Free Laguna Cove by Alyson Noël Page A

canceled,” Lola said, suddenly looking away from her friends and toward the waves crashing in front of them.
    “So, postpone,” Ellie said. “You’ve always managed to sneak out of those in the past. So what’s the big deal now?”
    “Well, apparently he wasn’t up for a reschedule.” Lola pressed her lips together and stood up suddenly.
    “Are you leaving?” Jade asked, eyeing her friend with concern.
    Lola nodded.
    “Well, in case you do manage to escape. There’s a party tonight at Aliso Beach. You should stop by. Ellie and I will be there.”
    “I will?” Ellie asked, looking at Jade. It was the first she’d heard of it.
    “ Yes , you are going with me. In fact, you’re driving. In fact, you’re the designated driver. Anyway, try to make it, Lolita; it’s gonna be fun.”
    Lola just looked at them and shrugged. Then she turned and made her way back up the beach.

chapter seventeen
    Anne sat next to her dad in the crowded, darkened theater, watching the other audience members more than the action on screen. Or the lack of action, she thought. The movie was a total bore. But in the audience there were a few people she recognized from People magazine covers and award shows. Like, just two rows up, wasn’t that Renee Richards? And who was that scruffy guy she was making out with? Anne figured he must be really important, because as her father once explained to her, the more power you had in Hollywood, the more you could dress down.
    She glanced quickly at her dad, mindlessly eating popcorn and shaking his head and smirking at the screen. Well, at least we’re in agreement about the movie sucking!
    She leaned toward him and whispered, “I’ll be right back; I’m gonna find the bathroom.”
    He looked at her briefly and nodded, then quickly focused his attention back on the screen.
    She made her way up the dark aisle, at one point tripping on some supermodel’s shoe. The model gave her a nasty look. Oh yeah, like it’s my fault your legs are six feet long and can’t fit in a normal-sized space , she thought, rolling her eyes right back at her.
    Exiting the theater, she squinted against the brightness of the movie ads, popcorn machines, and the oversized chandelier that would surely squash anybody unlucky enough to be standing underneath during an earthquake. Not that she’d ever been in an earthquake, but now that she was living in California, she thought about them a lot.
    Finding the restroom, she pushed inside and after inspecting her makeup in the mirror and washing her hands, she plopped down onto a little velvet settee and closed her eyes.
    She’d been sitting like that for five, ten minutes max, when someone rushed by so fast Anne barely got a look at her. Then she heard the stall door slam and lock. Then there was some very loud crying.
    Anne just sat there, wondering if she should offer to help. On the one hand, it was clearly none of her business. There was no way she knew the girl, since she didn’t know anyone here except for her dad. But on the other hand, the girl sounded so seriously distressed that it made it hard to just sit there and do nothing. But what if she just wants to be left alone?
    Okay, Anne decided, I’ll offer to help. If she wasn’t interested, Anne would just go back into the theater and leave her in peace.
    Just as she was getting up to investigate, the door slammed open and this tiny girl with long, dark hair, dressed in cute jeans, a white blouse, a black shrunken blazer, and awesome silver stilettos looked at her and said, “Hey, I know you.”
    “You do?” Anne asked, wondering how the girl could possibly know her.
    “You go to Laguna High, right? You’re that new girl,” she said, rubbing a hand across her eyes and smearing her makeup even more.
    “Yeah, I’m Anne,” she said, thinking that now that the girl was right in front of her, she did look familiar.
    “I’m Lola.” She plopped herself down on the chair across from Anne and smiled