Part 10 (1/2)

And PS, I was so not calling back. I was having my own personal drama right then. I did not need to get sucked into my little sisters, which could wait until my own was finished. Which would be never, at the rate things were going.

Thats an awesome phone, Kelley said admiringly. And whats the name of that ringtone?

I looked at her in surprise.

You can download it for free off the Internet, I said, knowing how lame I must have sounded to these twenty-something models. Just wait until they found out my ringtone is called Dragon Battle Cry and from an online RPG called Journeyquest.

Exceptthey didnt seem to care. In fact, Kelley gasped and handed me her Stark brand phone.

Ooh, me, she said. Do me? I want.

Me, too! the other models squealed. All but Veronica, who looked around at her friends like theyd lost their minds. Have some dignity, her look seemed to imply.

Ladies! Alessandro, the shows stage director, clapped his hands to get our attention. Its time! Exactly like we rehea.r.s.ed last time, all right?

Except, of course, when wed rehea.r.s.ed, wed been in our regular clothes because the lingerie hadnt arrived yet. Not to mention our wings.

Also, it was hard to hear him, thanks to the pulsing beat that had started out on the runway.

Oh, and the musicians are here now, Alessandro said unnecessarily. So lets see if we can walk in time with the music now.

All the girls whod gathered around me, wanting me to download the geekiest ringtone possible onto their phones, had run off to get into their places for the show, and Shauna, my agent Rebeccas a.s.sistant, had hurried over to whisper, Okay, now, Nikki? Dont freak out, but theyve made a last-minute change. When you come out wearing the diamond bra, Gabriel Luna is going to play his new song, Nikki. I said dont freak out.

What? I couldnt hear her, because of all the noise onstage.

But I was pretty sure shed just said the hottest new sensation on the Stark record label, whod just happened to have written a song about me, was going to be singing it when I came out on-stage wearing nothing but wings, a bra, and a pair of panties. A diamond bra and panties.

A song about me.

This was really not what I needed to hear just then. I had been successfully avoiding Gabriel Luna for weeks now.

It wasnt that I didnt like him. I actually did. But like with Brandon, not in that way. I liked someone else that way.

So I didnt really need to be hanging out with some other guy”especially one who was writing love songs about me”when my heart belonged to another.

Who, okay, it turned out was in love with another girl”a dead girl”and might happen to be a supervillain. But no relations.h.i.+p is perfect.

Rebecca said not to tell you about Gabriel before, Shauna said with an apologetic smile. So you wouldnt get nervous.

I just stared at her. I wasnt nervous. Not exactly.

The truth was, I wasnt nervous at all.

I was pretty sure I was having a nervous breakdown.

Try not to think about it, Shauna said, spinning me around to face a line of tall, impossibly thin girls all getting ready to go onstage. Take deep breaths. Just concentrate on your breathing!

My breathing? What was she talking about? Gabriel Luna, on whom my little sister, Frida, and all her friends were crus.h.i.+ng in the biggest way”That accent! Those eyes! That dark hair!”was going to be singing a song about me while I was prancing around in front of him in my underwear, and I was supposed to concentrate on my breathing? I was hyperventilating. I needed to stop breathing so much, actually.

Like I didnt have enough problems with Christopher and Steven and Nikkis missing mom and all. Now I had to deal with this?

And sure, most girls, such as my sister, would die to have a song written about them by a guy like Gabriel. I would, too if it hadnt just been manufactured to propel the singer to the top of the charts. It wasnt like Gabriels song meant anything. He barely knew me. Wed had a few, mostly chance encounters. Wed never even been out on a date. Wed never even kissed. Well, for any significant amount of time. It wasnt like he was in love with me.

And even if he was, it didnt matter, because of Christopher.

In front of me, the girls were taking off, one by one, like graceful b.u.t.terflies, swooping out from backstage and onto the runway and into the blindingly bright lights, which the tech crew was still adjusting in the rafters of the vast, dark studio, which seated hundreds. Those seats were empty now, but on the big night Okay, try not to think about that now. I was attempting to control my breathing, and not think about what was going to happen when I stepped out there And then suddenly, the girl in front of me”I didnt realize it was Veronica right away because her wings had masked her face up until just then”turned to say, You know, Nikki, you have some nerve.

I looked at her blankly. Im sorry?

Yeah, you better be sorry, she said. After what you did. I cant believe you have the guts to even look me in the face.

What I did to her? Id done nothing all day but memorize my blocking and eat chocolate strawberries and feel like I was going to throw up. Id barely said a word to anyone Oh, wait. She must mean what Nikki did to her.

Im sorry, I said. This time I meant it as an apology and not Excuse me. I really dont remember what youre talking about”

Oh, right, Veronica said. The music was so loud, I could barely hear her.

But I could read the hatred in her eyes clearly enough.

You might have all the other girls eating out of your hand, with your weird ringtones and your oh-Im-so-nervous routine, she said. But I know the truth. I know this whole amnesia thing is a scam. And I know youre still in touch with Justin.

I blinked at her. What? Justin who? She better not have meant Justin Bay, Lulus exand Nikkis, too, incidentally. Or maybe not incidentally, since it turned out Nikki had been seeing him behind Lulus back.

And now, apparently, behind Veronicas back, too.

Veronica glared at me. Dont play dumb with me. I know you still e-mail him, she spat. And Im just warning you. You better watch your back.

Waitwhat? That made no sense at all.

I dont e-mail anyone named Justin, I insisted. I couldnt believe this was happening. Although that made it like most of the things in my life these days. I wished I were wearing a little more clothing. I might have felt less exposed. However, at least I knew if she tried to stab me or something, my diamond bra would stop any sort of blade. And probably most bullets. I can a.s.sure you”

I know its you, Veronica snapped back. The music was thumping, and the girl in front of her had just taken off for her turn down the runway. You stay away from him. Do you hear me?

Ive never”

It didnt matter, though. She was gone, sashaying out onto the stage in front of me, the ends of her wings drooping onto the high-polished metallic floor.

Great. So I had yet another enemy.

What was wrong with Nikki, anyway? What was she doing, going after her friends boyfriends, when she could have had any single guy she wanted (except Christopher Maloney)? Were single guys not enough of a challenge for her? She had to go after guys who were taken?

It was tough being one of the most beautiful women in the world, I guess. When almost every guy you met fell all over himself trying to get with you, you naturally found yourself only drawn to the ones who didnt.

But why did that nutcase think Nikki was still e-mailing her boyfriend?

Nikki, Shauna hissed at me. Go!