Page 2 of For The Record

Jennifer stands from her desk, her height matching mine in her four-inch heels that bring her up to a full five-foot-eight. “Don’t disappoint me, Skye.”

“I won’t, Ms. Wong.” I shake her hand, swallowing the lump in my throat. “I promise.”

“I hope you don’t.”

With that, I’m dismissed to go join my personal circle of hell.

#

@RyderBlackFanOfficial: OMG I CAN’T BELIEVE RYDER BLACK WON #AGT #RyderBlack #WhoBrokeRydersHeart

@TTang: @RyderBlackFanOfficial yeah, and he ended it by performing a diss track about his ex #WhoBrokeRydersHeart

@ZR789: #WhoBrokeRydersHeart is trending? Don’t you guys have anything better to talk about?

@AlexR: @ZR789 Come on. If you really didn’t care you wouldn’t be Tweeting about it…

@FHasan: #WhoBrokeRydersHeart is this her?? @SkyeHolland1

@TTang: @FHasan: WTH she’s related to famous people??? Isabelle Holland is her sister!!

Chapter 2: Leo Perez

“So you’re telling me that Ryder Black is having a party, you have a plus one, butI’mnot invited?” Raina says, arms folded across her chest and a pout on her face as we sit in the half-empty diner. “You are theworstbrother.”

Waiters bustle by with heavy trays of food, but neither glance at us, probably accustomed to seeing these outbursts by now.

“Raina, it’s a grown-up party,” I say, tapping my menu against the table. “This isn’t some house party in the Hills.” Not that she should be going to those either, since this is real life, not 90210.

“Yeah, well, you wouldn’t let me go to one of those, either.” She rolls her eyes. “You don’t even have a good reason not to bring me! Sixteen is practically an adult. And who will you even be taking to the party?”

Her sour expression suggests that she, too, is thinking of Alina Rostova, my ex-girlfriend and a pop singer at Volume. I would never take her, but since she was my plus-one at every other fancy event before, old habits die hard.

“First of all you’re sixteen and they’re serving alcohol. Second of all, you have school the next morning. Third—” I pause, unsure of what to say. “I’m not taking anyone.”

“If I can’t go, can you get me free merch?”

“I’ll get you that and throw in a free ticket to his first show,” I say, already knowing I’ll regret the promise since she’s too young to go to the show by herself and our mom definitely won’t let her go with a friend. Then again, at the end of the day, I love my little sister, which is why Idon’twant her to go to Ryder Black’s launch party. If only I could get that through her head.

“VIP tickets?” she asks, tapping on her chin as though making some pivotal negotiation. “With a meet and greet pass?”

“Of course,” I say. “Am I still the worst brother?”

She rolls her eyes. “Second-worst.”

“I’m your only brother. Who’s going to take the worst place?”

Just then, our waiter stops by the table. We order and as we wait for our food, I see someone I know and mildly despise.Naoya. Naoya Sugawa—resident Hollywood playboy, the heartthrob of the Twitter-verse, with four Billboard top 100 singles, and signed to Lagoon Records—is headed straight toward us.

Naoya Sugawa and I have had a less-than-friendly relationship since he was signed to Lagoon. He started at Volume, but after a record deal that had devastating financial consequences for him, he was dropped. I had nothing to do with it, but the taint of the association stains me, apparently, in his eyes. Still, I make it my business to know who all the biggest celebrities are in this town since I usually end up rubbing shoulders with them.

“Keep your head down,” I hiss at Raina.

She looks amused, kicking her feet under the table, as one of her Doc Martens makes contact with my shin.Ouch. I scoot backwards. “Why? Did you see your ex-girlfriend or something? You know, I never did like Alina—”

“Shut up,” I say, shoulders hunching over as I pick up my wine glass and take a long swig.

“No,” she says, leaning back in her seat. “Make me.”

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