Rock Star's Girl Read online

  ROCK STAR'S GIRL

  Written by

  Kate William

  Created by

  FRANCINE PASCAL

  Copyright © 2015, Francine Pascal

  Dedicated to Valerie Sylvestre

  Lila was angry. "Come on, Andrea. Are you trying to say you don't have any sway over Jamie?"

  "That isn't the point," Andrea said coldly.

  "Maybe you don't," Lila added with a pout. "Maybe he doesn't even listen to you. Although if I were you, that would bother me. A lot. After all, you are his girlfriend."

  Andrea stared at Lila. At first, she thought she hadn't heard her right. Then she started to laugh.

  "What's so funny?" Lila snapped. "We all know the truth now, so don't think you can deny it."

  "What's the 'truth,' Lila?" Andrea asked, her laughter subsiding and her anger taking over. "That Jamie is my boyfriend?"

  "Well, isn't he?" she asked.

  Andrea got to her feet. She could feel a dull throbbing in her head. Answering Lila right then was a little bit like answering every kid who'd ever wanted to know who Jamie Peters was to her. "Lila, listen. It's none of your business who Jamie Peters is to me!"

  CONTENTS

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  One

  "Hey, Liz!" Enid Rollins exclaimed, hurrying into the girls' locker room and dropping her bookbag onto the bench. Her green eyes were shining with excitement. "You'll never guess who I had lunch with today."

  Elizabeth Wakefield grinned at her best friend's infectious enthusiasm. "Let me try," she said, scanning Enid's face for a clue. "Someone cute, funny, available—and male?"

  Enid laughed. "Nope. Try again."

  Elizabeth opened her gym locker, slipped off her navy-blue cotton sweater, and reached for her gym clothes. "I'm all out of ideas. You know I'm brain-dead by last period."

  Enid gave her a reproachful look. "Does that mean you might actually consider cutting back on one or two of your extracurricular lives?" Enid had been teasing Elizabeth lately for taking on too much responsibility at The Oracle, the school paper. But Elizabeth was devoted to writing. She often thought of becoming a professional writer, and even though her schoolwork and her longtime boyfriend Todd Wilkins were priorities, she always made time to perfect her craft.

  "You know me better than that!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "But don't keep me in suspense," she added with a smile. "Who was your mysterious lunch date?"

  "It wasn't a date. If it had been, I wouldn't have been able to hold out till last period before telling you." Enid had recently broken up with Hugh Grayson and was more than a little interested in meeting someone new. "No, unfortunately this happened to be a girl. The new girl who's just moved here from New York City, Andrea Slade."

  "Really!" Elizabeth leaned forward to lace up her sneakers, her blue-green eyes brightening. "I was going to introduce myself to her today, but I got sidetracked." Elizabeth had learned about the new girl when Penny Ayala, editor in chief of The Oracle, handed her a list of new students and teachers, fresh material for "Eyes and Ears," the gossip column Elizabeth wrote. "She's a junior, right?"

  Enid nodded. "Yep. I rescued her from the clutches of Bruce Patman," she continued. "Poor girl. She was sitting there all by herself at one of the lunch tables, completely defenseless, and he pounced on her. She obviously has good taste, though. She was grateful when I came over and sat down with her."

  Elizabeth laughed. Bruce Patman had the biggest ego in all of Sweet Valley High. His parents were incredibly wealthy, and between his handsome appearance and his shiny Porsche, he thought he was God's gift to girls.

  "If she saw through Bruce's charms that quickly, she must be pretty sharp!"

  "I liked her a lot right away." Enid was enthusiastic. "She's very friendly, and she's so excited about living in Sweet Valley. Every little detail seems to blow her away."

  "Well, this is a great place to live," Elizabeth reminded her friend. "Who could ask for more? Perfect weather all year round, gorgeous beaches—"

  "Maybe you should write brochures for the local Chamber of Commerce," Enid teased. "But, seriously, Andrea was excited about living in a small town—where people can get to know everyone else."

  Elizabeth shared that feeling, too. Walking out to the playing fields with Enid, she felt a new appreciation for the familiar schoolyard, the flower-lined patios shaded with lovely old trees. Out on the fields, dozens of girls were lining up to sort into two teams for softball.

