Secrets of My Hollywood Life #5: Broadway Lights (17 page)

"
Girls
?" I ask no one in particular. "Did you say 'girls'?"

"Yeah, Burke. It's a coed camp," Austin explains. "Didn't you know that?"

"No." I shake my head slowly. Ugh, I can't believe we're back to this.

"I know I told you," Austin insists, but he looks slightly confused. "Didn't I?"

"I think I would have remembered if you told me the camp was coed." I keep my voice light, but it's hard to keep the edge out. Austin definitely notices.

"Maybe it was during the same conversation that you told me you had kissed other guys at the charity event," Austin says smoothly. I notice Allison raise her eyebrows.

God, does he have to keep bringing that up? It was a charity event! I glare at him.

"The camp is completely coed," Rob says, oblivious to the tension. "They've got coed dorms, coed eating areas, field trips. If I had known, I would have had us pick a different camp, man."

"Do you have a problem with girls playing lacrosse, Murray?" Allison snaps.

The two start to have a heated discussion, but I tune them out. "Coed dorms?" I exclaim. Are they crazy?

"Burke," Austin says, softening a bit and grabbing for my hand. "This camp was the best one around. Coach picked it for us because scouts attend it more than any of the others in the area. Some of these guys have gotten scholarship offers right there on the field. It's a great opportunity."

"I know." I sigh, even though all I can do now is picture girls swarming to Austin's room. How could they not? Look at him! And I'm going to be hundreds of miles away. No, thousands! I think.

"SPARE ME!" I hear Allison's voice rise over the music, interrupting us both. She throws back her chair and stomps off.

"Al! Allie, wait!" Rob begs and hurries off after her.

Whoa. I do not want our night to end like that. I have too little time here to get into an argument over this. And besides, Austin's right. He trusts me, I trust him. Everything will be fine. There are girls here at school and I've never worried about that. I'm being paranoid because we're so far apart, and that's silly because it's not like Austin is worried with me being in New York. I can be big here. "I'm sorry about the kissing booth," I tell him gently.

"And I'm sorry I didn't tell you the camp was coed--even though I swear I did." Austin puts his arm around me and pulls me close. I can feel his heart beating. "Not that it matters, Burke." He touches my chin. "You know I only have eyes for you."

"Same here," I agree, and we kiss. Again.

"You'll see how fast the time goes," Austin says when we finally pull apart. "I'll be in New York in two weeks for your premiere and then you'll get to Texas to see me and before you know it, we'll both be home."

"You're right. It's only a few... months." I gulp. Geez. We still have two months to go. This separation feels too long already.

"Exactly," Austin says cheerily. "Ready to get back out there?" he asks as we hear Ne-Yo pump through the loudspeaker. I nod and then he takes my hand and spins me back onto the dance floor.

Friday, June 19

NOTE TO SELF:

Have Nadine ck A's lacrosse camp enrollment. How many girls??!!

Meet A at 9:15 AM.

Seth at 2:30 PM.

Flight back to NYC: Sun. 10AM.

Mtg. @
SNL:
Mon. 3 PM.

KAITLIN'S SCHEDULE--Week of June 15th

FUTUREPREZ: Kates, UR schedule is PACKED this week so I've put together this itinerary. Print a few copies--1 4 car, 1 4 dressing room, 1 4 home. I will have extras. Driver has copy 4 addresses. Hope it helps!--N

MONDAY:

10 AM--Rehearsal for play

3 PM--Meeting for
SNL
. 17th Floor, 30 Rockefeller Center, Lorne Michaels's office. Discuss your thoughts for the show and any skit ideas

5 PM--Your mom's charity dinner at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (I know, I know, you don't want to go. I don't think you have a choice!) Private event so give your name at the gate.

***NOTE: Liz is officially an NYC girl now. She'll be unpacking all day, but she wants to meet up for dinner. Place TBA. She'll call you.

TUESDAY:

10 AM--Rehearsal for play

2 PM--Photo shoot for play coverage

3:30 PM--Interview with Dylan and Riley for
Seventeen

5 PM--Fittings for
SNL
followed by photo shoot for
SNL.

WEDNESDAY:

10 AM--Rehearsal for play

2 PM--
SNL
weekly read-through (Audition for skit ideas that were greenlit on Monday. Warning: meeting could last up to three and a half hours. You will then meet with the writers and the producers to discuss which skits will be used going forward.)

THURSDAY:

9AM--EARLY! Rehearsal for play

1 PM--
SNL
rehearsal for larger skits followed by shooting promos (approx. 2 to 4) to air for
SNL
prior to recording. (LONG REHEARSAL)

9:45 PM--Interview with
Playbill
for
Meeting of the Minds
followed by interviews with
People, Entertainment Weekly
, and
Teen Vogue
(that interview will be done with Sky for
SNL
).

