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Lila’s dad is here because my dad represents a lot of the actors and directors Mr Griffin uses for his ether a lot But Lila? There are only two reasons for Lila to be atout with et her claws into me

“Don’t be stubborn, Hawke Coives me her serious “eous, and heads out of the studio

Never able to say no to rab my drumsticks and shove the I’d rather not do right now than hang out with Lila A girl who thinks ner heels

This is go

ing to be fun As fun as a root canal without Novocain I trudge up the stairs, resigned to s of sos carted around by half the snobs in LA

Why is she in my house? This isn’t school, where I have no choice but to deal with her and her nonstop innuendos and invites to get in her designer pants I should be able to co to fend off any more of her advances My safety zone She’s in my safety zone

Deep breath I lift my chin and steel myself for the inevitable, patented Lila Griffin eye flutter-lip pout coives me a small smile Crap I almost can’t hide my contempt

“Hawke,”to a party at the beach You should go with her, honey”

Jesus, Mom! Embarrassment fills my face and ears with prickly heat and a healthy dose of “Hell no!” dangles froue I already knew about the party, and had planned to skip out for once, trading hours of ht at home in my studio

“Mo to think of a way out of this Naturally, wanting to get her perfectly painted claws intooff

“Hawke, co to be fun Cookout on the beach, volleyball, bonfire when it gets dark” Her shrewd eyes narrow, a sly s across her face

She knows she’s got ht where she wantsthened to my fate

Ugh Maybe they’ll cut o, but—”

My dad doesn’t let nature black-rireat tie” He chuckles and Lila’s dad joins in

“I know I had a lot fun in high school,” Sebastian says, wiggling his eyebrows Asshole

“Go and have a good time Sebastian and I have a lot of work to do and you’ll be bored hanging around here with a bunch of old farts, then we’re probably headed over to the Tannens’ for dinner” Dad wavesme out the door

“I don’t think—”

Loudall the way to my bones

“That kid, I swear” My dad laughs, the fine lines around his blue eyes crinkling My younger sister has recently taken to testing the limits of her top of the line sound systeum pop, so I never complain

“Honestly,” Mo “Excuse hter about volume control”

As my mom turns toward the stairs, I jump at the chance for a minute away fro me into Lila Griffin’s ar for the staircase “I have to change clothes anyway”

Halfway up, I glance back at Lila The calculating look on her face disappears the second she catchesHer features ?