Reality Check (5 page)

Brooke grabs me. “This feels so right, doesn't it? Like we belong here?”

I don't know about that, but it sure is fun to be a fly on the wall. I feel like I should be reporting on this bash for the school paper. “Should we look for Susan?” I ask. Everyone nods and we make a chain, like we always do when we're someplace crowded. Hands linked, we move through the crowd, going from one room to the next looking for an attractive thirty-something brunette with great taste in clothes. Unfortunately, a lot of people fit that bill. Everyone is so beautifully dressed and has such immaculate hair and nails that I almost feel out of place in this outlet mall dress, even if it is pretty. Suddenly Hallie stops short, pulling us all to a standstill.

“Oh my God, Oh my God, I think that's Connor Evans!” Hallie whispers in my ear, since she's directly behind me. “Would it be tacky if I asked him to take a photo?”

“Hallie, do you see who that is?” I hear Keiran squeak a few heads back.

“Connor?” Brooke asks loudly.

The guy turns away from the conversation he's having with some older dude in a suit and smiles the grin that has turned him into a household name. Yep, it's him all right. Connor's twenty-something, with brown hair, light stubble, and a bod that would make the
Surf's Up
guys envious. The physique is attributed to twice-daily workouts (according to
TMZ.com
) for his Fire and Ice–produced series,
Cool as Ice
.

“Hi there, ladies,” he says smoothly and strides over to Hallie. “Having a good night?”

“Now we are,” Hallie says, holding Connor's gaze. The two of them stare at each other, which you'd think was odd, but considering Hallie's looks, it's not. This sort of thing happens to her all the time. Brooke calls it the Hallie Triangle—as in the Bermuda Triangle. Men get trapped in her hazel eyes and are never the same.

“Do you think we could get a quick picture?” I ask.

“Who's going to take the picture?” Keiran wonders aloud.

“I can,” I offer. Connor's cute, but I'm more of a Robert Pattinson girl myself.

“You need to be in it too,” Connor insists and taps on a waiter's shoulder. “Do you mind?” he asks, taking the camera from my shaking hands and giving it to the waiter, who snaps three pictures before I've even blinked.

“I see you guys are settling in just fine.” Susan Strom appears out of nowhere wearing a sleek, strapless black dress and super-high heels. Her hair is pin straight and glossy. She leans forward to give Connor a quick kiss. “Connor, babe, good to see you.”

“You're looking good, Susan, as always,” he says with a big smile. I'm not sure how he's able to do that—smile and talk at the same time without looking dumb—but somehow he always does it on TV. “If you ladies will excuse me, there is a crab cake calling my name,” he adds, and with a wink he'sgone.

“I'm so glad you guys are here,” Susan says, and proceeds to give us all kisses on the cheek. “I have a ton of people who are dying to meet you. They're on the back patio cooling off. It's a bit stuffy in here. They tell me they have the AC on, but with all these bodies, it feels like a sauna. Shall we go?” Susan asks. It doesn't sound like we have a choice.

She leads the way outside, me following close behind, my hand firmly around Hallie's, and hopefully she has the chain behind her. I'm afraid it's going to be cold since it's early April, but there are several heat lamps keeping the area warm and toasty. A group of well-dressed men and women are sitting around a table, some smoking, some laughing, but all noise stops when they see us, and I have the strangest feeling that they know exactly who we are.

“Everyone, I'd like you to meet Charlie, Hallie, Brooke, and Keiran.”

People immediately get up to shake our hands and introduce themselves. We already know Jarred, an executive who took part in the conversations with Susan and our parents. The other names start flying and I hear Chloe, Jesse, and I think Sebastian. Not that I'll remember who is who. It's my one journalistic flaw. Good reporters remember every detail thrown at them, but I'm bad with names. Zac likes to joke that I wouldn't remember my own name under pressure.

“Wow, we've got a fan club already,” I say, aware that everyone is staring.

