Sunset Boulevard (10 page)

contact, like you're a puzzle he's trying to figure out. He has these great blue eyes, and longish

blond hair that sort of hangs over his forehead. I don't think he uses any product."

Jake self-consciously ran a hand through his own hair, coated in pomade in an attempt to tame

it. "How would he treat a geek like me?"

"That's the best part. Justin is, like, captain of the soccer team, captain of the baseball team, has

a great car and is totally ripped. But it would never cross his mind to rip on a geek. The thing

with Justin Klatch is, it's like he doesn't see categories. That's not true for every cool kid at

JFK. There are plenty of cliques, too, just at JFK, they're formed based on common interests,

not your parents' net worth. But Justin treats everyone like they're the same. Well, not the same,

but equal."

"Is he some kind of saint? If I weren't Jewish, I'd say he's the new Jesus." The corner of Jake's

mouth turned up in a grin.

"WWJKD?" Jojo caught Jake's eye across the table and they both cracked up.

Jake was beaming, and Jojo felt really good, like for once there was a use for her here. Jake

glanced at his cell. "Hey, I have to get back." He left money for the check and stretched out a

hand to help Jojo from her seat. When she was standing, Jake's hand moved to the middle of

her back. He looked down into her eyes, a floppy curl freeing itself and falling in front of his

eyes. "I really appreciate this, Jojo."

As his hand fell away, the sound of her name on Jake's lips echoed in her ears. She still felt a

warm tingle where he had touched her, and suddenly she barely knew how to form words.

Even though they'd just been talking about Justin Klatch for the past half hour, the memories of

her former crush were fading fast.

JUST ONE OF THE GIRLS

"So what do you do for fun, Jake?" Kady asked, leaning back in her bean bag chair so that her

short, raven-colored hair fanned out around her little doll face. As she stretched, her amethyst

belly button ring peeked out from beneath her tight aqua tank top. Light from the curvy white

lamp in the corner glinted off the jewel.

Amelie suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. Could Kady be more obvious?

"Uh, you know, the usual," Jake said from his spot on the blue couch, beneath the trailer's

high, vent-style window. He picked up his sandwich, a chicken Caesar wrap from La

Vincenza, and set it back down on the blond wood coffee table. He'd yet to take a bite, Amelie

noticed, because he'd only had eyes for Kady since they began their lunch break a half hour

ago. It was Thursday, the day of their big football game scene, and they'd only shot a few short

takes, but it was enough for Amelie to see she was going to be odd co-star out. "Hang out, hit

the beach, that kind of thing. What about you?" Jake hadn't been much of a beach guy two

weeks ago, Amelie thought, when the two of them traded sci-fi and fantasy book

recommendations during her math tutoring session.

"You know, the usual," Kady replied playfully. "A little clubbing, a little dancing. I'm up for

anything, as long as I like who I'm with." Picturing Jake at a club with Kady, Amelie squirmed

in the flimsy plastic chair, her knees bumping the folding dinette table. Earlier she'd heard the

crew making bets on how long it would be before Kady and Jake were an item. Probably by

week's end--Kady worked fast. And though he hadn't gotten Kady's hints to ask her out, Jake

was flirting back. And pretty much ignoring Amelie. Last week, she'd thought they were

becoming fast friends. Now she was more useless than a third wheel.

"I'm the same way," Jake said, leaning toward Kady. "It's all about who you're with." He

brushed back a wayward curl with his hand, seeming like a totally different guy than the one

who'd taken her to Lewis Buford's party last weekend. Thinking about that night made Amelie

think of Hunter, and she wondered what he was doing now. Certainly not sitting in a corner,

watching other people flirt and feeling sorry for himself.

As Kady launched into the positives of MyHouse, a new Hollywood club, Amelie charted the

trajectory of her week. Hadn't she been ecstatic about shooting at BHH? Feeling like she could

be part of semi-normal teenage life? Her sheltered existence was her own fault. She was at a

high school and still sitting in a trailer.

She stood up. "I'm going to eat outside," she said, stretching her legs. She picked up her script

and her turkey pesto croissant. Jake nodded blankly, but Kady beamed gratefully, a thank-you

to Amelie for giving her alone time with Jake.

Amelie swung open the trailer door and hopped onto the metal steps. She was still wearing her

costume, an ivory Milly shift dress and gold sequined Miu Miu sandals. Students turned to

look at her for a swift second before going back to what they'd been doing. It was lunchtime at

BHH, and since
Class Angel
was using a lot of the cafeteria, people were eating on the lawn.

The plush green grass was a sea of cashmere blankets, a sizable number of them clustered

around the door to Grant's trailer. Girls had kicked off their designer shoes and sunned their

bare legs, looking up to see if they could manage a glimpse of their crush. Farther away, guys

leaned back on the grass, casting sideways glances at the girls camped out for Grant. Laughter

and chatter echoed against the looming front of the high school, before bouncing into the

cloudless blue sky.

Where other kids her age fantasized about her life, to Amelie,
this
was the fantasy. Normalcy.

