You Don't Know Me Like That
Page 17
“I’m Alvin,” he said, sticking his hand out for J. Love to shake. J. Love just stared at him. Alvin dropped his hand, unfazed.
“Maya, you not gonna introduce me to your friend, since he’s being quite rude?” Alvin said.
“Umm, yeah, this is J. Love. He’s a singer.”
Alvin grinned at J. Love. “Oh, well, isn’t that special. I’ve never heard of you, but you keep at it. I’m sure you’re talented and can grow up to be like Chris Brown or something one day.” He patted J. Love on the shoulder. “Excuse me now. This is Maya’s song, so we’re gonna go dance.”
He took my hand and led me away.
I will never forget the look on J. Love’s face, and Alvin didn’t know it, but he had just earned major cool points.
J. Love was more my speed. And since Maya Morgan didn’t do nerds, maybe I’d forgive him later. For now, though, I wanted to see him squirm. I noticed him standing there watching me with a smile while I danced with Alvin.
Finally, J. Love walked off, passing by me on the dance floor on his way out. He leaned in and whispered, “You’re a piece of work, girl. But we will see other again.”
I was about to say something when Alvin leaned in and whispered, “But it won’t be tonight, bruh. So keep it moving.”
I loved it! Alvin was showing me a whole new side. I just might have to get to know him a little bit better.
That’s the beauty of being Maya Morgan. I had options, and a girl could never have too many of those.
A READING GROUP GUIDE
YOU DON’T KNOW ME LIKE THAT
ReShonda Tate Billingsley
ABOUT THIS GUIDE
The following questions are intended to
enhance your group’s reading of
YOU DON’T KNOW ME LIKE THAT.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. With Maya’s being a celebrity, do you think she was too trusting of the people she let into her inner circle? What could she have done to be more careful?
2. Maya’s unwillingness to help Ariel is what sparked all of her troubles. Do you think Maya should have helped Ariel? Why do you think she didn’t?
3. Bryce was furious when the fans approached Maya during their intimate dinner. Do you think he was right to get upset? How should Maya have handled the situation?
4. What were some warning signs that Maya should have seen, clueing her in to the fact that Jayla was her stalker?
5. Both J. Love and Bryce were quick to believe the worst about Maya. Should she forgive them, or should she give Alvin a chance? Which guy would you like to see her with?
6. Maya ultimately had to turn to Shay to help her catch her stalker. Do you think Shay should’ve helped?
7. Have you ever had someone stalk/harass you online? How did you handle it?
8. What efforts do you take to protect your information when you’re online?
Rumor Central continues with
As Real As It Gets.
Coming in January 2014.
Wherever books and eBooks are sold!
The image on the screen gave me chills.
I knew Savannah Vanderpool. She was a beautiful, former Miss Teen Miami who had branched out to movies. We’d taken some modeling classes together when I was in middle school, and although I didn’t talk to her much now, we kept in touch through Instagram and Twitter. It wasn’t often that I gave other girls props. But Savannah had earned hers. She was Beyoncé, Ciara, and Megan Goode rolled up into one. A class act, that’s who Savannah was.
Was.
Because this chick I was looking at right now was anything but classy. She looked like a crackhead, methhead, and dope fiend rolled up into one.
Savannah’s eyes were sunken, almost like her face was swallowing them. She had dark circles around her eyes, and her face was taut and dry. Her once beautiful blond hair was stringy, and the dark roots were showing.
“Maya,” my director, Manny, whispered in my ear. “Go! You’re live!”
I caught myself. I didn’t usually let anything get me off my game when I was in hosting mode at my talk show, Rumor Central, but seeing Savannah’s picture had definitely left me speechless.
“Wow, I guess you can say I’m a little stunned myself,” I continued, turning my attention back to the camera. “If you knew Savannah Vanderpool like I knew Savannah Vanderpool, you’d be just as shocked, too,” I spoke to the camera.
