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Chapter 5
It was eleven-thirty and Kaz made the cheerless announcement that he had to think about leaving us. It was evident that he wished that he could stay the rest of the day and enjoy Ami, but his important engagement with Elle magazine bade him go. We accompanied him to the entrance of the park and Ami never let go of his hand.
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Before he left, Kaz asked us to wander off to The Emporium because he wanted to take Ami into a shop called The Kingdom Jewels. He asked us to give him a little time alone with her.

When they returned, Ami was wearing a Mickey Mouse locket encrusted with real diamonds and surrounded by a twenty-four-karat golden heart. She had a matching ring on her finger.

Now I know it might sound a little cliché, but Ami literally did have stars in her eyes. She was off in gaga land. All I can say is that Ami’s was the most beautiful ring and necklace I had seen given that it was Mickey Mouse. I thought to myself that the whole ensemble must have cost Kaz a small fortune.
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The last thing Kaz did was to locate a flower stand near the exit gates of the park. He bought a yellow rose for Jody, Victoria and me. We somehow lost the rest of our sisters in the park.

“This symbolizes our budding friendships,” he said.

Then he presented Ami with a dozen of the most beautiful scarlet-red long-stemmed roses any of us had ever seen.

“This is for love, Ami Daishi. I hope that I can see you again real soon.”

Kaz took Ami’s small hand into his and kissed it gently. He then took out his personal business card and wrote something on the back of it. He turned the card over and circled one of the numbers, writing another one beneath it.

“This is my cell phone number, love. And this is my personal home phone number. I give it only to those whom I love. I hope that you will call me.”

Ami really was blushing and not holding back her tears in a successful manner.

“I live in Beverly Hills, Ami. I know that it is a bit far from San Diego so I’d love to come down and see you there some time soon.”

Ami was speechless and it was evident that that she was crying because her mascara was running down her face.

“Maybe we can take in the Zoo or SeaWorld. I’d really love to see you in a string bikini enjoying the shores of La Jolla with me, my love.”

“Meghan and I am moving to Las Vegas in a few months. Maybe you could… unh… help us move?” Ami batted her cinnamon eyes at him and I could see him melt.

Kaz was quick in his answer. “Only if you let me take you and Meghan to the beach and out to dinner in a few weeks. Then I’d be happy to help you move to Vegas.”

Kaz put his arms around Ami’s shoulders. “I’d do anything for my girl.”

Ami giggled and put Kaz’ card in her purse.

“Well, my love, you’ve got my number. Give me a ring this week and we’ll make plans.”

“I will, Kaz.” Ami thought to herself for a moment and added, “But I’m really not very good with telephones. You can ask Meghan about that!”

I nodded my head up and down as if to say: Yes. She’s shy. Very, very shy.

Kaz took her in his arms and gave her a kiss. She obviously liked it because she looked as if she would melt into a pool of sugar at any moment. The girls and I watched them say their goodbyes. I dreamed that I was in Ami’s place and if I were I would absolutely be melting into a pool of sugar too.

They finally let go of each other and Ami was crying puppy dog tears. Kaz threw her one final kiss and she blew one back to him. She stood there until she couldn’t see him anymore. She asked me to go with her to the ladies room and I obediently followed my best friend there.
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“Wow! Is he dreamy or what?” I said as I smelled Ami’s gorgeous long-stemmed roses. Yes, these ones really did smell like roses and they were wonderful.

“Yes, he is, Meghan. But I’m scared.”

“Sweetie?”

“What if he finds out about my secret?”

“What secret, Ami?”

“You know. What if he finds out about my body?”

“Huh? I’ve seen you a bunch of times as you dressed at home. Honey, there’s not a thing wrong with your body. Most girls will gladly kill to look like or even be as sexy as you are every day of your life. All of us girls have our little blemishes we’d love to get rid of but God, I wish that I could look as good as you do.”

“Thanks, Meghan. You’re a sweetie, but you know what I mean. I’m so inexperienced with boys… with men… and I’m afraid I might say something that will make Kaz repulsed just being around me.”

“How could Kaz ever be repulsed being around you, Ami?”

“You know, Meghan, when he finds out about my past he’ll just hate me. He’ll think I’m a perv. I know he will.”

“What’s it that your momma always says, you’ll have to cross those bridges before they burn up in front of you? If you don’t cross this bridge you may never get a man as dreamy as Kaz again.”

“I know, Meghan, but I’m scared.”

“You don’t have to be scared, honey.”

“What if I lose everything?”

