Rumor Central by Reshonda Tate Billingsley Read Free Book Online Page B

people hung around busters to make themselves look better. But I didn’t need any help improving on the perfection that was Maya Morgan. Besides, I was the top of the food chain. I didn’t need any scrubs bringing down my stock.
    â€œI’ll figure something out,” I said.
    Tamara shrugged as she pushed open the door to the building. “Well, let me know if you change your mind.” She smiled as she held the door open for me. “As for now, let’s go make history!”

Chapter 8
    I had to pinch myself because I still couldn’t believe that I was really sitting at the head—okay, maybe it was at the foot, but it felt like the head—of a huge conference-room table like I was the Queen of England. Tamara wasn’t playing.
    This was our third meeting in as many days. The first one—when Tamara had picked me up from school—had been to meet “my team,” as they called it, and talk about the direction of the show. The second had been to shoot a bunch of promos and other stuff. All the stuff they were doing now made me realize how second-rate everything we’d done on Miami Divas had been. But I wasn’t going to trip on the past—not when I had a future so bright it was sure to blind me!
    My team was ready to move fast and had wasted no time going all out. They’d just finished filling me in on the plans for a total makeover. I didn’t think it was possible to improve on perfection, but I was willing to see what they had, especially since they were talking about bringing in a new stylist and even a voice and elocution coach. I actually was shocked at how much they were putting into it. I was even more shocked by the numbers on my contract. I was getting paid three times what I’d been paid for Miami Divas and all those perks we’d demanded? I had those and then some. My dad’s attorney had looked over everything and after going back and forth on a few things, he’d been overjoyed at the final contract. Me, I let him work out all that legal stuff. I just liked the part about me being a superstar!
    I wish I could drop out of school and just do this full time, but since I’m too cute to be dumb, that wasn’t an option. So, I went to school, did what I was supposed to, and got up out of there. Tamara had the voice coach meet me during my lunch so I didn’t have to worry about seeing Sheridan and everyone else. All of them—Sheridan, Shay, and Bali—tried to create drama in the hallways and the one class we had together. Even Chenoa had stopped speaking to me and she wasn’t even a Diva ! But she was good friends with Evian (that’s a long story), so she went whichever way Evian was going. Evian was the only one who didn’t act fazed about everything, but I didn’t trust her either. She was one of those sneaky chicks who would smile to your face while stabbing you in your back with a butcher knife.
    I was a little ticked at Sheridan, though. She was supposed to be my girl, but now she was parading around, telling everyone that she and Bryce were an item, which was jacked up because we had a boy code that made talking to each other’s boyfriends or crushes a serious violation. I couldn’t believe that she’d gone there. But Kennedi had called Sheridan to tell her off about how she was acting toward me and Sheridan had admitted that she was the one who told about Kenny and she wasn’t even apologetic about it (or about throwing in the lie about Dave). So, not only had she lied on me, but she moved in on my man without a second thought. And Bryce’s dumb behind had played right into her trap. I suddenly found myself wondering if they’d been messing around all along. But then I brushed the thought away. The two of them could have each other. I had bigger fish to fry now.
    â€œSo, what do you think?” Ken, one of the producers of the show, asked me, snapping me out of my