She didn’t move as she said, “I heard about you in the new Hype Lee movie. You really want to bank on that?”
“Yeah. I’m branching out to acting, and guess what? If it doesn’t work out, I’m cool with that. In case you haven’t realized”—I looked around at my massive home—“I’ll be well taken care of regardless, so I’ll be on to bigger and better things.”
“Maya, you’re being unreasonable. I get that you’re mad. If it’s more power you want, we can work with that. If you want us to put it in writing that we won’t bring on a cohost without your consent, we can put that in writing, too. Just, please, come back to Rumor Central.”
I opened the front door and smirked at her, before saying, “Tamara, don’t beg, it’s not a good look.”
She stepped on the other side of the door, and turned around and snarled at me.
“I hope you know what you’re doing.”
I just looked at her and said, “I do.”
Then, I took great pride as I slammed the door in her face.
Chapter 43
My day was finally here, and I didn’t think it could get any more perfect.
“You look beautiful,” my mother said, adjusting my cap.
I never thought I’d be so happy to be walking across a stage. But I was actually about to get my high school diploma and, on Monday, begin filming my first movie.
Rumor Central had been the springboard to launch me into the national spotlight, and I was about to take it from here.
“So, are you ladies ready?” my dad asked. I was thrilled that he had cleared his entire schedule for the weekend. While for some families that may be no biggie, for my dad it was huge. Even my mom was shocked.
“We’re so beyond ready,” Sheridan said.
Sheridan and Kennedi stood next to me in the small private dressing area. I don’t know how my dad had done it, but he’d gotten me a private room at the arena where our graduation was being held so that I could have an intimate reception before the graduation.
Kennedi actually had to take one more class this summer because not all of her credits had transferred. But luckily, her father had pulled some strings and gotten her permission to walk with us. I would’ve been sick if I hadn’t been able to walk across that stage with my two best friends.
“Come on, honey. Let’s go to our seats,” my mom said to my dad. She kissed me on the cheek. “We’ll see you out there,” she added before leading my dad out.
“I’m going to meet you guys out there,” Sheridan told me. “My mom wants me to come say hello to her new man.” She shook her head. But I knew Sheridan was glad that her mother, Ms. Glenda, had taken a pause from her world tour to be here today because even though she never admitted it, I think there was a part of Sheridan that was worried her mom would miss her graduation altogether.
“Okay, see you in a minute.”
She hadn’t been gone two minutes when J. Love pushed his way into the room.
“What did you do?” he screamed at me.
It caught me off guard, but I didn’t flinch. I hadn’t heard from him since I’d stormed out of his place. My dad had told me that the producers had agreed to take him off the movie, but I hadn’t heard anything since. But I guess J. had finally gotten the word.
“Hello, J. Love,” I said with a smile. “I don’t recall your name being on my private reception guest list.”
“Maya, don’t play with me. My agent called and told me that I’m not doing the movie.” He looked frazzled, not his usual cool self.
“Really? And we start filming next week,” I innocently said. “Oh, well. I’ll tell you all about it.”
“You wouldn’t be in this movie if it wasn’t for me.”
“Then I’ll have to send you a thank-you card from the set,” I told him.
He stepped closer. I guess he was trying to intimidate me. But it didn’t work. “Maya, what did you do?”
“I am flattered that you think I have that much power. And maybe I do. Or maybe I don’t.” I turned to the mirror and checked my reflection, completely dismissing him. “But isn’t karma a b—”
He cut me off. “How did you do it?”
I turned back to face him. “Do what?”
He studied me for a minute, then said, “Nah, you ain’t got that much juice.”
“Okay.” I could just see his mind churning as he tried to figure it out.
“Come on, K. We should go,” I said to Kennedi.
J. Love jumped in front of me to stop me from passing. “If I find out you had anything to do with this . . .”
“. . . you’re not going to do a thing.”
I turned toward the door and my heart fluttered at the sight of Alvin standing in the entrance.
