Sunset Boulevard Part 12

"Okay, maybe you're right," he said, almost able to feel her lips as she spoke. Mick Jagger yawled on behind them, and Daisy started to sing along in a doleful voice. "'I don't need no beast of burden... I need no fussing, I need no nursing... Never, never, never, never, never, never, never be.'" She giggled. "I hope I haven't made you feel like my beast of burden." She looked right into his eyes, a look so direct and earnest it surprised him with its intensity. He tried not to think of Myla telling him to kiss Daisy. Daisy had enough problems without being dragged into one of Myla's crazy schemes.

When he was silent, she whispered sincerely, "I don't want to be a bother." At that moment, he couldn't picture ever thinking of her as a bother. He stared into her feather-gray eyes, wis.h.i.+ng he could look away. But he couldn't.

He leaned in and kissed her. The music disappeared, replaced in Ash's head with Myla's words, "Kiss someone else, and you'll see it means nothing."

Daisy's lips were soft and inviting on his. She twirled a strand of his hair around her finger, sending a s.h.i.+ver up the sides of his neck to the nooks behind his ears. It was like music. Great music.

Maybe it wasn't exactly like kissing Myla.

But it definitely didn't feel like nothing.

WORKING ALL THE ANGELS.

"Amelie, new pages are ready," one of the student production a.s.sistants called through Amelie's thin trailer door.

He could have been saying, Amelie, puppies! For you! The effect was roughly the same.

Amelie fluttered to the door, knocking over a pile of J Brand jeans the company had sent her. Grinning like a madwoman, she flung open the door but reminded herself to act professional. The PA was a scholarly-looking BHH senior who always wore a suit jacket and who'd become Gary's favorite of the student hires. She wanted to s.n.a.t.c.h the pages from his hands and hurry back to her bedroom to read exactly how her first kiss with Jake would go.

"Hi, Amelie," he said, watching Amelie's eyes cut to the manila envelope under his arm. Patience, she told herself. "Um, sorry, my name's Rush. Baxter?" He said it like a question.

"Oh, I remember," she lied. "It's crazy we're shooting another ending, huh?" Luckily, Devin and Sanjay didn't want her to tell anyone she'd come up with the new scene. The last thing they needed was word getting out that one of Transnational's stars had gotten an ending change. Kady, and most important, Jake, wouldn't suspect a thing.

"Yeah, totally," he said, waving the envelope back and forth. Amelie grabbed it as casually as she could, resisting the urge to rip it open this second. She hadn't been this excited to read anything since the last Harry Potter book.

"Gary wants to know if you could be ready for hair and makeup in an hour. We're going to shoot this today. Jake has a lot of scenes with Grant tomorrow," Rush explained. He looked bashful yet proud. A few weeks on a movie set and the guy was trusted with the kind of information the a.s.sistant director usually doled out. Shooting a movie at BHH had led to big changes for everyone.

Amelie wanted to squeal and hug Rush. She'd be kissing Jake in a few hours and afterward, she knew everything would be different. Maybe he'd dump Kady on the spot, and they'd have their first date tonight. Amelie wouldn't drag Jake to hot spots and nightclubs. That stuff was for the Kadys and the Hunters of the world. Not that Amelie hated Hunter or anything. She could just see clearly now. Before, she'd been trying to change herself to fit into Hunter's world, while all the while she and Jake had already been living in the same one.

"Thanks, Rush," she said. "I can do an hour. I just better read these." She shook the envelope meaningfully and Rush hurried off.

She flopped onto the IKEA couch and fished out the pages. There was a note from Sanjay scrawled on a Post-it stuck to the cover. "Amazing idea, Amelie. This might draw the Cruel Intentions crowd to a teen romantic comedy!" She rolled her eyes. The studio execs only saw a business gain, not a victory for true teenage love.

The dialogue wasn't great. It had that weird, stilted quality of a dream. But the exchange she wanted was there: Cla.s.s Angel told Tommy who she was, and that she could become human with just one kiss. Tommy would take off Amelie's halo-a true bonus in Amelie's mind-and lean down to deliver her eternal life-altering smooch.

Maybe someday she'd tell Jake what she'd done to land him. She could picture her tell-all interview with People about how she'd gone behind the scenes to get a first kiss with Jake. And how years later, they were still living their own happily-ever-after.

Amelie was out of hair and makeup, pacing near the empty stairwell where they'd shoot. She furtively used a tissue to blot away excess lip gloss. She wanted this kiss to be perfect. And she wanted to get it right on the first take, before Kady returned to the set.

