Sugar and Spice

“Naveen had to go to Boston for some family thing,” Caleb said with a smile. “God, it’s great to see you!”

Caleb started to give her a hug. Jane glanced around quickly, making sure they were alone. She didn’t need photographers catching her having a mini-reunion with her ex. Or worse, Trevor or one of the other producers, who would surely seize on Caleb as a potential TV “love interest” for Jane. She and Caleb had split up almost a year ago, and in any case, she was taking a break from boys. She didn’t need the drama after what she’d been through recently.

Since no one seemed to be paying attention, Jane let Caleb scoop her up in his arms, which felt unexpectedly warm and familiar. And strong—probably because he used to be on the swim team, and wasn’t he working in construction these days?

“You look amazing in that dress,” he whispered in her ear.

Jane blushed. “Thanks. I—”

Someone’s cell began buzzing. It took Jane a second to realize that it was hers. She wriggled out of Caleb’s embrace and peeked at the screen. BRADEN CALLING. Ohmi-god, Braden? Why was he calling her? He’d emailed her a couple of times after her breakup with Jesse, to check in on her, but that had been it.

She and Braden had always been friends, and at the same time way more than friends, although the timing had never worked out for them to actually date. But why was her heart racing so fast at the thought of hearing his voice?

“I, uh, have to get this,” Jane told Caleb. “I’ll catch up with you later, okay?”

“No worries. I can just hang out here and wait,” Caleb said.

Jane turned her back to him and hit Talk. “Hello?”

“Hey, Jane. It’s Braden.”

“Hey. Where are you?”

“Well, I’m sitting here flipping through channels and seeing your face. They’re showing these commercials for your party tonight.”

“You mean the ‘teasers’?”

“Yeah, those. Sorry I couldn’t make it, by the way. I just wanted to call and, you know, wish you luck. Not that you need it. You look great, Jane. I mean it.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet. Thanks!”

Jane had invited Braden as a courtesy, knowing he would never come. He hated the Hollywood scene and didn’t want anything to do with L.A. Candy, refusing to sign a release to be on the show. Mostly, it was because being an aspiring actor and being on reality TV didn’t mix. Jane also suspected that he wanted to stay out of the media spotlight as much as possible after the Gossip nightmare.

“Is that your mom?” Caleb asked Jane. “If it is, tell her I said hi!”

Jane glanced up, startled. She hadn’t realized that Caleb was still standing there. Was this his immature way of trying to find out if it was a guy?

“Who was that?” Braden asked her.

“What? Oh, um, that’s Caleb,” Jane replied.

“Caleb? Who’s Caleb?”

Awkward. “He’s … um … an old friend.”

“Hey! Who are you calling an old ‘friend’?” Caleb teased her. “That one of your new boyfriends, Janie?”

“No!”

“No, what?” Braden said, sounding puzzled.

“I was just telling Caleb that you’re not one of my—oh, never mind.” Jane shook her head, silently praying for someone to come rescue her. This was insane, having a three-way conversation (sort of) with her old boyfriend (whom she used to be madly in love with) and her good friend (slash guy she had intense, complicated feelings about).

At that very moment, Jane spotted Alli coming down the tiki-torch-lit path, speaking into a walkie-talkie. “Sorry, Braden, but I’ve gotta run. I’ll call you later, okay?” Jane told him. “Alli!” she cried out, rushing over to her and giving her a quick hug. “I’m soooo glad to see you!”

Alli looked totally confused. “You are?”

“I am! You need me for something now, right?”

“Uh, right. I’m supposed to take you and the other girls over to the terrace for the opening segment, and—”

“Great! I’m ready!”

“So who’s Braden?” Caleb said, once again standing right behind her. “Is that that guy I read about in the magazines? Didn’t you and he—”

“I’ve gotta run, Caleb. I’ll see you later, okay?” Jane said. Then, before he could say another word, she turned to make her escape, trying not to trip on her black stiletto heels as she followed Alli down the path.

But what was she escaping, exactly? Two guys whom she used to like? Who used to like her? Who maybe still liked her, by the way they were acting? Or did guys always act like this, all possessive and territorial and she’s-mine-I-saw-her-first?

It was a very good thing she was not dating these days.

2 BEST FRIENDS (#ulink_cfac1f07-6a7b-502f-938e-561b18e9a64d)

“Yeah, so Jane and I used to be best friends. It’s really sad,” Madison Parker explained to the umpteenth reporter.

Madison dabbed at her eyes for good effect, being careful not to mar her five-hundred-dollar makeup job. She’d tried out a new stylist for the season premiere party tonight—some of the biggest names in Hollywood used him—and he hadn’t disappointed. On the other side of the pool, which was filled with fragrant white gardenias and floating candles, a group of girls held up a sign that said, WE LOVE YOU MADYSON!!!!!!! in hot pink. Learn to spell, morons, she thought, annoyed.

The reporter from Gossip magazine—Tiffani?— nodded and scribbled in her tiny notebook. “So why do you think Jane moved out? And are we going to see that on tonight’s episode?”

“Shhh, that’s not till next week,” Madison stage–whispered, pretending to be letting Tiffani in on the biggest secret ever, even though she had told the same thing to five other reporters earlier. “I’ll tell you why Jane moved out. Everyone knows that she hooked up with her boyfriend Jesse’s best friend, Braden, back in December, and that Jesse found out, right? Well, Jane got this insane idea that I told Jesse about it.”

Tiffani looked puzzled. “But didn’t Jesse find out from our magazine when the pictures—”

“All I know is, Jane blames me,” Madison cut in. “It’s crazy. I would never do anything like that to her. I loved her like a sister. I still do.”

Tiffani nodded and scribbled some more.

This is soooo easy, Madison thought.

Things hadn’t looked very good for Madison last month, when Jane got hold of some emails proving that Madison had leaked those photos to Gossip. Any other girl might have given up, under the circumstances. But not Madison. She not only refused to confess or apologize to Jane … she decided to go on the offensive, talking to every reporter who would listen about her way-more-interesting version of events.

Madison studied her new set of dark purple acrylic nails. The nails on her right hand spelled LOVE! with tiny rhinestones; the nails on her left spelled FAME! “And that’s not all Jane did,” she said to Tiffani. “Jesse forgave her for hooking up with Braden, and they got back together right after New Year’s, right? But Jane was still obsessed with Braden. She was hanging out with him and having secret meet-ups, and that’s why Jesse dumped her again. And now she’s not speaking to me, like it’s my fault she cheated on her boyfriend.”

Tiffani whistled. “Wow, this is great stuff.”

Madison smiled smugly. “I know.” She didn’t tell Tiffani that she’d left out a few important details, like the fact that Jane and Braden only had one “secret meet-up”—a very public lunch at Barney Greengrass—or that Jane told Jesse about it herself, the same night.

Tiffani glanced up from her notepad. “Anything else?”