• Lights, cameras, the latest styles, and her loving mother directing her photo shoots. A real dream come true for a child star . A star indeed she was until she loses her mother in a treacherous car accident. From that moment on it was up to her dad to take her on the road with him. Forced to drop out of school, together they hit the road. Twelve months later they return to their favorite city they are proud to call home. Ahmi's fairytale came to an unexpected end when her father just recently received a big promotion in his traveling career. Unfortunately, it means he can no longer take the time to care for his thirteen year old daughter.
    At the beginning of a brand new school year, Erie Ahmi is excited to be going back to school where she can see her best friend, D'estry, again. In the meantime, she'll be staying with her aunt, uncle, and spoiled fourteen year old cousin in their fancy mansion. The day comes for her to pack her belongings and her father drops by her room with an armfull of costumes that were left over in her mother's costume store. The sight of her mother's beautiful creations light up her face.
    "I figured you might want these."
    "Thanks dad, this means a lot to me. It's been a while since I've worn anything like that."
    Her joyous expression fades just as quick as it came. Even though they're a joy to take with her, they're also the last connection she has to her mother. The modeling career ended a year ago when she had to leave everything behind. Her father takes one finger and lifts her chin up.
    "It's not forever you know."
    "...first I lose mom, then you, and now you're making me live with them. Haven't I suffered enough?"
    Her father chuckles at the way she used the word 'them'.
    "You make them sound possessed or something."
    She puts one tiny hand on her father's broad shoulder.
    "Dad, wake up. They use family as servants there."
    "They promised me they'll take good care of you.
    "Now hurry up, we're running late."
    He checks the clock beside Ahmi's bed.
    "The housekeeper should be here any mintute."
    A spark in Ahmi's eyes light up like a sparkler on the fourth of July.
    "Let me stay here with the housekeeper!"
    He turns back around on his heels at her sudden outburst. He knew his daughter would come up with some sort of loop hole, luckily just how to handle this, "I've had this plan for you for a while, Ahmi. There's no way I'm letting you stay here without me. You're going."
    Ahmi throws the rest of her clothes in big suitcases and the costumes in a seperate duffle bag. Before she knew it they're loading her belongings in the truck. Her two year old husky lopes to her side hoping to go along for the car ride. Ahmi shoes him away as he stands there with his head cocked to the side. Her father takes hold of his collar and leads him inside the house before departure.
    Ahmi fastens herself in as her dad climbs in the driver's seat. He sees the desperate look on her face as they pull away from the beloved house, it'll be quite some time before she gets to see it again. Tears stream down her cheeks while her head and elbow lean against the window, in pure silence she drowns her sadness in a river. Time passes far too quickly, the sight of the mansion comes, and by now Ahmi's river is nothing but a trace of tears left on her face. The same time they step out of the truck, the family and the servants all greet them at the door. The servants haul her belongings into the house, and the family welcomes her.
    "My, she's grown since last year." her uncle warmly shakes her father's hand.
    "We're very happy to have you with us, Erie Ahmi." her aunt ambushes with a, supposed to be, loving hug.
    Her cousin stands in the entry way leaning against the door with his weight shifted to one side. The adults exchange each other's greetings and good byes, then they all disappear to let father and daughter say their fare wells. Ahmi hides her eyes from him in fear she'll start crying again. He takes her hands in his open palms and squeezes them tightly in his.
    "Ahmi I need to you look at me, please."
    Her eyes open and naturally lock on his. The stream returns when she wraps her arms around him one last time. The hug lasts for a long moment but even Ahmi knows it has to end at some point.
    "Dad, please don't go."
    "I'll be back before you know it."
    And with that he releases her grip from his waist and kisses her forehead over and over. With one last brave smile, she turns away and runs to the entry way of the mansion, unabling herself to look back. Her father wipes the tears from his eyes and starts the truck. Once the truck was nothing but a distant humming on the highway, Ahmi closes the door behind her.
    Ahmi is found running around the mansion, enjoying herself. Her childish energy diminishes when she runs into her aunt, who happened to be looking for her too. In her left arm she's carrying an outfit that Ahmi can identify very easily. It's one of the last costumes her mother made before the shop closed for business.
    "This will be your uniform." she says cold heartedly.
    Her aunt holds the blue costume up for Ahmi to get a better understanding. Of course she would choose that because it's a maid costume. The sleeves are adorably puffy; a small white apron is sewn to the bodis, and the skirt is thrice layered with sparkly white lace. Held in her aunt's right hand is a pair of white tights and blue ballet flats.
