Truth or Dare (11 page)

T
he sight on my TV made me sick to my stomach. How in the world had Evian gone from being a nobody to having her own show, complete with all the bells and the whistles?

All American Princess
flashed across the screen.

“You've got to be kidding me,” I mumbled. Not only had they rushed production, but now, it was on the air right after my show. I'd taped my show yesterday and at no time had anyone told me Evian's show had been taped too and would air after mine.

I wanted to throw a brick right at my fifty-two-inch TV.

“What's up, everybody? It's your girl Evian, and I'm back on the block and ready to rock.” She danced across the screen, looking like a bootleg
Real Housewives of Atlanta
introduction.

I rolled my eyes. She couldn't come up with a better corny saying than that? I
did
feel some kind of way about the jazzy music and sweet graphics she had. I couldn't believe they were going to make her show look better than mine.

“Thanks for peeping into my life,” she said into the camera. If this is supposed to be a reality show following her life, why was she talking to the camera like she was hosting something? Oh yeah, probably because she was bitin' off me.

“Today we've got an exclusive. We're getting up close and personal with Tyrese. Yes, that's right. As you know, this
All American Princess
is well-connected and Tyrese is taking us to his crib.”

What?!
I wanted to scream. I'd been trying to get an interview with Tyrese for months!

“But first it's that time for
Talking It Up With Evian
and I am pleased to introduce my panel who will be joining me each week as we discuss some of Miami's hottest topics. They're known as the ‘It Clique' around town, but I just call them my girls.”

The camera shifted to a long table and I almost passed out when I saw Sheridan sitting at the end.

“First up, you know her as the daughter of the phenomenal Glenda Matthews, but Sheridan Matthews is a diva in her own right. A former star of the
Miami Divas
along with yours truly, she's Miami's resident good girl, with a hint of bad.”

Evian winked her eye at the camera, and Sheridan giggled, looking like a stupid second-grader.

“Next to her is
my
BFF, my ride or die, my road dog Shay Turner, daughter of Jalen Turner. You know him as the NBA three-time-world-championship center of the Miami Heat.”

Shay raised her hand in the air. “Woo, woo!”

How incredibly ghetto,
I thought.

“And back from a hiatus is none other than the flamboyant, the always-rocking-it Mr. Bali Fernandez.”

I almost didn't recognize Bali because his brown hair was now deep blond and swooped down in his face with an asymmetrical cut. When had he gotten back? Why had nobody said anything to me? Those were all my former
Miami Divas
costars.

And so now they were going to try to be my competition? This was all about revenge, pure and simple. They were trying to pay me back because I had gotten a show and they hadn't. I looked up to see Travis standing over me. I turned around and cut my eyes at him. He was actually trying not to giggle.

“Is their show any good?” he asked, trying to stifle his laughter.

“Of course it isn't.”

He glanced over at the clock. “And you can determine that in the first five minutes?”

“I can determine that,” I snapped, “because of the busters they have on it. I don't even know what they were talking about—some celebrity gossip. They're just bitin' off me. They couldn't even be original.” I slammed the TV off. I was not only aggravated by the show and Sheridan, but Delana's words had been bugging me all night. She'd been about to let something slip. Something major. And although she hadn't, it had just made me even surer that this whole thing was fishy.

“So, you didn't know Sheridan was gonna be on the show?” Travis asked.

I shook my head. “No wonder Sheridan was avoiding me when I called her earlier. She knew she was a traitor.” I grabbed my purse. “Unh-unh. I'm about to tell her about herself.”

“Where are you going?” Travis asked, following me out of the family room.

I marched through the kitchen toward the garage. “I'm about to go over to your girl's house.”

“Oh, I'm not about to miss this,” Travis said, grabbing his baseball cap off the counter and following me out.

Fifteen minutes later, we were pulling up into Sheridan's circular driveway. Since I knew the code, I punched it in and made my way on inside. I banged on the door.

Sheridan came and opened it, looking all innocent. “Hey, girl, what's going on?”

“You tell me,” I said, stomping past her.

“What's up, Travis?” she spoke. The two of them had dated a few months ago, despite the fact that I'd warned them against it. And since Travis was a pretty boy and fresh meat at our school, all the girls wanted him. It didn't take him long to cheat on Sheridan, and that had caused major drama. But I wasn't here for that.

“How are you?” Travis asked her as he followed me in.

“I'm cool. What's up with y'all?”

So, she really was going to continue and try to play me left?

