“Oh, yeah, that’ll work. Let’s rock ‘n’ roll,” he said.
I picked up the hem of my cascading ruffled dress and pranced over to the edge of the rope that cut off the little people from those of us who were important.
I saw the excitement in Evian’s eyes as I got close. Like I would ever put them on camera.
They could try to front all they wanted, but they knew the truth. The truth was they could hate and talk about me all they wanted, but deep down inside they all wanted to be me, or just like me.
I smiled as I made my way over to where they stood. There were a couple of other students standing right next to them.
“Is this good?” I asked the photographer.
He nodded.
“Who are you gonna talk to?” he asked.
When I turned to the crowd, I saw nothing but hungry, desperate eyes. While their lips never moved, everything about them said “choose me” or “pick me!” I put a perfectly manicured finger between my glossy lips like it might help me make the decision a little faster, then turned to face my nemeses.
One by one, I eyed each one and smirked when I settled on the little plain-Jane girl who had squeezed up to the front to be seen.
“Um, excuse me,” I said. I was so glad she was standing right next to Evian. That meant Evian and the other two would be in the shot, but they’d be completely excluded from what was going on.
I stuck the microphone to her lips and the photographer adjusted his stance and camera.
“Okay, I’m rolling,” he said.
I turned and said,“You are out here on the red carpet. Tell our viewers, who do you want to see most?”
“OHMYGOD! OHMYGOD! I can’t believe you picked me. Am I on TV like, right now?” she asked.
I wanted to scream, but I knew by the evil eye I was getting from the eight sets to her left, that my plan had worked just fine.
We wrapped up the interview with the plain Jane; then we went on to record three more, all with people who stood next to, behind or near Evian, Sheridan, Shay, and Bali.
“Has the producer shown up to meet you guys yet?” I couldn’t help but ask, before bursting out laughing as I walked away.
The looks on their faces said it all. They were outdone. They knew they had been played. Oh, they stood there with their arms crossed over their chests, and their faces mean-mugging the cameras, but what did I care? I looked fabulous and there was nothing any of them could do about it.
“That was great, Maya,” the photographer said.
I beamed with pride.
“Here, let’s go back and get our spot,” he said as he grabbed the tripod from the bottom and carried it back to where we were.
Once I got back to my place on the red carpet, I couldn’t help but steal glances over at my former friends. They had looks on their faces that said the grapes they were sucking on were oh so sour!
My composure was cool as a cucumber on the outside. But on the inside it was a completely different story. I was jigging all the way and loving every minute of it.
What could they say or do? While they were roped off and forced to fight for space with the hired help, yours truly was hosting the red-carpet affair. That meant they had to stand there and watch as each celebrity who passed schmoozed and chatted me up like I was Oprah (quiet as it’s kept, give me around one year and I’ll give Oprah a run for her money). But I guess they had all they could take, because I saw Sheridan spin off first. She pushed her way through the crowd, away from the Red Carpet. It only took a few seconds, but Bali, Evian and Shay quickly followed.
I fought back my laughter, then pushed them out of my thoughts. The feeling I had was so fantastic that I wanted us to stay on the red carpet the entire night. With bulbs flashing and paparazzi clicking pictures, I smiled and laughed like I was having the time of my life.
And for all intents and purposes, as far as at least four people could tell, that’s exactly what I was doing. I was having the time of my life soaking up the spotlight that shone solely on me while they were forced to stand off to the side and occupy what little time they could squeeze in when and if a camera happened to pan in their direction.
“You ready to go inside?” the photographer asked.
“You know I am,” I said and once again grinned hard for the cameras. “Sweetie, Maya Morgan stays ready,” I added as I followed him inside.
Chapter 29
“All right, are you ready?” Dexter looked at me with a reassuring smile. He must’ve known that I was real nervous about this story. Watching my former friends outside the red carpet yesterday had been wonderful, but Sheridan’s payback needed to go much deeper. And I had the shovel and was about to start digging!
I was so nervous that I hadn’t told anyone about what was about to go down. Even Valerie didn’t know about the blockbuster show that was in store for today. Not only was I going to bust Sheridan’s self-righteous behind out, I was going to do it with a smile and supersized ratings.
“You need anything?” Valerie said, checking on me in my dressing room.
“Nah, I’m cool.” I leaned into the wall-to-wall mirror and surveyed my reflection. I nodded my approval at Gina, the makeup artist. She started gathering up her supplies. I turned to face Valerie. She had been trying really hard to be not only a good assistant, but a good friend as well. And while I’d never consider us BFFs, I did actually like the girl.
Just not enough to stop me from doing this story.
“Just getting ready for the show.” I hoped that Valerie didn’t trip too hard after the show. She hated Sheridan as much as I did (although sometimes it seemed like she hated her more), so I couldn’t see her being too mad.
“All right, break a leg,” Valerie said.
I waited as the hair stylist put the finishing touches on my spiral curls. I made it to the set with just a few minutes to spare.
The director cued me. I took a deep breath and began my signature greeting.
