Suddenly Starlet

Suddenly Starlet--Chapter Two

Chapter Two

            Laney pushed open the front door to her house and headed straight for her room. Kat followed closely behind her, ignoring the “No shoes in the house” sign, and ran quickly after her friend.

            Laney’s mom looked up from reading her magazine on the couch and caught the duo as they rushed by.

            “Where have you two been?” Laney’s mom called after them.

            “Around,” Laney answered, as she closed her bedroom door behind herself and Kat.

            “You know you aren’t going to get away with that,” Kat said, and took her usual place at Laney’s desk in front of her laptop.

            Laney rolled her eyes and collapsed back on her bed, listening for her mother’s familiar footsteps.

            “Five, four, three, two, one…,” Kat said, as she typed away at the keyboard.

            Laney’s door opened and her mom’s head appeared in the doorway.

            “Exactly where is ‘around’?” Laney’s mom asked.

            Laney realized this was a fight she wasn’t going to win and sighed loudly.

            “We were just downtown, okay? We popped into a few shops and came home. It’s no biggie,” Laney said, taking a sip of her iced coffee.

            “And what’s this?” Mrs. Herman asked, taking the drink from Laney’s hands and shaking it. “I thought I told you no more coffee. It’ll stunt your growth.”

            “Oh come on, Mom, you know that’s not true. Besides, I’m pretty sure I’m finished growing. Look at my genes,” Laney said, smirking.

            Mrs. Herman was at best five-foot-four and Laney wasn’t that far behind her, which pretty much meant that coffee was the least of her problems.

            “Ha, ha,” Mrs. Herman said sarcastically, as she placed the drink down on Laney’s dresser. “So pretty boring afternoon?”

            “I guess,” Laney said.

            “Well, it wasn’t all that boring, was it Laney?” Kat said giggling.

            “What does that mean?” Mrs. Herman asked, raising an eyebrow at Laney.

            “Oh, it’s nothing,” Laney said, glaring at the back of Kat’s head. “Just some guy saw us at the coffee shop and talked to us and stuff.”

            “Some stranger talked to you girls at the coffee shop?” Mrs. Herman asked and frowned.

            “His name was Donald Hyperman and he’s an agent for Hype Entertainment in Los Angeles,” Kat said, reading the man’s info from the screen in front of her. “He’s represented Meg Fantro, Doug Pearlman and Joey Thurston. An article was just written about him in this month’s GQ. Says here, that everyone’s trying to sign with him.”

            “How do you know all that?” Laney asked, her jaw slightly ajar.

            “I Googled him. It’s called a computer…learn it, use it, love it,” Kat said, turning the screen to face Laney and her mom.

            “This man approached you?” Mrs. Herman asked, sitting down on the corner of Laney’s bed.

            “Yeah. He gave me this and said for you to call him,” Laney said. She searched her pockets until she came up with his card and handed the crumpled business card over to her Mom.

             Mrs. Herman turned the card, over and over in her hands. She looked back over at Laney and broke into a smile. “Well, let’s see what Mr. Hyperman wants.”

            Mrs. Herman jumped up from the bed and headed down the stairs to find the phone.  Laney and Kat both looked at each other and then ran after her. They found Mrs. Herman in the kitchen dialing the number on the back of the card.

            “Mom, what are you doing?” Laney asked, hurrying over to her and grabbing at the phone.

            “I’m making a phone call,” Mrs. Herman said slyly, and walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

            “Mom,” Laney said, as she tried the door.

It was locked! Her mom had locked the door on her.

            Laney pressed her ear to the wooden surface and tried to hear what her mom was saying. She caught every couple of words, but mostly heard mumbling.

            “Here, try this,” Kat said and handed her a glass she’d taken off the counter.

            Laney looked at the glass skeptically and Kat shrugged. “It always works in the movies.”

Laney put the cup up against the door and pressed her ear to the other side of the glass. She could hear her mom more clearly now, but was disappointed to learn she’d missed most of the conversation.

            “Okay, that sounds great Mr. Hyperman.  We’ll see you there,” Laney’s mom said.

            Hearing Mrs. Herman say her goodbyes, the two scrambled away from the bathroom door and jumped onto the nearest stools. In the rush, Laney overshot her landing and grabbed at the air as the stool fell over and she landed with a thud on the ground.

            Mrs. Herman walked out of the bathroom, phone in hand, and stared at her daughter from her place on the tile.

            “Very subtle, Laney,” Mrs. Herman said, laughing, and put the phone back on its charger.

            Mrs. Herman grabbed the glass that Laney had been using to listen in at door and filled it with water. After gulping down the water, she refilled her cup and walked back into the living room, plopping down once again next to her magazine.

            “So?” Laney asked.

            “So, what?” Mrs. Herman answered, not looking up from her magazine.

Laney stood with her hands on her hips as her mother read the latest gossip about Brad and Jen.

“So what did he say?” she asked.

“Oh, just that he’d like to meet with you again—and us—tonight, if we can. So, I invited him to come to your game tonight so he could watch you cheer,” she said, flipping from one trashy column to the next.

“You invited him to my game?!”

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic. He’s only going to be around tonight, so I offered for him to join us at the game. Seriously, it’s not that big a deal.”

“It’s a huge deal mom,” Laney said, crossing her arms. “Geez, you’re always trying to ruin everything for me!”

Laney let out a little wail and stomped off in the direction of her room.

“And that’s my cue to leave,” Kat said, grabbing her coat from the chair.

“Will we see you at the game tonight, Kat?” Mrs. Herman asked, as she watched her cross the room to the door.

They both flinched as the door to Laney’s room slammed shut, shaking the pictures on the wall above the fireplace.

“There’s no way I’d miss this.” Kat smiled as she closed the door behind herself.