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of winter. Not that it’s particularly cold here. This is LA we’re
talking about.
    ‘Jessie, Maisie, you’ve met,’ Brandon says, bringing his girlfriend into our huddle.
    ‘Hi.’ I give her a warm smile.
    ‘Happy birthday,’ she replies timidly.
    Suddenly Natalie grabs my hand and yanks me away.
    ‘Why didn’t you tell me that you knew Margarita Ramirez!’ she demands to know.
    ‘I
don’t
know Margarita Ramirez,’ I reply hopelessly.
    Margarita Ramirez is an all-singing, all-dancing child star turned sexy popstar.
    ‘There she is, over there!’ Natalie squawks.
    I follow the line of her extended digit to see that Margarita Ramirez does indeed appear to be on the other side of the igloo. She’s petite and curvy with olive-toned skin and glossy black
hair that curls in waves to halfway down her back. She’s absolutely stunning.
    ‘Wait, is she talking to Gina Miranda?’ I ask in astonishment, looking at the tiny, ringlet-haired redhead standing next to her.
    Gina plays the teenage daughter of a drug lord in an edgy crime drama series that got some of the best TV ratings of last year.
    Natalie swears under her breath. ‘Holy shit, she is! And Oh. My. God. Who is
that
?’
    I follow her gaze and my eyes light on an absolutely drop-dead gorgeous guy. He’s got to be a male model. I can’t think of any other explanation for someone who looks as smoking as
he does.
    ‘Rafael Rios,’ Agnes says, joining our conversation with a grin. ‘He’s just won the new CiaoCiao campaign.’ CiaoCiao is a major fashion house.
    ‘Excuse us while we have a mini meltdown,’ I say. ‘Do all of these people go to my new school?’
    ‘Yep. And they’re all
dying
to meet you, so come with me.’
    I mouth an apology to Natalie as Agnes whisks me away and, for the next hour, my head spins as I’m introduced to stars and starlets and the offspring of famous actors, musicians, models
and sportspeople. Everyone is affable, some to the point of being completely OTT, but I decide I’d rather they were fake than unfriendly or bitchy.
    Speaking of bitchy, where’s Lissa? Agnes told me she’d invited
everyone
from school, but I haven’t seen the tall, skinny blonde girl who last summer tried to out me to
the press. She didn’t succeed at the time, but she made life much more difficult for me and I wouldn’t mind never setting eyes on her again.
    ‘She moved to New York!’ Agnes tells me, laughing at my delighted expression. ‘Her dad took a job out there. I can’t believe I didn’t tell you!’
    ‘Oh my God, you have
made
my night,’ I say with a laugh.
    School is becoming less scary by the second.
    Isaac is mixing up his own beats now and loads of people have taken to the dance floor, so it’s getting harder to talk in the igloo. There are caterers circulating with Mexican
canapés and after a while I spy Lou.
    ‘Is Tom OK?’ I shout over the music.
    She looks uneasy. ‘I think so. He and Chris are outside. I was just getting us some drinks. Want to join us?’
    I have a flashback to the way it used to be when we were a foursome. It hurts to know that those days are gone.
    I’m saved from answering her by Jenna Kelly, one half of famous blond-haired, blue-eyed, brother-and-sister twins. They present a Saturday morning tweenie music show together.
‘Jessie, can we get a selfie?’ she asks.
    ‘I’ll catch you later,’ I say to Lou, watching with regret as she walks away.
    Jenna and Justin press their beaming, tanned faces to mine as Justin holds his phone aloft. Their teeth are practically glowing, they’re so white.
    ‘Thanks!’ Jenna exclaims. ‘We’ve just got one with your dad, too.’
    ‘I bet he loved that,’ I reply with a grin.
    ‘Your accent is so cute, I just
cannot
get over it!’ Justin gushes. He’s so much camper than he comes across on the telly.
    ‘You’ll have to come to
our
birthday party next week!’ Jenna chips in.
    ‘I’d love to,’ I reply with a smile.
    It’s a