Free Secrets of My Hollywood Life #4: Paparazzi Princess by Jen Calonita

be together. I don't want to go. I want to stay in California. (She reaches out for him, but he pulls back.)
    RYAN
    Sam, you know your parents are never going to let you do that. I can't do this.
    SAMANTHA
    Ryan!
    (Ryan walks away.)
    Five: Life on Hold
    "That's a wrap!" Tom yells as Ryan (played by Trevor Wainright) walks away from Sam for the twelfth time. Any time we have to shoot a scene over and over, it's tiring, but this one was mentally exhausting. To make myself cry on command, I pretended this was the last FA scene I was ever going to film. That did the trick. Now I can't stop crying.
    "Are you okay?" Sky says as we walk off the set. She's wearing a bold Michael Kors zebra print tunic and her black hair is tied in a side ponytail. I wish my hair was off my neck. Paul left it down because he said it looked good with the cute, pale yellow cotton peasant top by Bebe and the wide-leg navy trousers from the Gap I'm wearing, but I feel really hot. "You didn't overdose on Sudafed again, did you?" Sky says accusingly.
    That only happened one time and Sky won't let me forget it. I had a bad cold at work and I took two Sudafed capsules, thinking the dosage was the same as Tylenol. I was wrong. With Sudafed, you only need one pill. I panicked at first, but Nadine said I was fine. The only thing that happened was I acted a little loopy -- and overly affectionate to Sky, which drove her nuts. "I'm just tired," I tell Sky, and wipe away my tears.
    That's partially true. I met with Nadine on my lunch hour and she pressed me about those scripts I've been reading and scheduled another SAT practice test. Nadine has turned into a mini-Mom/Laney the way she hovers and it's starting to wear on me. Thank God I have a date with Austin later. First, I have to stop by my dressing room and do a quick phoner, call Liz, and grab my script pages for tomorrow. Then I'm out.
    "You're lying." Sky eyes me suspiciously. "You look like hell. You've got nasty under-eye circles, your skin is blotchy, and you have a monster zit on your chin."
    I gasp. "A zit? Where?" I touch my chin, but I don't feel anything.
    "You're so easy to fool, K." Sky snorts. "But I wasn't lying about the blotchy skin and ugly circles. You need to get to the spa pronto. What's wrong? Are you sleeping?"
    Not really, I want to say. I've been like this all week. I'm tired, but every time I close my eyes I can't stop thinking about FA or my meeting with Seth and my parents, and then all I do is toss and turn. "I'm fine," I insist. This is Sky's version of being concerned, which is really sweet, but if I tell her that, she'll just deny it.
    "Whatever." Sky shrugs. "So did you take your driving test yet?"
    My shoulders tense. Driving lessons have sort of been put on the back burner, which is a sore subject with me. I'm the only seventeen-year-old I know who doesn't have her license yet. But between work and all the other stuff I have going on, I haven't had a chance to have more than one or two lessons since the Wheel Helpers incident last fall. "No," I admit sheepishly.
    Sky looks like she's about to make a comment, but then she spots Trevor. She walks up behind him and winds her body around his like a cat to a scratching post. "Hey, Trevvie! You were amazing in that scene. When you got teary, I got goosebumps."
    "Thanks," Trevor says nonchalantly. "I've got some calls to make." He winks at me as he passes and Sky and I stare as he saunters off in his dark denim Levis and a gray Strokes concert tee. He runs a hand through his blond hair before letting his muscular arms swing as he walks.
    I've been secretly coaching Trev on how to get Sky to fall all over him, and it appears to be working. The first time the two got together, Trev was Sky's plaything. Now that Sky's interested in him again, Trev is making it look like he's not that into her, which is driving Sky nuts. It's a lot of fun to watch.
    "I don't get it." Sky is flabbergasted. "I'm wearing his favorite perfume and a push-up