For the scene, Amelie would get to dress completely normal-no white, no frills, and minimal glitter. She wore knee-high white boots, a short white denim skirt, and a white baseball-sleeve tee. As the kiss happened, her white clothes would burst into color, and the heavenly aura that surrounded Amelie's character (thank you, postproduction) would fade: Through true love, Cla.s.s Angel would become human. Gary had told her that Cla.s.s Angel Goes to High School was already in development, thanks to Amelie's idea. If only getting the powers-that-be to let you actually go to high school were that easy, Amelie thought.

Jake sat in his canvas chair, watching as the crew hoisted a boom mic out of shot range. He looked infinitely calmer than he had his first day on set, and it almost bothered her. When had he become Mr. Cool? And wasn't he a little nervous about their kiss?

"Places, please," Gary finally called. Amelie's stomach coiled like one of s.h.i.+rley Temple's ringlets.

Amelie leaned against the stair railing, where Cla.s.s Angel was supposed to lie in wait for Tommy. Jake took his time, thumbing out the last few words of a text message before finally sauntering over. He took his mark at the top of the staircase. His dark curls had been tamed with gel, and one stubborn lock of hair hung sweetly over his right eye. Amelie had almost forgotten how tall he was, and not just compared to pet.i.te Kady. Even at five foot six, Amelie would only reach his clavicle. But in heels, she'd be the perfect height to rest her head on Jake's toned shoulder.

"And, action," the AD called.

Action? No problem, Amelie thought, already feeling a frisson under her skin as Jake walked down the stairs, Tommy's letterman jacket slung over his shoulder.

Tommy stopped to ask if she needed help. Amelie nodded her head coyly.

"Yes," she said. "But not the help you think."

Tommy eyed her quizzically. "Are you new? Or waiting for someone?"

Amelie turned the full force of her aquamarine eyes on him. "Waiting for you, actually."

Tommy scrunched up his face in confusion. "I don't think we've met."

"We have, you've just never seen me," Cla.s.s Angel said, leaning slinkily on the wall. She explained, in the same odd dialogue, who she was. Jake registered Tommy's reaction perfectly, going from skeptical to startled to intrigued.

"So if we kiss, you stay?" he asked, already lifting the ruffled halo from her head. For once, it hadn't been pinned down. Amelie almost melted as Jake's fingers brushed her scalp.

"Yeah, I think you're getting the idea," she said, parting her lips as Jake moved closer.

He leaned in and-with his fingers still woven through her hair-softly, gently placed his lips on hers. Amelie felt her nerve endings ignite, a hunger gnawing at her insides. Who knew Jake could kiss like this? His lips seemed made for hers as the kiss grew in force and intensity. Amelie reached for the back of his neck, lightly running her fingers over his hairline. She ran her other hand down his arm. It was like her lips were a pointillist painting, and every dot that made up her mouth was fizzing. If Jake was feeling half of what she was feeling, they'd have to head to one of their trailers to pick up where the scene left off.

"And, cut," Gary said, too soon. "That was perfect, you two."

Amelie took her time opening her eyes. But as soon as she did, she wished she'd kept them closed. Kady was bounding over to them without a care in the world. "You guys looked hot. I don't get this ending at all, but that kiss was spectacular."

Amelie forced a grin. She took a step back, hoping to give Jake a little privacy so he could tell Kady he'd just discovered his deep feelings for Amelie. Instead, Jake broke out in a relieved smile. Kady immediately gave him a long kiss, right in front of Amelie. The one-two punch knocked the wind out of her.

"You ready?" Kady asked him. "I put us on the list for the Vampire Weekend show at the Wiltern."

"Cool," Jake said, slinging his arm around her. He might as well have been slapping Amelie in the face. They were supposed to have tutoring today.

Amelie forced herself to smile. "You guys have fun. Jake, we'll do tutoring another time." That had been the knockout blow: He'd completely forgotten.

Jake could see the hurt in Amelie's eyes. He hadn't actually forgotten tutoring. But after seeing the pages of their new scene, he'd made plans with Kady so he wouldn't have to be alone with Amelie. He'd been terrified that the kiss would be bad, or worse, that by kissing him she'd somehow know exactly how badly he'd crushed on her when they'd first met.

The weird thing was, the kiss had been great. Like every fiber of his being had met its match in Amelie's being. And he could tell by the way Amelie couldn't quite look at him directly that she wasn't thrilled to see him ditching their session for another girl. But he couldn't imagine that she'd felt what he had felt when they kissed. She was a professional-she was probably just getting wrapped up in the energy of the scene. Plus, Kady was his girlfriend, on- and off-camera. Kissing her meant something way bigger. Right?

