Once Kylie was ready, the three of them left for the opening ceremony, and when they arrived, no one was surprised by a large group of reporters that were waiting for them. Anything that Miller touched attracted attention. Lucas was about to get out of the car and open the door for Kylie, but Kylie said, "Hold on. The ceremony doesn"t start for an hour. Let"s pull over and watch the stars as they arrive."Faith nodded and said, "I think that"s a great idea, and I can also touch up your make-up while we wait."
Lucas grabbed the make-up bag from the trunk and handed it to Faith.
Faith was just about to reapply Kylie"s mascara when Lucas pointed Lilly out. Her G.o.dfather had managed to get her an in the movie. It was a very small part, but she had a.s.sured her of a ticket to this event. "It is a bit embarra.s.sing to be in the same movie that she is in," Kylie sighed.
"Never mind that," Lucas told her. "Her s.h.i.tty acting only makes your acting look better. It would be good if you could make peace with your father, though. I heard from the shareholders of the company today that Khloe stopped paying his medical bills. n.o.body knows what will happen to him…"
Kylie"s heart sank. Even though Laurence wasn"t her biological father, she did feel some empathy for him. She thought it over for a second, and then she said, "I will check in on him tomorrow."
The next person to arrive was Sally, the movie queen, and they all began to clap. She was just getting out of her car and, the minute they saw her dress, the car went quiet. Sally was wearing the same dress as Kylie – this, as they all knew, was the biggest faux pas that an up and coming actress could commit.
Kylie felt a sudden urge to pull out all of the hair on her head. If they had gone in when they"d gotten here, Sally would have been deemed the copycat and, in this case, curiosity really had killed the cat – and what made it even worse for Kylie was that Sally wore the dress better than she did!
Lucas glanced at his watch and frowned. "The ceremony starts in half an hour," he worried. "What are we going to do?"
"It is too late to go back and change!" Faith said. "Just go in with your head held high and made the most of it. Many stars have survived much worse. Just look at Selena Gomez and Jennifer Laurence. Both women have had nude photos leaked on the internet, yet they are still adored by millions of people worldwide. The trick is to stay positive and pretend that nothing happened. You don"t want to end up like Bill Clinton…"
Kylie smiled, and she nodded in affirmation. "Perhaps you are right," she said. "But I don"t want to give up just yet - perhaps I might even alter the dress somehow…"
Kylie thought about it for a while, and then she pulled a pair of scissors out of the make-up bag. She looked at Faith and said, "May I have your sleeves? Your dress would still be beautiful as it is without the sleeves."
Faith looked at her arms and said, "Take them. If you"d asked, I would have given you the whole dress."
As quick as she could, Faith stripped her dress off and handed it to Kylie, who quickly cut the sleeves off. There was also a sewing kit in the make-up bag, and Kylie carefully sewed the sleeves from Faith"s dress onto the dress that Ethan had given her.
When Faith saw what a difference the sleeves made, she clapped with joy and said, "You are a genius."
When Faith looked over the dress, though, she wanted to do more for Kylie, so she took the pearl necklace from around her neck and placed it around Kylie"s neck. She smiled and said, "Please wear this in honor of my great grandmother."
A tear ran down Kylie"s face, and she said, "This means the world to me!"
"Alright," Lucas laughed as he opened his door, "It"s GO time!"
Kylie opened her door and headed in the direction of the trunk so that she could collect her overcoat. Before she could get there, though, the media jumped on her – not literally. They tried to stand between her and her destination; they shoved their microphones in her face, and they asked a stream of worthless questions.
Kylie raised her hand and said, "If you have questions for me, you can send them to me through my website. I promise I will answer them. Now is not the appropriate time. The ceremony is about to start. Please don"t hinder me."
The reporters continued to ask their questions, but once they saw that she was serious, they moved on to the next "Star," and Kylie was able to get her coat from the trunk.
***
Blossom"s opening ceremony was lively, and everyone said later that they"d had a good time. Furthermore, because it was Miller, who was the director, the ceremony attracted many List Actors. Among them, Kylie saw Edward Norton, Sally, Dwayne Johnson, and Emily Watson.
When Dora had the opportunity, she approached Sally and praised her on her dress. Dora touched it carefully and said, "The dress is gorgeous, but no one could bring it to life in the way that you do!"
Sally blushed and said, "Pish posh. It is nothing. The only reason I look good is that I pay a team to make me look this way. In fact, you are more beautiful than I am – and your beauty comes naturally!"
As they were talking, Kylie, who was still wearing her overcoat, came up to them and bowed politely to Sally. "h.e.l.lo, Miss Cooper," she said. "My name is Kylie. I grew up watching your films. You are my idol."
"That means a lot to me," Sally replied. "These days, if a film isn"t new, it"s worthless. Any time someone compliments me on my old films, it makes my day!"
Suddenly Dora took hold of Kylie"s coat. She gave it a tug as she said, "I have heard a lot about your dress. No use for hiding your light behind a bushel. Let"s see!"
Kylie"s coat fell open, and to Dora"s surprise, Kylie smiled and slipped out of the coat. Dora had intentionally purchased Kylie the same dress that Sally had bought in order to embarra.s.s Kylie. However, when Dora pulled off Kylie"s overcoat, the shock in her eyes could not be disguised.
The dresses had been considerably altered to the point that they were no longer the same dresses.
The moment the overcoat was off, Kylie took a spin to show it off, and then she bowed.
"Your dress..." Dora gasped.
Misunderstanding Dora"s surprise, Sally patted her back and said, "I know, right. It is beautiful. If you look close, there are parts that are similar to mine, but hers looks much better." Sally began to clap, and she said, "Well done! Well done! I can"t wait to see your picture on the cover of Entertainment Weekly!"
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