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I'm back! And sunburned. : ( Enjoy.


Haley was standing in the New York airport watching the baggage claim go around and around. She was wearing sunglasses and had her hood pulled up, but she still kept checking her surroundings every couple of minutes. Just in case anyone recognized her. Just as she was dragging her hot pink, patent leather suitcase off the carousel, she heard the one sound she had been dreading. “Hales? Is that you?” She turned around and saw her ‘friend’ Courtney, one of the models she had lived with in Paris, jogging towards her “I thought I recognized your bag go by! How are you? Where have you been? You, like, dropped off the planet.”
“Oh, I was in rehab.” Haley said quietly. Courtney gasped.
“For what?!”
“I tried to kill myself.”
“Oh thank god. I thought you had gotten fat or something.” Haley just shrugged. “Listen, I’m having a party to kick off fashion week. You have to come. Everyone misses you, it’s no fun anymore without you.”
“I can’t. I’m in rehab.” She said slowly and clearly, in case Courtney missed it the first time.
“No, it’s fine. You can just drink Red Bull or something. Have them hold the vodka. People do it all the time. You HAVE to come.” Courtney whined, making a pouty face.
“I’ll think about it, ok?” Haley relented.
“FANTASTIC!” Courtney shouted, throwing her arms in the air dramatically making people turn and look. A couple people began whispering to each other, recognizing her. “Hey, are you staying at the W? We should go get mani-pedis for my party!”
“Actually I’m staying with an old friend…in Brooklyn. In fact he’s probably waiting for me outside.” she flipped her phone open to look at the time.
“Eew. How do you know people who live in Brooklyn? The subway is so unsanitary.” Courtney fluffed up her hair when she noticed people looking at her. “I should probably be going too.” She motioned to the limo driver who had been lurking behind them and he grabbed both girls’ bags, following them outside. “What’s with the hood? You look like you’re robbing a bank.”
“I…was cold.” Haley pushed her hood off her head as the two stepped out onto the sidewalk. Courtney’s eyes widened when she saw Haley’s red hair.
“Oh my God, your hair! Has your agent seen this? Why red? Won’t it clash with the clothes?”
“Yes. It’s my natural color. And I told all the designers I’m wearing, so they didn’t put me in anything that will clash.”
“I liked the black better. You looked so…exotic, and glamorous. Now you look like you should be in a Cover Girl commercial. You look like you’re in high school. You should change it back.”
“I don’t want to change it back. I was sick of how I looked, I wanted to look like me. And I won’t have to worry about what anyone thinks after this week anyway.” Haley waved at Gabe, catching his attention and causing him to walk over, as she spoke to Courtney who was quickly getting on her last nerve. Courtney was about to say something else, but stopped short when she saw Gabe walking towards them.
“Wait, isn’t that the guy from your tape? No wonder you didn’t want to come to my party.” She elbowed Haley in the side jokingly.
“No, it’s not like that. He’s friends with my brother.”
“You have a brother?”
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.” Courtney suddenly changed the topic, since it wasn’t about her.
“Well, I’d better see you tonight! And don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” She winked and pointed towards Gabe as she bounced off and got in her limo.
“What was that about?” Gabe asked as he approached and picked up Haley’s bag from where the driver had placed it.
“Oh, that’s just Courtney.”

Haley made the mistake of telling Gabe about the party and he insisted that she go. He generously offered to accompany her for moral support, but she had politely declined. Everyone knew he just wanted to party with drunk supermodels. She knew it was a bad idea to go the moment she walked through the door. Courtney had told everyone there that she was coming, and people kept approaching her, asking her where she’d been the last couple months, or about the sex tape: “I heard you’d gotten cancer.” “I heard you were so embarrassed that you’d had so much plastic surgery that no one recognized you.” And the best, “You know, I had a friend who had the same thing happen to her, except she wasn’t famous, and it wasn’t sex. But this guy posted a really embarrassing picture of her on his Live Journal. So I know what you’re going through.”
“Yeah, thanks. Could you hold on one second.” Haley faked a sweet smile before turning and making a b-line for the bathroom. She entered the farthest stall from the entrance and leaned against the door, enjoying the quiet. She pulled out her phone and pressed the button for a new text message.
-Hi-
-What took you so long- Pete’s reply came a second later. It was the first time they’d spoken since that day on the couch, and the speed of his reply made Haley smile. He hadn’t hesitated to speak to her. –Where r u-
-Bathroom. Party. NY.
-Y r u in the bathroom talking to me-
-I hate my friends-
-Thats a harsh word-
-Theyre harsh friends. They only want to know about my tape. They dont care about me-
-Then theyre not your friends. Leave- At this, Haley snapped her phone shut and walked straight out of the party. She felt as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

