Henry Parker finds Love

On a perfect sunny day on Venice Beach, a certain young actor was spotted with a new mystery girl. Yes, that's right, it was twenty one year old, Henry Parker! Witnesses say they had both raced through the water and that young Mr Parker had given his girl a piggyback ride. After, the two had embraced each other and shared a cute kiss! But we don't need to think Henry has a 'mystery' girl, because we have possibly found out her name! Sixteen year old Gabrielle Thornton had claimed she had talked to Henry Parker and that he had introduced his mystery girl as 'Lainie' his new girlfriend. This has been a shock for many people, as Henry Parker isn't the type to commit. So is it really true? Has the boy who used to get wasted at clubs every weekend finally found 'the one?' … Yawning, I sipped my iced chocolate and out from the kitchen and into the lounge, where Henry was kicking back on the sofa reading the tabloids. "Well done Lainie! I'm really proud of your acting skills!" Steve praised as I shuffled into the room. Henry frowned. "And what am I, a cactus?" "Actually you're a jerk," I answered nonchalantly, plopping myself on the navy leather armchair by the window. I saw Henry roll his eyes and I did too. Steve handed me the tabloids to read and I flinched at the large black and white picture of Henry and I in the water kissing. Now was where the glitzy life of a celebrity's girlfriend was going to start. Everyone now knew who I was. "Anyway guys, I've had requests for interviews but I've held them off until after this Saturday," Steve continued, clasping his hands. "What's on Saturday?" I asked feeling like an idiot, as Steve and Henry were both giving me weird looks. "I'm proposing to you this Saturday," Henry said slowly, as if I was dumb. "Weren't you listening before?" Steve asked. "A few days ago?" I shrugged. I didn't remember anything. Steve sighed. "I've planned the whole thing out. It was hard, but last week I reserved a table for both of you outside Wilshire Restaurant on the patio. It'll look romantic and real. I also hinted anonymously to the paparazzi that both of you were going to be there around eight, so that's when they'll arrive." "I thought our reservation was for seven," Henry said, frowning. "It is. That gives you time to order, wait for the food and eat," Steve explained. "Oh Lainie, you'll need to find a dress to wear." I automatically groaned loudly. Dresses never looked good on me. "Can't I wear like … a skirt? I hate dresses." Steve shook his head. "A dress." I grimaced making him laugh at me. "Don't worry Lainie. It's not that bad." "That's because you're not the one wearing it!" I burst out. Steve sighed and turned to Henry for help but he was just smirking at us. Typical. "Lainie, stop arguing," Steve sternly said. "You are going to wear a dress." I sighed. I guess there was no use arguing since he was as stubborn as I was … I think. "I don't even know how to pick a good dress," I grumbled. "All dresses look bad on me." "That's not true. Every girl can look beautiful in a dress," Steve reassured. "I've called April to help with your shopping tomorrow. You also need to update your closet with designer clothes since they might criticise you for your fashion choice …"

I shuddered at the thought of shopping

and designer clothes. "I'm sure everyone

will love jeans and tees and Converse."

"But you can't keep wearing that all the

time," Steve said pursing his lips.

"Alright, I'll go. And wait … who's April?"

Henry looked me in the eye and

answered, "My sister."

* * *

So today I'm going shopping down

Rodeo Drive for a dress to wear to the

restaurant where Henry will be

'proposing' to me.

I was sitting on the sofa watching re-

runs of Friends in an off-the-shoulder

gauzy white top, dark skinny jeans and

gold sandals. I had chosen something a

bit nicer than I'd usually wear to please

Steve. As I sat there worried about

shopping (I had never been the

shopping type), the doorbell rang. I

switched off the TV and quickly got up.

When I opened the door, I was

surprised.

I had expected a tall dark haired beauty

like Henry, since they were siblings.

Instead, I faced an ordinary looking girl

about my age. She was pretty though,

but not as 'bam' as Henry. But that

wasn't a bad thing. She had wavy red

hair and was about my height with

dimples in her rosy cheeks.