“Nothing. I'm just along for the show,” he said.

“What show?” Sheridan asked, closing her front door. Sheridan lived in this gigantic house all by herself. Well, her two aunts were supposed to be here with her, but they were always traveling, living off Sheridan's mother's money. Ms. Matthews, a Grammy-winning singer and actress, had wanted to keep Sheridan away from Hollywood, so she'd hired relatives to keep an eye on Sheridan. But she must not have known her relatives well because they took her money and let Sheridan do whatever she wanted, which was just fine with Sheridan.

“How could you do that?” I said, facing her. “You're such a traitor.”

Sheridan rolled her eyes. “How am I a traitor?”

“You're really on Evian's show?”

She paused, shifting like she would really rather not have this conversation.

“Why didn't you tell me?” I demanded when she still didn't answer.

“Because I knew you would react just like this.”

“How are you going to go on her show?”

Sheridan crossed her arms and raised an arched eyebrow. “When's the last time you invited me on
yours
?”

“So that's what this is about? My BFF goes on the competition's show as payback?”

“How 'bout this ain't got nothing to do with you?” Sheridan said. “Remember I was on TV, too. We all were, so it's something we all enjoy doing. Now you had an opportunity that you took, basically just throwing us to the wind.”

“Wow,” I said, taking a step back. I knew they were mad about me getting my own show, but I really thought Sheridan had gotten over it. “So, you're still holding a grudge?”

Sheridan let out a long sigh. “I have gotten over it. I don't have any beef with you about the way you did us behind
Miami Divas
. I get it. Yeah, I was salty for a minute, but at the end of the day, I get it. I understand, just like I feel like you should. This was an opportunity for me to get back on TV so I took it.”

“And you didn't care who it hurt.”

Travis was looking back and forth between us like he was in a Ping-Pong match.

“Do you hear yourself?” Sheridan asked. “What did you tell me when you started
Rumor Central
? It's not personal; it's business.”

“How long have you been knowing you were going to be on her show?” I asked.

She looked away like she really didn't want to answer. “About two weeks.”

“Wow,” I said. “And at no time, did you feel like you needed to say, ‘Hey, by the way, I'm starring on Evian's show now.' ”

“No, because I didn't want to hear your mouth because I knew all Maya Morgan would care about is Maya Morgan.” She glared at me defiantly.

“Just wow,” I said. “Glad to know where we really stand.” I couldn't even stand to be in the same room with her. “Come on, Travis,” I said, stomping back toward the front door.

“I can't believe you're being so foul about this!” Sheridan called out after me.

I wasn't even trying to hear her as I swung the door open and speed-walked to my car. Travis caught up with me just as I started up the car.

“You know you wrong,” he said.

“Shut up, Travis.”

He shrugged. “You are because Sheridan didn't do anything different to you than you did to her.” He slid his shades on. “The difference is Maya Morgan can dish it, but she can't seem to take it.”

I
was going to have a good night. That's what I told myself as I took a final survey of myself in my full-length mirror. I was looking tight (as usual) in my long burnt-orange Vera Wang gown. I was determined to exhale and let all my stress go. I'd been worked up behind Evian for the past few weeks, and it was time I just let that go and get back to doing me.

I was a presenter at the
Hype
magazine Teen Choice Awards tonight, and I was looking forward to putting aside any thought of Evian and her stupid show, Sheridan back-stabbing me, and the fact that it hadn't been until three days ago that I'd realized I didn't even have a date for tonight. I'd been so consumed with the show that I had let this slip up on me.

I ended up doing what I normally do when I find myself in a bind. I called Alvin. And I almost fell over when he told me he didn't know if he could go because he and Marisol had a date. But he wanted me to believe that she wasn't his girl. If she wasn't, then why did she take priority over me?

Lucky for Alvin, he called me back before I could get in touch with another guy and told me that he was able to rearrange his schedule and go. I almost told him don't worry about it, but I knew that I would have fun with Alvin, he wouldn't be sweating me all night long, and if I saw a cutie that I really wanted to pick up, Alvin wouldn't give me a hard time.

“Come on, honey,” my mom said, appearing in my doorway. “Your boyfriend is downstairs waiting. You've had that poor boy down there for twenty minutes already. And Travis is grilling him like crazy.”

“Mom, I don't know how many times I have to tell you that Alvin is not my boyfriend,” I said, grabbing my Brahmin clutch and heading down the stairs.

