TweetyGram

12 - #AHollywoodLife

Charity Mayberry had bought herself a new face. Her hooked nose was now straight and tiny, her thin lips were much plumper than they used to be, her chin stuck out a little further than before, and her skin was so smooth and tight it looked . . . plastic.

I blinked in disbelief. "Charity?"

Her face broke into an all-too-excited grin, and she squealed loud enough I could hear her screechy voice. She mouthed something I couldn't understand before she ran off.

I whipped my head in Nat's direction. "Charity Mayberry works on the Malibu set?"

"Mm-hmm."

"And you didn't mention it to me, why?"

"I thought you knew," Nat replied innocently. "It was all over the media, and you work at a newspaper company, so I figured you must've heard about it. I mean, you have to be living under a rock not to know she's joining the cast this season." She furrowed her brow and flattened her lips into a tight line. "But then again, you had no idea I'm dating Nick, so—"

I hissed at her. "How many times do I have to tell you? I write about crimes, not—"

"Ginger!" Charity rushed into the room with a rail-thin, doe-eyed brunette I recognized as Nat's first-ever fan—or rather stalker—Harriet Honeysuckle.

Although her facial features hadn't changed drastically like Charity's, Harriet had gotten a total makeover. She got rid of her braces, traded her thick glasses for colored contacts, dropped about twenty pounds from her already petite frame, and straightened her long, chocolate-brown curls. The biggest transformation was her skin. She used to have lots of pimples on her face, but now there wasn't a single blemish on her honeyed complexion.

"Lindsey!" Harriet greeted.

I put on a polite smile. "Charity, Harriet. I didn't expect to see you two here."

"Oh, it's Cher now." Charity grinned, showing off her new, expensive veneers as if trying to stress that she wasn't the same girl I'd gone to school with.

"And Riri." Harriet pointed to herself.

My brain reminded me of what Fiona said the other day, and it finally clicked. "Cher Quinn and Riri Richards from A Hollywood Life. Right."

It didn't surprise me that Charity ended up being an actress. She had always wanted to be one even though she sucked at acting. Meanwhile, Harriet had always been obsessed with dressing up her dogs, so her having a career as a pet wardrobe designer didn't surprise me either.

What surprised me was how Charity ended up wearing matching bikinis and being BFFs with the very girl she used to bully.

"I'm so sorry about what happened to your mom," Harriet said, sympathy in her voice.

"Yeah. I can't imagine what you've been through." It was so strange to hear a note of compassion in Charity's voice. For a moment, I wondered if she wasn't the same witch I'd gone to school with. After all, high school was long over.

My mouth stretched into a tight smile. "Thanks."

A twinkle of malice suddenly appeared in Charity's eyes, ringing an alarm in my head. "Oh, Ginger. You look so much better than I thought you would." Charity's tone was sweet, but there was no mistaking the venom dripping off her tongue. "I gotta be honest. I thought you'd look like that horror movie villain after your accident. What was his name again?"

"Freddy Krueger," Harriet answered.

I gritted my teeth. Whatever happened to you, Harriet?

Back when we'd been in school, Harriet had been a nice girl. A little obnoxious? Yes. Creepy? Very. Bitchy? No.