Secrets of My Hollywood Life #4: Paparazzi Princess (15 page)

"We'll have to keep the meeting short then," Nadine stresses. "Your mom doesn't want you to do the play anyway. She said it's not enough exposure."

I throw my head back and groan. What alternate universe have I fallen into? That's the only explanation I can come up with to explain how Nadine could be brainwashed by Mom. I roll my neck like Austin taught me. He thinks it will help the tension I seem to carry in my neck and shoulders. My pocket starts to vibrate and I reach in for my phone. Finally some good news -- it's Austin!

"Hey!" I turn away from Nadine and Matty, who is talking to Pete about a second smoothie to take back to his dressing room. "How was the scrimmage? I tried calling -- "

"I know, I'm sorry. We won and coach took us out for dinner to celebrate." I hear a lot of noise in the background and realize Austin must be on the bus heading back to school. The scrimmage wasn't till 8 PM last night and the game was two hours away so the team stayed overnight.

"That's great!" I tell him. "Were there any scouts?"

"Actually one knew my name and said he'd be calling me," Austin says. "And I met one of the coaches from that camp Rob and I want to go to in Texas."

"Sounds like you had a good night." I smile. Just talking to Austin lifts my mood. I wish he were here now. I really miss him.

"You too, Miss
Vanity Fair
," Austin teases. "Partying all night like a rock star, posing with Jay-Z and Ava Hayden. It looks like you had a ball."

"How do you know that?" I ask.

"Rob brought his laptop," Austin says. "They had Wi-Fi in the hotel. I checked out the pictures this morning. It made me madder than ever that I had to miss taking you. You looked gorgeous."

I blush. "Thanks."

"KAITLIN, YOU'RE HOT!" I hear someone yell. "WE LOVE YOU!"

"Guys, enough." Austin laughs. "Let's just say your red carpet pictures were rated a ten."

"I'm glad they approve." I giggle. "Even if your opinion is the only one that matters."

"I didn't know you knew Ava Hayden," he says. "There were a ton of pictures of you two with some girl named Lauren."

"Cobb," I tell him. "She's really nice. I think we're going shopping together later this week."

"Cool," Austin says. "So, I hate to bring this up, but have you talked to Liz yet?"

I take a deep breath. "I tried her last night, but we got disconnected. Then she called me back, but I missed her call."

"So try her again," Austin pushes. "I'm still not sure what happened at your lunch, but Josh said Liz has been really upset about the fight you guys had and I know you are too."

"I am," I admit, "but I'm not sure how to fix things. I know we've both been busy, but I didn't think we'd grown apart. Liz feels differently. She said I can't understand what she's going through."

"She said that?" Austin sounds surprised.

"Basically," I say quietly. "I guess I feel the same way. She's so busy with Mikayla and NYU stuff that she has no time for me either." A wave of sadness washes over me again, but before I get upset, I think about Lauren and Ava and how supportive they were last night. "Look, if that's the way Liz feels, she's entitled to her opinion. I don't know where we go from here and to be honest, I have too many other things stressing me out at the moment to deal with this too." Okay, that's sort of a lie. I can't stop thinking about Liz, but I'm choosing to ignore the situation till I figure out how to deal with it. How do you make up with your best friend when she's said things that really bother you?

"I don't understand girl fights," Austin says. "I swear, guys have a disagreement and it's over in two minutes. Girls, they drag it out for weeks or months."

"We're sensitive," I sniff.

"Can we talk about it more when I see you?" Austin pauses. "When am I seeing you anyway, Burke? I miss you."

I smile. "How about Friday?"

"Friday it is. I hope I can make it that long."

Aww.

"I'll call you after work," I promise.

"You better," he says and hangs up. I'm in such a daze after that, I don't see Tom standing right in front of me.

"Hey, sport," Tom says with a smile. His face looks haggard and his skin is almost yellow. "Did you have fun last night? Great shot of you dancing on a couch at the
Vanity Fair
party."

"How come everyone has seen these pictures except me?" I complain.

"They're on Private Hollywood Eyes," Matty says as he drinks his strawberry smoothie.

"Anyway, I was wondering what you're doing now," Tom asks.

I'm confused. "I think the next scene, right?"

Tom shakes his head. "We're shooting one with Melli and Spencer right now. You don't have another one till around two."

