Famous Last Words

“They want eye contact in their pictures,” Marnie said. “See how he’s moving his head a little? He’s trying to give all of them at least one good smile. God, I have to marry him.”

I couldn’t tell if she was joking or not. We stayed in our spot, trying to look nonchalant, as Kurt and his entourage slowly made their way toward us and then through the lobby doors.

“Should we go in now?” I asked. It was getting cold, and my shoes were a smidge too small. Standing in one place made my feet ache.

Marnie shook her head. “Just a few more minutes. I don’t want people to think we’re stalking him.”

One of the reporters looked at me and cocked his head to the side.

“Are you from that new Disney Cha

I opened my mouth to say no, but Marnie cut me off.

“Yes, she is!” she said, smiling brightly. “This is Bernadette Middleton. She’s also Kate Middleton’s cousin!”

Before I could say a word, three dozen flashbulbs exploded in my face. And the air was filled with photographers shouting, “Bernadette! Bernadette, over here! Look right here!”

“Put your hand on your hip,” Marnie whispered in my ear. “Turn your body at an angle … and smile!”

We finally went inside. Marnie giggled maniacally as we got in line for our free popcorn and sodas, on the lookout for more celebrities. “Bernadette, I can’t wait to watch your show on Disney Cha

Part of me was a little embarrassed, but I had to admit that I was enjoying myself. Finally, I was feeling the glitter. I could see what all the fuss was about — why people worshipped Hollywood and wanted to be movie stars (or be their friends). It was exciting.

“Can you imagine actually being one of those people?” I asked. “Having the paparazzi go crazy over the fact that you, like, got out of a car?”

“Ugh.” Marnie stuck her tongue out. “No. I hate actors. They’re so needy. Look at me! Admire me! Some of the people my dad deals with are positively dismal…. No, thank you.”

We wandered around, munching popcorn and trying to eavesdrop on Kurt Conrath and his publicists.

“So who’s my celebrity alter ego going to be?” Marnie asked, patting the flip in her hair. “How about … Ramona Claiborne? That’s a good name, right? I was born in Australia, but I disguise my accent flawlessly. I just landed a new show on HBO. You do realize it’s not cool for someone as edgy as myself to be seen with a Disney Cha

“You’re so generous.” I gri

“I know. I’m a genuinely awesome human being. Or Ramona Claiborne is, anyway. Let’s go back to the red carpet,” she said, her eyes sparkling. “You can tell the photographers you talked me into admitting my true identity as Ramona.”

I laughed.

Then I realized she was serious.

“Marnie,” I said, “the movie’s about to start.”

It was true. Everyone was begi

“These things always start late,” she said. “Come on, it’ll be fun. We can say we met through our acting coaches, and —”

“Marn,” I said. “I think we should go in.”

For a brief moment, there was something in her eyes that made me wish I’d gone along with it. We might have looked ridiculous, but it would have kept me from wondering if she resented me for having my own moment in the spotlight.

But I hadn’t asked her to lie to the paparazzi for me — she’d just done it.

I was being paranoid. Oversensitive. Marnie was only playing around. We were practically wearing costumes, for heaven’s sake. So she wanted to pretend to be famous for a couple of minutes — what was the harm in that? Wasn’t it weird and selfish of me to refuse?

But we’d missed our chance. We were already being swept toward the theater doors, and then we were ushered to our seats. The director of the movie got up and thanked us all for coming, and then the movie started.

It was a mindless romantic comedy, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and even Marnie was too lovestruck by Kurt to mock the happy ending.

Afterward, as we were leaving the theater, a lone photographer called out to us.

“Who are you lovely ladies?” he asked

I waited for Marnie to tell him we were none other than Ramona Claiborne, edgy actress extraordinaire, and Bernadette Middleton, teen celebrity darling and cousin of genuine royalty.

But she gave him her bored smile and said, “Just a couple of fans.”

Have you ever noticed that nothing in the entire universe is more comfortable than putting on pajamas after you’ve been wearing fancy clothes? The soft cotton felt like heaven on my skin, and my feet floated on clouds of happiness after being released from the too-small pumps.

Marnie and I brushed out our hair and flopped down on her king-size bed. We were still too pumped up from the premiere to sleep, so we stayed up and talked, rehashing the details of the evening and laughing. I realized it had been two years since I’d spent time like this with a friend.

“So Kurt didn’t propose,” Marnie sighed. “He must not have seen me.”

“Totally,” I said.

“That’s okay,” she said, leaning back against her pillow. “Love is for suckers.”

I didn’t answer.

“Did you have a boyfriend?” she asked. “Back in Co

I hesitated for a moment, and then told her about Aiden. How we’d met the first day of freshman year, when he beaned me with a kickball in gym class. How we’d spent practically every waking moment together after that.

“Did your parents like him?” Marnie asked.

“Mom did,” I said, staring down at the bedspread. “But … we grew apart. And eventually we broke up.”

“It’s never ‘we,’ ” she said. “Who did the actual dumping?”

“He did,” I said, remembering the crestfallen look on his face as he told me how he couldn’t bear being shut out any longer. “He did it on the a

“No,” Marnie said, sitting up. “Are you kidding? What a horrible person!”

I felt a guilty little pang, because I knew it wasn’t that black-and-white. Aiden hadn’t meant to hurt me. He just couldn’t stand how much our dysfunctional relationship was hurting him. He was losing weight, losing sleep, losing control. It was so hard, for both of us. And in the end, he was the one who was strong enough to do something about it.

But I have to confess, it was kind of nice to have Marnie take my side.

“What about you?” I asked. “Have you had a boyfriend?”

Marnie pulled a pillow into her lap. She sighed and looked down at her hands. “Kind of. I wouldn’t call it a boyfriend, per se. It’s complicated.”

Marnie was the queen of taking simple situations — like being at a movie premiere — and turning them into complex puzzles — like pretending to be a pair of TV stars. For her to call something complicated was saying a lot. I was definitely intrigued. “What do you mean?”

She looked up at me, her cat-eye liner and dark mascara making her eyes seem giant and mysterious. “Remember how I told you to stay away from Wyatt Sheppard?”

My heart began to beat faster. Wyatt … and Marnie? Was that why Wyatt had warned me about her? Had they gone out? I assumed that Wyatt was too low on the social scale for her. Though when I thought about him now, with his dark eyes and square jaw, I admitted to myself that he was definitely sort of cute, in a hunky nerd way. And he was super smart. I could see how he could be Marnie’s type.

I nodded, dying to hear more.

Marnie leaned in closer. “Wyatt and I actually used to get along. We were … friends. Our parents knew each other, and they would hang out most weekends, so it seemed natural. We did your basic friend stuff — movies, going out to eat, wandering around. I don’t even know what we did, honestly. How do people not die of boredom before they can drive?”