Ugly Duckling turned Swan [closed]

[Ohia_Lehua]

Closed for FireyIce​

Gael Adams knew growing up that she wasn’t one of those lucky pretty girls. Her hair was a wild frizzy mane of curls and waves uncontrollable and winner of three brush thrown downs and counting. She loved the deep dark blue of her eyes but hated how large they looked on her face or the freckles that peppers her cheekbones as if highlighting their owl like appearance. Add that to her small button nose and pocket sized build and she all but lived up to the nickname given to her by her older brother, “Pixie”.

As Gael got older she took to hiding behind drab, loose overly large baggy clothes, books and strangely enough soccer. Where many would have peg holed Gael to be a nerd and a nerd only, she excelled at sports, favoring soccer. Though it did little to boost her popularity, even being made team captain of the varsity soccer team and MVP two years in a row still found people struggling to remember her name, her real name, as Pixie somehow stuck around even years after her brother graduating.

“Darling will you please get ready?” Victoria Adams pleaded with her daughter. In less than half an hour their guest would be arriving and the house had been artfully arranged to look like an article straight out of a Southern Living magazine. The only hitch in the arrangement was with her daughter’s less than proper dress for such an occasion.

“Hmm?” Gael turned to look at her mom knowing the moment she did that she had done wrong. “What?” She meekly asked betting on a cute smile to get her out of whatever trouble she had landed herself into this time.

Victoria took and deep breathe as she replaced the napkin she had refolded for the fourth time. “Gael Kensington Adams…” She slowly breathed forcing a bright smile. Her Mother taught her that ladies never raised their voice but sometimes that child of hers… She silently prayed. “If you don’t get upstairs and change into that dress laid out-“ Victoria threatened her voice clipped at the end. “Child don’t make me finish that sentence.” Her voice and its southern accent thickening the angrier she got.

On any normal day she would have argued but like her senior picture she gave in and dressed as the southern belle her Mama liked to pretend she raised. “Yes Mama.” It was the wise choice because she could feel her mom’s eyes on her the whole way out the kitchen and up the stairs. Even with a floor between them Gael didn’t stop until she had made it into her room. More time then she wanted to test revealed her mom had x-ray vision. Or hidden cameras. Both she wouldn’t be surprised to find out, she never got away with anything.

“No.” That it would be a dress was no doubt and confirmed by her mom downstairs but it was like salt in the wound that it was pick and just so… “Girly.” Gael grumbled nudging her door closed with her toe, an action her mom would call kicking. She took one last look at her baggy cargo shorts, oversized baseball tee, floppy beanie and bare feet. “Another no.” She snorted seeing the heels under the dress. Was she brave enough to wear a different dress? No. Would she risk the stern look and subtly comment from her mom if she changed footwear? Heck yes she would. She quickly decided pulling a pair of boots from her closet. It’s not like her mom could even get properly mad, she had after all willingly bought these boots for her not that long ago.

Forty-five minutes later and fifteen minutes late to her own party, Gael made her entrance having finally managed to beat her wild curls into something more belle like thanks to 400 degrees of behave. Her styling wand was a thing of magic and equally as worshiped as her hair straightener.

“You look wonderful Pumpkin.” William praised when he saw his daughter.

Gael blushed and looked away. She was never any good with compliments no matter who they were from. “Thanks Papa.” She smiled accepting the glass of sparkling cider, a favorite of hers since diapers. “Where’s Mom?”

William only laughed as his wife breezed into the room at the exact moment the question was phrased about her whereabouts.

The pinched look on Victoria’s face lasted less than a heartbeat. “I do like those boots.” She said making herself known to her daughter. “Perhaps not with that dress…” Victoria trailed with a delicate raise of her eyebrow.

“Gael!” Olivia Turner claimed the title of best friend since fourth and she welcomed herself into her friend’s house as if it were her own. They were two peas in a pod but visually they were complete ends of the spectrum. She was tall, an Amazonian 5’9, easily towering over Gael’s 5’3. With raven hair straight and glossy, dark eyes and fair skin with just a hint of olive to it. Her body slim with the graceful curves of womanly charm. “Hi Ma, Pa.” Liv chimed with a charming smile.

Her parents greeted their unofficial second daughter before she whisked Gael away before having to make some reply to her mom. “You’re here early.”

“Yeah.” Olivia all but bounced with excitement. “I heard from Gwyn that Liam is going to Roanoke University.” She proudly beamed.

“Are you serious?” Gael’s heart skipped at the news but it was quickly flatlined with the harsh reality. “I mean, that’s cool.” She sighed. For three of the last four years of high school Gael had a crush on Liam Masters. His twin sister Gwyn was another bestie and the Porthos in the their Three Musketeers troupe. A cute cheerleader taller than Gael and shorter than Olivia, with adorable dimples and strawberry blond hair in playful waves. She was sure to show up at graduation party with Liam in tow, if she wasn't already there. Thing she loved best about Gwyn was her ability to accept that her friend had feelings for her twin brother. Coming to an agreement early on that Gwyn would say nothing to her brother as long as Gael never came to her for help or advise. It was a deal Gael was happy to keep.

