Broadway Lights

by Jen Calonita

  "Mom?" I wonder.

  Rodney's laugh is loud and it echoes through the large room. "Do you think your mom would send you cupcakes?"

  "Sky?" I try again. "She wanted to check out Buttercup with me. We were talking about it the other day after my rehearsal."

  "Nope." Nadine shakes her head and her small green beaded earrings jingle. "You're going to die when you see who it is."

  "Sky won't give you room to breathe," Liz feels the need to tell me, even though she's busy having lip liner done.

  "Love the SKAT nickname." Paul nudges me, and for some reason I think he means it. "LAVA is lame."

  "She's only hanging out with you because she has no job," Liz interrupts again. "You know that, Kates."

  I don't say anything. When Liz is on a roll like this, I have learned to let her go. Instead I motion to Anita for scissors. There is no name on the return address, so I have no clue who sent the package. I bust open the box and reach inside a dry ice-filled container to find a dozen perfectly wrapped cupcakes that are only slightly smushed. I have no clue how they made it to L.A. like this, but I'm happy to see them. I start passing them out. Rodney is the first to grab one. At the bottom of the box is a sealed notecard.

  "You two are done being long-suffering costars." Liz is still talking as she reaches over to grab a pink-frosted cupcake. "I don't understand why she can't disappear like all costars do after they stop working together. Just pretend you're going to be chummy and then never return the person's calls. Is that so hard?" She stops for a second as Shelly finishes her face with a quick spray of glitter. Liz glides off the bar stool and begins tenderly eating her cupcake while Shelly stares at her in horror. She's going to need her lips redone for sure, which is fine because Paul has to finish my hair before he does Liz's. He's almost done--he's just adding a few little faux diamond hairpins in the back. "Instead of disappearing, Sky has practically followed you to New York and moved in," she says with her mouth full. Shelly watches as Liz ruins her lipgloss. "She hung out at our apartment all last weekend while I was in town and she goes ON and ON about herself. It's all I could do not to throw my new textbooks at her to knock her out so we could have a few minutes of peace and quiet!"

  "Someone sounds a little jealous," Paul sings in my ear.

  "I heard that!" Liz sounds steamed and she makes Anita, who is wiping down the counters, jump. "I am not jealous." She looks at me. "Kates, you know I'm not jealous."

  "I know," I tell her, avoiding the piercing stare Nadine is giving me.

  "We just got through a jealousy thing with me and Mikayla, and I am not jealous," Liz tells everyone. "I cannot stand Sky Mackenzie. My problem is that I can't believe Kates would want to spend time with a girl who has made her life hell ever since I've known her."

  "We have to host SNL next week," I remind Liz while Paul pushes my head down for one last pin.

  "And then you promise she'll be gone?" Liz tosses her wrapper in the stainless steel garbage pail. "She'll vacate her permanent spot on your couch and leave? Check out of the Soho Grand and torture Los Angeles again instead?" Shelly pulls Liz back over to her makeshift station and fixes her lipstick.

  "I'm sure," I tell Liz, even though I'm not. I vaguely recall one of Sky's crying sessions where she mentioned New York summers being good for her psyche. I felt too bad for her to suggest her psyche try Florida instead.

  "Next!" Shelly says as she releases Liz and Paul frees me up to go to Shelly's chair. I glance at my hair in the mirror. It's so soft and romantic. I don't know how Paul gets it to stay up and look so effortless at the same time.

  I rip open the notecard and see a handwritten message inside.

  Thought you might like a little bit of New York while you were back in Los Angeles. I knew you wanted to try this place. Next pick is on me--you promised to try fish and chips. (Remember your British slang: chips are French fries and crisps are potato chips.) Have a great holiday and try not to worry about the theater. You're brilliant as Andie and I won't stop saying it till I convince you so myself.

  Cheers, Dylan

  "They're from Dylan." I'm so surprised I can barely speak. I can't believe he mailed me cupcakes all the way from New York. That is so sweet.

  "What is a Dylan and where can I get one?" Paul sounds intrigued.

  "He's Kate's absolutely gorgeous, incredibly nice love interest in Meeting of the Minds," Liz gushes. I give her a look. "What? He's not all of those things?"

