Hollywood
Princess
Dana Aynn Levin
Park-Hill Press
Hollywood Princess
No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, down loaded, distributed, stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without express permission of the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes.
Hollywood Princess is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, or any events or occurrences, is purely coincidental.
Cover design by Sarah Jordan Levin
Copyright © 2014 Dana Aynn Levin
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 990737004
ISBN-13: 978-0-9907370-0-1
DEDICATION
To Paul, for not only never laughing at me,
But for supporting my dream,
Supplying me with yellow pads and Disney pens,
And allowing me to retreat to my cave.
.
CONTENTS
Dedication
Contents
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Chapter 98
Chapter 99
Chapter 100
Chapter 101
Chapter 102
Chapter 103
Chapter 104
Chapter 105
Chapter 106
Chapter 107
Chapter 108
Chapter 109
Chapter 110
Chapter 111
Chapter 112
About The Author
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Writing a novel was never my aspiration, but then Elizabeth and Daniel’s story came to me, and it wouldn’t stop. Everywhere I went, I composed new material. At home I spent countless hours writing, inputting, and editing.
Thank you to my husband and children for allowing me to sometimes pay more attention to Elizabeth and Daniel than to you, but I never missed the important stuff. I appreciate your support and that you never laughed at me, except maybe Sarah did.
Adam, in your own quiet way you were always there for me. Your nightly living room piano concerts helped keep me focused.
Caiti, my chief cheerleader, you still have to wait a few more years until I’ll let you read this book. My apologies for not writing a YA book for you. Thank you for choosing my cover font.
Sarah, who often made fun of me, and still does. I love the cover! Thank you for designing it, and for designing my website and other social media sites. We have the best bartering system: shoes, designer bags...
Paul, for all your encouragement. You always believed in me and my project, sending me to classes and conferences. You even supported what might have seemed ridiculous, but worked. Yes, I’m referring to a certain one night trip to Las Vegas solely to attend an All-American Rejects’ concert. I knew it would boost my creativity, and it did. I probably should thank Tyson Ritter and Nick Wheeler, because every time I saw them live, I had similar results. I have no idea why this happens.
Thank you to Avery, Esther, Harriett and Yada for reading various drafts of Hollywood Princess. Esther, it was your comments that led me to find a home in the New Adult genre.
Finally, thank you readers, for taking a chance on a debut author.
Chapter 1-Elizabeth
Could today get any better? From across the room of my intermediate-level French class, an adorable-looking guy with smooth, dark curls flashed me a shy smile that set my heart aflutter.
If a flirty smile counted, then this was the second good thing to happen this morning. The first had been…no, maybe this was the third. Definitely, the second. Though “Gives You Hell,” the perfect mood-boosting song to start the day woke me, it didn’t count.
A longtime favorite, this song was ideal for imbuing me with the confidence needed to face the first day of freshman classes at exclusive Donnelly College in Upstate New York. I wanted to give them hell, unless my usual insecurities and shyness surfaced. Often a possibility.
Rising slowly, I had opened the window shade a crack. The sixth-floor view, all treetops, but after yesterday’s rain, at least the sun shone through. Certainly, that was a good omen.
A passing glance at the clock confirmed the early hour; enough time to leisurely check my e-mails and choose my clothing for the day.
Quickly scrolling my iPhone confirmed my hunch. Today was already a good day! A late-night love note from Mom made my eyes tear. Far away from my Santa Monica home, I missed Mom and Dad more than I imagined, though it had only been a few days since move-in.
Silently, I tiptoed into the bathroom, enjoying the privacy that came with being the only one awake. I shared a suite with two other girls on the seventh floor of a ten-story tower, Donnelly’s tallest building. The tower appeared to be sitting on the broad shoulders of ivy-covered Berkeley Hall, an otherwise four-story, C-shaped brick building.
Loud, rapid knocking interrupted my reverie while I brushed my teeth.
&nb
sp; “You almost done?”
With the water running, I couldn’t tell which impatient roommate it was. I spit into the small sink to answer.
“One more minute,” I called. Jeez! It was bad enough having to share the facilities, but really, I hadn’t been in the bathroom for that long.
Rachel was leaning against the doorjamb to her bedroom, shower caddy in hand, staring. I smiled to diffuse the tension and returned to my room. Learning to live with other people was more difficult than I had imagined.
