Sweet Little Lies (27 page)

“star.” But she was sure that was what he meant. And even if he wasn’t thinking along those lines now…well, he would, after he saw what she had to offer. On-screen, that was.

Madison stepped on another squeaky object. A doggy bone. She picked it up and flung it at the wastebasket—and missed. Sighing, she bent down to retrieve it, and spotted a pile of mail on the Oriental rug.Oh, yeah . She’d brought it in yesterday, put it on the floor so she could flop down on the couch to watch TV, and forgotten all about it.

She picked it up now and sifted through the contents. Bill. Something for Jane. (She tossed that in the wastebasket, not missing this time.) Bill. A couple of magazines. Bill. A brown manila envelope.

Curious, she turned the brown envelope over in her hand. It had been hand-addressed to her, but had no return address. It had a postmark from New York, New York, and four stamps with hearts on it.

Probably a fan letter,Madison thought, checking out the hearts. She ripped it open, being careful not to
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damage her new set of acrylic nails.

There was a photograph inside, along with a folded-up letter. The photo was a school picture of a teenage girl. She had long, dark brown hair with bangs that hung unevenly over thick tortoiseshell glasses, and pale skin pockmarked with acne. Her cheap navy dress with the white polyester collar did little to mask a slight weight problem.

Madison’s hand shook violently as she put the picture down on the coffee table, then reached for the letter.

It was simple, straightforward, and to the point, printed on plain computer paper in a nondescript font: I’VE BEEN WATCHING YOU ON TV, AND I KNOW WHO YOU REALLY ARE. IF YOU

WANT PEOPLE TO KEEP THINKING YOUR NAME IS MADISON PARKER, IT’S GOING

TO COST YOU. THERE ARE PLENTY MORE PHOTOS WHERE THIS CAME FROM. THEY

WILL BE SOLD TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER. I’M GIVING YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO

MAKE THE FIRST BID.

P.S. YOU WEREN’T SO CUTE WHEN YOU WERE FIFTEEN, WERE YOU?

42

A BREAK FROM BOYS

Jane stretched across the chaise longue and stared up at the cloudless blue sky. It was an unusually warm day for March, and she had the pool at the apartment complex all to herself. Scarlett was supposed to meet her shortly so they could enjoy an afternoon together of doing nothing, with no cameras. It was going to be perfect.

Jane pulled down the straps of her black bikini and applied sunscreen to her shoulders. She had started going to the gym with Scar a couple of weeks ago, and she could feel new muscles already—and some reallyachy muscles, too, because their trainer, a cheerful tyrant named Deb, had made them do about a hundred push-ups yesterday. They were easy for Scar, but Jane had struggled.

Still, Jane was so proud of herself for trying to get back in shape. It was all part of her new philosophy.

Now that Jesse was out of her life, and (mostly) out of her system, she was going to focus on herself and only herself. She wanted to get healthy, physically and emotionally; she also wanted to work extra-hard at her job so she could advance her career. She planned to have a meeting tomorrow with Fiona to ask for advice on what she could be doing to become better at her job. Evening classes? Extra assignments?

Jane was open to anything and everything. She was becoming a new-and-improved Jane Roberts.

For the foreseeable future, Jane planned on a daily routine of working, going to the gym, taking care of Tucker and Penny, and enjoying her friends—most of all Scar. Their friendship was stronger than ever, after what they had been through these last few months. And Scar seemed happier now that she had a boyfriend. Jane never thought she would see the day when her BFF was in love. But it really suited her, especially when the guy was someone as great as Liam.

Trevor hadn’t said a word to Scarlett about dating Liam, and in fact he had thanked her for her hard
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work on season one and offered her a raise for season two. Scarlett had thought long and hard about it and decided to stay on the show, despite her reservations. The money had been a big factor. She’d decided to use it to pay for her college tuition herself, so she could be less dependent on her parents.

She’d asked Trevor to stop editing her so much, and he had given her some sort of assurance. Which hopefully meant something? So for the moment, Scarlett would continue withL.A. Candy .