"Yeah, definitely," Jake finally said.

"You're welcome to come," Kady said charitably.

Amelie felt even worse. Jake was acting like their kiss was no more of an event than splitting a craft services cupcake. And Kady was treating her like an unfortunate who needed a little TLC.

"No, thanks, I'm really tired, actually," she said. Really tired of not living in the real world. Maybe all those years in Fairy Princess's Enchanted Forest had gotten to her. She'd created an elaborate fantasy version of Hunter as the perfect guy who would one day fall in love with her. And now she'd believed Jake would fall head over heels after one kiss. A scripted kiss, no less.

Kady rapped Amelie on the arm. "Maybe someday you'll hang with me," she teased, guiding Jake out the door to their waiting car. For once, Amelie didn't care about being left alone. She had all her delusions to keep her company.

BABY'S GOT A BRAND NEW D-BAG "So, should we do n.o.bu or Katsuya?" Kady's glimmering blue eyes looked up at Jake expectantly, waiting for him to make a decision.

"n.o.bu, definitely," Jake said, having no idea what cuisine was in store for him, but not caring. He was an actor. Going to dinner with his girlfriend. Who was also a star. Who used the word we. And who was too cool to be jealous over the fact he'd had to kiss another costar.

His mind did keep wandering over to the kiss with Amelie. But it was only nostalgia-his crush now seemed far in the past. Anyway, if they'd gotten together, the dynamic would have always been off. He'd always be the tutor and she the starlet. Now he and Kady were equals.

"That's what I was hoping you'd say," she cooed, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him right under his lips. Jake liked that they had a "thing"; Kady was tiny compared to him, but her chin kisses meant she was ready for the real deal. He leaned down and kissed her, still feeling the delightfully unfamiliar thrill of kissing a girl on school grounds. Jake never had expected to kiss a girl within a ten-mile radius of BHH, because no girl would want to be seen kissing PG. Since his paparazzi photo had emerged in the weeklies, though, Jake couldn't help but enjoy the new sets of female eyes sizing him up with interest.

A blaring car horn yanked Jake and Kady apart as a gleaming black Escalade pulled up next to them. It was a ma.s.sive ESV with an evidently high-quality stereo-the Death Star theme was radiating out to the curb through the tinted gla.s.s windows.

The car clicked off, the door opened and Miles jumped out, practically vibrating with excitement. He stumbled slightly at the curb. With his huge Scott Pilgrim T-s.h.i.+rt and short, unevenly cut black hair, he looked like a little kid getting off a nausea-inducing amus.e.m.e.nt park ride. He tossed Jake a weighty Cadillac key chain.

"Dude, did I get it right or what?" He pointed backward at the car. "I texted you but didn't hear back, so I just said, 'This is Jake's ride.' I signed the papers ten minutes ago. It's so easy to get a car when you've got fat cash."

Jake nodded coolly, as embarra.s.sed of Miles as he would be of his mom showing up to bring him clean underwear.

"This is yours?" Kady strode down the length of the vehicle and in through the pa.s.senger door. She opened the driver's side door and leaned out, her hand petting the dashboard. "Sweet ride. We should go. Is Miles coming?"

She gestured to Miles, whose smile had faded slightly at Jake's lack of enthusiasm.

"Hey, we've got a date," Jake said, already climbing into the driver's side. "I'm sure Miles has manager stuff he wants to take care of. He's a busy dude." He shot Miles a look and winked. Miles didn't wink back.

Jake shrugged and started the car. He quickly spun the wheel on the iPod from the Star Wars sound track to a Hot Chip alb.u.m. He shut the door, pulling away from the curb toward n.o.bu, and his new and improved life. If he'd looked back at Miles, he'd have seen his friend dumbstruck on the curb, stranded at school without a ride.

But Jake was a star now, so he didn't give it another thought.

Friday night, Jake dabbed some eye cream Kady had given him on his lower lids. He was tired after last night's n.o.bu date and a Sony promotional party at Citizen Smith. Even in his fatigued state, he felt like a new man. As he'd rolled up to the club in his Escalade, people had stared. He'd signed a few autographs and then been whisked to a private table. All summer, he'd dreamed of being a whole new Jake. And now he'd become that guy, and he was better than the version of himself he'd imagined.