Born into A-list Hollywood society, I led a rarefied existence where you never wanted for anything, nor waited for anything. The downside, everyone assumed they knew you because of the latest gossip blog entries. At Donnelly, for the first time in my eighteen years, I’ll have the opportunity to be me. I’m three thousand miles from home, just another anonymous freshman. It’s time for me to discover who I am.
It was time to get dressed, too. I had been mulling this over since I’d arrived. Before going to sleep, I rifled through my wardrobe once again, never having selected first-day clothes before. The schools I attended in Los Angeles had required uniforms.
What was a simple decision for most tied me up in knots. I wanted to dress like a typical Donnelly student. But who exemplified typical for me to emulate? In my few days on campus, I observed fashion that ran the gamut from prep, goth, punk, hippy, jock, and Walmart to fashionistas like my roommate Chloe.
Chloe boasted designer labels without fear. At worst, she would be teased and called a Jewish American Princess. For doing the same, I’d face sneers and derision while being called a stuck-up Hollywood bitch.
That my flippy khaki skirt and lavender cropped polo, both courtesy of J.Crew, were appropriate soon became apparent. As I approached the classroom door when French ended, cutie, dressed just as preppy, stopped me. Only then did I take in his pale blue eyes, a distinct contrast to his smooth mocha complexion.
“Bonjour, mademoiselle,” he said, smiling warmly. “Je m’appelle Cameron Reynolds.”
“Elizabeth Jacobs,” I answered.
“I’m meeting my roommates for lunch. Want to join us?” Cameron asked in English, his voice smooth and lacking any discernable regional accent.
At midday, the quad, the most public of public places on the Donnelly campus intimidated me. Companionship would insulate me from the gawking students I detected almost as soon as my toes touched the concrete path. Focused on me, Cameron, of course, was oblivious, for he had not been born into my life.
“That’s her, isn’t it?” a student walking behind us whispered to a buddy.
“I thought Miranda Jordan’s daughter would wear better clothes,” her friend said.
“I know, right? Ms. Jordan can easily afford Ralph Lauren. Why the J.Crew knockoff?”
Crap! Didn’t they realize I was trying to blend in by dressing like everyone else?
I pretended that I hadn’t heard them. If Cameron noticed, he graciously did not say anything.
As we stood on the century-old dining hall’s front steps waiting for our roommates, I took in the grandeur of the Donnelly campus. Initially wait-listed and headed for Swarthmore, I had never visited Donnelly, my first-choice college. The website didn’t do it justice.
“How were your classes?” I greeted Rachel and Chloe when they finally arrived. The wait seemed longer than it probably was, but I was fidgety, praying not to be noticed again.
Rachel bubbled with excitement. “You’ll never believe who is in my class.”
Her morning class, “Survey of Motion Pictures,” left me curious. Nobody I knew from home was enrolled at Donnelly. It must be someone New York-based.
Noticing Cameron lingering a step behind me, she answered, “I’ll tell you later.”
Once inside the lobby, Cameron’s phone buzzed, an incoming text. He read the message and frowned.
“Looks like Shane won’t be joining us,” he said.
“What about your other roommate?” I asked. Three girls at a table with only one guy was awkward, especially when we barely knew each other.
Cameron smiled. “He’ll be here,” he said with certainty. “My roommate’s always late.”
After purchasing our food, we found an empty table. Preparing to place my lunch down, a confident male voice came up behind me.
“Cam, you’ve been busy this morning,” it teased.
Instinctively, I turned my head toward the speaker. Our eyes locked, green on blue. The power of his dark sapphire stare overwhelmed me.
“Eli?”
Only one person ever called me Eli. I was dumbstruck that not only was he here, he was apparently Cameron’s roommate. My heart catapulted into overdrive. I lost my grip on the plate, and it slammed onto the table with a jarring bang.
“Danny!” I breathlessly responded, and he pulled me into a bear hug, his now taller six-foot frame towering over me.
Danny Newman’s strength and muscularity surprised me. He had been hitting the weight room since we last hugged.
My head was spinning, my pulse racing. I thought I might faint, though whether from the shock of seeing him or from Danny’s innate sensuality, I couldn’t discern.