    "You went through my stuff - why would you go through my stuff?" Ahmi's forehead creases as her eye brows nit together.
    "You belong to me now; therefore I have the right to violate your personal belongings - such as those costumes I generously hung up in your closet."
    Ahmi takes one step closer to her aunt.
    "You don't own me, and I certainly don't belong to you."
    Ahmi snatches the costume from her hands and took it to her new bedroom. The bedroom is nothing special. Blank cream colored walls, a simple guest bed piled high with blankets, an old dresser, and one window with a sitting area and cushions. In no mood to rebel against her family, Ahmi takes off her street clothes and neatly stacks them on the bed. She slips the costume on and glares at the reflection in the full length mirror hidden behind the door. Studying her appearance her memories take her back to when her mother used her as a mannequin once, back when this particular costume was just a prototype.

    ***
    Ahmi skips merrily around the shop while her mother works hard putting the finishing touches on, what will be a masterpiece.
    "Erie Ahmi, come here a moment." She stands back from her work to look at it from a different angle.
    "What you need, mom?"
    She positions her daughter in center of the one hundred-eighty degree mirror.
    "I'm going to slip this on you, k?" with a wink of her eye.
    Once the costume is on her body, she's very pleased with how well it fits Ahmi. Anyhow, she picks up a needle and reattaches the pieces that had fallen off. Every now and then she'd stick Ahmi with the needle on accident. And by the time she finished Ahmi wiggled her way out of it, her whole torso is decorated with tiny needle punctures.
    "Ugh. Mom, look at me!" Ahmi wails half jokingly. Her mom covers her mouth to keep from laughing and puts it back down, barely enough time for Ahmi to see.
    "Oh, I'm sorry honey. See why you should stand still?"
    Ahmi nods her head the same time her mom wraps her embracing arms around her shoulders.
    "I love you, honey."
    Ahmi smiles at her mom through their reflection.
    "I love you too, mom."

    ***
    "Oh, mom, I wish you were here."
    A sudden knock on the door startled her. Without given permission, they walk in anyway.
    "Hey, what's taking so long? My mom needs you downstairs."
    Dakota gimps once he notices her outfit.
    "Nice outfit, Ahmi."
    "I happen to think it's beautiful."
    "It looks like you need a refund to me."
    Her eyes focus on the floor in shame and sorrow.
    "My mom made it for me."
    Examining his clothing choice of style it doesn't look all richy-rich either. Nothing more than black and leather belts and skater boy shoes.
    "Well look who's talking, you're wearing all black. Where's the high class in those clothes?"
    Dakota stands there gawking at her, until they hear the familiar sound of adult authority beckoning. Downstairs Dakota's parents call Ahmi down to the den for a meeting arranged for the serving staff only.
    "Don't be late." Dakota commented as she pushed past him.
    Downstairs all servants alike file in to the den. Ahmi follows taking the rear. Her aunt and uncle are the only two people who are allowed to sit down.
    "Crew, today we welcome Erie Ahmi, our niece, to the hustle and bustle of the house."
    A bunch of the older servants look at her. Most of them are very surprised to see how young she is to be working for people like this; cruel, selfish people. The meeting progresses on and soon comes to an end - much too long for a young teenager. Her authority figures fired every servant except one and herself. A teenage girl named Lara wearing the traditional black maid's uniform and black shoes.
    "Lara, you're in charge of cleaning and organizing. As for you Ahmi, you will be our waitress, call it if you will. You will serve me, my wife, our son, and most importantly: you will serve at every party and social gathering we host. Understand?"
    "Sure. I tend to your every whim."
    Ahmi turns to leave the den when her aunt brings something else up; perhaps the most important, but also the cruelest.
    "On that note, you will eat on your own time. You simply won't have time to sit down and eat with us."
    The last nerve is ticking and not knowng how to deal with it, she stormed out of the room with a strong kick out the doorway. The day comes to a close as the sun sets behind the horizon, lamps outside the mansion light the dark halls with a soft yellowish glow in every other window that she passes. In the hall closet next to Ahmi's room is a spare TV and cable connections and extension cords. She took the whole set up to her room and hookes each wire up to its proper connection. Programming the time it's nearly five, Ahmi hurries to punch in the time and flips to the sports channel.