Tired or not, Jake had to go out tonight. He was heading to the first party he'd been properly invited to in his whole high school career. Better yet, it was in his honor: All of BHH had been invited to a Cla.s.s Angel wrap party at the Transnational lot.

"Jacob, come down for dinner before you go," Gigi hollered up the stairs. "I feel like we haven't seen you in weeks."

Jake rolled his now-depuffed eyes. It wasn't like he was partying that hard. The other night, he'd crept in past two after the Wiltern show. His mom had been sitting on the couch in her pajamas, staring at the door. Her hair was all messy, and she'd breathed a sigh of relief when he came in. He'd been so annoyed to see her sitting there, waiting to guilt-trip him-guilt was more her style than grounding. But couldn't she see his life was changing for the better? Instead of hanging out with Miles in his room, wis.h.i.+ng they had something to do, he'd been out for a change. And with a girl. His girlfriend. Who happened to like nightlife. His mom should be proud, or at least understanding. Jake took the stairs slowly, estimating he could spend twenty-two minutes with his family before he absolutely had to leave.

His mom had gotten all his favorites from Tuk Tuk Thai-beef pad see ew, spicy basil-fried rice, and a few curries. He sat down at the table in a huff, not taking anything.

His brother, Brendan, shook his head annoyingly. "Dude, you got your period?"

Jonathan, Jake's rabbi dad, gave Brendan his shut the h.e.l.l up look. "Bren, you haven't seen your brother all week. Let's have a little peace." Jake already felt ready to get out of there. The kitchen felt so small. And he'd wasted sixteen years of his life eating here every night, when there was a whole world outside his door where you didn't have to tell your old, uncool parents how your day had been, or eat the same food from the same neighborhood Thai restaurant all the time.

Brendan shoved a spring roll into his mouth. "Just making conversation." It was the same response he gave every time Jonathan scolded him for insulting Jake. Jake rolled his eyes.

Gigi powered down her cell and stuck it in the no-calls-during-dinner bowl. She surveyed its contents and saw Jake's wasn't there. "Jake, phone in the bowl."

Jake shook his head. "Can't. I might get a call about tonight." Most of all, he wanted to keep his eye on the clock.

Gigi sighed heavily, sitting down to her plate of chicken lemongra.s.s salad. "Fine, but if you do, step away from the table."

"I'd rather step away from the table now. I'm still not sure about this blazer," Jake said, petting the lapels of a Diesel jacket he'd bought with Kady. With her constant energy, Kady would be even more bored than Jake at the idea of sitting down for a family dinner. Her parents still lived in Connecticut, and Kady rented a suite at the Chateau Marmont.

Gigi and Jonathan exchanged a what has come over him? look, but let it pa.s.s. "You look handsome." Gigi reached out to ruffle Jake's hair, but he dodged her hand. Brendan laughed through a huge mouthful of curry.

"Handsome is for old guys," Jake protested. "I want to look hot."

"When you find the ba.s.sackwards place that calls you hot, send me a plane ticket," Brendan said. Gigi slapped his wrist. Jake, who usually shot Brendan dirty looks for his remarks, just poked at the plate his mom put in front of him. Arguing with your little brother was immature. He was past that.

"You're just nervous," Gigi said. "It's a big night for you. It's going to be awfully hard when the real world rears its ugly head again. I bet you've got loads of homework to do over the weekend." She affectionately tickled his elbow. Jake flinched away from her in irritation.

"Oh my G.o.d, Mom," Jake said. "I've been to events before." Since their first official date at the Polaroid House in Malibu, Jake and Kady had been seen at every new club to open in Hollywood. Anything older than six months was already over, Kady had told him. Before the movie, he'd barely realized so many clubs existed.

"Of course you're edgy," Jonathan piped up, patting Jake's shoulder. "Why else would you not be eating? It probably doesn't help that you've been staying out way past curfew. I know we gave you some leeway with the movie, but let's shoot for a reasonable hour tonight."

Jake shot a look of scorn around the room. "First, you seriously think I'm going to bloat myself on Thai takeout before getting my photo taken all night? And second, the party is for me. I can't leave just as it's getting started."

Gigi shoved her chair back violently from the table, grabbing one of the dumplings that were a no-no on her chicken-veggie diet. She bit into it, chewed, and swallowed angrily. Spying the keys to Jake's Escalade on the counter, she picked them up. "Are these the keys to that earth-destroying truck of yours? The one you're going to return first thing tomorrow?"

"It's called an Escalade," Jake said. "Don't insult it. And it's staying."