  "He is, but he's just a friend," I stress.

  A friend who sends sweets to me three thousand miles away. No biggie.

  "I know that and you know that, but does Dylan know that?" Liz asks. "Because something tells me Dylan would like to be more."

  "Muh too," Shelly agrees as she licks white frosting off her second confection before starting on my makeup.

  "He was so cute about sending you a care package, Kates, that I didn't want to say no," Nadine apologizes. "He knew you wanted to try Buttercup and he asked me for your home address so he could send you some. He said he was worried that you were going to stress all weekend about the show. He thought these might help."

  "They are quite good," I admit, and decide to move them up in my unofficial New York cupcake ranking.

  "Are you going to save one for Austin?" Paul innocently bats his eyes. He's so bad. He's always trying to cause drama!

  "No." I frown for a moment, but can't for long because Shelly needs to put lip moisturizer on me. "Austin is already bent out of shape about Dylan as it is. This would drive him nuts."

  "Ooh! A love triangle." Paul is beginning to loop around Liz's dark curls with more flamboyance. "I only wish I were in New York with you to see how this plays out."

  "It's not a love triangle," I insist a tad huffily. Shelly tuts at me, fussing that frowning will ruin my foundation.

  "Maybe we should talk about something else," Nadine steps in. "There are a few things I should tell you before I let you go off to the ball and forget to remind you about a curfew." She winks.

  "The limo is paid till three AM." Rodney looks up from eyeing the last chocolate buttercream. "I spoke to the driver this morning and I'll be riding shotgun."

  Nadine reads off her BlackBerry. "It's the rest of the weekend I'm worried about. I know you're going to want to spend every waking moment with Austin till Sunday at ten AM when we leave, and I understand that, but I've been having a tough time pushing a few people off, especially since your mom keeps calling and reminding them you're here." She grabs her bible, the notebook that has all of my schedules and info in it. (Nadine has a BlackBerry, but she likes writing things by hand too.) "Seth is begging for an hour for coffee in the afternoon tomorrow. He has some scripts he wants to go over with you."

  "I promised Seth too." I shrug. "I already told Austin and he's going to come with me. That's fine."

  Nadine crosses it off her list. "Great, so that just leaves... Laney."

  The room collectively groans.

  "She swears she just needs a half an hour," Nadine begs.

  "You know that will never happen." I try to laugh, but it's hard when Shelly is applying bronzing powder. "When she was in New York two weeks ago, our half-hour coffee was a three-hour chatfest."

  " 'And then I told Angelina that the "it" spot to adopt children from is Darfur, and she said I was brilliant and why hadn't she thought of that before?' " Paul mimics.

  "I know it's hard to rein her in, but she said there is something--and I quote--'absolutely crushingly important' that she needs to discuss with you." Nadine smiles. "She wouldn't say what it was."

  "Can't it wait till Sunday night? A conference call maybe?" I plead. "I have so little time with Austin and we really need to catch up. You know we have the hardest time finding time to talk on the phone."

  "It doesn't help that all boys are bad at phone conversations." Liz's head is down as Paul uses the curling iron to give her tiny curls by her neckline.

  "All boys but me!" Paul tells her.

&nbs
p; "Please, Nadine." I bat my eyes at her. "I'll see her when she's in town next."

  "Aww... Nadine, how can you refuse?" Shelly asks.

  Nadine sighs. "Fine. I'm going to hear about this, but I'll call and lie. Say you're doing meetings with Seth or something."

  "Watch what you say," I warn. "She can find out anything from anyone."

  "WHO CAN FIND OUT WHAT?"

  I nearly jump out of my skin. Anita, who was washing dishes, screams and picks up a soapy frying pan, spraying bubbles and water everywhere, but ready to hit the intruder, who is whipping around the corner into the room from the door next to her.

  The intruder stops short at Anita's cast iron weapon and screams. In less than two seconds she has her Mace out and is ready to mist the room. Thankfully Rodney grabs the can before she can strike.

  "ARE YOU PEOPLE TRYING TO GIVE ME A HEART ATTACK?" Laney bellows, pulling her arm away from Rodney. "WHY ARE YOU ALL HERE?" She clutches her beige Chanel purse to her chest and takes big gulping breaths. Anita, realizing who it is, quickly says something in Spanish and then rushes to make Laney a cup of tea. Paul scurries over and fans Laney's face with a handheld mirror and strands of Laney's long straight hair begin to fly around.