“Alvin!” I said, pushing past J., and rushing over to throw my arms around Alvin’s neck.
“Hey, pretty lady,” he said, hugging me tightly.
“I can’t believe you came.”
“Now, you know I wasn’t going to miss this day,” he replied.
“Look, bruh. Me and Maya are talking,” J. said.
Alvin eased me behind him. “Nah, bruh. You and Maya are done.”
“Dude, you have no idea who you’re talking to.”
“No, you have no idea.” Alvin stepped in his face. “Don’t let the bowtie fool you.”
J. Love looked a little surprised. He wasn’t the only one. This was a side of Alvin I hadn’t seen.
They had a face-off, and then J. licked his lips and smiled. “You know, you need to be thanking me.”
I cringed because I figured he was about to throw in Alvin’s face how he got the job.
But Alvin shocked us all, when he said, “You know, I do. Because you’ve made me a very rich man.”
The smile left J.’s face and Alvin continued.
“Yeah, see they explained to me how I got hired. And of course, when I found that out, I said thanks, but no thanks. I don’t need any hookups from the likes of you.”
“You quit?” I said, my heart racing at the thought that he could be moving back home.
“Yeah,” he finally turned to me and smiled, “but not before Microsoft bought my new patent.”
“Oh my God,” I squealed. “Are you serious?”
“Yep. Seven figures, baby.” He turned, picked me up and swung me around. After he set me down, he turned back to J. Love. “So yeah, I guess I should be thanking you for putting me on their radar because you made me a very rich man.”
J. Love looked horrified, but he pulled himself together. “Whatever. Maya, I’m not done talking to you.”
“Yeah, you are.” Alvin patted J. Love’s chest. “I know you play hard. And I know you think I’m soft, but I promise you don’t want none of this.” He adjusted J.’s collar. “I mean, it would be real bad for your image to get beat down by a nerd boy, don’t you think?”
J. Love looked like he was weighing his options. Finally, he said, “Man, ain’t nobody scared of you.”
Alvin grinned. “You don’t have to be. The bottom line is you and I can settle our beefs at another time. Today is Maya’s day.”
I couldn’t help but smile.
“Since I saw you coming in, I thought we might need these gentlemen. Security here is gonna escort you out.” He pointed to two men who appeared in the doorway.
“Is he bothering you, ma’am?” the first officer said.
“Yes, he sure is,” I replied.
“Oh, it’s like that, Maya?” J. Love snapped.
I draped my arm through Alvin’s. “It is. Bye-bye.”
“Oh, this isn’t over. Nobody plays J. Love.”
“It looks like somebody just did.” Kennedi chuckled.
“Get your hands off of me,” he said, jerking his arm away from the security guard who was trying to lead him out.
“We’d better get going,” Kennedi said, looking out the door. “They’re starting to line up.”
“Okay, you go on,” I told her. “I’ll be righ
t out. I just want to talk to Alvin real quick.”
Kennedi smiled. “Good to see you, Superman.”
He returned her smile. “You, too, K.”
Once we were alone, I knew I didn’t have much time to waste. “I’m sorry about everything,” I said.
“It’s cool,” he said.
“So, you’re really moving back home?” I asked.
He nodded. “I am.”
“So, what does that mean for us?”
His smile left his face, but not his eyes. “It means I miss my friend and that’s where I want to go back to. Just being friends.”
I’m not going to lie, that hurt my heart. But if I couldn’t have him as my boyfriend, I’d settle for him as my friend. And as he’d once told me, I would just have to work to win him back.
“Come on, let’s go get this diploma,” he told me. “You know how hard you had to work to get here.”
“You ain’t never lied.” I laughed.
“Hey, how are things with Rumor Central?” he asked as we headed to the door.
“Now that they’ve discovered Nelly is a thirty-one-year-old poser, it didn’t go over well. They wanted me back, but I said no. I heard they’re planning on canceling the show.”
“How do you feel about that?” he asked.
“I’m good. I left on top.”