Gigi flipped the keys around on her finger. "You know what, Jacob? We have a word for people like you in this business." She leveled him with one of her scary stares, but Jake felt impenetrable. "Douche. Bag."

"Go, Mom," Brendan said, lifting a spring roll victoriously. "She just called you a douche bag, Jake!!"

"That's two words, Mom," Jake said, ignoring Brendan. He stood up, towering over his mom. He reached for his keys, which were looped around Gigi's index finger. "What can you do? Ground me? I have my own earth-destroying truck. Oh, wait, it's a Cadillac."

Gigi opened the oven, which made a creaking sound from lack of use. She tossed the Escalade keys inside and then slammed the stove shut. She leaned against it. "Not tonight, you don't. Go to your room."

Jake glared at her, his whole body trembling at the idea of missing the wrap party. "Fine," he said, storming up the stairs. There was no way he'd accept his punishment. He shouldn't have to suffer because his parents didn't understand his new life. For two people who claimed they wanted him to be happy, they sure weren't acting like it.

By the time he'd reached the top step, a plan had come to him. He still had his Corolla. It was no Escalade, but it would do.

He walked into his room, locked the door, and shoved a long box of comics against it. He could use his student ID to jimmy the lock when he got home, or he could always crash at Miles's. He arranged his pillows in a Jake-like shape under his comforter and eyed the window. He had no trees to aid his escape, and he didn't have time to tie a bunch of bedsheets together. It was only a twelve-foot drop, though. And if he climbed out and held on to the windowsill backward, it would only be a six-foot jump. Easy. He'd learned a lot from his Cla.s.s Angel athletic and stunt work.

He opened the window, his jacket shoved into a pillowcase so it wouldn't get ruined. Pocketing the Corolla keys and clutching the pillowcase between his teeth, he backed out the window, gripping the sill, and extended his body down. He glanced at the ground and let go.

He landed perfectly on the b.a.l.l.s of his feet. He crept around the house in the direction opposite the kitchen window, to his car, thankfully parked along the curb down the street-something he'd done to make room for the Escalade, which he now looked at wistfully. If only he could have pulled up in that car.

He slid into the Corolla's driver's seat, started it, and pulled away. So he had to drive the Corolla. He'd committed his first real act of teenage rebellion. And even a hand-me-down Toyota started to look hot when it had a driver like him.

GIRLS GONE AWRY.

"Is that him, there? No, it's just Ed Westwick," Amelie said disappointedly.

The party was almost two hours in, and so far, Grant was a no-show. Looping a strand of red hair nervously around her finger, Amelie scanned the crowd gathered under the cast and crew tent, an open-air canopy with a ceiling of white mesh fabric and lined with golden twinkle lights. Not that she cared what Grant did, but Amelie could feel her already-tenuous grip on her BHH friends slipping. Talia's eyes darted back and forth like those on one of those cat clocks with the swinging tail. Billie tapped her gold Moschino crisscross sandal against the pavement. And Fortune made no effort at covertness as she checked the time on her BlackBerry Curve.

Grant had never shown up at last night's soup kitchen event, even though he'd been listed as a potential guest on the press materials. The girls had not been pleased at four hours of community service-dressed in skimpy white angel gear, no less-without Grant there as a reward, and seemed to think it was all Amelie's fault.

Tonight, they'd come to the Cla.s.s Angel wrap party with her, probably figuring that Grant would have to show up here and have to hang with the Cla.s.s Angel people at least a little while. So far, they'd figured wrong.

Amelie searched the crowd in vain for Grant. "Isn't that Parker Pinelli, talking to Ed?"

The girls' eyes collectively s.h.i.+fted to follow Amelie's gaze. Parker, a recent BHH grad who'd gone on to land a bunch of big Hollywood roles, was a cross between James Franco and James Dean. He looked handsome tonight in a pair of jeans and a black blazer-cla.s.sic L.A. male style. Talia smiled sympathetically, as if Amelie was a sad loser for thinking Parker could possibly subst.i.tute for Grant. "So Amelie, you're not coming to BHH?" Clearly apathetic about the answer, Talia plucked the maraschino cherry from her Seventh Heaven c.o.c.ktail-Bombay Sapphire, grapefruit juice, and a sprig of mint-and popped it in her mouth.

"No, it doesn't sound like it," Amelie said sadly, toying with the ribbon trim along the neckline of her sleek, short black organza s.h.i.+ft dress. "I'll probably be doing more Fairy Princess episodes, and I heard there might be a Cla.s.s Angel sequel."