    Chapter 2:

    Ahmi's mother used to take pictures of her to display on her store advertisements. The local professional studio liked the pictures and offered a part time position for both mother and daughter. Her mother was photo director, and Ahmi was the star. But Ahmi still had her love of sports, tennis in particular. As often as possible, Ahmi watches her favorite athlete, Mina McCauley. A fifteen year old girl who is now the youngest worldwide champion. Every chance she gets she tries to see every match Mina enters.
    The match has reached it's last few minutes by the time Ahmi finds the sports channel.
    "Amazing! Mina McCauley has yet continued to astound us." the reporter announces directly into the microphone. "Mina, how about a word to your fans. How do you explain all your success?"
    "Fifteen years of holding a tennis racket has it's advantages. Also long hours of training and hard work." with a nod of her head and a twist of her body, Mina bounds off to her parents.
    "If only she knew how much I wish to be her. Your life is great and mine is..." she checks her surroundings, comparing them to Mina's cheering audience. "not."
    A corner of her door is left open by just a crack, Ahmi could have sworn she closed it. She investigates peeking through the crack; a dark shadow tries hiding off to the side. The breathing becomes uneven and then the shadow darts down the hall. "Dakota" she whispers.

    Ahmi's first weekend there was not all too bad. She did very little around the mansion, during then she explored the mansion aimlessly, until one door down the hall from her room caught her attention. The door lead to a staircase which spirals all the way up to the attic. The wide open space had no use. Nothing more than just old cameras, green screens, props and boxes of film. The rest of her Sunday afternoon Ahmi was up in the attic, and by the time the sun has set and the lighting dims her private studio is complete.
    Monday morning came with flying colors, there could be no other time Ahmi is this happy. She has missed D'estry in the last year she was with her father. However, once she got there it's not at all how she remembered it. Everyone she used to know rather well all stared at her like she was from a different planet. Only D'estry made her feel welcome.
    The only part of her day that went smooth was lunch. D'estry sat with her and they finally could catch up. So much has happened in the last year Ahmi can hardly bear to keep to herself but the conversation takes a depressing turn she was not prepared for.
    "Long time no see, Ahmi. You never gave me a heads up on what was happening."
    "Well, my dad received a promotion in his career. The promotion meant that I could no longer travel with him because he's much busier than before."
    "If your dad is off traveling the world, who are you staying with?"
    Ahmi rolls her eyes in disgust that she'd have to answer this to anyone - especially to D'estry. Just then something clicks in her mind. She doesn't have to tell him about the maid slash waitressing job they're making her do, she can just explain the basics.
    "I'm staying with my family here in the city. This way my dad doesn't have to worry about me and I can attend school again."
    "How do you like living with your rich family?"
    "Um...it keeps me busy. There's always something going on." Ahmi forces a smile on him to hide the truth.
    "What I would give to be you."
    "No. It's not at all what you think, D'estry."
    Leaving it with that they sit in a moment of awkward silence, both of them trying to figure out what to say to each other. You would think after a year of not being able to see your best friend, or to even call to say "hi" you'd have a lot to talk about. She had everything planned out and every word rehearsed in her mind, until now.
    "So how are you, Ahmi?"
    "Fine. Embarrassed actually, I never imagined it would be this hard to withstand the crowd again."
    Ahmi knows D'estry will be upset if he knew she's miserable. Ahmi and D'estry have known one another their whole lives, and in that history they developed feelings, longing to belong to each other. If they were to become anything other than friends, that'd mean D'estry would find out the truth.
    The rest of lunch they sit in awkward silence, staring back and forth as the other looked away. The bell rings and everyone drags their feet to class. D'estry caught Ahmi's shoulder just as she was turning to leave the cafeteria.
    "Hey, what are you doing after school?"
    "Oh. I'm sorry D'estry, I'm busy every day of the week."
    D'estry shrugs his shoulder.
    "How about this weekend?"
    Ahmi stands in silence, carefully wracking her brain for some solution to his determination.
    "I'll look into it."
    Everyone's favorite time of the day: the end of it. A black limo pulls up to the main doors of the school. The driver prepares to open the door for Ahmi when she's ready. Everyone crowds around the limo gawking at it. Ahmi and D'estry had to fight their way through them until they finally broke free.
    "Your family awaits Miss Erie Ahmi." the driver politely bows and opens the door. Ahmi tossed her backpack to the other side of the limo and climbs in. So far Ahmi's life is like a fairtytale after all. That is until she walks through the front door of the mansion. Her workless weekend is no more.
