Shopaholic to the Stars

They can’t be the same ones. Obviously they can’t be. But—

I stare at the sunglasses, totally baffled. One part of my brain is saying, It’s a coincidence, and the other part is saying, It can’t be a coincidence. At last I can’t bear it any longer. I have to see. I edge forward and grab the sunglasses off the chair—and there’s no doubt about it. They’re the ones I bought. They have the same rubbed-away bit on the gilt “M” and a tiny chip on one arm.

What are they doing here? Did Sage send them to Lois? But why? And wouldn’t she have mentioned it on the phone earlier? And why would she send sunglasses to Lois anyway?

My head spinning, I creep forward to put them back—and then freeze. Through the glass of the French doors I can see straight into Lois’s living room. There’s Lois, sitting on a sofa, laughing. And there’s Sage, sitting next to her, passing her a bowl of nachos.

My whole body feels paralyzed with shock. Sage? In Lois’s house? But— but— but—

I mean—

That’s just—

I’ve leaned so far forward, trying to see, I suddenly lose my balance, and the sunglasses go clattering onto a glass table. Shit. Shit.

“Who’s there?” says Sage sharply, and comes to the French doors. “Oh my God, Becky?”

I stare helplessly up at her, unable to reply. I feel as though the world has turned upside down. An hour ago, Sage was telling me she didn’t want to see Lois. But she must have been in Lois’s house even while she was talking to me. What is going on? What?

“Get in here,” says Sage, glancing around. “There aren’t any press following you, are there? What did you do, break in?”

“Yes,” I say, getting to my feet, still dazed. “I made a bit of a mess of the fence. Maybe someone should see to that. Sorry,” I add to Lois, who has followed Sage to the French doors. Lois doesn’t look the disheveled mess I was expecting. She’s wearing long pale-green wide-legged trousers and a black halter top, and her hair is smoothed into a side ponytail. She’s also smoking, which is a bit of a shock. Lois Kellerton doesn’t smoke. I’ve read it in magazines a million times.

“You look so freaked!” Sage bursts into laughter as she closes the French doors behind me.

Finally I find my voice. “I am freaked! What do you expect?”

“Poor Becky,” Sage says kindly.

“What … I mean …” I don’t even know where to begin. “Don’t you …”

“You thought we hated each other, right?” says Sage.

“Everyone thinks you hate each other!” I expostulate. “Everyone in the world!”

“Well, we kinda do.” Sage pushes Lois, whose mouth turns up in a little smile.

“Everything’s a game,” Lois says. “We’re playing the game. The long game,” she adds.

“Lois is really smart,” chimes in Sage.

They’re both nodding, as though that explains everything.

“I don’t get it,” I say, feeling more bewildered than ever. “I just don’t. You have to start from the beginning.”

“Oh well, the beginning.” Lois leads me into the kitchen, where a huge oak table is covered in laptops, magazines, coffee cups, and take-out boxes. I even see a box of Krispy Kremes, which makes me do a double take. I thought Lois hated white sugar? “That would be when we were … what, ten?”

“We were on Save the Kids together.” Sage nods.

“Then we had a big fight.”

“But we made up.”

I’m totally lost. “Was that recently?”

“No! We were, like, sixteen,” says Sage. “I was so mad at Lois, I trashed her car. Remember?”

Lois shakes her head ruefully. She’s a lot more composed than Sage. In fact, I can’t stop staring at her. Her nails are perfect. Her hands aren’t shaking one little bit as she makes coffee. She doesn’t look anything like a suicidal head case.

“Did you really try to commit suicide?” I blurt out, and she gives another secretive little smile.

“Becky, none of this is real!” says Sage. “Don’t you realize that? You’re in on it too now.” She gives me a squeeze. “Lois will tell you what to do. She has the whole thing planned.”

“What do you mean?” I say in bewilderment. “What whole thing?”

“Redemption,” says Lois. “Reconciliation … forgiveness … Camberly.” She pauses, then says it again with relish, “Camberly.”

“Camberly.” Sage nods. “We just heard. We’re doing it, the two of us. A special. It’s gonna be huge.”