“Well, then I don't see why you couldn't let Travis escort you. You know he's never been exposed to things like this.”

“Ewwww,” I said. “Have my cousin as my date? As if.”

My mom had lost her mind. I would not be on the red carpet with my cousin as my date. And what was her fascination with Travis lately anyway? He'd taught her how to Dougie now all of sudden, he was supernephew?

She must've known to drop that because just as we reached the bottom of the staircase, she said, “You look amazing. But you are Liza Morgan's daughter so what else would one expect?”

“You do look gorgeous,” Alvin said, approaching me. “But I'd expect nothing less.”

“Dude, you are so corny.” Travis laughed.

“Take note, young buck, take note,” Alvin told him.

We laughed as we said our good-byes, then made our way out to Alvin's car—a shiny red corvette. He may have been a nerd, but Alvin knew how to step up his game when necessary. Whenever he took me somewhere, this is what we rolled in, and he cleaned up very nice. Tonight, he was looking fab in a tuxedo jacket with a T-shirt. It was just enough class and just enough casual for him to look like he belonged on the arm of Maya Morgan.

It took us thirty minutes to get to the facility, but thankfully Alvin had me in a good mood, laughing and talking as I made my way to my reserved seating.

Before I could sit down, a young girl with a headset on her ears came over to me and said, “Miss Morgan, here's your script for today.” She handed me a stack of index cards wrapped inside a piece of paper. “We'll need you backstage ten minutes before your presentation. Someone will come get you when we're ready,” she said.

“Who am I presenting with?” I asked, unwrapping the piece of paper she had just given to me. I hoped it was someone like Usher or Nick Cannon. I almost fell over in my stilettos when I saw the name on my paper.

“Evian Javid? Are you freaking serious?” I said, waving the paper at the girl. “I'm presenting with her?”

The poor girl looked horrified. “I-I'm sorry. I don't have anything to do with that. They just told me to come bring it to you.”

I turned to Alvin. “Can you believe this bull?”

Just then I heard, “So I would guess that means today is your lucky day.” Evian was grinning like she'd won the lotto as she came up on the side of me.

I ignored Evian and turned back to the girl. “Why am I presenting with her?”

The young girl shrugged. “I don't know. I just pass out the scripts. Someone will be here to get you.” She scurried away before I could go off any more.

“So, we get to do our thing together,” Evian sang. “Isn't that fab?”

I just looked at her, rolled my eyes, and went to my seat. She giggled at her date, who was none other than Hollywood heartthrob Lance Malone. Seeing that gave me pause, but I couldn't let her know that I was fazed by it at all. Though I definitely couldn't understand how she'd managed to snag a gem like Lance.

She draped her arm though Lance's and headed down the aisle behind me. She stopped in front of my row. “Well, Maya. I'll see you on stage. Lance got us some great seats right there,” she said, pointing three rows up.

“Oh, I don't think so,” I mumbled as she walked off. “I'm going to find someone to move our seats.” I stood and was just about to step over Alvin and make my way out to the aisle.

Alvin put his hand on mine and settled me down. “Come on, Maya, chill out. People are already starting to look.” He motioned to his right as some woman was discreetly trying to hold up her iPhone. I'm sure she was hoping to capture a fight.

“You're right,” I said. “Let me pull it together.” I sat back in my seat and waited for the show to start, but my mood had been soured—once again, thanks to Evian.

When the young girl came back and told me, “They're ready for you,” I knew that I had to pull it together. This was televised so the last thing I needed to do was be on stage letting my emotions get the best of me.

I made my way backstage and both Evian and Lance were already back there, laughing and talking with some people.

The host, comedian and actor Kevin Hart, came over to me first. “Well, if it isn't Maya Morgan,” he said, shaking my hand. “Let me make sure I don't make you mad, because I know you'll have it turn up on me,” he said with his little signature laugh.

I didn't even get a chance to respond before Evian barged into our conversation.

“You are so silly,” she said as she approached us. “Nice to meet you, I'm Evian Javid.” She shook his hand. “I'm a big fan.”

Evian was so low-class. The first rule of thumb about being a celebrity was you had to act like one—and that meant not getting all starry-eyed around the stars.

“Where do I know you from?” he asked, studying her.

“The reality show
All American Princess
,” she replied.

Kevin smiled at her. “Oh yeah, you're that cute girl that has that new little show.”

“Um, cute? I wouldn't say that,” she said, giving him a flirtatious wink. “Try beautiful.” She was completely disrespecting Lance, who was standing over in a corner talking to someone. I started to yell at him to come get his girl!