Jane had decided to stay on the show as well. R.J. had negotiated a really lucrative contract for her.

(Jane didn’t have the heart to tell Scarlett thather raise was even bigger than Scarlett’s raise.Note to self: Talk Scarlett into getting an agent. ) And her press image had turned around, too, thanks to Sam the miracle worker. (Note to self: Talk Scarlett into getting a publicist.) Both R.J. and Sam had convinced Jane that being the star of a top-rated reality show was a huge opportunity, and could only help her career as an event planner. So…Jane had said yes to season two. In fact, she was actually excited about the new season. And she couldn’t wait to see the episode about the Valentine’s Day party—her first big event.

Shooting was scheduled to resume any day now. Jane had told Trevor that she didn’t want any scenes with Madison, and he said he understood. Although he reminded her that she had signed up to have her life followed, and this—her rift with Madison—was happening in her life. But then she reminded him that Madison was no longer in her life—her real life. No matter—she would walk off the set if Madison ever showed her face. Jane hadn’t seen her since Valentine’s Day, and as far as she was concerned, she never wanted to see her again. Ever.

The one question mark in her life was Braden. She wasn’t sure what to do about him. She missed him a lot—she had talked to him a couple of times since she’d broken up with Jesse, but she hadn’t seen him—and she thought about him probably more than she should. But she didn’t want to be the kind of girl who went bouncing from one guy to another: Caleb, then Jesse, then Braden, then Jesse again. The truth was that she needed a break from boys for a while. Along break. She wasn’t sure she could handle being “just friends” with Braden, either. It was too complicated with him.

She spotted Scar walking past a row of cabanas, toward the pool. She was wearing a lime green cover-up over her bikini and carrying a large beach tote.

“Hey! What took you so long?” Jane called out, waving.

And then Jane hesitated, because she saw that Scar wasn’t alone. Liam was right behind her. Jane frowned. Why was he here? It was supposed to be a girls’ day, just the two of them. Like when they were younger, and they would build forts in the Robertses’ backyard out of old sheets and clothespins and put up a sign that said,NO BOYS ALLOWED . Why did Scar bring him? He was a boy and clearly forbidden, according to the rules.

As Scar and Liam approached Jane, he removed his baseball cap—and Jane realized with a start that it wasn’t Liam, after all.

“Caleb?”Jane gasped. She practically fell off her chair.

Caleb smiled and waved. Scarlett sat down on the chaise longue next to Jane’s. “I found him in the lobby,” she explained, hooking a thumb at Caleb. “He came by to say hi to us. I mean, you.”

“Hey! I came by to see both of you,” Caleb protested. He sat down on the other side of Jane. “Hi, Janie.” He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

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“Hi, Caleb.” Jane took off her shades and stared at him, dumbfounded. “Why…I mean…what are you doing here?”

“It’s my day off,” Caleb replied.

“Your day off from…what?”

“My volunteer job. I’m doing construction for the L.A. chapter of Habitat Builders. I worked for them in New Orleans last summer.”

Jane was so confused. She knew all about Habitat Builders—they were a really cool group that built houses for people who couldn’t afford their own homes—and about Caleb’s stint with them in New Orleans. But this was the middle of the school year.

“Wait—aren’t you supposed to be at Yale?”

“He dropped out.” Scar reached over and grabbed Jane’s sunscreen, then started smoothing it onto her legs. “Can you believe it? My parents would murder me if I dropped out of Yale.”

“I didn’t drop out, nerd. I took a leave of absence,” Caleb corrected her. “I left in January when the semester started. My brother and I backpacked around South America for a while. I moved here and started with Habitat Builders, like, a week ago.”

“You took a leave of absence? Why?” Jane asked him.

“It’s just for a semester or two. Yale’s great, but my time in New Orleans last summer really changed the way I see things, ya know? School’s always gonna be there, but I feel like now is the time I want to experience things.”