Sensing her friend’s mood swing Olivia tried a new tactic. “Come on, college is a place for new beginnings. With a makeover and some styling tips I bet you would catch his eye and have him fawning all over you by the end of the month.”

Gael just shrugged. “Maybe.” She tried with a smile knowing that Liv wouldn’t give up until she at least smiled. “Come on lets go mingle before mom nips at our heels.”

“Or puts us to work.”

“There is that.” Both girls laughed joining the gathered group on the porch.

 

[FireyIce]

https://fantasticmodelagencylondon.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/male-model-agency-uk.jpg
Bradley Adams had woken up a little bit earlier than usual for what was supposed to be a day off. He had realized that having a day off seemed fairly far and few nowadays since he had a side business while still working on his schooling part of the year. As he got out of the shower, he put on his attire for the day. At 21, he was in very good shape. Standing at about six feet tall, he spent no time arranging his hair, making sure it looked good before putting on his clothes.

Normally, on any other Saturday, he would choose something simple, yet presentable, for his side business. Today was going to be different. Today, he looked in his closet and found some nice black designer dress pants and a light blue button up shirt. He made sure to find a nice tie that would match the clothes and put it on and tied it in a full Windsor knot. To finish it off, he found his nice jacket and took a few moments to make sure it looked nearly perfect. God only knew that he would receive a nice quality scolding from his mother if it didn’t look good enough.

Once he finished getting dressed, he walked over to his extra room in his apartment and started to get his camera supplies ready for the day. He let out a soft sigh as he thought about how much his skills had come and how much his parents, mostly his mother, enjoyed exploiting them for her own gain. There was always the expectation that he would be doing family photos during the holidays, however, more recently, he had to start telling her that she had to schedule some of the events in advance, though he wasn’t going to turn down doing some free work for his little sister’s open house. He ran through his standard checklist, making sure not to miss anything before heading down, out of his apartment for most of the day, and loading everything into his silver SUV.

As he got into his vehicle, he placed his phone down and started to turn on the engine. As he started to pull out of his parking space, he made sure to call his mother. “Hey mom,” he said as enthusiastically as he could, “I’m leaving right now, I should be there in about half an hour. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure everything is set up and ready to go. OK, I’ll see you guys in a bit,” Bradley said as he used his hands on the steering wheel to end the call. The second call that he made was to his assistant who was just a few minutes out of the way.

Luckily, Alice had a habit of always being on time and managed to make sure she was ready to go when he pulled up. “I hope you’re ready to endure meeting my family.” He leaned over and gave her a small kiss as they started to make their way back onto the road, heading down the calm freeway.

Bradley showed up a little bit early, which by his family’s standard, meant that he was on time. As he parked the SUV, he looked over and saw Alice’s angelic face. “You have a little bit on your lips still,” he pointed out with a slight grin as he moved his thumb over her lips and cleaned off some of his cum that was still on her lips. As he got out of the SUV, he walked around and opened the door for his assistant / girlfriend, though the latter wasn’t known to his family. Yet. Once he opened the trunk and started to get his cameras, he noticed his mother coming towards him.

“Hi, mother,” he said as he gave her a short hug. “This is my assistant, Alice.” He was hoping that Victoria would spend more time worrying about the party than the fact his assistant was a female. “Let me know where you want me to get everything set up at,” he said as proper and professionally as he could. There was no doubt that Alice would notice how much his posture had changed while walking to where he was to put all of his gear.

There was a while where Bradley was able to mingle and see family that had come out for this event. While he was talking and socializing, Alice was walking around getting greetings and congratulations with the video camera. It didn’t take long before he noticed Gael’s friend Olivia had arrived. There was no doubt that he would be seeing his sister in mere moments. Aside from the fact that Gael and Olivia were hardly inseparable, he also figured it wouldn’t be long before their parents would put her to work at her own party if she didn’t start socializing. The only problem was that it wasn’t as easy finding her when she did manage to dress up. After a short time, he saw them on the porch. He caught Olivia’s eyes and held up a finger to his lips, indicating that he didn’t want Gael to know he was here. A few steps later, he placed his hands over Gael’s eyes. “Guess who?” he asked in a playful voice as he awaited her reaction.

 

[Ohia_Lehua]

“How can you wear a skirt that long and still make it look like you have legs that go on for miles?” Gael complained eyeing her friend’s legs and height with envy.

Liv pointed at Gael’s chest with raised brows. “Same way those babies have a way of saying hello even under hoodies.” She countered.

“It’s because the bitch does have legs that goes on for miles. And honestly in the last year those things could have saved the Titanic.” Gwyn laughed, braving a cuss word in the possible presence of Gael’s mom.

