The Fame Game, Starstruck, Infamous: 3 book Collection

“Kate. Remember, no smile,” the photographer told Kate at some point. “This isn’t your senior class photo.”

Madison snickered and Carmen shot her a look. Madison reciprocated. Pretty soon the two of them were all-out glaring at each other.

“I like that,” Trevor called. “Does it play?”

The photographer shook his head. “It makes their eyes look small. Come on, girls, think beautiful thoughts. They will make you look beautiful.”

After a few more minutes, Laurel hustled up and rearranged them: Madison and Carmen standing back to back, arms crossed in the center. Then Gaby on one side and Kate on the other.

“Love it, Carmen. Awesome, Kate,” Laurel said. “Gaby, can you try to move your face a little bit? Madison, can you look a little more alive?”

More alive? What was she talking about? Madison was a pro at this. She’d been at more photo shoots than that little troll would ever be. She stood up straighter and gave the camera her best look: a mix of sultriness and defiance.

“Mmm,” Laurel said, sounding less than thrilled. She was drinking from that stupid travel mug again.

Madison repositioned herself slightly. She was still staring right into the camera lens, but now she was gazing down her nose at it. The look was meant to say: I am the shit and don’t you forget it. The shutters clicked. The lights were hot and Madison felt a touch of perspiration on her lip. Within seconds someone yelled, “Shine! Can someone powder Madison?” and the makeup assistant was patting her face.

“My feet hurt,” Gaby whispered.

“Smile through it,” Madison said. “It’s the only way.”

The photographer called for a break—all the girls needed a makeup touch-up—and Madison watched as Laurel fluttered right over to Carmen and Kate, smiling. When did they get to be such besties? Madison wondered resentfully. She never thought she’d miss having Dana around, but now she did. Dana was always stressed and bitchy, but at least she was equal-opportunity bitchy.

To take her mind off her interpersonal annoyances, Madison ran through the voice-over narration in her head. There are four of us, and we’re all trying to make it. We know it’s going to be a rough road; we know fame isn’t easy. But this is our time. And we’re ready to get in the game.

Madison tossed back her platinum hair and readjusted her posture. Her spine was ramrod straight. She was ready for the cameras at all times. Because really, Madison thought, really it’s just my time. And I will win this game.

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The Buzz! News studio looked sort of flimsy in real life, Carmen noticed, but then again, that was the way it always was. She’d been on enough sound stages to know that in Hollywood, nothing was really as glamorous as it looked on TV.

Gaby was looking nervous, but also weirdly grown-up and professional in some kind of chic little silk blouse and tweed skirt ensemble. She kept popping pieces of sugar-free gum into her mouth.

“Don’t worry,” Carmen assured her. “This is going to be easy. It’s just me, remember? Just me and one extra camera.”

Gaby smiled tremulously. Her first on-camera interview, the one with Lacey Hopkins, hadn’t gone very well, and since then the Buzz! people had kept her behind the scenes. They’d made her kind of a PA, even though she was pretty useless for that, too. Although she did do a decent job of fetching people coffee.

But as Laurel had reported to Kate and Carmen when they’d all met for drinks the other night, Trevor told Buzz! that they could film Kate making espressos over at Stecco. “The show doesn’t need two baristas. So get Gaby back on-camera, okay?” he’d said. And apparently they’d done what he asked.

Some semi-handsome PA settled Gaby and Carmen into uncomfortable armchairs and took away Gaby’s gum wrapped in a tissue. They were surrounded by cameras, and even Carmen felt a little weird. She was being filmed being filmed, acting out an interview (for a reality TV show and a real TV show) about an acting job for a movie. Huh? It was like looking at endless repetitions of yourself in a mirror.

“Okay, girls. We’re rolling in three . . . two . . . one,” someone called.

Gaby looked down at her question cards and then back up at Carmen. Carmen could see her take a deep breath before she spoke. “So, you’ve just been given the role of Julia in The End of Love. It’s your first picture with a major studio. How are you feeling about it?”

Carmen smiled glitteringly. “I’m so incredibly excited,” she said. But of course she didn’t want to seem too excited—she wanted to ooze poise and sophistication. “It’s such an incredible opportunity to work with Colum McEntire and the whole PopTV Films family.”

Gaby glanced down at her questions again. “Are you excited to be working with Colum McEntire?” she asked.

Carmen kept her smile even. Hadn’t she just said she was? Poor Gaby: No one had told her that if your interviewee answers a question spontaneously, you don’t have to ask it again. You can skip ahead to the next one. “Yes,” she said. “I thought he did an amazing job with One Way Out, and I think this movie is going to show the world what an incredible artistic vision he has.”

Gaby nodded. “What about Luke Kelly? His star is ascending.”

Carmen was pleased to hear Gaby pronouncing “ascending” correctly. “Yes, I think people are really going to sit up and take notice once they see him on the big screen. He’s a fantastic actor and an all-around great guy.”

“He’s cute, too,” Gaby noted.

Wow, Carmen thought, an actual ad-lib. She laughed prettily. “Yes, he’s a handsome guy,” she said.

Then Gaby read a question card for a very long time as Carmen shifted tensely in her seat. She’d like to see how Buzz! managed to edit this into a reasonably competent interview.

“Can you tell us a little bit about the story?” Gaby asked.

“Of course,” Carmen said brightly. And she went off on a riff she’d practiced: about how, in the distant future, Roman and Julia are the children of warring families in a society where love is a crime. And how she and Luke fall in love despite adversity, and how they vow to restore the world back to the way it was. “And you’ll just have to see it to find out more,” she finished.

Gaby’s eyes were wide. She was trying to process this information, but it seemed as if the cranial wheels were just spinning, going nowhere.

“Ask a question,” someone hissed.

“Do you think the story has any revelance—I mean relevance—for our time?”

“I think love is always a good subject,” Carmen answered. “It’s part of everyone’s life—either its presence or the lack of it. Though I hope not lack, of course.” She smiled in a way she hoped would suggest she had more love than she could possibly deal with. In truth, there was a distinct lack of love in her life these days. But maybe she’d get to live vicariously through her character, Julia. Of course, she hoped she wouldn’t die from it, the way Julia did. (Spoiler alert!) “When the movie begins, Julia’s love is unrequited,” she went on.

“What’s ‘unrequited’ mean?” Gaby whispered.

It was as if Carmen could hear every eye in the room rolling. “See, Julia loves Roman, but Roman doesn’t even know she exists at first.”

“Oh,” Gaby said, “I get it.”

Carmen doubted this was actually the case.

After another awkward ten minutes of discussing Carmen’s parents, her favorite summer vacation spot, and her new reality TV show, the Buzz! people emerged from the shadows and told Carmen and Gaby to take a break. “We’re going to see what we’ve got,” said a pinched-looking blonde. “We might do a few more questions, but I’m not sure there’s time.”

Gaby followed Carmen to the side of the set, where a ring of folding chairs had been set up. “I was bad, wasn’t I?” she said.

“No,” Carmen assured her. “You were fine! You’re just nervous, and that’s okay. They’ll edit it so you seem as professional as Barbara Walters.”

“Who’s Barbara Walters?” Gaby asked.

Seriously? “She’s a very famous interviewer,” Carmen said, pulling a water bottle from her purse.

“I don’t want to be an interviewer,” Gaby whispered.

“What do you want to do then?”

“Honestly, I just liked getting people their coffee.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Gab,” Carmen said firmly. “You’ll figure it out. I promise.” She wasn’t actually convinced of this, but Gaby could use a little more confidence and ambition in her life. (Unlike her best friend, Madison, who had too much of both.)