Read Online It's Not Easy Being Mean by Lisi Harrison - Free Book Online

director wanted
her
to star in his next movie…as a princess! A beautiful one! She squeezed her cell phone under the table, wishing the Pretty Committee could listen in.
    “Give up?” Miles flipped open his Razr and responded to a text message.
    Claire nodded as fast as she could.
    “Cole Sprouse,” he announced. “You know, that mischievous blond twin from the Disney show
Suite Life of Zack and Cody.
“
    “Ehmagawd, I love him!” Claire beamed, imagining a cover photo on
US Weekly
of their blond heads pressed together in a friendly embrace.
    “The money is decent and it shoots in Manhattan from June through August.”
    “Wonderful.” Judi traced her mouth with Revlon's Rose Wine lipstick, then snapped the cap back on. “What a relief.”
    “So I can stay in New York for the summer?”
    “Yup.”
    Claire poked her finger in the whipped cream swirl atop her short stack and popped it in her mouth. The sugar, mixed with the good news, gave her an instant rush. Excitedly, she kicked her mom under the table. It was going to be a perfect summer.
    Every afternoon, Cam could visit her on the set. When she had a scene to shoot he could hang in her trailer and play video games. They'd become buddies with Cole, and the three of them could go to the Empire State Building and Coney Island and free concerts in Central Park. On the weekends she'd hang out with the Pretty Committee and swim in the Blocks' pool and ride her bike to Layne's and get ice cream and—
    Miles knocked Claire's fattening whipped cream into a pool of maple syrup with a butter knife. “Runaways are thin.”
    Claire blushed again.
    “Of course, the final act will be shot in Bhutan, so you will be spending most of the fall over there. But the people there are very kind.” He signaled the waiter for the check. “Did you know their national sport is archery?”
    Claire felt as if one of their national arrows had just embedded itself in her chest.
    “
Most
of the fall?”
    “Where is Bhutan?” asked Judi.
    “Somewhere near India. Or is it Tibet?” He waved his Razr. “I'll have my assistant call you with an exact location. Don't worry; wherever it is, it'll be five-star all the way.”
    Judi stabbed a grape from her fruit cup.
    “Will I have to
live
there?”
    “
If
“—Miles signed the check without looking at the total—”and only
if
you nail the audition.”
    Claire stiffened. She'd forgotten the part wasn't hers yet and hoped she hadn't come across as ungrateful. “What do I have to do?”
    “Bernard is insisting you show up in character. That means you have to transform yourself into a scrappy, unkempt runaway. I'm talking choppy black hair, dirty fingernails, and eyebrow extensions.”
    “Huh?”
Claire and Judi exclaimed together.
    “Bernard is tired of the whole loser-takes-off-her-glasses-and-becomes-a-goddess cliché. He wants to give his audience something more extreme. And believe it or not, he found someone who can sew goat hair right into the eyebrows to make them coarse, bushy, and one. I'm telling you, the man's a genius. And he wants
you
.”
    Claire peeked at her reflection in the side of a silver teapot, trying to imagine herself a brunette with goat-hair-enhanced brows. And all she could picture was the Count from
Sesame Street.
    “Can't I wear a wig?”
    “That's a great idea.” Judi clapped. “And we can fill in your blond eyebrows with dark pencil. L'Oreal makes a great one called Prestige.”
    “Not happ-nin'.” Miles wagged his finger. “Bernard wants to know that Claire is willing to commit to this role inside and out.”
    “What about school? Everyone will make fun of—”
    “There are a million blondes in the greater Los Angeles area—not to mention Texas—willing to alter their appearance for the craft.”
    “Yeah, but—” Claire stabbed a dry, whipped-cream-free pancake.
    “But nothing.” Miles stuffed the yellow receipt in his breast pocket. “If you want to reach single-name status, you'll