The Fame Game, Starstruck, Infamous: 3 book Collection

As Kate watched her castmate amass an armload of clothing for her to try on, she wondered if Madison was being nice because she felt like it or because she was supposed to, for a story line. Could her friendliness be genuine? Carmen would argue no. But Madison hadn’t been getting texts from Laurel, as far as Kate could see, telling her to pretend like she cared about someone besides herself. (Meanwhile Kate was getting them with embarrassing regularity: SMILE! And CAN YOU LOOK LESS BORED? And PULL HAIR AWAY FROM FACE.)

She’d surreptitiously glanced over at Laurel, who grinned and gave her a thumbs-up sign. Kate liked Laurel. And even more than that, she liked feeling that she had an ally behind those big black cameras.

Madison pranced over and thrust a silky navy sweater, skinny jeans, a gold belt, and a pair of dove-gray ankle boots at Kate. “Here,” she said. “Try these first.”

Obediently Kate rose and slipped into the dressing room. She pulled on the various pieces of the outfit and twisted her hair up in a loose knot to avoid any future blocking issues. When she pulled back the curtain and stepped out of the little room, Madison clapped her hands gleefully.

“Look at you! I wouldn’t recognize you. Skinnies and some booties and oh my God, it’s like you’re all grown up all of a sudden.” Madison looked pleased with herself.

Kate turned toward herself in the mirror and saw that Madison was right: She looked strikingly different. Sophisticated. Polished. Pretty. “Wow,” she said. “I feel like Carmen or something.”

Madison sniffed. “You’re much prettier than Carmen. It’s just that she knows how to maximize her assets, and you don’t. Not yet. But I’m going to teach you.” She held out another outfit. “Now try this one.”

Madison definitely had a good eye, Kate thought. As the clothes piled up on the dressing room benches she began to feel a mix of elation and dread. On the one hand, she was finally going to look like she had a sense of fashion. On the other hand, her bank account was going to take a serious hit.

And so it went for another two hours, with Madison selecting the clothes and Kate dutifully putting them on. After the first hour, Laurel and the crew were satisfied they’d gotten what they needed and had packed up to go film Gaby walking out of her dressing room a dozen times. Laurel said that was approximately how many takes it took for Gaby to get something right. To Kate’s surprise, Madison hadn’t bolted as soon as the cameras were gone.

“The boys are going to love you in that,” Madison said, nodding at the sea-green shift dress that Kate had donned. “It makes your legs look amazing.”

Kate blushed—both at the mention of boys and her legs.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Madison demanded, smirking. “Did you meet someone?”

Kate sighed. “I might have met someone at Whisper the other night. After you and Sophia left.”

Kate looked to see if the mention of her castmate’s sister elicited any kind of reaction, but Madison simply raised an eyebrow in interest and said, “Do tell.” God, she was good at pretending like nothing fazed her. Kate guessed that a couple seasons of being on reality TV could do that to a person.

Kate shrugged. “I don’t know that much about him, really,” she said. “But he’s an actor and he plays the bass, and he might be the cutest guy I’ve ever seen. His name is Luke, and he has these green eyes. . . .” She lost herself in remembering Luke’s charms. The way they’d found themselves talking and laughing about their childhoods. The way he gleefully agreed when she said that Justin Timberlake’s best work was that Liquor Mart song he’d performed on Saturday Night Live. The way he had put his hand on the small of her back when they were leaving the club. The way he—

Madison waved a hand in her face. “Whoa, hello?” she said, smiling. “I think we lost you there.”

“Sorry,” Kate said. “I was just thinking. . . .”

“Is he famous? Would I know him?”

“Not likely,” Kate said. “Sounds like he’s still trying to make it.”

“So you only met him once,” Madison said, and Kate nodded. “Well, we’ll have to change that immediately.” She paused. “Did you tell him about The Fame Game?”

