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skipped college and works at a local mechanic's shop. It's just one more thing Brooke doesn't like to talk about.
    “Kiki, you can't be grounded for a month,” Brooke yells from the front seat, where she's just turned up the radio to party mode. “We'll be filming by then.”
    “We could be filming in a month!” I repeat in awe. I anxiously thumb the bottom of my bright blue strapless sundress. My hair is down and curly, per Brooke's instructions, and I'm wearing more makeup than my usual lipgloss and eyeliner, so my pale skin feels itchy under all this foundation. “Do you think this is really going to happen?” I wonder aloud. “Maybe they're talking to a lot of different girls about this show.”
    “There is no way they'd sweet-talk all of our parents like that and spring for a pricey dinner if they didn't want us,” Brooke insists. “We are so in!” Her eyes are practically dancing in the glow of the streetlights.
    “You really think so?” I ask. “This sort of thing never happens to me. Or us. How did we wind up being the ideal girls for a Fire and Ice reality show?”
    “We were meant to shine.” Brooke smirks. “I keep telling you guys that we're too good for this cheesy little town! We're going to be famous and get so much free stuff.”
    “Imagine if they start writing about us in
Us Weekly,
” Hallie shrieks. “I will die.”
    “That would be awesome,” Brooke agrees. “As long as we're not fashion don'ts. I mean,
I
won't be, but you know…”
    “This is all great, I know, but it is a little scary to think they'll be taping every second of our lives,” Keiran reminds us darkly. “I don't think I want to shoo a cameraman out of my bathroom so that I can shower.” She frowns.
    I shake my head. “Susan said we'll have a schedule. We'll have days off and the cameras won't always be running even when we're working. It's going to be fine. They couldn't pay someone enough money to be taped twenty-four-seven.”
    “I can't believe we're going to get paid to do what we normally do,” Brooke says with glee. “Hang out, shop, and talk. We're getting paid to talk!”
    I keep replaying what Susan told us at dinner: “It won't be all games. This will be a lot of work. You'll be making an ironclad commitment to the network to shoot a full season's worth of episodes, with the option of the show continuing. But with that commitment comes a lot of perks. As I also mentioned, the paycheck will be better than anything you're collecting at Milk and Sugar. I'm talking enough money by the end of the season to pay for college and then some. A car, maybe more. On top of that, we'll be helping you with wardrobe for events and publicity; there'll be TV appearances, red carpet events. You'll be networking with Hollywood. Doors will open that you never could have imagined.”
    My brain still can't compute everything Susan promised, and every time I try to process it, my head spins some more. College paid off? Networking with Hollywood's royalty? This sounds too incredible to be true.
    “I feel like I'm going to throw up,” Hallie says hoarsely. “Our whole lives are going to change for the better if this really happens.”
    We look at each other and start to laugh. Giddily. This is how we've been for days—on a permanent sugar high. The possibility of becoming famous can do that to you.
    “Guys! I'm trying to drive here,” Todd grumbles. He brakes hard at a red light and the engine revs loudly. “Where is the invitation for the party? It should be on the next block.”
    “You can drop us off here,” Brooke says quickly.
    I know what she's thinking. She doesn't want to be seen in this car.
    “Nah,” Todd peels away quicker than Brooke can unfasten her seatbelt. “We're practically there.”
    I feel my stomach lurch. I can't believe how nervous I am. I'm about to go to a party I would normally read about in
People
! Our car begins to slow down as my pulse races faster.
    “Everyone take a deep