Kevin's eyes roamed up and down her. “That you are.”

“And my show definitely isn't little. In fact, it's about to be one of the biggest things on TV. Watch and see.” With that, she bounced back over to Lance.

Kevin watched her as she walked off, completely turning his attention away from me. It took everything in my power not to go off on his little behind, but since I didn't need the drama, I just turned and walked away.

I stood over to the side trying to compose myself until they called for us to come forward. The music started playing as we made our way onto the stage. I stepped on the stage first and then Evian just bumped right on past me and went to the podium.

“Hello, Miami,” she said, excitedly. “I am Evian Javid, host of
All American Princess
and this is Maya Morgan, she—”

No, this slug wasn't about to try to introduce me!

I stepped up. “And
I
am the host of the number-one-rated show,
Rumor Central.
” The teleprompter began rolling. The way the script was set up, there was a section for Evian to read, and then a section for me to read. We were supposed to go back and forth. Since Evian's name was listed first, I stepped aside to let her speak.

“We're here to present the Newsmaker of the Year Award,” she began. “This award is given to an artist who is constantly in the news. This person can be an actor, musician, or philanthropist,” she continued reading, even though it was clear my name was above that line. As soon as she took a breath, I jumped in.

“This person is someone who is always making headlines—whether good or bad,” I read.

Before I could get out the next sentence—which again, had my name on it, Evian spoke.

“They are the ones who are constantly being talked about.”

I kept my smile as I leaned toward the mic. “The ones who are making all the headlines. Who—”

She leaned in and cut me off. “Who we love to talk about. Who we—”

I'd had enough. I kept my smile as I said, “You do see that has my name on it?”

“Excuse me.” She let out an uncomfortable laugh as she stood up straight.

“I'm supposed to read that,” I said, pointing at the teleprompter. I know it was incredibly unprofessional, but I was so sick and tired of Evian that I had literally had all I could take. “See, my name above those lines means I read. It doesn't mean for you to keep reading. The names are there for a reason.”

Evian looked momentarily shocked, then leaned in like she was trying to get a closer look at the teleprompter. “I guess it does say your name.” She looked out at the audience and let out a small laugh. “Sorry, I don't have my contacts in—they mess with my mink lashes.” She batted her eyes. Several people laughed, but I didn't see anything funny. “Anyway,” she continued, “I know these people don't care who reads what, so let's just get the winner announced. So the nominees are—”

“No, ma'am. I don't think so,” I said, cutting her off. I snatched the envelope with the winner's name from her.

“Really, Maya?” she whispered as I stepped in front of her.

I ignored her and continued reading the teleprompter. “And the nominees for Newsmaker of the Year are, Miley Cy—”

She snatched the envelope back and took over. “Miley Cyrus, Usher, Justin Bieber—”

I snatched the envelope right back from her. We went back and forth grabbing the oversized envelope, both of us refusing to let go.

“Give it here,” she said.

“Are you really doing this?” I replied. “You are so janky!” As it dawned on me that we were actually on stage, in front of two thousand people, I quickly came back to my senses. I let the envelope go and Evian stepped back victoriously—then stumbled right over her gown. I watched in horror as she screamed and toppled to the floor.

The crowd was just as stunned as I heard several gasps and people jumped to their feet. I needed to do something and do it, now!

I stuck my hand out to help Evian up. She glared at me with evil eyes. “Just go with it,” I whispered through my smile. “We look like idiots and need to clean this up.”

As the confused crowd stared at us, I stepped to the podium. “Gotcha,” I said with a huge grin. “We're good, aren't we? You wanted reality drama, we gave it to you. Right, Evian?”

Evian dusted herself off as she glared at me and forced a fake smile. I guess looking out at the crowd told her we needed to do something to clean this up because she said, “Yep, all part of the act . . .”

As the crowd started applauding, I felt like I'd proven my point with Evian, and cleaned up any mess that might've been brewing. That's why I tossed my curls over my shoulder, stepped back to the microphone, and continued, “So, now back to our regularly scheduled program. The winner of Newsmaker of the Year is Miley Cyrus!”

As Miley made her way to the stage, Evian shot me daggers and somehow I got the feeling our battle had just intensified. But I wasn't worried. If anything, I'd just added my name to the newsmaker list, and after all was said and done, I'd probably be the one up here accepting this award next year. And I would take great pleasure in watching Evian watch me win.