“No. It didn’t occur to me,” Kate admitted. The cameras had been gone by then, and Kate hadn’t given them another thought. And it was such a weird thing to tell someone. Yeah, I’m a runner at this restaurant Stecco but secretly I’m about to be a reality TV star. She could never imagine saying something like that.

Madison nodded approvingly. “That’s definitely for the best. If he knew, he might not be into it. I mean, actors sometimes think that what we do isn’t legit. They think that memorizing lines makes them better than us.” She shook her head, as if in disbelief. “And if he is into it, then you have to wonder: Does he like you for you? Or does he like you for the camera time that you represent?”

Madison was kind of blowing Kate’s mind—and bursting her bubble. As if meeting guys in L.A. wasn’t already difficult enough!

“Trust me, Kate, you want to let this develop naturally.”

Let what develop naturally? Kate wanted to know. She wasn’t even sure she’d ever see Luke again. He might not call her, and she was definitely not the type to make the first move. “Okay,” she said uncertainly.

“You’re still a nobody,” Madison said gently. “And I mean that in the nicest possible way. But when the premiere airs? Say good-bye to anonymity and everything else you thought you knew about your friends and your family and your life.”

“Wow,” Kate said. “You make that sound sort of . . . scary.”

“It’s not,” Madison assured her. “It’s amazing. But it’s crazy, too. Anyway, do you have this guy’s number?”

“Yes, he put it in my phone before he dropped me off.”

“Good,” Madison said. “Can I borrow your phone for a second?”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Kate said. “What for . . . ?”

“Thanks.” Madison quickly snatched the proffered phone, typed into it for a moment, and then returned it to Kate. “You have a date,” she said. “Tonight.”

Kate felt her mouth drop open. She had to hand it to Madison. That girl did not mess around.

When the knock sounded on her door, Kate still wasn’t ready, even though she knew her time was up since she’d just buzzed Luke into the building. She’d spent two hours trying to figure out which one of her new outfits to wear, but she couldn’t remember which jeans Madison had paired with which top and shoes. Did the ankle boots go with the skinnies, or was she supposed to wear the ballet flats? She just wanted everything to be perfect. She should have had Madison make her a cheat sheet.

The knock came again, louder this time.

“Come in,” she yelled. “I’ll be out in one second—” Maybe she should just give up and wear that old Gap sweater, the one with the stripes.

“I’m a little early,” Luke called. She could hear him coming into the living room. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she called back. She loved the way he talked. Was there anything cuter than an Australian accent? A baby koala, maybe. “Really, I’m almost ready.”

She hurried over to the mirror and was surprised to see that she’d actually managed to pull one of her new outfits together. She quickly ran a comb through her hair (Madison told her their next outing would include a trip to the hair salon), and then she went to find her date. Or whatever he was. She wasn’t actually sure.

“Hey,” Luke said, smiling at her. “You look great.”

“Thanks,” she said. “So do you.” He had on faded jeans and a leather motorcycle jacket. His longish brown hair looked tousled and windblown.

“Do you have a coat?” he asked.

“What for? It’s, like, eighty degrees outside.”

His grin stretched wider. “You’ll see. Just grab something warm.”

She went to the closet and grabbed an old leather jacket. (Too bad today’s shopping extravaganza had not included any new outerwear.) “Okay,” she said, pulling it on and hoping it didn’t totally ruin her look. “Jacket donned.”

She followed him down the hallway and out to the front of the building. The sun was beginning to set, and a warm breeze was rustling through the leaves of the potted bamboo that bordered the parking lot.

“Where are you taking me?” Kate asked.

“You’ll see.” He stopped and turned back to her. “Your chariot awaits,” he said.

She looked at him in confusion. Where was his car? Was he talking about the cab across the way? Then she noticed that he was standing in front of a gleaming black BMW motorcycle. “That?” she said. “You came here on that?”

He laughed. “Sure did.” He reached into a compartment on the bike and pulled out two helmets. He handed the smaller one to her. “Here you go,” he said.