Madison gritted her teeth. She could feel the camera focusing in on them. “But you told someone,” she pressed.
At this, Sophie shrugged. “I might have mentioned something to Trevor when he called …”
“You what?”
“I mean, he was wondering what was up with you, and he thought I might have some insight. He said you seemed happier lately.” She paused. “He only wants the best for you, you know.”
Madison was seething. “That’s a load of crap, Sophia, and you know it.” She walked to the window and stared down at the hospital parking lot. She understood what had happened; she could see perfectly the chain of events. Sophie had told Trevor about Ryan, and Trevor had quickly done his research. When he uncovered Ryan’s past, he’d decided to use it. Of course. Maybe Madison Parker wasn’t news anymore, but Madison and an upper-crust former playboy with blood on his hands … well, that was news.
Madison felt like screaming. Did Trevor ever consider, for one minute, that he might destroy the first real relationship Madison had ever had? And if he did, did he care? Or had he already decided that it couldn’t work? Because as he always said, If it didn’t happen on TV, it didn’t happen. Which meant that a boyfriend who wouldn’t film was worse than no boyfriend at all.
“I hate you both so much right now,” Madison said quietly.
Sophie held up a hand; bangled, bell-strung bracelets jingled down her golden wrist. “Peace, sister,” she said. “Peace.”
“Oh for God’s sake!” Madison whirled around, shouting. “You act like you’re so full of love, but you’re the same manipulative bitch you’ve always been. You can’t just leave me be. When are you going to realize that everything you have now came from me, and that you should be grateful? That you should stop messing around with my life?”
Sophie blinked, affronted. But then she drew herself up and her eyes narrowed. “Everything I have came from you? That’s a laugh. You’d be nothing at all if you hadn’t spent thousands of dollars on surgery, trying to make yourself look like me in the first place. Do you think PopTV would have looked at you twice in your real body? Do you think the world wants to see a fat brunette with crooked teeth trying to make it in Hollywood? Because I don’t fucking think so.”
Sophie glared at her, her blue eyes cold. Triumphant.
She’d managed to rat out her sister again. On-camera.
And in that moment, Madison realized that she had had enough. Of her bat-shit crazy sister. Of her criminal father. Of manipulative, scheming Trevor Lord. Of The Fame Game itself. She stood up, nearly five foot ten in her beautiful gold heels. “That’s it,” she said. Her voice was calm and cold. “You’re all fucking crazy, and I can’t deal with any of you anymore. I’m out of here. And this time I’m not coming back. I quit.”
She grabbed her purse, handed her mike pack to Laurel, and then headed for the door. Kate and Carmen stared at her in shock. “Wait—” Laurel shouted, but Madison kept going.
Outside, alone on the street, Madison was struck by the enormity of what she’d done. She had just severed ties to everything that had kept her grounded. Everything that had brought her success and happiness.
It was a good thing she had her principles, she thought, because right now she had absolutely nothing else.
She began walking faster. Where to, she didn’t know. The sky above her was dark and clear, and one by one, the stars came out, twinkling.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A special thanks to all the amazing people who made this book possible …
Farrin Jacobs for sticking with me this long and being so damn good at her job.
Emily Chenoweth whose contribution to this novel was invaluable. We couldn’t have done it without you.
Max Stubblefield, Nicole Perez, Kristin Puttkamer, PJ Shapiro, Dave Del Sesto, Matthew Elblonk, Maggie Marr, Sasha Illingworth, and Howard Huang as well as the team at Harper Collins: Melinda Weigel, Christina Colangelo, Sandee Roston, Catherine Wallace, Gwen Morton, Josh Weiss, Cara Petrus, Sarah Nichole Kaufman, Kara Levy, and Stephanie Stein.
William Tell for his musical expertise.
And, as always, a big thank-you to my friends and family. I love you all dearly, and you mean the world to me.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LAUREN CONRAD is best known for starring in the MTV hit series The Hills. She is the New York Times bestselling author of THE FAME GAME, the L.A. Candy series, and the fashion and beauty guides LAUREN CONRAD STYLE and LAUREN CONRAD BEAUTY. She began her fashion career in spring 2008 with the debut of the Lauren Conrad Collection. In 2009 she launched LC Lauren Conrad, exclusively for Kohl’s, and the line has since expanded to shoes, accessories, and sunglasses. Her newest clothing line is Paper Crown. She has been featured on the covers of Elle, Glamour, Teen Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Rolling Stone, Seventeen, Shape, and Entertainment Weekly, among others. She lives in Los Angeles. You can visit her at www.laurenconrad.com.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors and artists.
OTHER WORKS
BOOKS BY LAUREN CONRAD
L.A. Candy
Sweet Little Lies
AN L.A. CANDY NOVEL
Sugar and Spice
AN L.A. CANDY NOVEL
The Fame Game
LAUREN CONRAD
Style
LAUREN CONRAD
Beauty
CREDITS
Cover photo © 2012 by Howard Huang
COPYRIGHT
References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locales are intended only to provide a sense of authenticity, and are used fictitiously. All other characters and all incidents and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as “real.”
Starstruck
Copyright © 2012 by Lauren Conrad
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or 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 the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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Library of Congress catalog card number: 2012945602
ISBN 978-0-06-207980-0 (trade bdg.)
ISBN 978-0-06-221885-8 (int. ed.)
EPub Edition © AUGUST 2012 ISBN: 9780062079817
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First Edition
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Lauren Conrad, Starstruck
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