Secrets of My Hollywood Life #4: Paparazzi Princess (28 page)

"Hi, Hitch," I shook his hand lightly and smiled nervously. "I'm really sorry we're late. There was an accident on the expressway and . . ." I stopped talking.

Hitch had dropped my hand and was looking at my mother. "Pamela, it's so nice to finally meet you," he said with a large smile.

My mom made that weird gurgling sound again. "It's nice to meet you too, Alan," Mom gushed, smoothing her fitted, white button-down shirt self-consciously. "I'm sorry Sam is late." Now that we were out of the car and I could get a good look at Mom, I realized she had dressed up for this meeting. Gone were her usual working or weekend attire (suits or sweats and oversized tees, respectively) and in their place she had on tailored khaki capris and Coach ballet flats that didn't mask her height (5' 9½"), but did look nice. She was wearing makeup on her pale face and her brown hair, so similar to my own in all but texture, was its usual straight self.

"A few counselors are late and I suspect they're all in the same position," Hitch said and turned to me. "Sam, why don't you say good-bye to your mom, and I'll help her unload your bags so you can head down to the field and join the game. Ask for Alexis. She's my eldest daughter."

"Game?" I had only been here five minutes and I was already confused.

Hitch looked from me to my mother. "I find the best way to figure out which CITs belong with which counselors is to get them involved in teamwork. There's time to go over rules and paperwork during grub or campfires. Today they're playing dodgeball."

"Dodgeball?" I asked. I hadn't played dodgeball since the sixth grade and I wasn't good at it back then. I had a hard time playing any game that involved flying balls, which ruled out most gym activities and really aggravated my gym teacher, Mrs. Pepper.

"That's a wonderful idea," my mom gushed. Now that I'd met Hitch, I wasn't so sure he was my mother's type. Where he was all outdoorsy and tanned like a camp director should be, Mom's skin was milky white from too many hours at the office. The last time she did something outside, it was directing the guys from Crate and Barrel on how to unload her new dresser from the truck. Mom gave me a hug. "Well, this is it," she said, sounding choked up. "Have a great time and I'll talk to you in a few days, before I leave on my business trip."

"Thanks, Mom," I said, feeling awkward in front of Hitch. As I walked away, I could still hear Mom laughing at something Hitch said, but suddenly I felt very alone.

What was I thinking, going to camp? I had no idea what camp involved, and I certainly had never flown solo before. I didn't know anyone on that dodgeball field. I didn't have a best friend to stand next to or even a semi-good friend I could chat with about stupid stuff. I was the newbie, and being the newbie was awkward.

Baby steps, I thought to myself. Just take baby steps. I breathed in the pine scent of the evergreens that lined the dusty dirt path that was spraying dirt all over my feet. One step. Two.

I could do this.

When I got to the bottom of the hill, I could see the game had already started on a slightly muddy field that was boxed in by white spray-painted lines. Just a few yards away were the tennis courts and another field that had bags of athletic equipment waiting on it. There was an overwhelming scent of manure and I realized that the horse stables were on my left. I stood there, taking the scene in, and tried not to pass out from nerves.

That's when I saw
him.

He was running across the field -- shirtless, I might add -- and he leapt in front of me and caught the dodgeball seemingly in slow motion. This guy was like an Abercrombie ad come to life. He was tall, but not so tall that I'd have to stand on my tiptoes to reach his lips. He had longish, dirty blond hair that would make Zac Efron's look lame, killer tanned abs that looked like they'd been airbrushed in, and eyes as green as my jade bedroom comforter.

"Hunter!" A pretty girl screamed as the guy threw the ball and it whisked by her face. "You almost hit me," she whined.

His name was Hunter. Hunter and Sam "LastNameUnknown." It had a nice ring to it.

"Sorry, Ash," he said, out of breath. "It's a game. You've got to move or be moved."

At that moment Mr. Ab-solutely perfect, aka Hunter "LastNameUnknown," looked up and saw me. "Water break!" he announced, not taking his eyes off mine, which were blinking rapidly. "Hey," he said and smiled.

I looked around. Yep, I was the only one in this direction. My future husband was talking to me. ME! If I wasn't nervous enough before, I was ready to freak out now. My experience with guys was limited, but when they were that cute, I could barely function.