  Elizabeth felt a twinge of empathy for Andrea. It must be hard to move to a new school in the middle of the year.

  "Andrea must be having a tough time, not knowing anyone at school," she told Enid. "New York is a long way off, and it can't be an easy adjustment."

  Enid nodded. "Well, she doesn't seem sorry to have left New York. But you're right, I'm sure it isn't easy—even for someone as friendly as Andrea. That's why I thought of asking her to join us at the beach Saturday."

  "Great idea!" Elizabeth's eyes lit up. "Did you ask her already?"

  "No—but here she comes." Enid tipped her chin toward the bleachers. "I wonder what she's doing here this period."

  Andrea Slade was even prettier up close than Elizabeth had judged from her one glimpse of her the week before. She was slender and tall, with a wonderful mop of blond curls cascading down to her shoulders. Her blue eyes were wide-set and fringed with dark lashes, and she had a lovely peaches-and-cream complexion.

  "Hi, Enid!" Andrea said breathlessly, hurrying up to join them. "I just got switched into this gym class. They're still working on my schedule down at the office, trying to make sense of what credits can be counted from my last school." She smiled curiously at Elizabeth.

  Enid quickly introduced them. "This is Elizabeth Wakefield. Liz, Andrea Slade."

  Andrea's smile widened. "Great! That makes two people I've met today. I'm not sure I count Bruce as a 'person'."

  Elizabeth and Enid both laughed. Elizabeth instantly liked the new girl. She seemed fun, independent, and a little different from the new students Elizabeth met through her work for The Oracle. Maybe it came from living in New York. Andrea also seemed a little older and more sure of herself than most of Elizabeth's friends.

  The gym teacher blew the whistle, and for the next forty minutes Elizabeth was too preoccupied with softball to speculate about the new girl. But walking back to the locker room after class, Enid broached the subject of the beach.

  "Andrea, have you had a chance to see much of Sweet Valley yet?"

  "No, not really. We're still unpacking at home," Andrea explained. "I've probably seen more of the inside of the school administration office than anything else!"

  "We were wondering," Enid continued, "if you wanted to come to the beach with us this Saturday. You know, check out the local sights and everything."

  Andrea grinned. "I'd love to. I can already tell that having a tan is an absolute necessity here. And I've still got my East Coast pallor."

  "Great!" Elizabeth said. "I'll tell you what. Why don't I pick you up? My car's a squeeze for three, but if you don't mind that, Enid and I can give you a full-scale tour."

  "You know, I forgot to ask which part of town you've moved to," Enid added.

  Andrea hesitated. "How about if I meet you at the beach? Our house is a real mess. We can barely find the front door with all the boxes scattered around."

  "Sure, that's fine. Wher
e should we meet, Enid? At the lifeguard's stand or at the concessions?"

  They agreed on a meeting place and explained exactly where on the beach Andrea should look for them. "You may think you're in the middle of Manhattan. That's how crowded the beach can be on a Saturday," Enid joked.

  After Andrea headed off to her locker to change, the two girls exchanged smiles. "Isn't she great?" Enid said warmly. "I think it's going to be a lot of fun having her in our class."

  "Yeah, I think so, too," Elizabeth said. "She's really easy to be with. I get the sense there's nothing phony about her. She is who she is, you know what I mean?"

  Enid nodded in agreement. "Something tells me that you and I have just made a fabulous new friend."

  Elizabeth had barely opened the front door of the pretty split-level home where the Wakefields lived when Prince Albert, their golden Labrador retriever, shot out at her, barking with excitement.

  Elizabeth laughed. "Calm down, Prince."

  "That dog's been going berserk all afternoon," Jessica complained, wandering out into the hallway with a compact disc in her hand.

  "Well, hello to you, too, Jess," Elizabeth said, pretending to be annoyed with her twin's cool greeting.

