shoulders. "Skyler, I'm sorry about the miscarriage, and I'm truly sorry that I didn't let you keep seeing PJ. I just…I don't know what I was thinking, and I know he should have been there for you…he probably would have been." She lowered her gaze and lifted her shoulders, trying desperately not to think about him right now. "Your mother told me constantly that moving was a bad idea, and then PJ followed us to New York, I knew he genuinely cared…anyone that genuinely cares deserves to be in your life, and they will be. I'm certain Grace would still be, you wouldn't lose her."
"Maybe not…when we came down here, it was just a new start. I don't want people to see my past…I don't want people to know about everything."
"That's one thing, but don't hide the wonderful person that you are." He hugged her and pat her back. Skyler closed her eyes and stopped fighting her tears, allowing them to roll slowly down her cheeks. He was right, she knew he was, but it wasn't that easy. She couldn't possibly expect people to see her for who she really was. It went so far that even when she came home, she had to make sure no one was following her.
She swept her finger along her nose and turned her gaze to the kitchen. "What's for dinner? It smells really good…" Her dad did a lot of Italian cooking, as he did come from Italy. Skyler was only half Italian, her mom was from America. Her dad loved cooking years ago, he was the chef in the family, and taught her to cook when she was young. He smiled and wagged a finger in the air.
"It's good! I went to the store bought some fresh vegetables and pasta, so what we have is my special homemade lasagna." Her eyes lit up and she quickly rushed into the kitchen, expecting her favorite meal. David walked in behind her, beaming with pride. The lasagna was sitting in its tray on the stovetop, having been freshly pulled from the oven.
When he made lasagna, he made everything fresh, as fresh was always better than store-bought. The tomato sauce, the mozzarella cheese, the pasta, everything from head to toe of the dish was a plate full of smoldering beauty. He often adorned it with some Italian herbs and seasonings that made the flavor pop in her mouth. There was even a secret to the recipe that only the two of them knew, just a dash of extra spices in the sauce, that made the whole dish light up. When someone took a bite of it, it was like a punch in the mouth, then a heavenly and fluffy taste that soothed the throat. She'd only ever made it herself for one other person, and that was PJ.
"It looks so good, smells so good, I want to eat it now!" She was also tempted to put a couple slices in a Tupperware container and take it to Grace, but that might be a little much. This lasagna was always best fresh, anyway, rather than re-cooked. "Can I make the first cut, Daddy?" So it had been a long time since either of them made or ate the lasagna, her excitement was not misplaced.
"Of course you can." She quickly grabbed a knife and fork from the counter and ran over to the tray, two plates were already positioned beside it. David leaned up against the wall as she started pressing the knife cleanly through the soft morsel. She was so eager that she was certain her father was laughing at her. "Can't wait to get a taste of it, can you?"
"It's been a while, sue me."
"You should take some to your friends. Show them your Italian side." She frowned and slowly set a large square of lasagna on one of the plates. "I made a full dish, it's difficult for two people to eat it all, and I don't want it to go to waste."
"I guess…" She never wasted food. Even though she was certain Molly would just dump the food in school dumpster, her pride over the cooking was far too strong for that. "I'll have to think about it."
"Why? When you were younger, you would have jumped at the chance."
"I know." She placed a second piece of the irresistible food onto the next plate, picked them up, and walked out to the table. The kitchen was just a tiny box as well, so there was no space for a table in there. There was hardly any room to stand, with the stove and oven on one side, and the countertops and built in sink on the opposite wall. "I just, people don't know that I'm even Italian."
"Have you really kept that part of your life under wraps as well?" She heard him mutter, but said nothing in response. She felt guilty for not letting those close to her know about this great delicacy, so maybe her father was right. Perhaps she should show Grace the food. Hell, she knew the girl would enjoy it, Grace loved Italian food, but that wasn't the only reason she knew it was unfair to keep it from her. Grace's family was from Greece, so Grace had already shown her some Greek dishes, it was only fair to return the favor.
"I wonder how Grace would react to it." Slowly she sat down at the table, ready to pick up the fork and dig in.
What do you guys think of the house? Skyler and her dad actually ahve a pretty close-knit relationhship