"You're the new CIT, right?" he asked.

"The new," I repeated dumbly. "You mean I'm the only new one you have?" The thought was terrifying. That meant everyone already knew everyone. I was the only new girl my age. The
only
one? How could that be? My lack of camp experience was going to stick out like a sore thumb.

He laughed. Not in a mean way, just loud and deep. "As far as I can tell," Hunter said. "What's your name?" he asked me as tried my hardest not to drool over his sweaty torso. "You look familiar," he added.

Uh-oh. I knew that look. I really hoped to avoid this, but I guess that was asking the impossible. The Dial and Dash commercial was so popular it had aired on the Super Bowl twice and been dissected on everything from CNN to the pages of
US Weekly.
People at the Pines were bound to have seen it.

"My name is Sam." I couldn't take my gaze off his eyes. Up close I could see they were green with flecks of gold in them.

"Hunter," he said revealing a mouth full of perfectly straight, white teeth. Any sense of recognition he had a moment ago seemed to vanish, thank goodness. "Join us for dodgeball," he suggested. "We're short on my side so I guess you're with me. You can stand over there." He pointed to a line of girls who were staring at me curiously.

In a daze, I walked over to my designated spot, trying hard not to slip in the mud that came from the week's worth of rain we had just had in the tri-state area. I smiled awkwardly at the girl next to me. She had red hair and glasses and was wearing a Hello Kitty T-shirt. I looked at her feet. She was smart enough to wear sneakers.

"He's hot, right?" she whispered and took a puff of what looked like an inhaler.

It didn't take a genius to know who she was talking about. "Yes." I sighed. "I'm Sam," I said shyly.

She smiled, revealing her braces. "Emily Kate. But you can call me Em. You're the new CIT, right?"

I guess it was true then. I really was the only new girl. "That's me," I said, trying to sound at ease.

Em nodded. "At the opening breakfast this morning they said there was one new CIT. Everyone else in the program graduated from campers. I'm a CIT too." Em stopped talking and stared at me curiously. "I'm sorry. It's just . . . have we met before?"

Stupid Dial and Dash moment. I couldn't escape it! "Do you live on Long Island?" I asked. I put a hand over my forehead to pretend to block the sun when I was really trying to cover up my face.

I heard a loud laugh and turned around. The pretty, whiny blond girl from earlier was flirting with
my
Hunter. Okay, maybe he wasn't mine yet, but a girl could hope! I watched as she touched his chest and pretended to push him. "That's Ashley," Emily told me. "She's a CIT too."

"Are they dating?" I had to ask.

"No." Em shook her head. "Hunter is a counselor. CITs can't date counselors. It's against the rules. Not that Ashley hasn't broken them before." Em grinned. "Ashley usually gets whatever guy she wants. They worship her."

It was easy to see why. Ashley looked like she belonged on
America's Next Top Model.
She had perfectly straight, non-frizzy blond hair, bronzed skin, and gray eyes. She was also super-skinny. She'd have to be to pull off that baby blue ribbed tank top she was wearing. I repressed the urge to hate her on sight. There was something very familiar about her. I felt like I'd seen her running across a field, or swimming laps in a lake. But how? "I feel like I know her or something," I said as several people started to take the field again. Water break must have been almost over.

"You probably saw her on the camp video," Em offered. "Ashley is the camp model. She's on the cover of the camp brochure, in the commercials, the camp video, all over the merchandise catalog. She's pretty much the Pines spokesgirl." I followed Em onto the field and waited anxiously for the game to start up again. I just hoped I didn't embarrass myself.

So that explained it! She's the one who told me and Mom -- on video of course -- that the Pines had world-class camping facilities and a list of activities to choose from that any camper would dream of. Before I could ask Em anything else, Ashley and a few other girls took places next to us and started talking.

"How was your year, Ash?" someone asked.

"Busy," Ashley said, with a flip of her blond hair. "I had to shoot a whole new line of stuff for camp, on top of the cheerleading calendar I agreed to do at school. My coach saw the Pines stuff and thought my face would so sell a charity calendar."

"Wow," a few girls said breathlessly.

"I met with some modeling agencies in New York too," Ashley added as she examined her bright pink nails.

"Did you sign with one?" another girl asked.

