Pop Princess by Rachel Cohn Page B

something on another channel.” That was the downside of sacrificing a ho-hum life in Devonport, Mass., for Manhattan, Noo Yawk. I no longer had infinite amounts of time to devote to Will Nieves and South Coast.
    Tig found a way to make that up to me. He arranged for WILL NIEVES himself to be cast in my first video for “Bubble Gum Pop.” I jumped up and down in his office for about ten straight minutes, screaming, “OH MY GOD!” when Tig told me.
    Tig laughed. “Hold on to that enthusiasm and use it in the video! I figured you could use an incentive of sorts after the past three straight months of nonstop work, but I had no idea you’d be this excited! It’s all good, Wonder. You’ve worked hard—now go have fun at this shoot.”
    Because of my B-Kidz days, I was comfortable with being on a film set, I knew how to hit my mark, I knew how to turn on for the camera. I did not, however, know how not to act like a complete imbecile the first time I met Will Nieves.
    It was a two-day shoot and the first day did not involve Will. That first day was spent at a studio in Queens, filming slumber party dance scenes of me prancing around a girlie bedroom, smacking on gum and blowing big bubbles, jumping up and down on the bed, having pillow fights with other pajama-clad girls, all while we were staring dreamily at a poster of Will Nieves hanging over the bed. It was fun—but hard! Dancing to a complicated choreographed routine of steps with five other girls who are strangers behind you is one thing; now add in smacking and blowing bubble gum pieces large enough to make you choke, and trying to breathe while not getting out of step—not so easy.
    The next day—Will Day, as I called it—we were filming scenes on a boardwalk at the Jersey Shore. Could have been a glam scene—the sky was a perfect blue, the sea looked beautiful and calm—BUT . . . the temperature was about forty-five degrees on an April day, and guess which prospective pop princess was wearing a polka-dot, bubble-gum-pattern bikini in front of a film crew of about twenty guys? Because of the pop princess regimen of nonstop dance rehearsals and strict diet, I was as skinny as I’d ever been, but in that cold I had no desire to show off my new bod—especially with the wide-awake, very cold nipples under my bikini top. I kept running into the trailer between takes to throw on a robe and drink hot chocolate. I kept thinking, But I get to meet Will Nieves, this is so all worth it, better than a day of dodging Jen Burke’s bullet glances at Devonport High.
    A knock came at the trailer door, I opened the door wide, and there was Will Nieves, aka Roberto Perez, Love Machine, the scheming (but misunderstood) resident at South Coast Hospital, and also the illegitimate son and bitter enemy of chief surgeon and South Coast patriarch Robert Smithington. I about drooled hot chocolate out of my mouth in awe as he shook my hand and said, “Wonder Blake? I hear you’re the next sensation. You ready to show us what you’ve got?”
    My heart was beating so hard and fast I was sure Will could see its thump bursting out of my chest. My hands sprung to my mouth and I let out a small scream. Then I felt my face turning hot and red. Luckily, he laughed at my reaction rather than immediately shrugging me off as world’s biggest dork. He said, “That’s not the first time I’ve gotten that reaction from a fan, but it’s definitely the first time I’ve gotten it from the costar on a shoot.” I was all blubbery and my knees felt like mush. I couldn’t form intelligible words to him as I passed him a magazine, but he found them just fine. “What are you trying to say? Oh sure, honey, I’ll sign your Soap Opera Digest magazine. Got some extra hot chocolate in the trailer for me?”
    I wanted to interrogate him: Was Roberto the father of shy Linda’s baby?