“Please sit down,” says one of the suits as he pulls out chairs for us. “Do you want something to drink? Have you eaten? They make the best homemade ricotta gnocchi. It's not being served tonight, but we can have them whip it up for you.”

“Oooh, that sounds delish! I'll have one,” Hallie says.

How she's a size two, I have no idea. The girl eats enough to feed all of us. Brooke is sitting between me and Hallie. I feel her leg move and then a stomp. I think she's just stepped on Hallie's foot.

“Never mind,” Hallie says glumly, giving Brooke a nasty look.

“I'll order them for all of you,” he says with a crooked smile and glances at Susan.

“That would be great, thanks,” I say before anyone can object. “The truth is, I am hungry.” Now Brooke hits me. “Well, I am! I'm sure people in the Hamptons eat just like we do, Brooke.”

Susan laughs. “I told you she was funny,” she says to the group.

I'm not trying to be funny. My stomach is growling. Brooke was so busy doing makeovers that we didn't get to eat dinner. Then when Hallie wanted to order pizza, Brooke balked, fearing the grease would ruin our outfits. Or should I say, her outfits, which we had on loan.

Susan smiles brightly, revealing what I'm sure are laser-whitened teeth. “So, are you four excited about the show? Once you sign on the dotted line we'll probably start shooting in the coming weeks.”

The four of us look at each other and try not to flash Cheshire Cat grins. “You mean you definitely want us?” I ask tentatively.

Susan and the others laugh. “Yes, Charlie, we really want you. We wouldn't be doing all this if we didn't. You're exactly what we've been looking for.”

My heart feels like it's going to thump out of my chest.
We're
exactly what Fire and Ice has been looking for? Four girls from Cliffside on Long Island?

This. Is. So. Cool.

Brooke squeals and starts shaking me violently. “I told you! I can't believe it. This is really going to happen.”

Susan takes a sip of red wine. “It's a real offer, if you want it.”

“Absolutely,” Brooke jumps in, changing her octave to something sounding uber-professional, like she always does when we're shopping somewhere expensive and she wants to know if anything is on sale. “As we said at dinner yesterday, we're completely on board.”

“I think we all have a few more questions if that's okay,” Keiran interrupts, looking straight at Susan to avoid Brooke's piercing stare. “One thing you haven't really gone over is the idea behind the show.” I try not to smirk. I'm proud of Kiki for saying what's on her mind, even when Brooke doesn't want her to.

“Smart question,” says one of the suits, the one I think is Sebastian.

“I want you to feel like this is your show,” Susan tells us, and leans forward. “And I promise there will be time to answer any additional questions and concerns you have before we do contracts.” She smiles. “But tonight is about celebrating! We wanted to invite you here tonight to meet the Fire and Ice family and experience what it would be like to be part of our network. I really think you'll like it here,” Susan tells us. “The network likes to say I have killer instinct,” she adds. “When I saw you four, I knew I had found my stars. I was eavesdropping on Charlie all week while I pretended to read Oprah's latest book pick,” she tells the table, and a few people laugh. My mouth opens in surprise. I thought Susan was really reading! “And when Charlie told me about you three, and I finally got to see you interact, I was impressed with how mature you all were, how close you seemed, how you could finish each other's sentences.”

“She was hooked, plain and simple,” says a woman with salt-and-pepper hair who looks a little older than the others. “Susan called us right away and said she'd found her stars for
The Cliffs
.”

“
The Cliffs
?” Hallie repeats.

“That's what I want to call the show,” Susan explains. “Catchy, no?”

“But our town is called Cliffside,” Keiran says slowly.

“In television, we call this poetic license,” Sebastian says with a laugh. “
The Cliffs
sounds hotter than
Cliffside
.”

“We toyed with
Beach Babes
too, but that seemed too
Playboy
,” says someone else and everyone laughs.

“
The Cliffs
works for me,” I say quickly. I do not want to be a Beach Babe.

“We want a look at what life is like in your town,” Susan adds. “Something real for a change. What you girls do for fun, who you hang out with, what your dreams are, what your friendships entail. Everything.”