He hugged me tightly. “And when it comes to Maya Morgan, I wouldn’t expect anything else.”
A READING GROUP GUIDE
EYE CANDY
ReShonda Tate Billingsley
ABOUT THIS GUIDE
The following questions are intended to
enhance your group’s reading of
EYE CANDY.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Initially, Maya really wanted to make her relationship with Alvin work. Why do you think she kept getting sucked into doing things with J. Love?
2. J. Love was relentless in his pursuit of Maya. Why do you think he wanted her so bad? Do you think his feelings for her were genuine?
3. Maya kept saying that what she was doing with J. Love was just for show. Do you think she was wrong for that, or should Alvin have been more understanding?
4. Nelly shocked everyone when her secret was exposed. Why do you think she lied? Do you think she would’ve had the same success if she had been truthful?
5. Tamara and the Rumor Central producers didn’t seem to have any loyalty to anyone. Do you think they grew tired of Maya, or was it really all about the ratings?
6. Maya was quick to believe Marisol when she said she was moving with Alvin. Why do you think she didn’t give Alvin the benefit of the doubt?
7. Do you think Alvin put up with a lot from Maya? Why do you think he finally snapped?
8. Was Maya wrong to expose Nelly the way she did? Why do you think she did it?
9. Maya used her father to pull J. Love from the movie. Do you think she should’ve done that? Or did J. Love deserve it?
10. Alvin ended up on top, by selling his patent to Microsoft. Since he’d moved back to Miami, do you think Alvin should’ve given Maya another chance?
Meet Maya for the first time in
Rumor Central
The teen reality show Miami Divas made media sensations out of Miami’s richest in-crowd—and Maya Morgan is one of them. Now Maya’s been offered her very own show, and she’ll do whatever it takes to step up the fame she’s worked so hard for—and that includes spilling some secrets her friends wish were left buried. But as Maya gives up the goods for the sake of ratings, someone will do anything to shut her up. Between backstabbing lies and hard truths, this gossip girl has only one chance to make things right . . . before it’s too late.
Available wherever books and ebooks are sold.
Turn the page for an excerpt from Rumor Central . . .
Chapter 1
“Ain’t no party like a Maya Morgan party, ’cuz a Maya Morgan party don’t stop!”
The sounds of the screeching crowd filled The Mansion, Miami’s hottest club. Usually reserved for the twenty-one and up crowd, tonight it was closed down just for me!
That’s because I got it like that. Just ask any one of the fifteen-hundred people crowded into The Mansion to celebrate my birthday.
Forget Sweet Sixteen, my Sweet Seventeen party was one for the history books. MTV was here filming, my reality show Miami Divas was taping our season finale, and the deejay had the crowd on their feet, leading them with the chant that everyone was singing.
“Ain’t no party like a Maya Morgan party, cuz a Maya Morgan party don’t stop!”
If I wasn’t on top of the world before, I was definitely on it now.
I stood in the VIP box overlooking the dance floor, waving my hands back and forth with the music. My swag was in full force. I was rocking an emerald green Valentino lace tank dress, some five-inch gold Giuseppe Zanotti peep toe pumps and enough jewelry to feed a small village in China. I’d gotten highlights in my jet black, long wavy hair and of course, my makeup was on point.
That’s how I roll. My mom says I’m “extra” but I say I’m about that life, that’s why when MTV contacted me last year about being on their show “My Super Sweet Sixteen,” I told them I was an extraordinary type of girl and I didn’t want to do any ordinary type of show. So, I was going to wait a year and do a Sweet Seventeen party.
They weren’t feeling me at first, but the way the cameraman was panning the hyped up crowd, and the producer was grinning from ear to ear, I knew they were feeling me now.
“Girl, this party is hot!” my friend, Kennedi, said as she bounced to the music. She was rocking a Versace royal blue jumpsuit and looked almost as tight as me. Almost.
“And you thought it wouldn’t be?” I laughed as I took another sip of my drink. “You know how I do it.”