“You can’t. I’ll all always be there for you. I’ve never turned my back on you and I never will. Heck, if I didn’t have you as a friend I’d never get to drive that beautiful Porsche Boxster of yours!”

Ami smiled and we hugged.

“I’m grateful that you’re my friend, Meghan. It’s just that Kaz is a boy and, well…”

“You used to be one yourself?”

“Unh... right... that’s…”

“That’s the bridge you burned up behind you a long time ago, honey. You’re one hundred percent girl now. Don’t go building an I-used-to-be-a-boy bridge. Besides, Ami, I don’t believe you ever truly were a boy.”

“I was. I unh… I used to have a... unh... you know...”

“Yeah. Sure. You had that birth defect but when were you ever completely and totally a guy? Your gynecologist says you have normal girl parts and your eggs will become babies some day. So come on, sweetie, be truthful with me; when were you ever truly male?”

Ami thought about that question and couldn’t come up with an answer. The only time that being a boy came into issue was with her father. She looked down at her locket, kissed it and smiled.

“I suppose this… unh… no… I suppose Kaz is worth the risk.”

“Yes Ami. He is. No matter what happens though, remember what I said: I will always there for you. Kaz doesn’t know about your boy history. If it ever comes the time that he needs to know about it he’d be a fool to think you weren’t anything but a charming and sexy woman now. If he needs to know and doesn’t accept you because of it we’ll have to take it one step at a time. If that happens… and I really don’t believe it will… it will be an entirely new bridge for you to cross but I’ll be there for you.”

Ami’s tears were easing and she gave me another big hug. When her eyes dried, I helped her reapply her makeup. I figured that we must have been in that restroom for just about a half an hour but a girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do, doesn’t she? And Ami is a friend I never want to lose.
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Chapter 6
We met up with Victoria and Jody in front of The Main Street, USA Fire Station. By this time it was only the four of us and the two San Diego girls had found the Chip and Dale characters. They were giving them a hug when they saw us and they started waving.

After paying our own homage to the Chipmunks we climbed the stairs to board the E.P. Ripley, a steam train that circles the happiest place on earth.

“Come on girls!” I said. “We’ve got to meet the others in New Orleans Square!”

“Yeah!” Victoria said. “Wait until they get a load of these roses.”

All I could think was wait until they get a load of Ami.
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When the train stopped at its New Orleans Square Station, we saw a queue of girls in black mini dresses heading in the direction of The Pirates of the Caribbean. The Blue Bayou is next to the entrance and a part of the restaurant had been cordoned off for our supermodel group. As we approached the doors to the restaurant, Elizabeth Goode was there with her roster in hand checking off the names of each girl as she passed by.
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“Well just look at you Ami! Now where did you get such a beautiful bouquet of flowers?”

Victoria spoke out of turn.

“Ami’s got a new boyfriend, Mrs. Goode, and he bought her these roses.”

She acted much more like a twelve-year-old than her actual seventeen years. Victoria took Ami’s hand and extended her ring finger toward Elizabeth.

“He got her this ring and this necklace, too. She let me and the other girls try on the ring but our fingers were far too big.”

“Oh? A boyfriend, huh?” Elizabeth Goode sounded just like Joyce Banner, our high school homeroom teacher.

“I didn’t plan on it, ma’am,” Ami said in her shy little girl voice. “It just kind of happened. I’m sorry…”

“Sorry? Honey, you don’t have to apologize. I think that it’s absolutely wonderful that you’ve attracted the attention of a young man. Let’s have a talk about your new beau soon? I can email you or we can talk on the phone... that is if you’d like to.”

“Yes ma’am, I would!”

Elizabeth Goode gave Ami a hug and we all proceeded to find our table.
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Looking around the restaurant, the seats were reserved at several tables with name tags marking each girl’s assigned place. Elizabeth had a seating chart in case any of the girls decided to change places. She had ordered the seating so that we would get a chance to meet more of the group.

I was at a table with three other girls, Annie Rogers from Los Angeles, Danielle James from St. Louis and Celina Martinez from New York City. Ami and I sat back-to-back and were only separated by the serving aisle. Jody and Victoria were at the other table, separated, of course.

Each of the tables had a fifth open seat that would eventually be occupied by Elizabeth Goode as she floated about the restaurant like a bee gathering bits and pieces of information about all of her girls.
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“So is he a good kisser?” asked Barbie Baker — a girl about our age from Portland — who, by the way, really did look like Ken’s girlfriend. “You didn’t have to show up with a dozen roses for all of us to know that you caught a boy, Ami. He must have enjoyed your kisses.”