"You mean I'm off till two?" I can barely handle my excitement. This means I can sleep!

"Oh good! You have time to study," Nadine jumps in. I ignore her.

"Actually, I was hoping Kaitlin could do her
FA
retrospective interview," Tom says. "I don't know if you've heard, but we're doing one that will air in May. Everyone is shooting individual interviews. You'll be asked about your first memories of the show, your biggest fashion faux pas, what your favorite episode was. It's simple. You'll be done in under an hour and still have time for lunch."

I can feel my palms begin to sweat and the whooshing noise in my ears. Shoot the retrospective show? Is it time to do that already? That means we're really nearing the end now. "I don't know, Tom," I say nervously. "I have such under-eye circles today. I don't know if Shelly has enough concealer to retouch me."

"You look fine," Tom insists. "Kaitlin, I know it's hard to say goodbye, but --"

"I don't have a problem saying goodbye," I lie. "I'm just tired."

"You'll be fine," Tom assures me. "I'll come find you in fifteen minutes and see if you're up for it." He walks off.

"I'd say no," Nadine tells me. "He sprung it on you! You can do that later. Right now we should do a test." Her phone rings. "Oh hi, Laney. Meg. What's up? What? No I haven't seen the pictures. Who are Lauren and Ava?"

I'm not even paying attention to what Nadine is saying and that's because across the soundstage I see a group of grips tearing down the Summerville Breads set. At first I think they're just redressing it, but then I see them taking down the back wall board by board and someone carrying away the booth Sam and Sara always sit at.

"What are they doing?" I ask Matty in alarm. "Why are they taking my booth?"

"Kates, weren't you listening?" Matty asks, looking at me like I'm nuts. "That was the last scene we're shooting there. They're getting rid of that set. There's only a few weeks left of filming, you know."

I hold Matty's wrist firmly as I watch two men carry the jukebox out of the way. Do you know how many quarters Sam has dropped in that thing? How many times Sam and Ryan danced slowly to Robin Thicke? Summerville Breads is where the Jonas Brothers played last season and Joe gave me one of his guitar picks. And now the place is gone. One of the grips has powered up a small chain saw and is cutting down the door Sam ran through when she found out she was a finalist for the Summerville Golden Apple, this writing contest she entered. I blink back tears.

"Kates, are you okay?" Matty sounds worried. "You don't look good."

I have to get out of here. Suddenly I feel very hot. I can't breathe. I'm about to panic when I hear my phone ring.

"Hello?" My voice sounds teary.

"It's us!" Ava squeals.

I take a deep breath. "Hey."

"Where are you? We just got up and we're driving around looking for a place to park it for lunch," Ava adds. "Join us and we'll shop after. You in?"

"I can't," I tell them, wincing as I notice the popcorn machine is the next thing to be carted away. "I'm at work."

"Do you have to be there?" Ava moans. "Are you filming like right now?"

"Not exactly," I tell her. "My next scene is at two."

"Your mom wants to talk to you," Nadine mouths to me.

"Kaitlin! Come on then!" Ava is begging. "Get out of that dark soundstage and come meet us. Take back the power! You promised. We'll pick you up and whisk you back to set before your call time."

The chain saw sounds louder and louder. Nadine is still yakking in the background. Whenever I glance her way she holds up the SAT book and points to it. Nadine writes something on a piece of paper and hands it to me. It says,
Your mom is mad. Wants you to ditch
Manolos
idea. Thinks the reality show is the way to go.

I feel like I can't breathe. My chest is tight. Matty is looking at me strangely. I've got to get out of here.

"Can you be here in ten?" I whisper quickly.

"You've got it," Ava says. "She's in," I hear her tell Lauren, who cheers. "Just give me directions."

I give Ava directions as I bolt from the room. The sound of the workers dismantling Summerville Breads rings in my ears.

"Kaitlin? Where are you going?" I hear Nadine yell over the chain saw. But I ignore her.

I'm out of here.

Monday, February 9

NOTE TO SELF:

B back @ 2.

Ten: Playing Hooky

Being with Ava and Lauren is so much fun. They don't care whether I'm taking meetings with Paramount or Universal. They have no clue how much my asking price should be for my next film. And they're not at all interested in whether or not I'm taking the SATs. The only thing these two want to talk about is clothes and boys, in that order.