And she'd always be standing on the steps, like she was now, watching instead of taking part.

Amelie was about to trek to her trailer when the two blond girls and the pageboyed brunette

who'd been tailing Grant stopped outside her door, the brunette holding a cashmere throw.

One of the blondes spoke first, extending her slender arm to shake Amelie's hand. "Amelie

Adams? I'm Fortune Weathers," she said, tossing a buttery lock of hair over her shoulder.

"This is Billie Bollman and Talia Montgomery." She gestured to the other horsey blonde and

the brunette, who gave tiny finger waves.

"Um, hi," Amelie said. She recognized them as friends of Myla Everhart, the daughter of

Barbar, who even an outsider like Amelie could see ruled the school. She was glad to not be

wearing
Class Angel
's crazy-person halo. She already felt like enough of a conversationally

challenged freak, not even able to eke out a decent hello.

"We've been wanting to properly introduce ourselves," Talia said, checking her off-theshoulder Rebecca Beeson sweater for invisible lint.

"We've been so rude not to try to meet you sooner," Billie sang, dramatically punctuating her

comment with a light slap of her forehead. "You must think we're awful."

Amelie suppressed a smile. They'd been so ardently tailing Grant, she was surprised they didn't

leave strands of drool behind. "Not at all," she finally said. "It's nice to meet some real

students."

"So," Fortune cut in, all business, "let's sit in the shade, because, hello, skin cancer!" She said

this despite the fact that her tan was clearly 100 percent natural. She pointed to a patch of shade

directly beneath Grant's trailer.

"Oh, are you... inviting me to sit with you?" Amelie said, feeling even lamer than she already

did. What surprised her was how badly she wanted to sit with them. She was too smart to

believe Myla Everhart's friends would be genuinely interested in her; befriending a sheltered

child star didn't seem like their kind of thing. Still, it was better than sitting alone in her trailer.

"Of course we are," Billie said, waving at Amelie to follow them. Talia carried the blanket to

the area beneath Grant's trailer window. She spread it out, straightening the edges in an OCD

way, keeping her eyes on the window.

"I wanted to tell you, I L-O-V-E-D what they did with your hair for that scene in the cafeteria,"

Talia said, pulling one of Amelie's red curls. "The bun with the wispy pieces around your face?

You should do that all the time. It softens your eyes. So romantic."

"Thanks," Amelie said, looking for something of Talia's to compliment. "I really like your

necklace," she said awkwardly. As a star since practically birth, Amelie was great at working

rooms of adults, from top-tier executives to agents and directors, but she'd never really had

girlfriends her own age. Unless you counted girls like Kady, who'd probably never notice

Amelie if they hadn't been thrown together on a movie.

Talia's hand shot up to her diamond-coated star pendant. "You can totally borrow it."

Billie rolled her eyes, fluffing her three-tier Rag & Bone striped miniskirt. "Talia, look at her."

She gestured to Amelie's dress. "Does she look like she needs your accessories?"

There was a slight edge to Billie's voice. The three of them were all competing to be the best

ass-kiss, with Grant as a living, breathing door prize.

"We're planning outfits for the big football game scene," Fortune said, looking to Amelie like

she was sitting on a throne. "We thought it would be really cool to actually be in the shot."

A few of the girls on a blanket not far away twittered amongst themselves. Amelie distinctly

heard the words, "Why didn't
we
think of that?"

The football game scene taking place that evening would involve the entire BHH student body.

In it, Kady's character, Lizzie, and her friend Knox, played by Grant, attended the school's big

homecoming game, just to play a nasty pyramid-toppling prank on the cheerleaders who'd

framed Kady for stealing the school's trophy.

"I just don't know what to wear to a Midwestern high school football game," Fortune said.

Amelie surveyed Fortune's perfectly curated bohemian prep schooler outfit--dark green fringy

scarf emerging from a neatly pressed cream blazer over a navy tartan skirt and funky black

motorcycle boots. It was like she'd already cast herself as a rich girl with a wild side.

"Yeah, maybe you could tell us what you're wearing," Billie said, looking like a punk-rock

Alice in Wonderland, with her platform Mary Janes and artfully askew black bow headband.

"Well, I guarantee it will include that halo." Amelie sighed. "Have you seen that thing?"

"How could you not? It's awful," Talia said. Catching the mean-girl tinge to her voice, she

backpedaled. "But, you would look cute in anything."

Amelie laughed. "You don't have to lie. It should come with a butter churn."

Billie giggled. "You're funny! Isn't she funny?" She looked at the other girls, as amazed as if

her pet Chihuahua had started reciting Shakespeare.

Amelie felt a wave of affection for her new, not-really friends. It was liberating to have a

conversation that wasn't about how to shoot act three, or her contract obligations for an in-store

appearance. Okay, so maybe these girls wanted something. But if she were to be honest with

herself, so did she.

"So, guys, I have a minor suggestion for tonight," she said. Why not help them out? Wasn't

talking about what to wear to get a boy something regular girls did all the time?

"You want seats by Grant, right?"

The trio sang halfhearted protests. "Noooo," they insisted. "It's not that at all."