Haley sat in a make up chair in the TRL studio a couple days later, being poked and primped before the show. Her phone rang, and expecting it to be Gabe asking if she wanted pizza or Chinese for dinner, she answered without looking at the screen. “Hello?”
“Do you know how hard you are to track down?” Courtney’s perky voice bubbled down the line.
“Oh…hey. What’s up?”
“I just wanted to say hi. Why did you leave so early the other night? I barely got to see you.” Haley could practically hear her making that pouty face that Courtney thought everyone thought was so adoreable.
“I wasn’t feeling well. Jet lag. I figured I should rest, so my eyes didn’t get puffy for the shows.”
“Yeah, sure.” Courtney said sarcastically. “You were in Brooklyn humping the guy from the video, weren’t you?”
“His name’s Gabe, an I told you it’s not like that.” Haley whispered into the phone so the makeup girl wouldn’t hear. “I’ve got to go. I’m about to do an interview at MTV.”
“I’ll see you at the Marc Jacobs show on Friday?”
“Yeah. It’s my last one. I fly home right after.”
“You’re not staying for the party?”
“No.” Haley cut Courtney off, shutting her phone and tossing it on the table. Sighing, she looked up at the makeup girl, “Sorry about that.”
“It’s ok. I’ve learned how to work around phones. I’m done anyway.”
“Thanks. It looks great.” She stood up and backed away from the mirror, inspecting her whole reflection. The makeup girl stood behind her, nervously biting her thumbnail.
“Are you really William Beckett’s sister?” the girl burst out suddenly. She clamped her hand over her mouth and widened her eyes, like she hadn’t meant for that to come out. Haley froze. “How did you know that?”
“They were all on the show about a month ago, and I heard some of them talking. They said something about Gabe Saporta and William’s sister had a sex tape on the internet, and unless there’s another one…”
“No there’s only the one. That I know of. Yeah, I’m Bill’s sister. But don’t tell anyone, we don’t really want it out in the media. He doesn’t want it to affect the band’s publicity. We have separate careers that don’t involve each other.”
“Oh, yeah, of course. I won’t say anything.”
“Thanks.” Haley began to follow an assistant out to the backstage area of the studio to wait for her introduction.
“I really like your new hair, Iona.” The makeup girl called after her. Haley turned around in the doorway and brought a hand up to touch her hair.
“Thanks.”
“It makes you look like your brother.”
“You’re actually the first person to say that.” Haley smiled.
“I’m Jess, by the way. Jess Thompson.” She stuck her hand out for Haley to shake.
“Haley Beckett.”

The members of Cobra Starship were huddled around the TV in the recording studio. But instead of playing a heated round of Guitar Hero, they were all waiting for Haley’s big TRL episode. It was her first interview since rehab and she was really nervous about it, and they wanted to support her. Victoria was sitting on the couch between Ryland and Nate, fidgeting nervously. Half way through the commercial break right before Haley’s segment, she jumped up and grabbed the phone sitting on the table in front of her. “Hey, that’s my phone.” Alex called after her as she flipped it open and headed towards the opposite side of the room where it was quieter.
“I just need it for a second.” She scrolled through the contact list until she found the number she was looking for, and held the phone up to her ear “Actually it’s Victoria…turn on TRL. Quick.” She glanced back to the TV to make sure she wasn’t missing it. She finished her brief conversation and handed the phone back to Alex, returning to her seat on the couch as everyone looked at her questioningly.
“Pete needs to see this.”

That Friday, Haley sat backstage at the Marc Jacobs show smiling to herself. She had just modeled her last outfit in the last show of her career. Ever. The realization hit her like a ton of bricks. She was changing into the dark blue beaded silk dress that Marc’s personal assistant, Amy, had just brought her. He had designed it especially for Haley, as a farewell gift when he’d heard about her retirement, especially since his show would be her last. “This one with the sequins is one of a kind.” Amy explained about the dress. “But Marc’s going to produce them without the decoration. It’s the centerpiece of the new collection. He’s calling it the ‘Iona Gown’.”
“No one’s ever named a dress after me.” Haley laughed a little as they walked back towards the runway. At the finale of the show, Haley joined Marc at the end of the runway where he gave a brief speech thanking her for her impact on the fashion world and wishing her luck in her future ventures. The crowd applauded as Haley smiled and retreated backstage where all the models she had become friends with over the years came up to her, hugging her with tears in their eyes. The finality of her decision and uncertainty about her future made Haley’s nerves catch up to her. “This is really it, isn’t it?” she turned to Marc, who had followed her back.
“There’s no turning back now, I’ve already made the speech.” He joked.
“And I’d have to give the dress back.” She laughed nervously and stopped short, her face going pale. “Oh God! What am I doing?!” She started hyperventilating, tears rolling down her cheeks. Marc pushed her away from the crowd of girls.
“Come on. Let’s get you some fresh air.” He guided her towards the back of the tent, grabbing her purse off her makeup table on the way. “I was your first show and I was your last show, and I’d like to think we’ve gotten close over the years. I was the only person who knew you had a brother, who knew you had a last name! So when I say this, know it’s coming from a friend. You need to get as far away from these people, as fast as you can. You’re better than them.” He said as they stepped into the sunlight.
“Yeah, I just don’t know what’s going to happen next. And that terrifies me.” Haley dried her eyes and took her purse, grabbing her phone as it rang. The screen popped up with Pete’s number, it also showed 12 missed calls in the past 10 minutes. All from Pete’s number. “Excuse me, I think this might be important.” She smiled at Marc and answered the phone, sounding worried. “Pete?”
“You’re done! You did it!” he sounded out of breath.
“I did. Are you all right? How’s Boston?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
“What do you mean?”
“Where are you right now?”
“At the Marc Jacobs show.” She said confused, glancing back at Marc who had politely moved slightly away to give her privacy.
“No, I mean EXACTLY where, physically. Your location at the show.”
“I’m behind the tent, next to a tree and the power generator, with the designer. Why?” As she said this, Pete suddenly hung up his phone. She put her phone away and shrugged to Marc. “That was weird.” They heard shouting coming from around the side of the tent and suddenly two men ran around the corner being chased by security guards. One had wild hair that looked like it hadn’t been washed in weeks blowing around his face and the second had his hood pulled down over his face and a Sidekick in his hand. Marc and Haley stared, perplexed at the sight in front of them until Haley gasped in shock and recognition. “Dirty? Pete?”


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