"Not yet," Ashley said quickly. "I'm still trying to decide who I like best. They all seem to want me, you know?" Ashley thumbed the girl next to her's blue shirt. "Cute tee, Candace!"

"Thanks," the girl said shyly. "You really like it?"

"Absolutely," Ashley said sounding chipper. "Old Navy, right? I have the exact same one. Well, the designer version. Mine is Juicy."

"Hey," a blond girl said to me as she jogged over and stood next to Em. She looked buff and super tan, but I got the feeling it came from being the outdoorsy type rather than a tanning bed queen. Her whole look screamed sporty. "I'm Grace," she said. "Are you the new CIT?"

"Yes, I'm Sam," I said.

Grace was staring at me intently. "Do I know you from somewhere?" she said. "Do you play field hockey?"

"That's exactly what I said!" Em nudged Grace in the ribs. "I feel like we've met before."

Oh no. They'd seen it. Any second now they were going to figure it out. I searched the group for Hunter. He was standing a few feet away throwing and catching the dodgeball into the air as he talked to a few other guys. Start the game, I begged him silently. Before they realize that I'm --

Grace gasped. "You're that girl from the Dial and Dash commercial!"

Shoot. I glanced around. Grace was so loud, people looked over to see what the fuss was about. Including Hunter, and Ashley and her group, who had turned around and were suddenly listening.

"That's right!" Em seconded. "I love that commercial."

"It's so genius," agreed Grace. "Your cell phone dies and you can't call your boyfriend to say good-bye before his trip," Grace narrated as a small crowd started to gather.

"And so you swim through that river, jump over a building, and steal a motorcycle all so you can get to a store that sells a Dial and Dash phone so you can call him immediately," Em finished excitedly. The two of them looked at me expectantly. "That was you, right? Did you do your own stunts?"

There was no denying it now. "That was me," I said and people began to murmur. "But I didn't actually leap over a building or ride a motorcycle."

Stupid Dial and Dash moment. There were hundreds of commercials on TV every day, but for some reason the
one
I made, stuck. I liked making video diaries that were just for me, or video messages for my friends. I never wanted to be the next Jessica Alba.

"That was the best commercial," Grace gushed. "So are you a model?"

"No," I said quickly and sighed. "It's a long story, but the short version is that I did this low-budget test video for my mom's company. It was part of an advertising pitch they were making to Dial and Dash Phone. The actress they hired dropped out last minute so my mom enlisted me. No one was supposed to see it but the Dial and Dash people. But when they did, they loved it so much they wanted to shoot the commercial for real. The catch was, I had to be in it. I can't even get up in front of class to make a speech or read a report so it was kind of terrifying. But it was the only way my mom's company could get the deal so I caved."

"Lucky you," Ashley interrupted. Her arms were folded across her chest and I could tell she was taking me in from head to toe. "I'm Ashley," she said with a bright smile. "I'm actually a
real
model and actress. I've done some commercial work myself."

"Sam," I said for what felt like the tenth time today. Ashley was staring at me so intently I felt uneasy.

"Ash, isn't that commercial the best?" One of her friends nudged her. "I loved the part when you jumped the building," she said to me.

"She didn't actually jump," Ashley interrupted. "Didn't you hear her?"

"Stunt double," I told the girl.

"Have you ever done anything else other than that
one
commercial?" Ashley asked. "Because the business is tough, you know. I've been working for years and --"

"You made a commercial, Ash?" her friend interrupted.

"For the Pines, yeah," Ashley snapped.

"But a national commercial?" the girl asked again.

"You guys ready to play?" Hunter interrupted the increasingly awkward conversation at the perfect moment. I had almost forgotten he was standing nearby the whole time. Now he knew my dirty little secret. Hunter had the dodgeball under his arm and he was grinning at me.

"Yes!" I said a little too loudly.

"Great," Hunter said. "I like a newbie who's ready for action." I tried not to blush.

Ashley and the girls dispersed after that, and I walked onto the field and continued to stare at Hunter and his cute, tight butt, covered in navy nylon shorts, as he walked in front of me. "Hunter, wait! Time!" A girl on the other team said and waved him over to talk. I stared at Hunter's bare, sweaty back as he ran. That's when I heard a low groan.