Fame Game 03: Infamous by Lauren Conrad

hair. I’m sure he’d love it if you shook things up a little. Anyway, he doesn’t own you.”
    “Well, he sort of owns everything around me,” Kate said, thinking of the apartment and the furniture and the new electric guitar, etc.
    “Actually he rents,” Madison pointed out. “So. Do you want to go to Rick Roberts or Kristin Ess’ Salon? Kristin is amazing at color, and her place is much more discreet. You don’t want to be photographed leaving the salon. The new hair should be a surprise.”
    “I don’t know about this idea—”
    Madison patted Kate’s knee. “It’s brilliant. Trust me. This is what I do best.”
    Kate thought about it for a minute. Madison was a professional when it came to makeovers—or had been, anyway. And while some people might have reasons not to trust Madison’s motives, Kate didn’t have one at the moment.
    “You pick,” she said. She felt brave and tough and bold.
    “It’ll be a whole new you.”
    “I wonder what Drew will think.”
    “He’s going to love you no matter what, that’s what he’ll think.” Madison paused. “He’s a good guy. You’re lucky to have him.” Her voice was soft and vaguely wistful.
    Kate could tell that Madison’s thoughts had shifted away from haircuts and toward Ryan Tucker. Madison had given Kate the rundown of their relationship back when she was recovering from her lipo. Their story was a perfect rom-com script. Well, almost. Boy meets girl, boy hates girl, boy comes to love girl . . . . But then: Boy leaves girl . That sort of screwed up the expected happy ending.
    Madison maintained that their breakup was for the best, but Kate wondered if she actually believed that.
    “So—no promising specimens on Trevor’s guy reels?” Kate asked.
    Madison shook her head no. “He’s looking for another Jay. Some jerk in an Affliction T-shirt and questionable facial hair that all of teenage America will inexplicably fall in love with.”
    Kate laughed. “It’s a tough life,” she said.
    “He texted me, you know,” Madison said suddenly.
    “Who?”
    “Ryan.”
    Kate sat up straight. “ And? ”
    Madison sighed. “I didn’t text him back yet. He says we should talk. That he still cares about me.”
    “That’s not surprising,” Kate said gently. “It sounded like you guys really had something.”
    Madison picked at the silk fringe on a throw pillow, seemingly lost in thought. “What’s the point? What’s good for me professionally doesn’t necessarily fit with what’s good for me personally. Although—who am I kidding? The guy broke my heart, Kate—as much as it’s possible to break it.” Here she offered her trademark Madison smile. (But was that a slight tremor in the corner of her mouth? A hint of vulnerability?) “So maybe he’s not good for me personally, either.”
    Kate nodded understandingly. She wished she’d actually met Ryan so that she could offer her own piece of advice. But he was like some mythical creature: There were plenty of stories about him, but no actual sightings.
    “I think you should text him back,” she said. “You’re in a stronger place now. Maybe you can have it all.”
    Madison smiled. “Oh, I’m going to have it all,” she said. “But I’m still working on exactly what ‘it’ is.”
    “I hear you. Hey, maybe that’s your theme song.” Kate picked up the guitar again and plucked a few notes. “ Sometimes I’m your therapist / Sometimes I’m just a bitch / Do I want love or stardom / I really don’t know which  . . .”
    Madison, laughing, threw a pillow at her but missed.
    Kate couldn’t help herself. “ I’m on a show called The Fame Game / Can’t throw a pillow cuz I got bad aim—”
    Then Madison, squealing, picked up another pillow. This one was a direct hit.

12
    AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT PERSON
    At first Trevor hadn’t recognized her. Who was that platinum blonde with the pixie cut talking to Carmen—another one of Carm’s hair-and-makeup pals? Someone