  Actually, Elizabeth enjoyed catching a glimpse of her twin sister off-guard. It was like looking in a mirror, Elizabeth thought. She and Jessica were identical down to the tiniest detail. Both had slim figures, and they could easily share each other's size-six clothing. Both had long, California-blond hair, eyes the bluish-green of the Pacific Ocean, and beautiful smiles. They were often mistaken for each other, and there were times when they had used that fact to their advantage.

  But anyone close to either Jessica or Elizabeth could tell who was who in an instant. For one thing, Elizabeth wore a watch, and Jessica did not. Jessica went by what she called "Jessica Standard Time," which Elizabeth preferred to call "late." When it came to style, Jessica tended to go for whatever was new, and her clothes and jewelry reflected the very latest trends. Elizabeth, on the other hand, chose things that were more classic and traditional. Elizabeth was the older of the two by four minutes, and those minutes, as she often reminded Jessica, sometimes felt like light-years!

  Elizabeth took her work and her friendships seriously, unlike Jessica, who went through interests and boyfriends almost as quickly as she went through clothing styles.

  Jessica thrived on being in the limelight. That was one reason she loved cheerleading—it put her right out there on center stage. Her closest friends craved attention and excitement almost as much as she did, and sometimes Elizabeth got the distinct impression that Jessica thought Elizabeth and Enid were too boring and conventional.

  But despite their differences, the twins were very close. Elizabeth would have loved to tell Jessica all about Andrea Slade right then, but Jessica was grabbing her denim jacket, apparently on her way out.

  "Where are you going?" Elizabeth demanded. A warning bell went off in her head. "Isn't it your turn to help with dinner?" The twins' parents both worked long hours. Ned Wakefield was an attorney, and Alice Wakefield was an interior designer. Both Jessica and Elizabeth were supposed to help out as much as they could, especially now that their brother Steven was away at the nearby state university. But when it came to splitting chores, Jessica had an extraordinary way of making her share smaller and smaller.

  "Liz, could you help me out this one time?" Jessica pleaded. "I promised Lila I'd come over. She's got this amazing compact disc player her father got her in Japan, and Jamie Peters's brand-new album just came out. I picked it up at Records Plus at the mall. I've absolutely got to hear it right away!" She showed Elizabeth the disc, still wrapped. Jamie Peters was featured on the cover, holding a microphone and wearing sunglasses. His shoulder-length blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail. He was wearing a tight T-shirt, which emphasized his lean, muscular arms.

  Elizabeth laughed when she saw the title of the album—Pride. "Pretty appropriate title for a rock star like Jamie Peters," she commented.

  "Jamie Peters is simply the greatest male vocalist of the entire decade." Jessica defended the rock star. She fixed her gaze on the cover. "He's so gorgeous!"

  Elizabeth laughed. "Well, I can see that helping out with dinner can't possibly compete with Jamie Peters. I'll take over for you tonight, Jess. But remember, you owe me one."

  Jessica nodded, still in another world. "He's got this song on here called 'Doing It All for You.' I've heard it on the radio a few times. It's incredible. He doesn't use any backups or instrumentals or anything. And his voice gets really low and sexy for about eight bars. I can't remember all the words, but it's something like, 'Whatever you say, whatever you think is true . . . whatever it is, girl, I'm doing it all for you.' It's the sexiest song I've ever heard."

  Elizabeth shook her head. "I'm sure I'll hear it soon," she said, leaning down to pat Prince Albert on the head.

  Elizabeth liked Jamie Peters, too. In fact, Todd had two of his albums. But Jessica always had to turn liking into adoring. That was just the way Jessica was. She didn't just get interested—she got obsessed.

  And Jamie Peters was clearly her latest obsession!

  Two

  "I can't stand it!" Lila Fowler cried in mock anguish, brushing her light brown hair out of her eyes as she stared down at the cover of the latest issue of Rock and Roll magazine. "Jamie Peters has got to be the sexiest man alive. Look at his eyes! Look at that cute little cleft in his chin."

  "Listen to yourself, Lila," Amy Sutton said in her most critical voice. "You sound like a lovesick baby. Only teenyboppers get crushes on rock stars!"

  Lila gave her a cold stare. "Who says I have a crush on him? I just happen to think he's drop-dead gorgeous, that's all." She jumped up, took the new disc out of its cover as if it were made of eggshells, and placed it gently in the disc player.