"Come on, I know he's hot," Amelie said, even though Grant--with his unwashed indie rock

hair and penchant for secondhand-store tweed--was not even close to Hunter on the hotness

scale.

"He's okay," Talia said, her eyes scanning his window above them again.

"Okay, fine, if you want to be in the movie, do this: Dress down. Something that an average

girl would wear on a date. Like nice jeans, a cute V-neck sweater. You could do your hair in a

ponytail, or just down. Lose the satin headbands. They're too Upper East Side. And it's

supposed to be October in Ohio, so maybe a jacket, a light one?"

Talia clapped her hands, excitedly looking from Fortune to Billie. "Omigod, that sounds so

perfect! Amelie, you're a lifesaver!"

They all clustered closer to her, folding her into an awkward kneeling group hug. As they split

up, Billie kept a hand on Amelie's arm. "Amelie, do you think we're totally lame to be going

after Grant this way?"

As Billie, followed by Talia and Fortune, turned their wide eyes on her, Amelie felt like the girl

everyone knew could be counted on for good advice. She shook her head. "Not at all," she

whispered conspiratorially, grinning at a group of guys who passed by, looking appreciatively

at the four of them. "You never know what could happen, or if you'll get another chance." She

was thinking of herself and Hunter, wondering if she could have done more.

"Someone's speaking from experience," Fortune said, linking arms with her. "Have you seen

any cute guys here, or do you already have a thing for someone?"

Amelie could feel a blush rise in her cheeks as she thought of Hunter. "I've liked the same guy

forever, but I don't think it's ever going to work out. I don't know if it's our timing, or if it's just

me." She lowered her head shyly. Kady knew about her crush, but Amelie had never confessed

her doubts aloud to anyone.

Talia scoffed, pulling her in the direction of the front doors. "Yeah, like it could be you. He'd

have to be nuts. Or gay." Her mahogany eyes twinkled under the sun. "BHH has some semidecent boys. Maybe it's destiny that you're here."

"Yeah, you never know. If you got a boyfriend here, maybe you could enroll. You would so

be the most popular girl here," Fortune said. "You're, like, so smart and so nice."

"You should go here," Billie said, nodding, as if that settled the issue. She stood and took one

last, longing look at Grant's window as she shouldered her Gucci tote. "Oh, and by the way,

we're hitting the Bev Center Saturday. You should come."

Amelie pictured trying on clothes with girls her own age, instead of under the watchful,

conservative eye of her momager, Helen. She was about to say yes, until she remembered she'd

be shooting
Class Angel
both Saturday and Sunday. "I have to shoot this weekend, or I would

love to," she said dismally.

"There'll be other shopping trips," Fortune said, her friendly smile a promise.

"Until then, come with me to my locker," Talia said in Amelie's ear. "I have this Benefit lipstick

that's sort of a peach, and it's not right for me. But it would be really pretty with your

complexion."

Talia pulled her into the retreating crowd of students, couples and BFFs in pairs, as they

headed through the double doors. Amelie was unable to control the wide smile that took over

her face as she stepped into the center of the crowd. So what if Talia, Billie, and Fortune

weren't exactly her friends? And this wasn't exactly her school?

She'd only needed a taste of the normal life to know she wanted more.

KLATCH PERFORMANCE

"Do you think it's funny to give nonconformists like me and Knox..." Kady-as-Lizzie trailed

off, staring heavenward. She huffed a frustrated breath and flopped backward onto a wooden

bench that lined the BHH field house equipment room's wall. Grant, Amelie, and the

production crew all straightened out of their filming positions. "What's wrong with me today?"

she muttered to no one in particular, even though she was looking at Jake apologetically.

Jake shrugged. After just a few takes, he had figured out Kady's tell when she was about to

mess up a line: Her gaze would flit skyward, like she half-expected her lines to be written on

the ceiling. "No worries. It happens to everyone, right?" he said easily, feeling like he was in a

dream. They'd done three takes of the scene already, but Jake didn't mind the starts and stops.

Every pause gave him time to remember that this--him, as the lead in a movie and not

completely screwing it up--was actually happening to
him
.

Kady was apologizing to Jake because so far, he was the only one in the cast to nail every take.

Even Amelie had stumbled over one of her lines. They were shooting the scene where Lizzie

and Knox discovered that Tommy--in addition to being an awesome basketball player--also

penned poignant essays under a pseudonym for the Reavis paper. Amelie was in it, too,

helping Lizzie discover the storeroom where Tommy was writing one of his pieces in private.

The equipment room was tiny and cramped, every shelf stuffed with team uniforms, football

shoulder pads, and random sports paraphernalia. Reavis High's blue-and-white gear replaced

BHH's red-and-black uniforms. Jake leaned against a basket of volleyballs, his feet resting on a

duffel bag of softball equipment. A notebook lay open on his lap.

"Now, guys," Gary said. "Jake's perfect in this scene. Tommy is a little surprised, but he trusts

Kady and Grant with his secret, and wants Kady to know he's more than a jock, so he's also a