She laughed, then looked around. “Where’s your little crew at?”
I knew it was just a matter of time. Kennedi and I have been friends since we were babies because our mothers had been college roommates. But she lived in Orlando now, so we didn’t get to hang as much. For some reason, she didn’t cut for my new friends, especially the ones from my reality show Miami Divas.
The show starred me and four of my classmates from our private school, Miami High. Don’t get it twisted; we weren’t your ordinary high school students. If you looked up fab in the dictionary, it would have our picture right next to it. Shoot, Kimora Lee Simmons named her company—Fabulos-ity—directly after me. (Well, that’s my story anyway.) But when you had more money in your purse than most people made in a year, you had no choice but to be fab. And me and my crew were all that and a bag of jalapeño chips.
There was my BFF, Sheridan Matthews. Her mom is world-renowned singer Glenda Matthews. Then, Shay Turner, who can best be described as my frenemy because she’s so ghetto-fabulous (and I don’t do ghetto) that we clash like oil and water. But her dad, Jalen Turner, is like the biggest basketball player in the country, so she was rolling in dough. The other crew members included Evian Javid, who had more money than all of us combined because her dad is this Middle Eastern billionaire; Bali Fernandez, who I just adore because he is so over-the-top and doesn’t care who knows it—including his uptight daddy who is some kind of Cuban diplomat. And then me—you ever heard of the Morgan Hotel chain? That’s right, I’m that Morgan. Don’t hate. Although if you did, I’d be used to it. I’m a five-foot-nine, caramel coated princess. When you put us all together, you had fabulousity at its finest.
I don’t know if Kennedi just didn’t like the crew or if she was jealous that Sheridan had taken her spot (that’s what she always said). So she didn’t like the others, but she despised Sheridan. And the feeling was mutual.
“They’re in the back doing some interviews,” I finally said, answering her.
She turned up her nose. “This is about you. Why are they doing interviews?”
I smiled. “Chill, Kennedi. It’s all good. My party is going to be part of the season finale.”
>
“I thought this was supposed to just be for MTV.”
“They worked out something.” I shrugged. I left all those kinds of details to my dad and our attorney.
She finally laughed. “Only you would be able to get MTV to change their whole programming lineup.”
“Hey, hey, hey!” my girl Lauren sang as she approached us. Even though the club was dark, I could tell by the way she was slurring her words that she was high as a kite. Back in the day, me, Kennedi and Lauren were inseparable. But her parents had shipped her off to boarding school and she’d turned into a druggie. Since I don’t do druggies, we’d drifted apart. Still, I knew she’d be too through if I didn’t invite her to the party, so I’d let her come, but I’d told her to leave all that drug mess alone. Obviously, she didn’t listen.
“What’s up, girl?” I said, shaking my head at her. She was too pretty to be messing herself up like that. She looked like a younger version of Jada Pinkett Smith and could’ve been a model or an actress. But now, she stayed too high to do much of anything. “Glad you could make it.”
“Sorry I was late. I was ummm, ah . . .” She started giggling.
“Yeah, we know what you were doing,” Kennedi snapped. We’d both tried talking to Lauren, but any progress we made with her was lost when she went back to school.
I turned my attention back to the crowd that was now jamming to a TI song. Lauren wasn’t about to put a damper on my party.
“Where’s your boo?” Lauren asked, looking around the VIP section, which held only about twenty people: my executive producer from Miami Divas, Tamara Collins, who also happened to be an old family friend; some MTV executives; my other friends from school, Chenoa, Chastity, and Ava; and a couple of my other close friends.
I smiled as my eyes made their way across the crowded dance floor to my baby, my first love, Bryce Logan. The definition of fine, Bryce had it going on—from his hazel brown eyes to his curly brown hair—he looked like he could be Chris Brown’s younger (and much cuter) brother. Bryce’s dad played for the Miami Dolphins, and it was his dream to do the same and he was definitely on his way as the star running back at Miami High.
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