She was the complete opposite of Henry

which actually made me feel better.

"Hi, I'm April! You're Henry's girlfriend,

Lainie, right?"

I smiled weakly and nodded. April was

bubbly and optimistic, so different from

the smirking indifferent Henry. She

wouldn't stop beaming at me. "My whole

family are so excited to meet you!

Henry's never had a steady relationship."

"Oh, I can tell," I replied, smirking. Who

would want to be with a jerk like him

anyway?

April laughed and told me we better get

going. I nodded and followed her out

onto the driveway to her silver Porsche.

"Is it me or does everyone here have

fast cars?" I asked out of the blue.

April grinned. "Welcome to LA."

Once we arrived at Rodeo Drive, we

went into nearly all the shops. April

bought me heaps of new clothes,

especially ones which were just too

pretty for me to wear. I had new

dresses, skirts, jackets, cute tops and

heels. Oh my goodness. Even four inch

ones. How could I even walk in that?!

We also found a strapless cream

champagne cream dress with a

sweetheart neckline for the proposal

occasion. April didn't know Henry was

proposing to me and she didn't

question me when I said I needed to

find a dress. Actually, she ended up

buying me heaps of dresses. The dress

also had beautiful gold detailing and

actually looked ok on me. April had got

frustrated because she spent twenty

minutes trying to convince me I looked

better than 'ok.' It was quite funny,

actually. She kept stomping her feet.

After all that shopping, it was around

four and I was starving. We headed to a

nearby café and I felt like a kid, ordering

cheesecake and chocolate milkshake,

while April ordered a 'Caramel Latte

Macchiato' and a muffin. We talked while

we waited for our food. I liked that April

was pretty easy to talk to.

"Can I ask you something?" April looked

at me a bit timidly so I nodded. "What do

you want to do in life?"

I smiled, as April looked earnestly at me.

"I want to be an architect."

April's brown eyes widened. "An

architect? Wow!"

I nodded. "I've always loved looking at

historical buildings and stuff, and I love

designing, so yeah."

"Hi five, sister! I love designing too!"

I was glad at least we had one thing in

common. After all the shopping, I was

starting to think that we would be

friends who were complete opposites.

"What do you want to do then?"

April bit her lip and looked down, but

her eyes sparkled still. "I want to be a

fashion designer."

"That's cool, April!" I reassured, having

no idea why she looked so down. Did

she think she was no good at it? "You

have a great sense of fashion, seriously."

"Thanks," April said blushing. "I want to

open my own boutiques called Rozette.

I've made designs of heaps of different

types of clothing and I'm studying

fashion designing and business at

UCLA."

I nodded to myself. It was good that

April had a dream and a plan already.

"Can I ask you something though?"

"Sure!" April chirped.

I took a breath and looked her in the

eye, as I sensed my question was pretty

much an invasion of privacy. "Why do

you look so … unsure about it?"

April jutted her lips out as she thought

about something. "My father … he

doesn't think I'll be successful. We had a

huge argument when I told him my

dream. I hardly visit my parents. If I do,

it's my mother or on occasions like

Thanksgiving and Christmas."

Wow.

I felt really bad for April. I mean, my

mother just didn't care about what I

wanted to do, but April's father didn't

believe in his daughter. I found myself

asking a question I couldn't help asking.

"What about Henry?"

April sighed. "Father and Henry don't get

along. Henry's reputation as a bad boy

ruined our family reputation. And it was

my father's dearest wish for Henry to

take over the company he owns. They

used to fight a lot but now they just

ignore each other. But Henry and I visit

our parents for our mother. She loves us

so much and I feel sad leaving her with

our father, when he doesn't really give a

d--n about anything."

Knowing this I felt bad for Mrs Parker,

April and Henry, which is weird.

Well, I mean the pitying Henry part was

weird.