Theodora Twist by Melissa Senate Read Free Book Online Page A

known for her off-screen behavior. Of course, it’s all just rumors and one hundred percent lies, lies, lies. But before it becomes so bad that she loses the tween crowd— the ten- to thirteen-year-olds that are a huge share of her audience—we need to show America that Theodora Twist is really just a clean-cut American teenager misrepresented by the media.”
    So that wasn’t Theodora Twist skinny dipping with the Bellini Brothers on the front cover of every magazine last week? One Bellini was holding her bikini top and swimming toward her, licking his lips, while the other wrapped his arms around her.
    “How are you going to do that?” I ask.
    Ashley leans forward, clasping her hands on her knee. “Emily, I’ve made a deal with a major television network for Theodora to star in her very own reality TV show: Theodora Twist: Just a Regular Teen!”
    “And it’s going to be filmed right here in Oak City!” Stew adds. “Right here in our house—if we agree to do the show.”
    Do the show? “What do you mean?” I ask. Are they going to film Theodora Twist paying a visit to her old house? Saying things like We had the sofa on the other wall and My bedroom was painted orange. How interesting is that?
    “Emily, we spoke with your parents a few days ago to discuss this,” Ashley says, “and they’re up for it, but they said that you’re the one who has to give the green light since you’re the one who’ll be most affected. So we’re here today to explain the show and how it will work, and to answer any questions. And hopefully you’ll say yes to participating.”
    “In what, exactly?” I ask, my stomach flip-flopping.
    “In having Theodora Twist as your roommate—and shadow—for a month!” Ashley says.
    For the next hour, Ashley, Blair, and the entertainment attorney, who doesn’t do a lot of talking but does do a lot of jotting down on a BlackBerry, explain in detail. The gist of the show? Teen queen Theodora Twist returns to her hometown for one month to live in the house she grew up in with the family that lives there now. Theodora will live like a regular teenager and do everything her host family’s teenage daughter does—go to high school every day, do homework, hit the mall after earning some babysitting money, worry about a prom date, use zit cream, get briefly grounded for staying out a half hour past curfew.
    This is insane. “You want to use my life as the basis for a reality TV show?” I ask, fighting the urge to laugh and cry. “It’ll be the most boring show imaginable!”
    “Nothing about a teenager’s life is boring,” Ashley assures me. “The prom’s coming up in what—five weeks? Do you have a date?”
    I blush. “No. I mean, not yet.”
    She smiles. “Angsting about a date is hardly boring. Everyone can relate to that, no matter their age.” They all smile and nod and jot down who-knows-what on their BlackBerries.
    “How will it work?” I ask. “I mean, I’ve watched reality TV. Will it be like The Real World?”
    She smiles. “It’ll be its own unique show, but the concept of filming you as you are is the same, yes. Our plan is to shoot unscripted and undirected, then see what we get and edit the heck out of it. Emily, you and Theodora will each have your own cameraperson assigned to you; Stew and Stephie, you’ll share one. The cameras will shadow you, but most of the time you won’t even notice they’re there.”
    “In school too?” I ask.
    Blair nods. “The principal of your school”—she flips open her notebook and scans some pages —“Mr. Opps,” she adds, closing the notebook, “has given his approval to shoot for a certain number of hours per day for four weeks starting in mid-April and ending in mid-May. A focal point of the six episodes—a half hour each—will be the Oak City High junior prom—the date, the dress, the preparation, the pictures. In fact, we’ve already lined up a number of sponsors, like the Dress Me Up chain in the Oak