Celebrity Skin

Ariennette woke the next morning slightly different then how she did most other mornings. This morning, she felt an arm draped over her side. She panicked momentarily, before noticing the simple diamond ring adorned on a familiar hand. She turned around and poked the petite woman’s cheek.

“Reese, what are you doing here?” She asked.

She recognized the ring, not only because she knows Reese very well, but because it caused a fight between Reese and Jack. Jack, being very well paid by Ariennette, wanted to buy Reese a huge, expensive ring. Reese, being the low-key low-maintenance person she is, wanted something small, elegant and simple. She eventually won, and got the ring of her dreams. A simple silver band, with a beautiful, elegant diamond gracing the top. Simple and classy, just how she liked things.

Reese yawned. “I came over this morning with Chris when he was leaving you’re cloths for the day. I got tired and decided to take a nap.” She smiled.
“What’s on the agenda for today?” Ariennette asked, stretching her arms above her head.
“Baby shopping!” Reese cheered.

Reese was far too hyper for her own good. She, like Ariennette and Jack, was also from Nashville. She and Jack started out as friends, and eventually, it developed into something more. Jack always knew she was the one, so when they flew out to California, there wasn’t a doubt in Ariennettes mind that Reese would be coming along. Jack was a lucky guy; Reese was gorgeous.

“So did you find out the sex yet?” Ariennette asked once she stepped out of the shower.
Reese shook her head. “We don’t want to find out until the birth.” Reese was 6 months pregnant, and still extremely tiny. The baby is due in June.
Ariennette nodded and began getting dressed. She sighed once she saw what she was wearing.
“Are Jack and Chris really making you dress like this all the time?” Reese’s southern accent was strong, like Ariennettes used to be.
She nodded. “All the time.”
“We’re only going shopping. Why do you have to look like a super model to go shopping?”
“Who knows?” she sighed. “Apparently, I have an ‘image’ to uphold.”
Reese frowned. “I have an idea!”
“Wanna share?”
“Go get you’re blonde wig and meet me in you’re closet!” Reese beamed, pushing her out of the room.
“Okay?”

Ariennette made her way downstairs and down the hallway, into the large closet she used for storage. She had bought a blonde wig a few years back to see how she would look, and just never got rid of it. She rummaged through the boxes of junk before finding it and running back up the stairs and into her walk-in closet. Reese had other ideas for her outfit of the day.

“Okay, put all these on!” She said, stuffing cloths into Ariennettes arms.
“Okay.”

She made her way into the bathroom and smiled once she had everything on. Reese had given her very plain cloths, sunglasses, and mixed it all with the blonde wig. No one would ever notice her, which is exactly what she wanted. She bounced out of the bathroom and engulfed the smaller, pregnant woman in a hug.

“You’re a genius!” Ariennette beamed.
“My pleasure, RiRi.”

Reese knew how much Ariennette hated dressing up all the time. If she had it her way, she’d lounge around in pajamas all day. She didn’t like feeling like a Barbie Doll, and Chris and Jack trying to dress her up and prance her around was doing exactly that.

“Come on, let’s go Blondie.” Reese smiled.
“You’re one to talk! You’re a natural.” Ariennette teased.
“Yea, yea whatever.”

They made their way out the door and into Ariennettes red, 2010 Audi A4, speeding off to the mall. It took all of 15 minutes to get there with traffic, but they successfully found a parking spot and made their way in. The malls were never busy on Mondays, so it was the perfect day to not be spotted. The pair walked through the mall to the baby store where Reese picked out several outfits, a basinet and a car seat.

“I think the baby’s hungry.” Reese smiled, rubbing her still tiny belly.
“Food court it is.” Ariennette smiled.

They walked through the nearly empty mall and into the food court, heading straight for the McDonalds stand. Ariennette got herself a Big Mac, fries and a coke, while Reese bought herself 3 double cheeseburgers, a 10-piece nugget, 2 biggie fries and a large sprite. She is pregnant, after all.