    Her aunt throws Ahmi's costume at her face the moment she caught sight of her. "We have important guests coming over tonight."
    One of the teeth on the zipper caught a loch of Ahmi's wavy, light brown hair as she pulls the costume off the top of her head.
    "Ouch. Who is it?"
    "Does it matter? Get ready!"
    Ahmi scowls behind her aunt's back when she walked away. Dakota stampedes his way down the stairs and knocked into her shoulder. He eyes her from head to toe seeing her still dressed in school clothes.
    "What, you're not ready yet?" he checks the expensive gold watch on his wrist. "You're on duty as of now!"
    Ahmi sarcastically gasps in shock and horror. "Look!" holding up his wrist. "It's not black."
    Dakota grimaces and shakes her loose and storms off. Ahmi bounces up each steprather amused with herself .
    Returning to the main level in her costume carrying the silver tray in her hand, Ahmi hears her name mentioned from the den. And who is she to see, could have been anyone other than Mina McCauley standing before her family. How can such a big star athlete be standing in the den?
    Ahmi takes a deep breath and graciously strolls over to them.
    "Mr. and Mrs. McCauley this is our waitress, Erie Ahmi."
    The McCauleys notice her age and frown. Mrs. McCauley is a major sponsor for Childrens' Orphanages and Childrens' Hospitals worldwide, so when she steps forward you know there'll be trouble."How old is she?"
    "Thirteen." her aunt proudly responds. The McCauleys all exchange glances. To change the subject, they send Ahmi on the long run to the kitchen to fetch tea and orderbs. The McCauley family sat down waiting for the young waitress to return. The uneasiness of Mrs. McCauley builds tension for Ahmi's aunt as she reads her troubled expression.
    "Is there something wrong, Mrs. McCauley?"
    "Where are the girls' parents?" she says sitting forward, crossing her legs and proping one elbow on top of her knee.
    "Her father travels and she lost her mother last year."
    "Does she have family she could stay with?"
    "Yes. But her father wouldn't let her leave the city, so we took her in so she could go to school here."
    Mr. McCauley stands by the window over looking the garden, shaking his head saying, "That's a shame, it really is." to himself. Ahmi returns balancing the steaming tea kettle and six tea cups and finger sandwiches on her silver tray, and sets them on the coffee table. Just as she finished handing out the hot cups of tea and sandwiches, Mr. McCauley takes her hand and leads her to a chair in between him and his daughter. For the longest time sitting in the same seat, no one had spoken since Ahmi walked in with the refreshments. Everyone exchanged glances with one another nonchalantly sipping the tea. This whole time Mina has been thinking of a way to excuse Ahmi from the adults. Then the light bulb clicks.
    "Erie Ahmi, may I see the rest of the mansion?"
    "Of course, follow me."
    Mina politely smoothes the wrinkles from her mid-thigh length, royal blue skirt rising to her feet. "Excuse us."
    Once Ahmi closed the heavy oak French doors she begins explaining where the nearest hallway leads. Mina interrupts her in mid sentence.
    "Can they hear us?" placing one hand on the door.
    "No, it's completely sound proof."
    "Good.I made up the tour thing of the mansion. I actually just want to get to know you, Erie Ahmi. "
    "Wow. Never in my life did I imagine this would ever happen."
    "Let's walk while we talk."
    Ahmi and Mina wander from hallway to hallway, passing through room after room, until they open double French doors leading out to a fancy, ivory marbled balcony on the west wing.
    "This place is amazing and all... but what is your home like?"
    Ahmi leans up against the balcony railing with her back to the outrageously beautiful scenery.
    "I lived in a big house out in the country with my parents."
    "From what I understand, your dad travels... so who looks after the house?"
    "My dad hired a house keeper after my mom past away. She takes care of my dog and looks after the horses."
    Although Ahmi was a child star too, her mother made sure she still had time to be a kid. Mina, on the other hand, spent her childhood on a tennis court and gym.
    "Fascinating!" Plus being a worldwide champion means a lot of moving around and no time for her to sit back and enjoy simple pleasures, so being able to hear about them is still pretty great.
    "What do you do for fun?"
    "I could show you what I did for fun."
    Mina cocks her head to the side and raises one eyebrow. "What do you mean 'did'. You don't have fun anymore?"
    Ahmi shrugs one shoulder and stands away from the balcony. "And after my mom past away I traveled the world with my dad. When he arranged me to stay with these people, I have absolutely no time to myself."
    "Who exactly are these people to you?"