"You have to buy those!" Ava coos when I walk out of Belladonna's dressing room wearing a khaki Juicy Couture Chunky Sweater ($300) and trouser-cut Citizens of Humanity Birkin jeans ($188).

We've just come from having lunch at The Blvd restaurant in the Beverly Wilshire, and even though I only have an hour and a half to spare, Lauren and Ava said I deserved a shopping spree after walking off set the way I did. That's how we wound up at Belladonna, which is owned by
Celebrity Insider
correspondent Taylor Ryan. She owns this small chain of California chic clothing stores and you can always count on finding something unique here.

HOLLYWOOD SECRET NUMBER TEN: You know how I said a lot of stars don't do hands-on work in their restaurants? When it comes to stars owning clothing boutiques or having their own clothing label, the story is usually different. Several of my celebrity pals have their own labels and they oversee everything from first sketches and fabric and color choices to fittings, sitting in on meetings and doing runway shows. If I had my own label, I think I'd want to make clothes that are reasonably priced and fashionably cute. Maybe I'll have my own line at Target. Just because I spend a ton on clothes, doesn't mean I don't wince at the sales receipt sometimes.

"Tell me you're buying that outfit," Ava insists. She's wearing a Joie Sugar black sheer blouse that looks great against her pale blond hair. She has on the same jeans I do, but you wouldn't know it because they look completely different on her.

"You really like it?" I ask and bite my lower lip. I've already decided I have to have the Scoop Metallic Ballet Flats in silver (cost: $165) and the Rachel Pally Sweetheart Dress in graphite ($248) and if I buy this outfit too, I'll break the one thousand dollar mark. That's way over my limit. (Mom caps me at $300 a month max and I still haven't told her how much the Cinch bag cost.) I guess I'm getting a little carried away, but it's so easy with these girls. They carry boatloads of clothes into the fitting room, not restricting themselves to an outfit or two like Liz and I usually do. (Liz may have no limit on her AmEx, but she tries to curtail her dad's griping by keeping transactions on the low side.) Lauren and Ava also think everything looks superb and never glance at a price tag. This shopping spree will get me in a lot of trouble. But . . . I feel the sweater against my chin and it's so soft and woolly I could fall asleep. What the heck. I'm buying it!

Click. Click. Click.

I whirl around clutching my bag to my chest. I'm fully clothed, but whenever I get snapped inside a store, I feel naked. Most stores don't allow the paparazzi to shoot inside, but Ava's and Lauren's sidekick Gary is standing right in front of me and he has Larry the Liar with him. Larry gives me this weird little smile and I shudder.

"What are they doing here?" I complain.

"Relax," Ava says. "We invited them."

"Shopping?" I protest. "I don't want pictures of me on my lunch hour." Larry takes another photo of me anyway and I glare at him. That just makes him take more.

Ava pulls me aside. "Lau and I have this agreement with the store. We give them publicity; they give us loads of free stuff. I'm sure they'll gift you some stuff too if you stop whining. What's the big deal anyway? If they weren't in here, they'd be taking your picture through the window. Then it would come out blurry, and blurry pictures make people look fat."

I don't like the sound of this. I know there are some stars who invite the paparazzi everywhere they go, but I'm not one of those people. I don't need any more exposure than I already have and I certainly don't want to use publicity to get free stuff. Still, I don't want to be a pill. Ava is looking at me like I'm trying to spoil the party and I don't want to do that, especially after they've been so great. I guess the pictures are okay just this once. "Fine, they can stay."

Click. Click. Click. Gary and Larry start shooting again right away.

Lauren screams from the other side of the store. "We all have to get this!" Lauren catwalks out, throws her brown hair around and does a full circle in a black Tibi mini dress that has a white daisy pattern and ruffles. Gary snaps away. The outfit is really cute and Ava and I applaud. "We can wear them to LAX nightclub this weekend for Simon Barter's party!" Lauren suggests. "This is only three hundred dollars."

"Kaitlin, you're going to Simon's party in Vegas, aren't you?" Ava asks.

I want to say I've never met Simon and that my mom will probably never let me go to Las Vegas again after what happened when
FA
had their disastrous cast trip there last fall, but I know what Ava will have to say about that. So instead I say, "When is it?"