“We have plenty of material for that,” Brooke gushes.

“We couldn't be happier to do just that,” I say carefully, “and I'm glad you think we're so intriguing. I certainly do not want to change your mind, but…” I hesitate when Brooke nudges me.

Susan looks at me curiously, which makes me nervous.

“It's okay, Charlie, continue.”

“Of all the places to set a new show, why did you pick Cliffside?” I ask. “It doesn't seem sceney enough for Fire and Ice. Our population is less than five thousand people. Half the roads in town don't even have street lights. Every shop on Main Street closes at six PM. And the most exciting activity we have this spring is the strawberry festival.” I gesture at the rooms inside. “I would think you would find much better material on this fork.”

“I love how blunt she is,” someone whispers.

I glance quickly at Brooke. Her face is hard. I know what she's thinking: Another Charlie Moment. A Charlie Moment is when I get out of the backseat to take charge—I hate when things don't go according to plan, which is why I'm our organizer, but Brooke is our star. She likes to shine, but here I am commanding the room. Or should I say the patio.

“That's just it, Charlie,” Susan says, placing her tanned elbows on the table and leaning closer to me. “We know what the Hamptons are like. In fact, we know too much. This place has become almost a caricature of itself. And the west coast, with
Laguna Beach
,
The Hills
, even
The OC
, that's tapped out. We want seaside life and a coastal town, but we want real life, not a celebrity-reality.”

“Even if that real life sometimes is boring?” I ask.

“Your lives aren't boring,” Susan insists. “You have school, some of you have jobs, you have love lives, you have fights, friendships, families. How could that be boring?”

“Everyone has those,” Hallie points out.

Susan and Sebastian (or is it Steve? I think there was a Steve too) look at each other. “I have a hunch that you girls are what I'm looking for,” Susan says simply. “You are all gorgeous, and the scenery in your town is breathtaking.”

“It is?” I ask incredulously.

“The docks, the beach, the quaint storefronts, Milk and Sugar,” Susan rattles off. “We love it! And viewers will too.”

“I never thought of our town that way,” Keiran enthuses.

“Me either,” I admit, and I love where I live. It would be cool to see Cliffside get a place on the map.

“We're looking for a reality version of, say,
One Tree Hill
or
The Secret Life of the American Teenager,
only without the pregnancy. We hope,” explains Sebastian. “That's what we think we've found with this concept and you four.”

“Plus we have the most amazing camera crews,” someone else adds. “Have you seen
Surf's Up
? That beach the guys are on was practically all rocks till we came in and cleaned it up and now we shoot the best angles we can. It looks like a painting. You'd want to vacation there tomorrow.”

“So you're going to revamp the beach?” Hallie asks, confused.

“No, no, we just mean we're here to take what you have and enhance it,” Susan tries to explain, but I'm not really sure what she's getting at. Nor do I care. They want us to be their version of
Secret Life
! Sign me up, pronto!

“I know my parents are still concerned about the workload,” Keiran mentions. “Would you be taping us at school too? We forgot to ask you that yesterday.”

“Kiki,” Brooke says through gritted teeth, “Susan said we'd go over this all at our meeting. We're not here tonight to do business.” Keiran blushes.

Susan shakes her head. “It's okay, Brooke. I was going to tell you all this when we met again this week. We just got word from the town and they won't give us permission to tape on school property. Everything we shoot will be off-campus.”

I guess it would be a bit disruptive to have cameras taping Mr. Donald during chemistry.

“We're going to shoot you around town, at work, at each other's homes,” says the older woman again. “We'll be checking in with you constantly about your schedules and then choosing where to film accordingly. You won't be filming every day or all day. We want you to still have a life.”

That sounds pretty fair.

Just then the back patio door opens, changing the noise level instantly. I see a tall, thin girl in stilettos. She's wearing an amazing gold tank dress and her collarbone-length dark brown hair is flyaway-free.