    Ahmi sighs, crosses her arms, and turns her head the other way.
    "They are my aunt, uncle, and my cousin Dakota."
    Mina's mouth falls open and suddenly Ahmi loses interest in the conversation. Ahmi takes Mina back inside the mansion to rejoin the dinner party. A short moment later Ahmi spots Dakota weaving from one side of the hallway to the other, at once she knew he's looking for Mina. She grabbed Mina's arm and hid down the nearest hallway out of sight. She peers from the wall, Dakota is getting closer and there's not much more room in the hall. Ahmi quickly scans a mental map of the mansion, figuring out how to dodge her cousin. The best place to hide is her bedroom - on the top level. In the hallway which they stand in has a hidden nearby staircase. Ahmi's eyes light up, still hanging onto Mina, her and Mina open an ordinary looking door and dash up the stairs in the nick of time.

    Safe behind a closed door that she dishonorly calls her bedroom, Ahmi kicks off her ballet flats hard against the opposite wall. Mina senses the anger released and flinches when the shoes smacked against the wall. Ahmi plants herself on the corner of the bed.
    "Mina...am I dreaming?" she says. Mina's attention is redirected on Ahmi's question. "I hope not. Why do you ask?"
    "Because this sort of thing just doesn't happen to people like me."
    Mina looks at Ahmi like she has no idea what she's talking about.
    "A big star like you shouldn't be sitting in the bedroom of a thirteen year old waitress. I've seen every one of your matches on TV, and here you are in the flesh, hiding in my room from my cousin."
    "I wish people would stop seeing me as a star, and start seeing me as just another person."
    "Who is a fifteen year old, worldwide tennis champion." Ahmi adds.
    "You make it sound like I'm the only one, in this room, whose traveled the world, which I'm not. By the way what do you mean 'a big star like me'? If I recall, I remember seeing your face plastered against every magazine in this city."
    Ahmi relaxes her shoulders from being worked up. Mina slides down to the floor with her back against the door.
    "Tell me about your mom - if it's ok."
    "My mom. Where to begin?" Ahmi leans back relying on her arms to support her body weight, looking straight out the window in the corner. Growing bored sitting on the cold hard wood floor, Mina strolls around the boxey room to stretch her legs. Wandering aimlessly in circles Mina ends up in front of Ahmi's closet full of costumes. The door opens with a snowfall of glitter pouring to the floor. "Oh my god, these are incredible. Where did you get them?"
    "My mom and I made our start in fashion a couple years ago. She ran her own costume store in the heart of the city."
    Mina carefully rifles through each dazzling costume in awe.
    "My mom also made the 'uniform' I'm wearing right now. I was there standing perfectly still for her the day she finished putting it together."
    "She was truly gifted, your mom. I can tell she was really special."
    "You don't know the the half of it. Since my dad was away that left more than enough time to bond, just mother and daughter. And when he came home every Saturday and Sunday it was such a special time for the family to connect." Remembering the happy memories of her distant life both make her happy and sad.
    "Erie Ahmi..." Mina quietly calls to her. "What happened after...everything?"
    "I had to leave school and had to leave the studio so I could travel with my dad. Until very recently he received a huge promotion where he could no longer watch over me."
    Again they sit in silence till Mina can think of a gentle and sensitive response to pick up from. "Well" she says, "it may seem like your life came to an end, but honestly if you think about it...it all happened for a reason. You spent a lot of time with your mom, and the experience was to bring you and your dad closer. And you would never have met me if that didn't happen."
    "I get it" Ahmi says "You're right."
    Mina's luminating smile becomes contagious for the same smile plays Ahmi's full pink lips.
    "You know Erie Ahmi, you are the first one to treat me like a regular person. Everyone else just talks to 'Mina the Star' and not 'Mina the Person'."
    Ahmi huffs under her breath. "It's funny. When I was a little bit younger I dreamed about becoming a professional tennis player, too. But look at what I got instead - "
    Mina sneers in a regretful tone. "This was never a dream of mine. I was an ordinary toddler who picked up a racket one day and, rather than smacking the ball, kept smacking herself in the head."
    Imitating her mother, Ahmi covers her mouth to mask the laughter emerging. Mina shakes her head with a friendly grin, showing it's ok to laugh. Half a second later Mina is laughing with her, much more at the irony rather than the hiliarity. Mina's career went from smacking her own head to a worldwide champion. How can two child stars, who grew up in different settings, be friends? Simple. Both girls want one another's dream.