Diamonds in the Rough Read online

  Photos weren’t allowed since the club hadn’t opened yet, so Rebecca had Savannah and Alyssa leave their phones with the bodyguards who were waiting at the entrance. Rebecca and the party planner were deep in discussion about the design details, so Savannah and Alyssa explored.

  “This place is amazing!” Alyssa said, her eyes wide. “Your Sweet Sixteen is going to be the best of the year.”

  “It is going to be pretty great,” Savannah agreed. And she was excited, but at the same time, this would be the first birthday she would celebrate without her mom there. Every year, the two of them had gone to Dunkin’ Donuts for breakfast and stuffed themselves with doughnuts. For dinner, she, her sisters, Mom and Grandma had gone to Macaroni Grill, which used to be Savannah’s favorite, and for dessert they’d gone to Grandma’s, where they would eat the cookie or brownie cake Grandma had made that day with vanilla bean ice cream on top.

  A lump formed in Savannah’s throat, her eyes prickling with tears. She cared more about celebrating her birthday than Courtney and Peyton did theirs, so everyone had gone out of their way to make her day special. They’d even been allowed to skip school if her birthday landed on a weekday. Now this would be her most extravagant birthday yet, and Mom and Grandma wouldn’t be there to see it.

  “Are you okay?” Alyssa played with the end of her long, dark ponytail. “You suddenly looked really sad.”

  “I’m fine.” Savannah blinked away the tears. “I was just thinking about how this will be the first birthday I’ll celebrate without my mom and grandma.”

  “You’re visiting them over Thanksgiving, right?” Alyssa asked, and Savannah nodded. “I thought you were going to celebrate both Thanksgiving and your birthday when you were there?”

  “We will.” She shrugged. “But it’s not the same as celebrating on the actual day. A birthday is special because it’s the one day of the year that’s yours. If you celebrate on days that aren’t that day, it’s no different than any of the other three hundred and sixty-four days of the year that aren’t your birthday.”

  “I guess,” Alyssa said. “There’s no way they can come here?”

  “Nope.” Savannah shook her head. “My Grandma needs my mom home to help her take care of Aunt Sophie.”

  No one knew her mom had been in rehab, so Aunt Sophie’s cancer was the excuse Savannah used about why her mom never visited. But really, her mom wouldn’t be at her sixteenth birthday party because Vegas was a terrible place for a recovering alcoholic. There would be an open bar at the party for the adults, although, since it was a private party, those under twenty-one would probably get served anyway. The temptation would create a rough environment for her mom, especially combined with the stress of seeing Adrian for the first time in years.

  They walked outside to check out the pool, and Savannah imagined what it would look like when it was filled with water and people were lounging near the bar and inside the cabanas. There was even a retractable roof if it was too cold for outdoor swimming, which it probably would be at night in December.

  “So, who are you inviting?” Alyssa asked.

  “The entire team, and everyone in our grade,” Savannah said, glad the conversation had veered away from her mom. “Courtney and Peyton also get to invite some people. And, of course, Adrian and Rebecca are inviting a ton of their friends. Which unfortunately includes the Prescott and Lockhart families.” Savannah hadn’t been thrilled when Rebecca had broken that news, but since Adrian was close with both families—and was paying for the party—she couldn’t say no. “Rebecca is apparently best friends with Madison’s mom, and promised her that she would invite some of Madison’s friends, too. So Madison doesn’t feel ‘uncomfortable.’” Savannah rolled her eyes, unable to picture Madison being uncomfortable anywhere.

  “It’ll definitely be an…interesting group,” Alyssa said.

  “There you are, girls,” Rebecca said, walking up with the party planner behind her. “What do you think of Abandon?”

  “It’s perfect,” Savannah said, smiling. “I’m just worried that it’s so huge that there won’t be enough people to fill it up!”

  The party planner, Gail, glanced down at her clipboard. “There will be so much going on, you won’t need as many people as you think to fill up the space,” she said. “We’re going to have the seated dinner in the middle section, and the appetizer and dessert bar will be in the back. I gave Rebecca a list of food options, so the two of you can sit down later and discuss what you want. Out by the pool we’ll have various entertainment stations set up, like henna tattoos, photo booths, psychic readings, massages, a caricature artist, a cell phone bling station and more. And the gambling area will be open to all ages, since every guest will receive three chips upon arrival, and the proceeds from all further chips purchased will go to a charity of your choosing.”

  “You’re officially going to have the best Sweet Sixteen ever,” Alyssa said, breathless.

  “Don’t spoil the plans to anyone, though,” Savannah told her. “I want everyone to be surprised.”

  “Speaking of a surprise,” Rebecca said, “I put in an inquiry a few weeks ago, and recently heard back from the producers with the go-ahead. How would you feel about having your party featured on My Fabulous Sweet Sixteen?”

  Alyssa squealed, but Savannah froze, at a loss for words. She’d watched the show a few times with Evie, and the girls on it were spoiled brats. One of them had thrown a temper tantrum because the BMW her dad bought her wasn’t the exact model she’d wanted. Savannah was nothing like that.