  "YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO FIX MY FLYAWAYS," Laney tells Paul, who stops immediately. "I JUST HAD MY HAIR BRAZILIAN STRAIGHTENED."

  "But your hair was already straight," Liz can't help reminding Laney. Laney glares at her.

  "Laney, why are you yelling?" Nadine wants to know.

  Laney looks at her, ready to bark, and then reaches up and touches her ear. And then the other one. "Oh, sorry." She plucks the Bluetooth headsets out of each ear, exposing three-carat diamond studs underneath.

  "You have two?" Paul sounds incredulous.

  "I have two lines." Laney drops the Bluetooths in her purse. She sees me and smiles. "Kaitlin, there you are! When I didn't hear back from Nadine, I got worried your flight was delayed. It's not like Nadine not to call me back." She clicks her tongue and Nadine colors slightly. Laney's starting to pull herself back together, smoothing her ruffled sleeveless DKNY top and navy blue sailor-style pants.

  "That's my fault, Laney," I apologize. "The phone has rung nonstop since we landed, and I made her turn her work line off."

  Laney looks from Nadine to me skeptically.

  "But you found us, so what do you need?" I brighten, trying to pull her out of her cranky mood. "We can chat while Shelly does my makeup. I have the junior prom tonight."

  "Oh, that school thing, right." Laney waves a poppy-red manicured hand dismissively as she pulls up a chair so close its almost impossible for Shelly to get near enough to apply my mascara. "So we're all set for SNL, no? I have great news--TV Guide wants to shoot a cover on set of you and Sky for next week's issue. Fun, no? Entertainment Weekly and People all asked to do features as well. The SNL press girl says you two are getting more inquiries than Justin Timberlake did when he hosted last time."

  "Ou on't ay," I mumble as Shelly applies peach MAC lipgloss.

  "Can I say yes to all?" Laney pulls out her BlackBerry. "I'll send Nadine a list. They'll work around your rehearsal schedule for both the play and the show. It's going to be a crazy week."

  "Ell e bout tt," I agree and then when my lips are free, "Well, I'm glad you found me so we could discuss these things. I'm sorry I don't have time to do lunch like you wanted. I am meeting with Seth, though."

  "Good, good." Laney nods absentmindedly.

  Uh-oh. "What is it?"

  "There is something else," Laney admits, readjusting the ruffled collar of her blouse. "Something that we found out this morning. It's nothing major, but I know you're going to be upset, and your mother and I still worry about your fragile state and those panic attack things you used to get."

  I grab Laney's hand and squeeze. It feels funny to do that--to be the one that is kind of mothering rather than the one who is falling apart. "I'm fine. Lay it on me. What did Ava and Lauren do now? Dress up as Sky and me again? They are going to freak when they see what we have in store for them on SNL. I'm sure they're planning something good." I laugh, but Laney looks serious and pulls a printout from her bag.

  "This came over the wire this morning," Laney says. "It was posted on Hollywood Insider.com."

  I grab the page and read it quickly. It's an article about me being on Broadway. An unnamed source says I'm not cut out for theater. I squirm slightly.

  Am I really that bad? I'm not that bad, am I? Forest would tell me. Dylan says I'm doing really well. The only one who still thinks I have a ways to go is Riley. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize she's probably the website's source.

  "I've already contacted Liz's father about threatening to sue if they won't take the article down, but you should know the piece was picked up by TMZ, People.com, and Eonline.com too." I hand the page to Liz, and Nadine, Paul, and Shelly read it over her shoulders.

  "You don't have to take things that far, Laney," I say even though I'm pretty glum about it. "I'm sure this is just the first of many stories like this. I'm not mad, just a little embarrassed."

  "Why?" Laney wants to know. Now that she knows I'm not going to hyperventilate, or pass out, she looks much calmer. Even her high cheekbones seem to have relaxed, if that were possible. "This is complete fluff. Don't let it get to you, sweetie. As I always tell Jennifer--bad press can be made good press if you use the attention to your advantage."