“Hey, hey, hey, what’s up? Welcome to Rumor Central, where we dish the dirt on the celebs you love, and boy, are we dishing some dirt today,” I said, full of enthusiasm. I knew they loved my personality and I was totally bringing it. “I’m not one to gossip,” I continued, “but rumor has it one of the biggest stars to ever come out of Miami took fame by any means necessary.” I turned to the other camera in a dramatic fashion. “She is one of the country’s hottest actresses. One of the world’s highest paid singers. She has a clothing line, and Forbes named her one of the richest women in America. But have we got some dirt on Glenda Matthews.” I paused for effect as a picture of a young, very pregnant Glenda Matthews popped up on the screen. Our research department had worked overtime to find the photo. I had to give them their props. They were no joke.
“Do you know who this woman is?” I said while the picture stayed up on the monitor. “Well, if you guessed Glenda Matthews, you guessed right. This was taken in 1996, when Glenda was pregnant with her first child. And this”—I waited for the next photo to pop up—“was taken in 1997. In it, Glenda was pregnant as well. But wait, you say, Glenda Matthews only has one daughter, seventeen-year-old Miami socialite Sheridan Matthews. So what happened to the kid from that 1997 picture? Well, that’s what we wanted to know, too. Rumor Central has dug deep to find out that Glenda’s second child, the one that she is pregnant with in this picture.” I waited for the picture to pop up again. “The one whose father is a married rock star, the one who was apparently too much of an inconvenience. That child was born in 1997, just eleven months after the birth of her first child, and according to court records, Glenda gave the child up for adoption so she wouldn’t lose her coveted role as Cleopatra in the 1998 blockbuster movie that put her on the map. Rumor Central hasn’t been able to locate the child yet. But we did track down Ms. Matthews.” The camera cut to a picture of Glenda Matthews running into her garage as the cameraman followed behind her, asking if the allegations were true.
As soon as the video stopped, I
continued. “Last year, Glenda Matthews threw her daughter, Sheridan, a sweet sixteen party that was featured on MTV’s Super Sweet Sixteen show as one of the top ten Sweet Sixteen bashes of all times. I was there so I can tell you it was all that and then some. But one can’t help but wonder, did baby number two get a sweet sixteen party? Did the abandoned child of Glenda Matthews get to enjoy a life of luxury? Does she even know that her mother is one of the biggest stars in the country? We want to know just like you, and you’d better believe Rumor Central is all over this story. And if you want the scoop, make sure to keep it tuned right here.”
We went to commercial break, came back, did some more local and national entertainment and celebrity stories, then finally wrapped up the show.
As soon as I signed off, Tamara and Dexter rushed onto the set.
“Oh my God, that was fabulous,” Tamara said.
They weren’t the only ones showering me with praise. I knew I’d scored when the general manager walked in and said, “That’s what I’m talking about. Absolutely phenomenal! I can’t believe you’re only seventeen. You have a long future in this business.” He gave me a high-five, which caught me off guard. But while everyone else was celebrating, I noticed that Valerie stayed in the corner, giving me an evil teary eye.
“Hey, V. What’s wrong?” I asked after everything had started dying down and people made their way back into their offices.
She shook her head in disbelief. Were those really tears in her eyes?
“I can’t believe you did that,” she said.
“Did what?”
“Don’t play dumb, Maya!” she snapped, then quickly lowered her voice and looked around before leaning in and whispering, “I can’t believe you ran with that story.”
It was my turn to be shocked. No, she isn’t snapping at me. “Why are you trippin’? You knew I was working on something big.”
“Yeah, but I gave you that information.” Her voice was actually trembling. “I shared it with you just for your ears, not to run it on the air.”
A part of me had known that Valerie was going to be mad, which was why I hadn’t given her any of the details beforehand. But I’d learned long ago that it was better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission. And besides, no way would I have thought she’d be this angry.
“It’s the research team that dug all that stuff up,” I said.
“Yeah, but after I told you about it,” she replied.
I shrugged. “Well, I thought you told me so that I could use it.”
“I told you because I thought you were my friend and friends share stuff without having to worry about getting stabbed in the back.”
I had to figure out how to play this because she was really upset. A tear had actually begun trickling down her cheek. And between my tutoring and her assistance at work, Valerie had been a big help to me and I didn’t need her slacking off.
“What’s the big deal? You don’t even like Sheridan Matthews.”
Valerie wiped the tears from her face. “That’s not the point. The point is, I trusted you.”
I rolled my eyes. Oh, good grief. Why was she being such a baby? “Look, Valerie. I’m sorry I violated your confidence. I didn’t know it was supposed to be this big secret. Besides, I knew you didn’t like Sheridan and I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.”
“Did you ever stop to think about me? What kind of trouble I could get in?”
Not really, I wanted to say, but I remained silent.
“You have no idea what you’ve done,” she said, her voice taking on an eerie calm.
“Look, I said I was sorry. And on the real, it’s not often that I give an apology to anyone.”
She just stared at me, a hurt expression on her face, silent tears streaming down her face, before turning and walking away.
I debated going after her, not just because I was kinda sorry, but also because I had a calculus test coming up and I didn’t need her mad at me. But before I could make up my mind, Dexter had grabbed my arm.
