Chapter 10! This one's the longest chapter so far. Anyway, I probably won't be updating until at least Wednesday since I'm revising for my theory for driving :) wish me luck XD
Anyway...
Happy Reading xxx

Friday night
"Ah. The things I bloody do." Chelsea rushed around her house and stuffed her wig in an old duffle bag. She paused for a second counting up everything she had packed so far. "Blue folder!" She dashed off to her bedroom and grabbed the folder with the ferry tickets and schedules in it. She took a quick glance at the mirror before leaving She wasn't wearing her usual outfits but rather one of Marie Gold's fancy dresses. She wore a white strapless cocktail dress with a pastel blue bow going around the waist. Her hair was tied up ready to put the wig on when she arrived at the city docks.
She zipped up the bag and switched off all the lights in the house. "See ya Sunday." She mumbled and grabbed up the bag. She adjusted it around her shoulder as it was extremely heavy.

-/-

"You got everything Nat?" Chelsea asked as she handed Natalie the house key and instructions for the crops and Fairy.

"Sure, have fun visiting your mum." Chelsea sighed quietly. The highlight of this concert is knowing Julia would be in the crowd, and even then would Julia recognise Chelsea in Marie?

"Thanks for this and don't worry, I'll get Julia to do next week." She said as she slung her bag back over her shoulder.

"Chels, it's really not a problem. It's only one day a week. I don't care if it's every week I have to do it."

"You know I wouldn't ask you to do that." Chelsea gave Natalie a hug, "I wanna stay and chat but my ferry leaves in less than 20 minutes." Chelsea turned away from Natalie and waved, "See you on Sunday."

"Bye Chels." Natalie called back as Chelsea left the house.

-/-

Chelsea waited on the beach as she watched the passengers leave the ferry she was about to board. She stared blankly at the strange faces arriving on the island but then one cowboy hat caught her eye.

"Vaughn? What are you doing here on a Friday?" Chelsea grabbed Vaughn by his sleeve and took him to one side.

"It's that Marie Gold's concert tomorrow night so I've come to take Julia down in the morning. I ain't letting that blonde go alone." He looked at Chelsea from head to toe, "You look like a girl…" Chelsea smacked him on the arm.

"What do you mean 'I look like a girl'? I am a girl." Chelsea pressed her eyebrows together. Vaughn tipped his hat as he felt himself starting to blush.

"No. I-I mean you look really…" He trailed off and cleared his throat.

"I look really?" Chelsea started to interrogate Vaughn a little more. He cleared his throat again.

"Nice." He scratched the back of his head. "You look really nice."

"Oh…" Chelsea was startled by Vaughn's comment. In a good way. "Thank you." She said.

"I have to go now and you're going to be late." His attitude quickly changed and he became quite blunt. "Bye." He said as he strode away. Chelsea watched as he disappeared, she looked back at the ferry and boarded it.

-/-

Chelsea entered her cabin and threw her bag down by her bed. She sat down on the bed which squeaked, she took a moment to take in her surroundings.
The cabin was very small. There was only enough room to have the bed, a bedside cabinet and a clothes rake. The bathroom and toilets were elsewhere. The colour didn't help as it was a dark blue; this compressed the room down even further.

Chelsea laid back, her legs still hung over the edge of the bed and she stretched her arms out. She closed her eyes. All she could hear was the waves crashing against the side of the ferry and the bustle of passengers roaming the corridors. It wasn't long before she drifted off into a deep sleep.

-/-

Chelsea woke up with a start, she gasped for breath whilst she looked over at the clock on her bedside. It was 5am. She had one hour to get herself ready to meet her mother at the docks. Her breathing was still heavy but she calmed down rapidly. She sat at the edge of her bed and gripped the covers with her hands. She gradually stood up and rummaged through her bag. She grabbed up her wig and adjusted it on her head. She looked at herself in a small pocket mirror, she was sad to see Marie staring back. Her blonde hair was long enough to have it all going over one shoulder, it looked good that way.
She put the mirror back into her bag and zipped it up. She picked it up and left her cabin, she waited in the lobby area ready to arrive.
She sat down on a small bench and gazed at the ocean.

"It is her, daddy!" She heard a little girl exclaim "Can we go see her?" She had footsteps go bounding towards her.

"Sweetie, I don't think…" Her father trailed off as a girl about 9 appeared in front of Chelsea. She was quite pale, had plaited brown hair with red bows and large glasses. She was very pretty.

"Marie!" She shouted happily and gave Chelsea a huge hug, "I'm your number 1 fan!"

"Sorry Ms Gold." The father finally approached. His hair was quite grey but he looked no older than 50. He looked familiar to Chelsea but she couldn't work out where from. "Darcy, you can't just do that!" He scolded the little girl.

"No, don't worry about it." Chelsea said to the father. "She's fine." She smiled.

"Can I have your autograph, Marie?" Darcy stuck out a small notebook and pen.

"Sure, Hun." She took the pen and paper and started writing, "To Darcy, never give up on your dreams, with all my love Marie Gold xxx" The look of awe struck Darcy as Chelsea handed back the pen and paper.