  "I think it's silly, making such a big deal over someone just because he's famous." Amy made a face. Her mother was a sportscaster at a local TV station, and Amy liked playing up the fact that she was used to seeing stars all the time. She knew this kind of remark always got to Lila.

  "I just happen to like his music, that's all," Lila said imperiously, as she turned up the volume.

  Jessica settled back against one of the sumptuous pillows that were strewn all over Lila's bedroom floor. She wasn't going to let her friends' petty argument spoil her afternoon.

  Lila's bedroom swelled with the opening notes of Jamie Peters's first song, "Little Girl." Neither Jessica, Amy, nor Lila made a sound as they listened to the lyrics. Jamie Peters's trademark was his deep, sultry voice, a voice that sounded to Jessica like a mixture of velvet and gravel.

  "He's amazing." Jessica sighed when the song was over. "Lila, give me that magazine a second," she commanded.

  Lila looked reluctant. "Wait a minute, will you? I'm reading," she protested, holding up the article entitled "Jamie Peters—Who Is the One He's 'Doing It All For'?" A full-page photo of the rock star showed him leaning up against a brick wall, arms folded, a shy grin on his handsome face.

  Even Amy seemed to soften when she saw that picture. "OK, I admit it. He's gorgeous," she said, twisting a strand of blond hair around a finger. "What does the article say about him? How old do you think he is, anyway?"

  "Twenty-five," Jessica said promptly.

  "No way," Amy corrected. "He's probably about forty. Look at those little wrinkly lines around his eyes. That's no twenty-five-year-old!"

  "OK, maybe thirty, or thirty-five, max." Jessica guessed again.

  "Stars can make themselves look any age they want to," Lila insisted. "Daddy was telling me that the last time he was in L.A. on business, he went into this health club to work out, and all the men were having stuff put on their skin to take away wrinkles."

  "That's gross," Amy said, wrinkling her nose. "I can't see Jamie Peters ever doing something like that."

  Jessica yanked the magazine out of Lila's hands and rapidly scanned the print on the page
before her. "See? It says here that Jamie's trying to get into films and out of the music industry. 'Could a switch into movies mean a cross-country move for East Coaster Jamie Peters? When Rock and Roll magazine asked him, all we got out of him was a 'Yeah, maybe. I like California. I wouldn't mind trading East Coast winters for perpetual sunshine!'"

  "California!" Lila cried. "Maybe he'll move right here, to Sweet Valley!"

  Amy gave her a look of sheer impatience. "Lila, get real," she admonished. "Why on earth would someone like Jamie Peters want to move to a little town like Sweet Valley? This is a town for families, not for sexy singers." She shook her head. "He'll probably move to Bel-Air or Beverly Hills," she added knowingly.

  "You think you know everything," Lila sniffed, pulling the magazine back from Jessica. "I don't see why he couldn't move here. Sweet Valley's a great place to live, and it isn't far from L.A. Besides, some stars happen to like privacy."

  Jessica could tell a fight between her two friends was brewing. It would not be the first time that Lila and Amy had squared off, and frankly, Jessica did not want to get in the middle of one of their squabbles. "Tell me more about what the article says," she said to Lila, hoping to change the subject.

  Her strategy worked. Lila turned the page, and all three girls huddled together to have a look at the next photograph of Jamie. This one was even more spectacular than the last. On this page, Jamie was in his recording studio in New York, a pair of sunglasses pushed back on his head. A tight white T-shirt was rolled up at the sleeves to reveal well-defined arm muscles. One hand lay confidently on his electric guitar, and he faced the camera with an expression of smoldering defiance.

  "Wow," Jessica breathed.

  "He's incredible," Amy seconded.

  "Hey, look." Lila pointed to the two columns of print on the next page.

  Rock and Roll interviewers had a hard time getting to know the real Jamie Peters, the private side of the very public star,' " Lila read. " 'We talked for hours about his new album, Pride, and he was happy to answer all our questions about his music—where he's been, where he's heading. But when it came time to delve deeper, we could sense his mood change.