  "I know." I hedge a bit. "It's just..."

  "It's just what?" Liz busts in, mad for me. "You're worried the source is right, aren't you?" I don't say anything. "Kates! You know, you make this easy for her, don't you?"

  Laney sighs and brushes her straight blond hair away from her eyes. "We really have to do something about your self-esteem issues."

  "My self-esteem is fine," I insist. "Everywhere but in theater. Riley keeps telling me I don't know what I'm doing," I blurt out. "It's hard not to feel a little green."

  "You were green when you did your first Disney Channel movie and what happened?" Laney works up steam. "You had huge ratings! Same goes for your film roles! You have to start somewhere and look where you're starting---Broadway. They don't hire you for a Broadway show if you can't perform."

  "You're right." I don't know if it is jet lag or what, but I'm suddenly too tired to discuss this. "Don't worry about the article, Laney. I'm fine. You can tell Mom that."

  "Good." Laney taps a long red nail on her BlackBerry decisively. "I'll call off the dogs." She slides her Burberry sunglasses back over her eyes and grabs her bag. "Enjoy your little dance! I'll see you in New York next weekend for SNL."

  I reach for the last cupcake and take a bite. Wow, these really are good. Who cares what some unnamed source says? Laney's right. I can do this. I'm working hard to get ready for Broadway. Tonight, all I want to think about is Austin.

  * * *

  Forgetting about Riley and her Great White Way pasty face (hee hee, I just came up with that one) is a lot easier when you have a mug as gorgeous as Austin's to gaze at. When he turned up with Josh at my house with the most glorious pink roses I've ever laid eyes on, I forgot about everything else and I flew into his arms so fast, I practically knocked him over (which might not have been the best idea considering the thorns on the rose stems. Thankfully Rodney stopped the cut on my arm from bleeding all over my dress). Austin was wearing a tux, of course, with a bow tie, and his hair was lightly combed back 40s-style, leaving his forehead kissably free. Even his soapy scent smelled better than I remembered it. We must have kissed for ten minutes before Liz tugged on my arm and told me we had to take pictures and get in the limo or we'd be late to pick up Rob Murray, Allison, Beth, and her date.

  "You look beautiful," Austin tells me for the millionth time as we walk hand in hand through the marble floored lobby of the Santa Rosita Sheraton Hotel where the junior prom is being held. There are mirrors everywhere and I can't help check us out as we walk by. We look so cute together. "I still can't believe y
ou're here. I mean, seeing you, it feels like you never left, but you did."

  "I was thinking the same thing." I look at my pink Christian Louboutin shoes, feeling pleased, and then take another peek at his strong profile. Okay, so it's only been a few weeks since I've seen my boyfriend, but seeing Austin feels like slipping on my favorite Gap trench--comfy, gorgeous, and just perfect. Nothing's changed. I look down at our intertwined hands and smile. Okay, maybe I am holding on a little tighter than usual, but that's because I'm getting in as much contact as I can in my less than forty-eight hour trip.

  "Next couple," a voice commands and the two of us stop what we're doing and look up. We're next for our junior prom photo. There are about a dozen pearlized blue and silver balloons and a teal crepe backdrop with the words SANTA ROSITA JUNIOR PROM written on it in metallic ink.

  "Yes!" I can't help but blurt out and Austin looks at me curiously. "I've always wanted a prom picture." I feel a little bashful about it with all my professional shoots. "It's not like I'll ever have my own prom to go to. This could be my only one."

  "Don't forget the senior prom," Liz chimes in behind us. "You can get another couple photo with a bad background at that shindig too." Josh laughs.

  "Make fun all you want, but I'm excited." I look at the package options and tell the photo guy, "We'll take D."

  "You really think you need an 8×10, two 5 × 7s, and eight wallets of you and Austin in formal attire next to art-class crepe paper?" Josh asks me.

  "No offense, Burke, but aren't some of the red carpet shots we've gotten a better backdrop than this?" Austin looks at me.

  "D." I'm being stubborn, but this is important to me. "Premieres are about my work life. This is about our life and this is the kind of picture I want to remember."

  "Aww, guys," Liz gushes, holding her hand to her heart. "That's so sweet."