Girls on Film by Zoey Dean Read Free Book Online

the chuckle was meant to imply. And she didn’t really care, quite frankly. If Anna’s low opinion of Cammie Sheppard was comical to Sam, so be it. As long as Cammie stayed far away from the set.
    “Here you go, Sam.” The waitress set a cup of coffee and an iced crystal goblet of fresh raspberries in front of her. “Hey, I got a callback for your dad’s new film.”
    “Good for you,” Sam said.
    “It’s just one scene—I’d be a go-go dancer at the Limelight who has information your dad’s character needs to find his kidnapped lover. But it’s killer.”
    “Great, Madeline. Hope you get it.”
    Madeline held up crossed fingers, then went on to the next table. Sam tore open a packet of Equal and shook it into her coffee. “I swear, everyone in this town is delusional. I’ve seen her reel. She sucks.”
    “Why doesn’t someone tell her the truth, then?”
    “You’re in La La Land now, Anna. The truth is always relative.” Sam plucked a raspberry from her goblet with French-manicured fingers and popped it into her mouth. “Lots of girls who can’t act make it. If she makes it, you don’t want to be the one who dissed her. Or she could be sleeping with someone really important. You dis her, she tells him …
or her
… you’re screwed. And other variations on that theme.” Sam chewed another raspberry, then lowered her voice. “They use girls like her for the ‘box’ scene.”
    “Which is … ?” Anna asked.
    “You know how there’s always a still photo of a babe in a bikini or her underwear on the box of every DVD movie? It’s supposed to attract buyers and renters to the film, even if it has nothing to do with the picture. Want one?” She pushed the berries toward Anna.
    “No thanks. Actually, I think I’ll head back to my dad’s and start writing. Any ideas for a plot?”
    “Pound away, we’ll see what you come up with,” Sam said, sipping her coffee. “But don’t go yet. Let’s hang out awhile.”
    Unfortunately, Anna really was itching to start writing. She’d been accused many a time of living with her nose in a book but had never thought about actually becoming a writer. Maybe it would turn out that she had talent. That is, if she could come up with an actual story for their film. “I read somewhere that Fitzgerald came out here to be a screenwriter,” she recalled.
    “And failed miserably,” Sam added. “It only
seemed
easy.”
    “Well, then I really better get started,” Anna said as she rose to gather her things. Progress was definitely being made. A few days ago she would have felt guilty leaving Sam alone. But Sam could fend for herself.
    And so could Anna.
    A half hour later, when Anna pulled her car into the circular driveway, there was a red Saleen Mustang parked close to the front walkway. Her first thought was:
Ben
. Her second thought was to tell her first thought to shut up.
    First, she knew Ben drove a Maserati. Second, just because he’d sent her balloons the day before didn’t mean he’d try to stand in for those balloons today. Third, Anna knew he had to get back to New Jersey for the start of classes at Princeton. Chances were good he was already there. But even if by some fluke he was still in town and it was his car, that did not mean—fourth—that she would talk to him.
    “Anna?” The car door opened. It wasn’t Ben. It was her sister.
    “Susan?”
    “Got a hug for your big sis?” Susan came over to her with outstretched arms.
    Anna got out of her Lexus and embraced her sister, all the while wondering how this could be. She’d spoken to Susan at Hazelden twenty-four hours before. She knew her older sister wasn’t due to leave the rehab facility for several more weeks.
    Susan hugged her back hard. “I missed you so much!”
    “I missed you, too,” Anna said. “But what are you doing here?”
    “Hey, you’re supposed to be glad to see me.” Susan flipped her platinum-blond hair off her face. She was a half inch shorter than Anna, and