FRIDAY:

10 AM--Rehearsal for play

2 PM--
SNL
Blocking--aka where you'll be standing, etc., in each skit followed by more rehearsal

7 PM--Photo shoot for
Teen Vogue
with Sky (*Time could change if your rehearsal runs long for
SNL
)

SATURDAY:

10 AM--
SNL
run-through

4 PM--Arrive back at
SNL
for final prep, last costume fittings

7:45 PM--Dress Rehearsal for
SNL
, Studio 8H, followed by brief meeting with Lorne Michaels to see final skit run-through

11:35 PM--Live Show

2 AM--
SNL
after-party. McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant.

SUNDAY:

Rest! Yay!

EIGHT: Live from New York, It's Saturday Night!

SKY'S CELL: K!!!!!! Where R U??????????

KAITLIN to SKY'S CELL: In a fitting. WHY????

SKY'S CELL: Spoke 2 PR. Thought it would be cool 2 tweet during the live SNL broadcast tonite. What do U think?

KAITLIN to SKY'S CELL: We have like 2.5 secs 2 change hair/costume/makeup. How R U going 2 do that?

SKY'S CELL: Trust me. I can.

LIZ'S CELL: Kates, I M on my way! How R U holding up?

KAITLIN to LIZ'S CELL: Good! Thx. How did project go?

SKY'S CELL: Getting coffee. Need?

KAITLIN to SKY'S CELL: Yes, please, double shot of espresso.

LIZ'S CELL: GROAN! So tough. Spent 4 hrs. in Washington Sq Pk trying 2 get perfect 1-min. footage of pigeons being pigeons. SO WEIRD.

KAITLIN to LIZ'S CELL: I'm sure URs will be GR8!

AUSTIN'S CELL: Hey you. Just touched down. Ready 4 2nite?

KAITLIN to AUSTIN'S CELL: HEY!!! There U R! Tried U all morning, last night too. Glad U R on the ground. Getting ready. Nervous. Excited.

SKY'S CELL: Got U X-LG coffee. 2 shots espresso. Will pass 2 Rodney.

MOM'S CELL: Kate-Kate, Matty wants 2 come backstage. How do we do that?

KAITLIN to MOM'S CELL: Send him 2 security. Ask 4 Rodney.

AUSTIN'S CELL: Sorry. So busy. Last minute stuff. Crazy week. Sorry didn't check on U more. U will rock.

KAITLIN to AUSTIN'S CELL: Yeah, busy week 4 me 2. Real busy! Still tried 2 call U...

AUSTIN'S CELL: I left U 2 messages 2...

KAITLIN to AUSTIN'S CELL: Sorry. Just stressed. Miss you, that's all.

AUSTIN'S CELL: Miss you 2.

DAD'S CELL: Kaitlin, this is Dad. Mom upset. Security won't let Matty through. Can you come out and talk to them? I'm sure you're busy, but Mom is worried that she is being, and I quote, "disrespected in a way a host's mother should not be disrespected." I'm not sure what to END MESSAGE

LIZ'S CELL: And Suz, this girl in class, was there doing it at the same time and I was so nervous we would have the same footage.

AUSTIN'S CELL: Miss U 2. Will talk 2 U before U go on.

LIZ'S CELL: U'd think they'd give us all different assignments? No?

MOM'S CELL: SO RUDE! Security said to wait outside. I said, "Do you treat Justin Timberlake's mom this way?!" Tried to stop Andy Samberg, but he looked at me like I was crazy! I don't like his attitude, Kaitlin. I hope you're not doing a skit with him.

DAD'S CELL: Dad again. Sent last message too early. Mom is getting a little wild. Waving her arms madly, upset. Can you come out here? PLEASE.

MATTY'S CELL: K, need 2 get backstage!!! MOM IS EMBARRASSING ME! SAVE ME!

SKY'S CELL: K, don't like wig 4 skittles #. Come down here so we can change it.

LIZ'S CELL: I would have done cockroaches if I could, U know?

AUSTIN'S CELL: UR hard to reach so in case I don't talk to U later, Love U. Knock them dead.

KAITLIN to SKY'S CELL: Love U 2!! Thx 4 being here 4 me.

KAITLIN to AUSTIN'S CELL, LIZ'S CELL, MOM'S CELL, MATTY'S CELL: NO WAY!!!! I WON'T CHANGE AGAIN. U R 2 MUCH! STOP WORRYING ABOUT THIS STUFF!