While Ariennette was throwing out hers and Reese’s garbage, she felt herself being lifted up and spun around. She screamed out, severely afraid and wishing she hadn’t lied to Mike about going out, before reaching into her pocket to take out her pepper spray. Before she had the chance, the assailant put her back on the ground. She turned, pepper spray held up and ready to shoot, when she saw who it was.

“You nearly gave me a fucking heart attack!” She screamed. “Are you following me or something? How did you even recognize me?”
“Sorry, no, and you were blonde in Alpha Dog. Not a great disguise.” Jimmy smiled.
She sighed. “What are you doing here?”
“Shopping with my girlfriend. She’s getting a smoothie. Wanna meet her?” He asked excitedly.
“Sure.” Ariennette shrugged. She motioned for Reese to walk over, which she did. “This is my friend, Reese.”
“Nice to meet you.” Reese smiled.
“You have a cool accent.” Jimmy noted.
Reese shot Ariennette a look. “Uh, thanks?”
“You’re welcome!” He smiled. “This is Leanna.” He introduced as the girl walked towards him.
“Hi.” Reese said.
“Lee, this is Reese and Ar-”
“Oh my god, you-you’re Ariennette Cash! Jimmy told me he met you, but, holy shit! I’m such a huge fan.” Leanna gushed.
Ariennette smiled politely.
“I’m so sorry, I’m rambling. I must be making you feel so uncomfortable right now.” Leanna apologized. “Okay, let’s start over. I’m Leanna.” She stuck out her free hand.
“I’m Ariennette, and this is my friend Reese.”
“My new best friends!” Jimmy proclaimed, throwing his arms around both women’s shoulders.
Leanna just laughed; she must be used to his antics.

“Ms. Cash! Ms. Cash! Over here!”

All four looked to the side to see a short, stubby man running towards them, camera in hand. Six men behind him noticed his running, and began chasing behind him, not willing to let whatever story he may have slip past them.

“Fuck.” Ariennette cursed. “Can you two do me a huge favor please?”
“Sure!” Leanna smiled.
“Reese’s pregnant and can’t run. Reese, tell them where my house is and I’ll meet you there.” Without another word, Ariennette took off running down the mall.

She managed to loose them around a corner, and buy herself a few minutes of time, but the seven men caught up quickly. She ran out into the parking lot and into the car, where she started the ignition and threw the vehicle into reverse, almost hitting one of the photographers. She raced out of the parking lot until she hit the highway, where she was sure she had lost them.

It may seem awful that she had left her pregnant friend in the hands of two strangers, but she may have lied to Jimmy when she said she had only faintly heard of Avenged Sevenfold. She was, in fact, a very large fan of the music. She didn’t know much of the band members themselves, but she had heard nice things about them. On top of that, Reese was six months pregnant. It’s not healthy for a pregnant woman to be running through a mall to get away from paparazzi. That, and if they would of caught up with them, the photographers can sometimes be quite violent. She wasn’t willing to put Reese, or the baby, in any kind of danger.

While lost in her thoughts, Ariennette was jolted forward, caused by someone bumping into her car from behind. She glanced into the rear view mirror and noticed a piece of shit Toyota riding her ass. She sped up, only to have the car behind her speed up as well. She tried moving over into the next lane, only to have a Nissan pull up along side of her; they had blocked her in.

She tried to hit the gas, hoping to maybe get enough speed to be able to pull out in front of the Nissan, to no avail. The Nissan began to move towards her, slamming into the side of her car, nearly sending her into the guard rail. She honked her horn wildly, hoping another driver would hear her, see what was going on and call the police. The Toyota crashed into her from behind, jolting her forward and smacking her head against the wheel. She started to feel light headed, but continued trying to escape. The Nissan and the Toyota hit her from both sides one last time, sending her car flying over the guard rail. Mid-air, Ariennette smashed her head against the steering wheel for a second time.

The dizziness she felt from the first blow was incomparable to the pain coursing through her body from this one. Her vision began to go hazy and she tried to keep her eyes open, to no avail; darkness clouded her vision. She had one last thought, before her mind shut down.

Why would someone purposely try to kill her?