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But there was something about him that made my skin feel like bugs were crawling all over it.
Everything about him seemed too polished, too perfect, and his dark brown eyes…they were the worst part. They were cold like Mama’s, and I hated how they seemed to measure and judge everything about me.
With a faint smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, he leaned down, "You're going to be a big star, sweetheart." His words were silky and smooth, and oily feeling. I didn’t like the way they slid across my skin. I especially didn't like the way he was staring at me. I shivered and Mama’s nails dug into my shoulder, silently telling me that wasn’t allowed.
The man held out his hand. “I’m Marco. And you and I…we’re going to be best friends.”
I shook his hand, not sure what I was supposed to say. “I’m Olivia,” I finally said…dumbly. Because surely everyone had known who I was before I sang…right?
He chuckled, but there wasn’t any happiness in the sound. It felt like he was laughingatme.
I hated when grownups did that.
After he let go of my hand, he patted my head. His touch was too firm, too possessive, and I shifted uncomfortably under his grip.
Mama, as usual, didn’t catch on to my uncomfortableness.
Or maybe it was that she just didn’t care.
That was probably it.
“So what’s next?” she purred, clasping her hands under her chin and beaming at Marco like he was the most wonderful person she’d ever met.
Marco started to captivate her with a bunch of stuff I didn't fully understand—recording a Christmas album, TV show auditions, photo shoots, and more. When he mentioned something about a tour, I blinked a couple of times. Because I couldn’t do that. I had school and my friends, and I had my choir concert coming up in the spring.
"What about school?" I stuttered when they mentioned a bunch of cities. Besides this trip, I’d never been outside the county line. The cities he was mentioning were all over the country.
Marco stared down at me, his expression blank. Mama’s face was a mixture of rage and annoyance, neither of which were good for me.
His grip in my hair tightened for a moment, and then he patted my head in a condescending way. "None of that matters now, Olivia," he said dismissively, his voice dripping withsuperiority. “We’ve got much more fun things on the horizon than a little bit of formal education.” He chuckled again, that wrong feeling slicing down my back. “And besides…aren’t your classmates going to be so jealous when you’re a big star?”
My eyes widened. I didn’t care about any of that. Lottie and Megan didn’t care about that. I wasn’t going to see my best friends anymore?
They continued to talk about plans, and with their words, the numbness I’d been feeling was sliding into panic.
What was happening?
When was my mother going to explain to me what was going on? Leading up to yesterday, Mama had been nothing but vague, talking about this “life changing moment” without telling me what was so life changing about it.
"We'll need to give her some highlights, and a much better haircut," Marco drawled, directing my attention from my nerves, to the fact that he was staring at me again. “And those clothes…” his voice trailed off, but that mocking tone was there, fixed in every word he spoke.
I glanced down at my dress, wondering what was wrong with it. I glanced at Mama and saw her cheeks were flushed, like she was embarrassed.
"And she'll need to gain a few pounds,” Marco continued. “We can’t have her looking like a street urchin.”
I smoothed down my dress as they continued to talk about all the things they wanted to change about me, like I wasn’t even there.
Marco’s gaze was still focused on me, his eyesstillcold, like there wasn’t anything inside him. Grandpa used to tell me you could tell a lot about a person from their eyes.
I hadn’t understood that until today.
Finally, Marco seemed to be done, glancing down at his watch and swearing when he saw what time it was. “I’ve got torun to a meeting. Marsha will send all the paperwork,” he tossed at us, already striding towards the door.
“Sounds good,” Mama called after him, still speaking in that weird, overly excited voice—one I’d never heard from her before.
Marco paused in the doorway, staring back at me. "Olivia,princess,we're going to make you a star. You'll have everything you've ever dreamed of,” he told me with a smug looking smile before he disappeared from the room.
“And youaregoing to become a star, little girl,” Mama said through gritted teeth, no sign of the friendliness and happiness she’d possessed just a second ago.