"Can I have a photo with you? Is that ok?" She said sweetly, Chelsea nodded. The father took out his camera and Darcy stood next to Chelsea. "Thank you so much!" She gave Chelsea another hug, "I can't wait for the concert tonight!" She grabbed her father's hand and waved as she left Chelsea.
Chelsea smiled to herself but she felt sudden loneliness as she realised Darcy was Marie's fan, not hers. Something she was going to have to live with in this double life.

-/-

Chelsea's mother stood directly in front of the ferry as she waited for Chelsea.

"Hello Mother." She closed her eyes as her mother kissed her on the cheek. Darcy and her father walked passed Chelsea, Darcy's father looked on and swiftly walked faster.

"Marie, come. We have lots to get on with. First I'll be taking you to the private salons to get your hair and make-up sorted. You look awful at the moment." Her mother sneered. "This is why I need a professional; I can't trust you to do it yourself." Her mother started trotting off. "Come!" She shouted at Chelsea who reluctantly followed.

-/-

"No. No! This is completely wrong." Chelsea's mother cut off the music. "We have one hour to get this perfect before the performance tonight. We have one hour and then you have to get your costumes ready." She told Chelsea who was in the middle of a dance move. She then wandered up to two male background dancers. "You two I want you to dance either side of Marie. The others should go back a bit more. Let's restart." She pointed over to the sound crew. Her mother watched as the song ended. "I suppose that'll do." She clapped her hands together, "Marie, time to meet a few of your fans with backstage passes."

"What fans?" Chelsea asked as she gave her microphone to one of the stage organisers.

"The ones watching your rehearsals." She pointed to the front row seats where there were 5 people sat. Two of which were none other than Julia and Vaughn. Julia was sat grinning like a Cheshire cat whereas Vaughn sat quite uncomfortably. Chelsea's face dropped in shock.

"I don't want to meet them now!" She hissed at her mother.

"Why ever not?" Her mother folded her arms.

"I'm not feeling too good at the moment." Her mother sighed. Chelsea had a developing headache since she got to the city and it suddenly worsened.

"Take a bloody paracetamol for it and get over it. They've paid good money now go down and see them." Chelsea growled in frustration. She didn't want two of her friends to see her as someone else. She plodded down the stage steps where she greeted the five people. Four really as Vaughn kept back.

"Hi guys!" She said happily. The four fans squealed as she pulled them in for a hug. "What do you think of the rehearsals?" She asked as she pulled back.

"Amazing!" Julia jumped up and down in excitement. Vaughn pulled his hat down from embarrassment.

"Good but I'm sorry to cut this short as I have to get ready for the performance but we'll meet afterwards yeah?" She smiled as the small group dispersed. Vaughn stayed behind.

"Marie?" Vaughn approached Chelsea, he had his hands stuck in his pockets as usual. "Or Chelsea?" He raised one of his eyebrows.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." Chelsea started to go back up the stage steps. Vaughn grabbed her wrist and pulled her back around.

"Come off it, Chelsea. I know it's you." Chelsea widened her eyes.

"How?" She whispered.

"For one thing, you're wearing the same dress as I saw ya in yesterday and secondly, your manager is also your mother." Chelsea bit her lip.

"You're not angry, are you?" She said in a hushed tone.

"Why would I be? Julia? Probably. But I suspected it for a while now." He said.

"Enlighten me."

"First, you panic every time ya heard about Marie Gold and Marie was your sister's name. Do ya actually have a sister or does your mother prefer this side of ya?" Chelsea could feel the presence of her mother waiting at the top of the stairs.

"Both." She said and ran up the stairs, leaving Vaughn waiting.

-/-

After a half hour of talking to her four fans in her dressing room, it was time for her to get ready to go back to the islands. That was until Vaughn dropped in.

"You're not going to let this go, are you?" Chelsea sighed as she packed her bag.

"I just want a few answers and if you don't want to answer them, then that's fine." He said quietly.

"Look, I have a sister. Her name is Marie and my Marie is based on what she looked like. Obviously my mother favoured her." She said as she still packed up.

"Looked like?" Vaughn raised an eyebrow.

"I haven't seen her in like 10 years." Chelsea shook her head.

"So why isn't she performing? Why hasn't your mother got her to do it?" He questioned.

"You tell me Vaughn. You tell me…" Chelsea disliked thinking about her sister. She would never forget the crazed look in her eyes that day so she repressed it to the back of her mind.

"I just don't want to see you hurt." Vaughn looked down at his feet. Chelsea paused.

"Huh?" She heard what he said; she just wanted to hear him say it again.

"You've been so nice to me and I don't want to see a good friend get hurt." He said, still looking down. Chelsea looked at him in shock. She walked over to him and cupped her hands around his face. She looked him in his beautiful violet eyes and smiled. She then wrapped her arms around him. He hesitated for a second before hugging her also.

"That's the best thing you've ever told me, Vaughn. You don't have to worry about me."

Admit it! For a split second, you thought Chelsea was going to kiss Vaughn :P
Ah, so Vaughn now knows Chelsea's secret but is there more to it? You'll have to read and find out.
Until next time xxx