KAITLIN to ALL: Oops. Sorry. Crazy message meant 4 Sky. All others ignore. 2 much texting @ once.

"What was that message about?" Sky yells as she barrels into my fitting 2.3 seconds later. She looks ridiculous--which is what we're going for--in an oversized Skittles bag with just her long legs sticking out. Her hair is classic Ava in a big, blond bouncy curls way. She taps her yellow tights and black tap-shoed foot in aggravation. "You love me? Um, eww!"

I burst out laughing. "I'm sorry. It's just I've never been screamed at by a monster-size bag of candy before." Clara, the seamstress crouched at my feet who is finishing my own Skittles costume, can't help but giggle.

"Do you think you look any better over there?" A small smile escapes Sky's lips despite the obviously annoyed tone of her voice. When she walks over and her cellophane wrapper crinkles as she moves, I lose it completely. Tears are running down my face. "Stop! You'll ruin your makeup!" Sky barks.

"Sorry." I wipe my eyes. "You just look so funny. You are the last person I ever thought I would see looking like this." Sky crosses her arms. Or at least tries to, but her costume is too bulky for her to reach the whole way. "Okay, I'll stop. But as for your original question, no, I don't love you. That text was meant for Austin."

"That's a relief. " Sky gives me a strange look. "I mean, I know I'm awesome and you've been having a lot of fun with me in New York, but that's not the way I roll."

I roll my eyes at her. "It was too much at once. Everyone was texting me, I got annoyed with Austin, and my mom was flipping out about not getting backstage. I freaked."

"Your mom is taken care of. " Sky waves me off. "I saw her on my way over here and made them let Matty in. She was really grateful. Although I think your brother and father may have been more so, just to get her out of their hair." Sky plays with her wig, pulling strands slowly. "I did, however, maybe, just sort of, leave Liz out there and claim I didn't know her."

Thankfully Clara has finished her work, because I dart forward with a sound like crumpled trash. It's going to be hard not to crack up every time I move in this costume. "Sky! Why did you have to do that?" I ask, annoyed, and she follows after me as I head down the hall, the two of us crinkling and crackling as we go.

"Because it's fun." Sky shrugs her hidden shoulders with a crumpling sound.

"Do you two have to torture each other?"

"She's the one who purposefully ordered me chicken and broccoli for dinner from Yummy Noodles last night when I distinctly said
tofu
and broccoli." Sky sniffs. "Do you have any idea what the meat could have done to my delicate digestive system?"

"Kaitlin?" Parker, one of the pages working on the show, comes running up to me. "I saw Liz outside and let her in early to go to her seat. She has tickets for the dress rehearsal and the live show, right?"

"Yes, thank you, Parker." I smile gratefully, and Sky sighs loud and deep.

"No prob." He falls in with us walking down the hall toward the stage. "You guys ready to run through this number one more time before dress rehearsal?"

"I have a wig issue," Sky starts, but I cut her off.

"We're ready." Parker must sense the tension because he takes his cue to head off ahead of us. "Your wig is fine," I say through clenched teeth.

"The hair and the costume together make me look poofy," Sky pouts and tries smoothing down the costume to shrink it. It doesn't work.

"That's the point," I remind her. "You're playing Ava, not yourself. Do you think I like my wig?" I point to the mega-teased dark brown wig I'm wearing that is supposed to make me look like Lauren.

"Yours is worse," Sky agrees happily.

I sigh. "Let's go."

Ten minutes later the two of us are singing and tap-dancing on stage in our giant Skittles costumes. A tiny, yappy Pomeranian--standing in for Ava's equally yappy dog, Calou--howls along on command next to us. The song is absolutely hysterical, if I do say so myself. The writers came up with this biting ditty that makes Lauren and Ava sound like total paparazzi-crazed airheads, which, well, they are. Our number is supposed to be a Skittles commercial that Lauren and Ava have signed on to do because they're cash-strapped now that their reality shows have bitten the dust. The funniest part about the bit is that Lauren and Ava don't realize that the song they're singing is not just about the candy, it's about themselves. At the last minute, legal made us change the name of the candy from Skittles to Skirtles to avoid any lawsuits from the candy company. I wouldn't want my product compared to Lauren and Ava either.

At the end of the skit everyone on the soundstage actually gives us a huge round of applause, which only gets me more pumped up for tonight. I know I'm trying to be nice and calm and not be catty like they are, but I have to admit, it is fun to slip into the girls' barely worn shoes for a few minutes. And Sky kills as Ava. Afterward, we get ready to do our dress rehearsal in front of a live audience.