  She would appreciate her party. But maybe that would put her in a good light? And she did want recognition from the entertainment industry. It could spread word about her YouTube channel.

  “How does Adrian feel about it?” she asked. “I know he does everything he can to keep us from bad publicity, and those shows aren’t known for presenting the girls positively….”

  “I’ve already discussed that with the producers,” Rebecca said. “They were so excited to have us on the show that they signed an agreement with our lawyer to only air footage we approved. We can also buy back the rights to the episode if we don’t like the finished version, so the producers are going to make sure we’re happy with it. All we need is your consent, and we’re good to go.”

  “You can’t turn this down,” Alyssa chimed in. “It’s the opportunity of a lifetime. Your party was already going to be the best of the year, but with it being on My Fabulous Sweet Sixteen, it’ll be the best ever.”

  “Okay, okay,” Savannah said, her head spinning. “I’ll do it.”

  “Great,” Rebecca said. “Now that you’ve agreed…some of the camera crew is here now. They want to get preliminary footage of you seeing the venue for the first time, your excitement about the party and some more small things for the show. Tomorrow they’ll be interviewing you and the rest of the family, next week they’ll come along with us when we go dress shopping and more.”

  “But I thought we weren’t allowed to take photos of the club right now,” Savannah said.

  “You’re not,” Rebecca said. “But the producers are contracted not to let the footage release until the club opens. So…shall I bring them in?”

  “Sure.” Savannah took a deep breath. “Let’s do it. And…thank you. It was pretty cool of you to make this happen.”

  “I know moving away from home hasn’t been easy, and I want you to be happy here.” Rebecca squeezed Savannah’s hand and went to fetch the camera crew. She would obviously never replace Mom or Grandma, but she was trying so hard to be welcoming. Savannah had always been grateful for that.

  It didn’t take the crew long to set up, fix Savannah’s hair and makeup and get things rolling. They must have been doing this for so long that they had it down to a science. It felt so unreal. The film crew of My Fabulous Sweet Sixteen was here, to feature her party on
the show. Her brain felt so jittery and jumbled she could hardly think.

  “Let’s start with you introducing yourself and letting the viewers know where you are,” the director, Carson, said. “Start talking at one, two…and go!”

  The lights blasted in Savannah’s eyes, and she blinked a few times to try and see. Everyone was watching her, expecting her to say something brilliant. She swallowed and played with her bracelets, unsure what they wanted to hear.

  “Hi.” Her voice shook, and she waved awkwardly at the camera. “I’m Savannah Diamond, and I’m turning sixteen on December thirteenth. We’re all here at Abandon nightclub….” She motioned around the club. “And, um…this is where the party’s going to be!” Her voice sounded overly perky at the end, and she did a little dance, wincing at how incredibly awkward that all was.

  From the blank expressions on the camera crew’s face, it was worse than she’d thought.

  She shielded her eyes from the lights. “Do you want me to try again?”

  “Yes, let’s try again,” Carson said. “This time, speak louder and relax. Be confident. Let the viewers feel your excitement!”

  “Okay.” Savannah bounced her knees, thinking excitement!!! and the camera started rolling again.

  “Hi!” she said so loudly that she felt like she was screaming. “I’m Savannah Diamond! I’m turning sixteen soon, and this is where my party will be!” She held her arms wide, then realized she’d forgotten to say the name of the venue. “The party will be at Abandon nightclub,” she said, stumbling at the scared look on Carson’s face. “The club’s going to be awesome for the party…and it’s not opening for real until after my party…so everyone will be partying here for the first time….” She forced a bright smile, gave a double thumbs-up and added, “I can’t wait for the party!”

  The red recording light went off, and she clenched her fists, stomping her foot on the floor. How many times had she said the word party in the past few seconds? And giving a thumbs-up? This was nothing like singing on camera, when the words were already written and she was around people she knew, instead of total strangers.

  “Sorry.” She shuffled her feet, unable to meet anyone’s eyes. “That was awful.”

  “You’re just warming up,” Carson said. “Take a minute to think about what you’re going to say, and then we’ll try again.”

  Each take was one disaster after another. They tried filming in different spots around the club, with Carson asking her questions to lead what she was saying, and even with him feeding her lines, she messed up every time. She was so frustrated she wanted to throw something. Each take was getting worse, not better.

  Finally, Carson said, “We’re not getting anywhere with this today. For now, let’s get basic footage of you walking around with everyone, chatting about party plans. We’ll interview Rebecca and your party planner, and we’ll try again with you tomorrow.”

  They struggled through a few takes of Savannah walking around the club, pretending to talk party details with Gail and Rebecca. Finally, the camera crew packed up to get B-roll of the Diamond, saying they would see her again tomorrow. Savannah didn’t miss the warning in Carson’s tone—that she’d better be prepared.

  “I was awful, wasn’t I?” she said once the production crew was gone.

  “It wasn’t that bad,” Alyssa said, although she hardly sounded convincing. “But my parents better sign these release papers, because I need to be on the show with you. And maybe it’ll be easier when you’re filming with friends.”

  “You just weren’t ready,” Rebecca said. “It was my fault. I wanted it to be a surprise, but I should have given you warning so we could prepare. We’ll practice tonight so you’ll be ready for tomorrow, okay?”

