Star Power (11 page)

becks

B
ecks and the Dixie Gals were sitting in a shady garden at Sloopy's in Manhattan Beach. After getting Mac's text at lunch, Becks had called Tully, who'd invited her to hang out without a moment's hesitation. She'd insisted they go to Sloopy's because they had the best burgers in SoCal. Even better than In-N-Out, apparently.

So far, each girl had already gone through a cheese-burger, a basket of fries, and a milk shake, and there was an extra milk shake in the middle of their table. They had already covered the great long vs. short surfboards debate (short!), listed reasons why Huntington Beach was actually a better place to surf than Oahu (closer, fewer tourists, no coral), and why yoga was so important to their training (best way to stay limber on a board). Becks had never had these kinds of conversations with girlfriends before—the closest she got to talking about waves with the Inner Circle was whether wavy really was the new straight or if that was just what curly-haired magazine editors wanted you to think.

“Hey Becks, we need you to settle a little argument for us.” Tully tucked her starchy dry hair behind her ears. Becks could almost hear Mac's voice, urging Tully to deep-condition.

“Oooh, I know what you're going to ask her!” Lei took a sip of the chocolate milk shake in the middle of the table.

Darby burped, and Becks smiled in surprise. Usually she was the one who burped in public. “Okay,” Tully said invitingly. “Our question is . . .”

Becks tried to gulp down her nervousness with some of the communal milk shake. What if they were going to talk about kissing? Becks had never kissed a boy, and she wasn't ready to divulge that tidbit. Or maybe they were going to ask her whether she preferred shopping on Robertson or Montana? Her Westside friends thought those streets were a true test of character.

“Where would you rather surf?” Tully asked seriously. “Puerto Escondido or San Onofre?”

The answer was so obvious that Becks actually forgot to think before she replied. “Escondido, duh,” Becks answered. That beach had the best surfing in North America.

“I tolja I liked her!” Darby screamed. She hit Lei on the shoulder. Darby was so muscular, it probably hurt, but Lei just giggled.

“You said San Onofre, wench!” Tully cried. She reached over to Lei's plate and took the last burnt french fry.

“I like Escondido.” Lei smiled at Becks encouragingly.

“We
all
like Escondido,” Tully said, settling the argument once and for all.

Becks let out a deep sigh of relief. Apparently she'd passed her first test. Then she took a final bite of burger and smiled. She couldn't believe that she had friends who even
knew
about the Mexican surf spot.

“I like her so much better than Tiana!” Tully sighed.

“No joke!” Lei nodded, adoringly.

“Who's Tiana?” Becks asked with a half-full mouth, pretty sure that had been the name of the fourth Dixie Gal before her.

“Hmmm . . . Tiana. . . .” Tully mused. “How do we explain Tiana?”

“Rhymes with
witch
?” Lei offered.

“Just like . . . totally high maintenance,” Darby commented as she reached for the communal shake. “More drama than
The Hills
. That's why she couldn't hang with us.”

Tully gave Becks a sneaky smile as if to confirm that she was off to a better start. “But we've decided you're going to be our lil' sis.”

The girls smiled at each other, as though they'd been debating when to tell Becks.

Becks smiled shyly. She didn't want to ruin the moment, so she didn't say anything.

“So, are you psyched for the shoot next week?” Darby asked, stealing the last fry from Lei's plate.

“About that . . .” Becks bit her bottom lip. “What are we supposed to wear? Chad said to just show up and ‘be authentic.'”

“That's what she said!” Lei joked, ignoring Becks's question.

“You're not even saying it right!” Darby swatted her friend's shoulder again. She turned back to Becks. “It's cute how you're all worried. You're like . . . shy.”

“Oh, shoot,” Tully said, looking at her watch. “The movie starts in, like, ten minutes. Ready, chicas?”

“Wait up! I need to do my makeup!” Lei squealed. Becks relaxed into her seat, expecting this to take a while. Okay, so she still didn't know what to wear to the shoot, but if all she had to do was be herself, she'd be fine, right? A breeze sailed past and she closed her eyes and inhaled the ocean air. When she opened her eyes, Lei was putting the cap on a tube of Burt's Bees lip balm. “Okay. Let's go.”

Becks chuckled quietly to herself as she stood up. No one was talking about dominating Hollywood or shopping. In fact, Becks was pretty sure that they'd chatted about surfing for an hour straight. She thought back to lunch at BAMS, about how even though she and Coco had been friends forever, they hadn't really . . .
talked
. It was different when Mac was there, but maybe that was just because Mac could carry on a conversation with herself for hours.

“Come on, little sis!” Tully called.

Becks watched as her new friends hopped on a board lying in the sand, pretending to surf. They looked silly and funny, like the big sisters Becks had never had. Mac used to say she was like a big sister to her and Coco, on account of being generally more mature and naturally more adult (her words, of course), but watching the Dixie Gals high-five and then hug, Becks wondered if maybe it wasn't time for a new family. . . .

emily

E
mily tried to sit still in the hair and makeup trailer while Robyn straight-ironed her cinnamon-colored hair and Tina dabbed concealer under her eyes. Nervously, Emily chewed on her tenth Altoid of the day. Ever since The Breathalyzer Incident, her mouth was perma-minty. Mac sat on the couch, reading scripts that had been sent to Initiative Agency for Emily's consideration. It was hard to believe that people were already thinking about her next film—all she wanted was to get through this one.

But, Emily pep-talked herself, she
would
get through. All she had to do was focus.
Focus, focus, focus
. It was tough, fighting with your feelings all the time, but after Mac's lecture, Emily had come up with a list of ways to get over Davey:

Cancel her D.F.W. fan club membership. (Totally heartbreaking, but she'd done it!)

Refuse to look at him when they walked past each other on set. (Well, she hadn't seen him yet, but she was totally
planning
on looking away.)

Stop writing Emily Woodward on her notebook. (Done! Made easier by Mac reminding her there was no point in a name change. “Everyone thinks of Courteney Cox, not Courteney Cox-
Arquette
,” she said with a shudder.)

Emily flipped through the pages of the script they were shooting that day. It was the first real scene that Shane had decided to attempt since the Breathalyzer incident, and she wanted to prove she wasn't a love-struck girl—or someone with a spitting problem.

She took a deep breath and murmured her lines to herself. The next scene was her character's big “aha!” moment. It was supposed to occur when she collided with Davey on the rugby field with a mouthful of mud, and wondered why his body felt so . . . solid . . . so . . . like a guy's. It was actually very tricky to shoot because it involved falls and collisions on the rugby field. Emily had spent a whole day practicing with stunt people. She'd been instructed how to tilt her head so that the other actors could leap over her without killing her.

“Shane is a madman,” Tina announced as she dabbed highlighter on Emily's cheekbones.

“I had a friend who did costumes when Shane directed that TV show
MagicKids
,” Robyn said, waving the hair spray can. “She ended up having a total nervous breakdown and left the business,” he stage-whispered. “She moved to Berkeley to be a paralegal.”