“Come on, I need to get you into the conference room. Entertainment Tonight wants to interview you.”
“ET?” I asked in shock. “Like in the national show, Entertainment Tonight?”
“That’s right, our competition. You know you’re doing well when the competition wants to interview you,” he said, his voice full of pride.
“Wow, I said, quickly pushing aside thoughts of Valerie, Sheridan, and anyone else. This was my chance at stardom, and I was about to seize it and never let it go.
Chapter 30
Between interviews, meetings, and everybody under the sun wanting more details on the Glenda Matthews story, it had been a long day and I just wanted to get home and rest. I’d known that it would be only a matter of time before Sheridan started blowing up my phone and she’d done just that. I deleted all the messages she left without listening because I was sure she was just cursing me out a hundred different ways.
I had already started planning. I was definitely playing sick tomorrow and skipping school. It wasn’t that I was scared of Sheridan, but I wasn’t a fool. No way would I face Sheridan’s wrath so soon. I’m sure Ms. Matthews had disappeared to some exotic island to hide from the madness.
I wrapped my plush robe around me and headed downstairs. I had showered and covered myself in my favorite bath products, and I was heading to the kitchen to get something to drink. My parents were at some charity event and Sui had the night off. Most people would’ve been scared alone in a house this big, but not me. I relished the peace and quiet.
I grabbed a bottle of Fiji water and decided to watch television on our seventy-two-inch in the theater room since my parents only had a forty-two-inch TV in my room. My dad claimed it was excessive to get anything any bigger. Yet, he had a sixty-inch flat screen in his room. Whatever.
I began flipping through the channels and stopped on the channel that displayed our security cameras. Was that someone outside our gate? I leaned in and looked closely at the screen. It was someone out there! They were just standing there staring at the gate like they were trying to figure out a way to get inside. I couldn’t make out his or her face or features. The figure stood there wearing all black—black jeans, black combat boots, and a black hoodie. I couldn’t tell if his or her face was covered with something, but this was way too creepy for me.
I didn’t immediately get scared because we did have a big iron gate around our home. Besides, it was probably just Sheridan trying to come confront me. But then I noticed the person—I couldn’t tell if it was a male or female—was a lot heavier than Sheridan. When the shadowy figure began pulling at the gate, my heart started racing. Sheridan wouldn’t have even attempted to do that. She knew there was no way around that twelve-foot iron gate. Plus, she would’ve just rung the intercom until someone let her in.
But if it wasn’t Sheridan, who was it?
“May I help you?” I said into the intercom.
The figure stopped, but kept their back to the camera.
“What do you want?” I asked.
Still silence.
“I’m calling the cops,” I said.
The figure stood for a few seconds, then darted off down the street.
My heart rate still hadn’t returned to its normal pace. I took a deep breath and stood up, backing away from the intercom. I felt like I was a character in one of those creepy low-budget horror movies.
I raced to the phone to call our security company. But I stopped mid-dial. What if my parents freaked out? My dad was already uneasy after the cheer story. He would surely trip over this and possibly try to make me quit.
“It was probably nothing,” I muttered as I placed the phone back on the base.
Besides, I took comfort in knowing the iron gate stood between me and that freak. I double-checked the alarm, made sure all the doors were locked and headed upstairs to the theater room.
It was probably just someone at the wrong house, I thought. Or maybe it was someone tryin
g to scare me. As I took off down the hall I thought back to the three stories I had done so far. I knew people were mad at me over the stories I’d done, but would someone seriously show up at my house trying to scare me? Didn’t they fear being caught? By the time I made it to the theater room, I was back to thinking the person outside had something to do with one of those.
“There was no way I could have let the cheer escorts go!” I muttered as I entered the theater room. I found the dimmer and made the lights brighter. Once I selected the movie I wanted to see, I pressed a few buttons, started the movie, then dimmed the lights again.
I knew this film was cheesy, but I liked it and when I needed time to think, I’d zone out in front of it. As the massive screen lit up my mind went back to the shadowy figure. Who was I kidding? I could try to tell myself that was someone at the wrong house. But I knew better. The way that figure had stood staring at the camera. That was someone trying to scare me.
But who?
I thought about all the people involved in all the major stories I’d done so far—from the cheer escorts story, to the story on Sheridan’s mom, to the Bling Ring. Someone was definitely trying to scare me. I don’t know if they were mad about my stories or what. But they needed to know they were wasting their time, because Maya Morgan refused to be intimidated.
Chapter 31
The sound of a garbage truck outside actually jolted me out of my sleep. I looked around the theater and noticed the screen was dark. I couldn’t tell what time it was because the room was always so dark, day and night.
I eased my body up from the sofa, stretched, and then yawned.
When I grabbed my cell phone I was stunned to see it was 6:30 in the morning! I had no idea when I had dozed off the night before.
Instinct made me turn on the TV and check the security camera, but the only thing I saw was my neighbor jogging.
Sui knocked on the theater door just as I was about to grab the handle and walk out.
“Will you be having breakfast before school?” she asked.
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