“That’s right.” Liv agreed hanging an arm on the shorter, but still taller than Gael, Gwyn. “On both accounts.” The two laughed playfully.

Gael rolled her eyes resisting the urge to cross her arms over her chest to hide the way they jutted out no matter how tight of a sports bra she wore. Just as well because her mom picked that moment for a surprise visit.

“Gwyn.” Victoria cooed. “Don’t you look lovely, in a dress I’m sure you mother didn’t have to threaten you into.” It was a thinly veiled comment thrown at her daughter.

“Thank you Mama Adams.” Beamed Gwyn knowing that she was a pick of Gael’s friends in Victoria’s eyes. “I love what you’re doing with your hair, that flip there on the end is classy touch.” She complimented catching Gael rolling her eyes again.

Victoria blushed at the comment and framed her hair with a delicate hand. “Saw it in one of those fancy runway books. Didn’t know if I could pull it off.” She smile fishing for more compliments.

“I don’t think anyone could have pulled it off with such sophistication.” Liv quickly added earning pat on the cheek.

“What wonderful girls you grew up to be.” Victoria sighed. “I don’t know how Gael turned out so masculine with friends like the two of you.”

“Oh we tried.” Sighed Gwyn.

“More times than we can count.” Chipped in Liv barely able to contain her laughter.

“Oh look Mrs Fitzgerald!” Gael pointed out her mom’s closest frienemy knowing it was sure to pull her away.

“Hmm.” Victoria’s lips puckered at the high cut of Courtney Fitzgerald’s dress slits. “Well she is newly divorced.” She half mentioned to the girls before greeting her friend.

With her mom gone she looked at her friends not at all amused. “Really?” It wasn’t really a question.

“You ought to thank us.” Liv smiled.

“Yeah, any moment and she was sure to bring up those boots.” Tried Gwyn tapping her foot against Gael’s.

“Sure.” She smiled knowing that her friends were probably right. “I heard we all made it to Roanoke University.”

“Maybe we can all get a place off campus.” Gwyn started spying Brad out of the corner of her eye.

“Guess who.”

The voice was male and familiar. As were the hands covering Gael’s eyes. “BRAD!” Gael shouted as she spun around, launching herself at her brother. Since he had gone off to college she hadn’t seen him much and what little times she did get to see him were cut short for one reason or another. She crushed him in a hug nuzzling her cheek against his chest. “You came.” He hasn’t responded to her text from last week confirming if we was going to be here or not and while there was little doubt that he would miss her graduation party, there was still a tiny bit of doubt. “Punk ass!” Gael growled breaking to hug to punch Brad in the arm. “Why didn’t you text me back?”

The curse word as instantly heard by Victoria from across the porch and she shot her daughter a look that she missed completely but was caught by her son. A head nudge and a narrowing of her eyes told Bradley to get a handle on his sister before she caused a scene with her vulgar language.

 

[FireyIce]

Bradley was a bit surprised at the force that Gael pounced towards him. He gave her a huge hug back as he gave her a small kiss on her forehead before she let go. As soon as he heard the words punk ass, he knew their mother had heard. For some reason or another, she always heard if it was somewhat negative. To no surprise, once he lifted his head a bit, he noticed her looking over at him with her icy eyes, giving him a stare he was too familiar with.

“OK, OK,” he told Gael. “You’re going to get me in trouble with that mouth of yours, you know?” he informed her. “You know how mom is with hearing anything that is deemed ‘negative’ or ‘offensive’,” he said while using air quotes to help express his point. He straightened out his shirt as he made sure to continue to look presentable.

“As far as my responses, or lack thereof,” he started to say as he fished his phone out of his pocket, “I do apologize. It’s just that it’s summer and my job is starting to get hectic.” He unlocked it and pulled up his text messages, showing several that haven’t been seen yet, but there were a lot of numbers that there was no doubt she didn’t know who they were. “It’s summer and people want engagement, wedding, graduation pictures and it got lost in the sea of requests,” he admitted. Though part of the truth was that he didn’t mind teasing her and making her worry, though it was fairly obvious he would’ve been there.

After he took his phone back, he looked over at Olivia and Gwyn. “Good afternoon, ladies,” he said while still trying to be polite. “I hope you two aren’t going to be getting her into too much trouble over the summer,” he added. “I also heard that all three of you will be going to Roanoke. I swear, it seems like it’s like the high school is just a stepping stone for that place.”

“I am going to get some food before I have to get ready for your pictures,” he said as he gave Gael another quick hug. “You ladies be good,” he said as he gave a slight, quick glance and wink to Olivia.

Once he let go, he headed back to the main area and went to get some hors d’oeuvres before finding Alice. “Everything going alright?” he asked as he got some food. “We have about an hour before we’re doing family pictures. And there will be some pictures where I’m in the pictures as well. So double duty for you,” he said with a small smirk.