Comeback by Jessica Burkhart Page A

Whisper. I know
     better than to overwork her, though, and, being with her just to talk is invaluable. Imy horse.
    Heading to bed now. K’s already snuggled in and reading a mag.
     I’ve got a copy of French Vogue waiting for me.
    Night!
    Xoxo
    Posted by Lauren Towers
    â€¢Â Â â€¢Â Â â€¢
    I closed my laptop lid and pushed back my desk chair. I unclipped my
     freshly showered hair and grabbed Bumble and bumble Prep and my smoothing serum from the
     caddy in the bathroom. Then I walked back to my bed and picked up a brush from my
     nightstand. Khloe had already dried her own hair and was in pjs—flowy baby-blue
     pants and a white tank.
    Two quick knocks startled me, making me glance at Khloe and then at the
     door.
    â€œNo clue,” Khloe said. She put down her magazine.
    I opened the door to a grinning Riley. Her slinky black hair shimmered
     around her shoulders. She’d paired a boatneck shirt—with PINK emblazoned across the front in neon blue—with
     black leggings.
    â€œHi, Lauren ,” she said. “Can I
     come in for a sec?”
    â€œUm, sure . . .”
    Riley breezed by me and walked to my desk, sitting down in my chair. She spun it around to face Khloe, who’d sat up
     in bed.
    â€œHi, Khlo!” Riley chirped. “Read any good
     gossip?”
    â€œNot really. Must be a boring week in Hollywood,” Khloe said.
     “What’s up?”
    Translation: Why are you here, Riley?
    â€œOmigosh, I had to come say hi to you guys!” Riley said.
     “It feels like I haven’t seen you in foreeeevvver. It felt like I was gone a
     lot longer than I was.”
    I sat at the end of my bed, seeing Khloe’s thin smile.
    â€œFunny,” Khloe said. “I thought time went by like that .” She snapped her fingers.
    Riley’s smile was as fake as the sixty-carat “diamond”
     paperweight on my desk.
    â€œI’m sure you all were so busy with school and riding,”
     she said. “I’m lucky that my teachers are so generous—they’re
     giving me extra time for my makeup work.”
    She covered a yawn with her hand. “I didn’t have a second for
     homework. I barely slept!”
    â€œCar horns and sirens too loud for you?” I asked.
    Riley giggled, shaking her head. “Oh, no way. I could barely hear
     them. My aunt’s apartment is on the UpperEast Side and on
     the twenty-fifth floor. I couldn’t sleep because I didn’t have time—I
     met with so many people.” She put a finger to her head and looked up to the
     ceiling. “Gosh, I can’t even remember all their names. Agents, casting
     directors . . .”
    â€œWow,” I interrupted. Riley was such a brat! She had no reason
     to come into our room and rub her experience in Khloe’s face. Not when it was
     Khloe’s dream too. “I bet you’re really exhausted.” I mimicked
     Riley’s yawn from earlier. “We were just about to go to sleep, so see you
     tomorrow?”
    Riley stood. “Totally. I’ll tell you every detail at lunch!”
    She let herself out, and I looked at Khloe. She held up a hand as if
     holding a microphone. “And the Oscar for best actress in a drama goes to Khloe
     Kinsella for her outstanding performance in I Don’t Care What
     You Did in New York, Arch-Nemesis .” Khloe bent her head in a bow and
     flopped back onto her pillow.

AND . . .
     ACTION!
    â€œRILEY’S DOING AN AWESOME JOB OF MAKING sure everyone knows that she’s back on campus,” Khloe grumbled. “As if her
     ‘friendly’ invasion of our room last night wasn’t enough.”
    We were walking together under Khloe’s giant umbrella. It was
     leopard print, with cat ears that stuck up and made it the cutest umbrella I’d
     ever seen. It was a foggy Monday morning, and rain fell gently around us. The gray sky
     was full