  “Okay,” Savannah said, although there was an awful pit in her stomach. What if she was terrible at acting and couldn’t get them the footage they wanted no matter how much she practiced?

  She tried to push aside her worries as they discussed more party details. After what felt like forever, they headed out, reclaiming their bags from the guards at the entrance. Right after picking hers up, Savannah’s iPhone buzzed. She took it out to see who was texting her.

  Her screen had blown up with alerts. Texts, missed calls, Tweets, Facebook, Snapchat—the red alert circles on the top right of each icon were in the double digits. What was going on? Had another embarrassing thing been posted about her online? Savannah’s stomach sank even further, and she opened her texts, bracing herself for whatever she was about to see.

  Evie had texted her most recently, and she saw the last of the long series of messages first.

  OMG I can’t believe this is happening! You are soooo lucky! CALL ME BACK ASAP!!

  Savannah’s pulse quickened, and she scrolled up to read Evie’s texts from the beginning.

  I’m listening to the Ryder Garrison Weekend Top 40 Countdown on Top Hits and he has this Net Watchers thing where he talks about YouTube artists he finds who have amazing covers and this week he PLAYED A CLIP OF YOUR MOST RECENT COVER SONG!! The One Connection one! He’s playing it every three hours for THE ENTIRE WORLD TO HEAR!!! And he announces your YouTube name, too!!

  “Omigod.” Savannah could barely breathe as she checked the rest of her texts, Tweets and other alerts. Everything confirmed that her song was being broadcast on an international radio show. People she’d never met were Tweeting her that they loved her music and had subscribed to her channel. She wanted to reply to them all, but there was no way she could do it on her cell. She had to get to her computer.

  “What happened?” Rebecca fiddled with her pearls. “Is everything all right?”

  “Hold on.” Savannah had to see her YouTube channel. She clicked on her profile and took a sharp breath inward when she saw that her number of subscribers was up by the thousands. And the number of views for her recent video had passed the five-digit mark—in less than one day. “Omigod,” she said again. “I can’t believe this.” But when she blinked, it was all still there.

  “You’re killing us here.” Alyssa twisted her ponytail, and she leaned forward to see Savannah’s phone. “What’s going on?”

  Savannah repeated what Evie had said in her text, each word coming out faster than the last. “Now I have over five thousand subscribers and my video views are over seventy thousand. And it’s still going up!”

  Alyssa took her own iPhone out of her bag and tapped the screen. “Wow,” she said after a few seconds. “This is amazing, Savannah! I can’t believe it.”

  “I can’t believe it either!” The words were coming so fast that it hurt to breathe. “Do we have Sirius radio anywhere?”

  “I’m sure we can find it somewhere.” Rebecca’s face glowed. “Come on.”

  Which was how Savannah, Alyssa, Rebecca, Peyton and Courtney found themselves in Savannah’s room twenty minutes later, gathered around Courtney’s MacBook Pro, listening to Top Hits through their newly purchased subscription of Sirius radio. Ryder Garrison’s Weekend Top 40 Countdown was on a three-hour loop, which took ages when you were waiting for a specific part.

  They would have used Savannah’s computer, but she was too busy replying to the comments on her YouTube and Twitter. She loved talking to everyone who had watched her video, but the coolest part was that they seemed even happier that Savannah was taking the time to talk to them. As if she wouldn’t? Before now, no one had heard of her channel. Savannah wanted to make sure to reply to every single person who took the time to message her so they knew how grateful she was for their support.

  Peyton brought in her computer, and they used it to chat on Skype their mom.

  “Hey, girls,” Mom said after picking up. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she was dressed in what looked suspiciously like gym clothes. “Sorry I missed your earlier phone calls—I had my yoga class at the gym. What’s up?”

&
nbsp; Once Savannah got over the initial shock of her mom going to the gym—her mom never worked out—she shared the news.

  “Oh, honey, that’s wonderful.” Her mom beamed. “I have a doctor’s appointment in an hour, but I’ll stay on the line and listen with you until I have to leave, okay?”

  It wasn’t the same as her being in the room with them, but it was the best they could get. After a few minutes of chatting, Savannah stepped aside to call Damien, since he’d done so much for her to make this happen.

  The moment she told him the news, he said he would be right there and hung up. He also lived in the Diamond, so he was at her door in a minute. She let him inside, and he picked her up and swung her around in a circle in the middle of the living room—she felt like a princess in a fairy tale.

  “I can’t believe this is happening!” Savannah said once he put her down.

  “Believe it,” he said, his dark eyes shining down on her. “I Tweeted Ryder telling him about your video right after you’d put it online, and I’d hoped he would give it a listen, but…wow. I can’t believe it made the show.”

  “You made this happen?” Savannah said, realizing that this entire time they’d been talking, Damien’s hands had been wrapped around hers. And she didn’t want him to let go.

  “No,” he said, giving her hands a squeeze. “We made this happen. You made the decision not to delete your channel after that video of you at the party was posted, and to persevere and get more songs out there. I only tried to let people know about you.”