Why hadn’t anyone told me that Danny was attending Donnelly? My parents must have known. Our families had been closer than close for over twenty years. As youngsters, we were inseparable. Nearly a year and a half older than I, Danny was like an older brother. Then once puberty began to kick in, my sisterly love morphed into a full-fledged infatuation. But after Danny left for prep school in New Hampshire, our relationship changed. So why did my insides quake? I was eighteen years old, a mature college student now.
Yet my eyes clung to Danny. Incredibly handsome, his mesmerizing eyes with long, dark lashes caught your attention and held it. Danny’s face had thinned. His cheekbones were more prominent. Emphasis fell on his full lips, posed in a wry smile aimed in my direction, and his straight, sun-streaked hair was shorter, though still shaggy. I couldn’t stop staring.
Danny Newman had morphed from teen heartthrob into full-fledged hunk.
“Mom told me you were attending Donnelly,” Danny said. “I planned on calling you after classes. Now I don’t have to.”
“My parents didn’t tell me,” I answered, dumbfounded by his revelation.
“Strange.” Danny shrugged, then pulled me back for another emotional hug. “You look great,” he whispered. “You’re older now.”
“Of course I’m older.” What did Danny expect? Five years had passed since we’d last seen each other.
Rachel stared. Danny must be the student from her morning class. As a film major, she would have found Steven Newman’s son being in her class exciting.
Danny released me and took the seat next to me.
“Eli’s like my kid sister.” Danny answered the unasked question in everyone’s eyes.
“Eli? Kid sister?” Rachel asked, stunned by this revelation.
“I couldn’t pronounce ‘Elizabeth.’” Danny quirked a brow. “Can I still call you, ‘Eli’?”
“If you must,” I sighed. This battle was unwinnable, so why fight it.
Danny grinned, victorious. “Eli’s my dearest friend in the world. I’ve known her since before her birth.”
“Dad and Steve roomed together in college,” I added as an explanation.
“Steve?”
I regretted uttering his name. The wheels in Rachel’s head spun.
“So your father is Steven Newman? The director?” she confirmed.
“Guilty as charged. Good old dad.” Danny winked at me.
Rachel eyed me suspiciously. Now she knew. The Newmans and Jacobs were frequently linked. Would she keep my identity quiet?
“What other classes are you in?” I asked Danny, quickly changing the subject.
CHAPTER 2 - ELIZABETH
Danny and I discovered we were in the same political science class. As everyone dispersed after lunch, we headed off to the squat brick social sciences building, a shor
t walk across the residential quad.
Entering the cavernous lecture hall, I led the way into the third row. Two vacant seats in the center called to us. I sat down in the first one. Then Danny stepped by me to reach the other. From this vantage point, I would spend the semester gazing into Danny’s potent sapphire eyes.
Though the professor took to the lectern, commanding every student’s attention, I sensed eyes on me. I turned my head to the side. Two girls sitting toward the end of the next row were staring, and I turned away.
This was not what I wanted. Please let it be first-day curiosity. I wanted to engage in class discussion, but the professor was lecturing, affording no opportunities for participation. I needed my classmates to see that I was just another Donnelly student. News flash folks: celebrities’ children have brains.
I turned back again hoping their attention would be on the professor, as it should be. But no! The girls continued staring. And they weren’t even embarrassed at being caught. I followed the trajectory of their pupils. Oh! I blushed. Danny. Of course; I should have expected as much.
After class, Danny led me to a nearby bench bathed in late-summer sun. What a beautiful afternoon for the outdoors, and at a time of the season when such opportunities were fleeting. Fall would be upon Donnelly soon enough.
I curled my legs under my skirt to face Danny. It was wonderful being with him. The comfortable familiarity we’d always shared had returned in an instant. I enjoyed having my “big brother” around.
“Amazing,” Danny said. “I move three thousand miles for college and find my dearest friend in the world.”
“It’s great,” I agreed, then changed the subject. “Danny, I want to keep a low profile. People shouldn’t guess who I am.”
Danny picked up the end of my long, thick braid and twirled it.
“So that’s why this?”
I swatted his hand away. Danny was right. I only braided my hair for sports or the beach. Loose auburn waves were my trademark in a town where everyone did whatever they could to have straight, glossy hair.
“I haven’t even told my roommates. Chloe and Rachel think Dad’s an attorney.”
Danny laughed. “Well, Mike did go to law school.” I frowned. “Eli, I’ve always loved your folks. Are you ashamed of them?”
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