Star Power by Zoey Dean Page B

like she was sprinkling pixie dust.
    â€œCool,” Becks said, as neutrally as possible. It would be friend-cheating to be too nice to Ruby.
    â€œAnd don’t think I forgot you, Coco.” Ruby placed another flyer on Coco’s tray with the same annoying flourish. “I’m hosting a dance next week at the Bel-Air Bay Club for my first event as social chair.”
    â€œCool,” Coco said, showing exactly no emotion. She pulled her dark brown hair into a ponytail.
    â€œThe Decemberists are going to perform.” The Rubybots smiled proudly.
    â€œSorry,” Coco sighed. “We have plans.”
    â€œCancel them,” Ruby said, as though she had veto power.
    â€œSure thing, let me get my phone,” Coco said sarcastically. She shot Becks a help me out here look.
    â€œUmm . . .” Becks stammered. “Coco’s right. We have a lot going on.” Becks wished she could start over again before she’d even finished. She didn’t sound busy, she just sounded nervous. Which, of course, she was.
    â€œReally? You have a lot going on?” Ruby placed her hands on her hips while she waited for more information. As everyone in Hollywood knew, information was power.
    Coco and Becks exchanged a conspiratorial look. It was Mac’s job to run PR, and without her, neither girl was sure how much they should (or should not) leak about their news.
    â€œI don’t want to talk about it,” Coco said. She took a sip of her kombucha and smiled mysteriously. “Besides,” she added proudly, “it’s got nothing to do with BAMS.”
    â€œFiiiine, I’ll find out eventually,” Ruby said fake-sweetly. “And by then I won’t care. Oh, wait, I already don’t.”
    â€œSuper,” Coco said, although she didn’t sound as confident as Becks would have hoped. Mac was the one who usually stood up to Ruby, battling her back with clever comebacks and sassy one-liners. Not things like super . Her Dixie Gals high was slowly deflating.
    â€œB-T-dubs, I hear your little friend Emily had a great first scene on set today,” Ruby added. “And by great I mean she vomited all over Davey Woodward .”
    Becks shot Coco a nervous glance, but Coco just arched a perfectly plucked eyebrow and stared at Ruby suspiciously. Coco could say more with her eyebrows than most people could say with words. Becks checked her phone for an update, but all was quiet on the text front.
    â€œGuess some people don’t read the live blog.” Ruby smirked.
    â€œSorry, we’d rather get our intel from the star herself,” Coco snapped. “Not some second-rate gossip blog.”
    Suddenly Ruby turned to face Becks. “Hey, how’s Austin?” she fake-smiled, her eyes slanted like a snake’s.
    Becks pursed her lips in frustration. Couldn’t they at least be frenemies? Like Blair and Serena? Or Lauren and Audrina? Anything was better than this attack. “I don’t know how Austin is,” Becks said flatly. “I don’t see him too much these days.”
    â€œOh, I forgot!” Ruby pretended to be surprised. “’Cause he’s seeing Ellie.”
    â€œRuby!” Ellie giggled, and swatted her friend.
    Becks stared down at her bento box. The excitement bubble over the Dixie Gals popped and was gone.
    â€œLater, haters.” Ruby turned sharply on her sandal, taking the Rubybots with her.
    When they were finally out of sight, Becks held her hand up to her burning cheeks. After feeling like everything was going right, seeing Ruby and Ellie was like surfing in NorCal with no wet suit—a total shock to her system. A reminder of how screwed up her life actually was: Austin didn’t want to see her. The Inner Circle was separated. And all her other BFFs lived in Hawaii. Becks’s mental list-making ended abruptly as the lunch bell rang.
    â€œSee ya, sweets.” Coco air-kissed in Becks’s