Apparently, the news had traveled as fast in Disneyland as it did in our Internet chat room. Chelsea Winters had seen Ami kiss Kaz and she told another girl and soon almost everyone of the future supermodels knew that my best friend was on the verge of becoming an item.

“You do know who Kaz Kurosawa is?” Veronica Marie Owens from San Antonio asked Ami.

“Yes, I do. He’s a photographer, obviously, and he makes very good money. He told me that.”

Ami was playing with the locket that hung around her neck as it occasionally grazed the tops of her breasts. She was enjoying her bouquet of long-stem reds that the waitress had put in a vase of water for her. They were sitting in the middle of the table. Doubtless, Ami was recounting her embrace in front of Space Mountain and the instance when she and Kaz cuddled on It's A Small World.

“You’re boyfriend is Senior Lead Photographer for Elle’s Los Angeles branch,” Cheryl Blakely from Studio City said. “My sister’s best friend is Christy Turlington and he took pictures of her in the nude.”

“Oh? Why would my boyfriend take pictures of Christy Turlington when he wasn’t wearing clothes?” Ami asked. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“No, Ami. Christy’s the one who was nude, not Kaz. The shoot was for a promotion on why Christy would rather wear nothing than wear pleather. Her various body parts were hidden. My sister said that Kaz Kurosawa insisted on the whole thing being strictly tasteful.”

“I must have missed that issue,” Ami said as she sounded extremely embarrassed.

I had seen the article in Elle and Christy was nude all right. And although her major erogenous zones were hidden, you couldn’t help but see a lot of her lovely skin. Her pubic area and her breasts were hidden behind one artful placement of her arm. But, frankly, if you want to know my opinion, I believe that Ami is much better looking than Christy Turlington or any of the other highly-priced supermodels on the market today. That is just my opinion, mind you.
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As we discussed the matter of who Ami’s new boyfriend was, Elizabeth Goode got up to make a couple of announcements.

“Ladies! Thank you for coming out and enjoying Disneyland with me today. Thank you for being a part of our special party. You all look marvelous and I’ve noticed several of you with flowers and lovely bouquets of roses. I hope that you are enjoying them.”

She went on about what it took to get the trip together. It was obvious that she had spent quite a bit of her own money in the process. She told us of another trip that was just in her dream stages. She mentioned that it would take place in Las Vegas around Christmas of 2005 at a brand new casino that her husband, Jerome Goode, was building. Since the event would be a little more than four years away, we would have plenty of time to start planning our schedules.
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With business taken care of, Elizabeth reminded us to have a great afternoon in the Magic Kingdom. We finished our desserts, reassembled into smaller groups and headed out for more fun and excitement. And, of course, people still couldn’t snap enough pictures of us, the girls in the minis.
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By the time we stepped into line at The Pirates of the Caribbean, it was two o’clock. Since we didn’t have to leave until eight o’clock we decided to hit all of the good rides we might have missed. Ami was having fun, but I just couldn’t help but think that it would be so much more fun for her if she had Kaz with her.
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The rest of our day was spent getting to know our friends better. Since we all lived in the San Diego area, we talked about things that happened to us there. Aside from telling the girls about our sixth-grade Christmas play, Ami kept purposefully mum about most other parts of her life. She did, however, reminisce frequently about the time she had earlier with Kaz Kurosawa.
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As the park announcer broadcasted that Disneyland would close in thirty minutes, we made our way through Main Street, USA.

Before leaving I excused myself and wandered into the shop where Kaz bought Ami her mementos. I looked in the display featuring the locket and ring my best friend wore. The ensemble cost nearly fifteen hundred dollars.

I thought to my self that Kaz Kurosawa really did love Ami.

Could it have been love at first sight?
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As we stood in front of the floral tribute to Mickey Mouse, we hugged Jody and Victoria and promised to keep in touch with them when we got back to San Diego.

“I’m going to miss you, Ami,” Victoria whimpered. “Will I ever see you again?”

Ami’s eyes were tearing again. “Sweetie, you can bet on it. I’ve given you my number and e-mail address. If you ever need to talk to someone, I’m there for you!”

They hugged until they finally had to let go. The girls’ limousine had arrived to drive them back to San Diego County.

As we headed for the transition ramp to Interstate 5 we noticed a billboard. We hadn’t paid attention to it that morning, but now we could not avoid it. It pictured a ray of sun beaming behind the outstretched finger of a woman. On her finger was the most beautiful diamond we had ever seen. The caption was perfect:

A Thing of Beauty? A Joy Forever!