“That’s awesome,” Jane told him. Her mind was still reeling at the sight of her ex, here, sitting two feet away—after she hadn’t seen him for almost a year. He hadn’t changed a bit, with his curly brown hair, chocolate brown eyes, dimples, and swimmer’s bod. (He was on the swimming team in high school, and Jane went to all his meets when they were dating—and even before they were dating, because she’d had a huge crush on him.)

“Soooo. How long are you in town for?” Jane asked him.

“At least for a few months, maybe longer. I’m crashing with my friend Naveen—remember him?”

Jane shot a look at Scar, who turned away and started rifling through her beach tote as though she were looking for something really, really important. Scar and Naveen had hooked up in high school, and even though Scar would never admit it, Jane had always suspected that she’d liked him as more than a casual fling.

“That’s cool. Tell him we said hi,” Jane said to Caleb. “You should come by for dinner sometime. Scar’s a great cook.”

“Yeah, I’m a genius with the microwave,” Scar joked.

Caleb laughed. “Thanks, that would be nice. I don’t know a lot of people in L.A. yet. And I really wanna catch up with you.”

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Jane blinked in surprise. This last comment was directed at her. Not herand Scar. Just her.

“Ohmigod, Liam’s calling,” Scar said suddenly. “’Scuse me, I gotta take this.” She jumped up from her chair and walked away, pressing her phone to her ear.

Jane knew Scar wasn’t taking a call from Liam; she just wanted an excuse to leave Jane and Caleb alone (even though Jane knew Scar had never forgiven him for breaking up with Jane). Which was crazy, because Jane didn’twant to be alone with Caleb. Especially not when he was peeling off his T-shirt and reaching for Jane’s sunscreen (she tried not to think of all the times she used to curl up against his bare chest on the beach). Especially not when she had just made a promise to herself to take a long break from boys.

Jane looked away and told herself that she would be able to keep that promise, no problem.

Wouldn’t she?

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To my family and friends, Mom, Dad, Breanna, Brandon, Lo, Maura, Jillian, Britton, Natania, and Kyle, for all of your support. I am so lucky to have you all in my life.

To Max Stubblefield, who has stuck with me since the beginning and helped me to achieve so much.

To Nicole Perez for always making me shine.

To Kristin Puttkamer for everything you do. My life would fall apart without you.

To PJ Shapiro for always looking out for my best interests.

To Dave Del Sesto for helping me to keep my life together.

To Adam Divello, Tony DiSanto, Liz Gateley, and everyone at MTV, without whom this book would not be possible.

To HarperCollins for giving me this opportunity, and specifically Zareen Jaffery and Farrin Jacobs for guiding me through the world of publishing.

To Matthew Elblonk who helped in obtaining this opportunity for me and assisted in making my dream come true.

To Nancy Ohlin, my collaborator, for helping me every step of the way while I navigated the writing process and for making it such an enjoyable trip.

About the Author

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LAUREN CONRADis best known for starring in the MTV hit seriesThe Hills. Her first novel,L.A.

CANDY , was a #1New York Times bestseller. She began her career as a fashion designer in spring 2008 with the debut of the Lauren Conrad Collection and expanded in 2009 with a second line, LC

Lauren Conrad, exclusively for Kohl’s. She has been featured on the covers ofCosmopolitan, Teen Vogue, Us Weekly, Rolling Stone, andEntertainment Weekly, among others. Lauren also launched the m.powerment by mark charity campaign with mark cosmetics in 2008. She lives in Los Angeles and is currently working on her third novel in the L.A. Candy series.

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

BOOKS BY LAUREN CONRAD

L.A. Candy

Sweet Little Lies

AN L.A. CANDY NOVEL

Credits

Jacket photo © 2010 by Howard Huang

Jacket design by Sasha Illingworth

Copyright

References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locales are intended only to provide a sense of authenticity, and are used fictitiously. All other characters and all incidents and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as “real.”

SWEET LITTLE LIES. Copyright © 2010 by Lauren Conrad. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.