We’d gotten the story about Savannah’s being arrested just minutes before I was going on the air. My producer, Dexter, had handed me a sheet with some limited information and told me to wing it. I had no problem with that, because dishing dirt was what had made me so popular on Rumor Central. I was even used to dishing dirt about my friends, especially because I was usually the one who had dug up the dirt. Even though I’d stopped airing my friends’ dirty laundry, I had no problem digging in other celebrities’ backyards. I had to. Since I had started Rumor Central a few months ago, it had become one of the hottest gossip shows in the country. We were syndicated, and my popularity was through the roof. Celebs as big as Usher and Rihanna called me when they wanted to “slip” out a little gossip, and other celebrities tried to become my best friends to keep their dirt off the air. So, a little scandalous story never shocked me. But this picture of Savannah . . . I wasn’t ready for that.
“This is just in to the Rumor Central studios,” I continued, “so we haven’t been able to get all the details, but rumor has it that this mug shot is from Savannah’s arrest last night, after she caused a scene at the Sports Illustrated reception when organizers saw her and refused to let her go on stage. We’re told Savannah was so high that she took off all her clothes and began running through the party screaming and crying as she destroyed everything in sight.”
I took a deep breath as an earlier photo of Savannah as Miss Teen Miami flashed on the screen.
“Apparently, Savannah was high on K2, a hyped up version of Kush, the popular synthetic drug sweeping the country. We don’t know much about K2, but you’d better believe that Rumor Central is all over this story, and we’ll keep you updated. I’m your girl, Maya Morgan, and we’ll be back right after this.”
I tossed to the break and motioned for my new assistant, Yolanda, to get me some water. Usually, we kept it light and gossipy on Rumor Central. I didn’t get all deep into stories, and this was exactly the reason why.
“You okay?” Yolanda asked as she handed me a chilled bottled water.
“Yeah, just trippin’ over that picture.” I glanced over at the photo, which was back up on the monitor. I’d seen Savannah about six months ago, and she had looked fine. How could someone fall off like that in just a few months?
Dexter came over to me on the set as Yolanda scurried away.
“Great job, Maya. I got some more details. Apparently, this K2 is more powerful than Kush and getting really hot among celebrities.”
“Just wow,” I said, shaking my head again at the picture. I knew some celebs who dabbled in drugs, but Savannah had done a lot more than dabble. “I just can’t believe that she’s fallen off like that.”
“Do you know Savannah?” Dexter asked. “I mean, personally. I figured you did since you know everybody.”
Dexter was right about that. Before I was on air—first as one of the five members of the Miami Divas reality show, then as the host of my own show—I had already been at the top of the food chain as the leader of Miami’s “it” clique. In fact, that’s why I’d been approached to do the reality show in the first place. That show hadn’t done as well as they had wanted, so they’d canceled it, fired the other four divas, and had given me my own show. That had been the smartest thing since the invention of the Internet, because in no time I had become the go-to chick for all the latest celebrity gossip, dirt, and entertainment news. Rumor Central had exceeded everyone’s expectations and been picked up by several other cities.
My BFF, Sheridan, had been one of the Miami Divas who was fired and that had led to a whole lotta dr
ama, but we’d squashed that and were back to kickin’ it. I couldn’t say the same about the other busters from Miami Divas. Shay, Bali, and Evian still had stank attitudes about the way everything went down. (They claimed we had had a pact to stick together and I had sold them in taking my own show. As if any of them would’ve turned it down if the shoe had been on the other foot. Whatever.)
“So, do you know her or not?” Dexter asked again, snapping me out of my thoughts.
I knew he wasn’t asking out of concern. He was probably trying to see if I could get some kind of inside scoop.
“Yeah, I know her. Or, at least I used to know her,” I replied. “The Savannah I knew would never allow herself to look like this.”
“The research department is trying to dig up info on this K2, but apparently, it is a powerful, addictive thing,” Dexter said.
I didn’t get it, because drugs were whack. Anything that took me off my A game, I didn’t need to be doing. Savannah used to be the same way. Was this thing powerful enough to make her change her mind? I glanced at the picture again. Obviously, it was.
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Copyright © 2013 by ReShonda Tate Billingsley
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ISBN: 978-0-7582-8953-7
ISBN-10: 0-7582-8953-7
eISBN-13: 978-0-7582-8954-4
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First Electronic Edition: October 2013