A Starlit Summer by Kate Frost (best manga ereader txt) 📕

this moment. I’ve had enough of this shit today and bloody Heidi weighing in on stuff that really isn’t any of her business. We aren’t friends, so she has no say in my life any more.’

‘Oh boy, you’re hellishly pissed off.’

‘Can you blame me?’ Jenna said. ‘I could so do with a friendly face. It’s feeling a little claustrophobic on set at the moment. Everyone’s gossiping. Everyone thinks I’m shagging Milo and the more I deny it the more everyone thinks it’s true. I can’t win. I wouldn’t care if I was actually getting laid, but I’m not.’

‘How’s Milo reacted?’

‘No idea. Haven’t seen him. Probably lapping up the attention. And with Heidi down here...’

‘You don’t have to talk to her though do you?’

‘I guess not. I think we’ll only have a couple of scenes together and I don’t think they’re being filmed this week. But she sought me out today and took me down. After what she did how the hell does she have the nerve to talk to me like that? Seriously, Carla, if you have any time, even just a couple of days, please visit.’

‘I might be able to this weekend; I’ll see what I can do.’

~

Jenna forced herself to eat a chicken salad outside on the picnic table. She’d ignored text messages from friends who’d seen the magazine, deciding to not even attempt to comment on it, knowing that protesting would be futile and simply encourage more talk. She avoided going on Facebook and Instagram after making the mistake of looking at Twitter and getting a huge shock about how she was being talked about by strangers. She couldn’t ignore the voicemail messages though.

At dusk she retreated inside, dumped her plate in the sink, took the cordless phone and went and sat in the living room.

Her parents would have eaten by now and be sitting down in front of the TV. It was ridiculous to feel this nervous about talking to her parents, particularly her mum who she usually confided in about everything.

By the second ring her mum had answered the phone.

‘Jenna, love. I tried calling you earlier and couldn’t get hold of you. Or this afternoon.’

‘I was working, Mum. Had my mobile switched off.’

‘Denise... you know Denise from next door, she came round this morning with the magazine. I mean, you’re on the front cover kissing Milo Blake.’

‘We’re not kissing.’

‘His hand is on your bottom.’ She lowered her voice at the word bottom.

‘Yeah, well, it was because he planted it there, same as I’m pretty bloody certain he tipped off the paparazzi to be there and take the shot. It was set up, Mum.’

‘Why would he do that?’

‘It’s complicated.’ How many times was she going to give that as an answer?

‘You’re a grown adult, I don’t really care what you get up – it’s your life, you can choose who you go out with, and it’s not like I disapprove or anything like that. It was just a bit of a shock to have it all paraded about in front of us. Denise was full of it, telling us all the juicy details from the article. Your dad had to leave the room at the mention of the “hot sex”.’ Once again her mum lowered her voice.

Jenna’s cheeks burned at the thought of her dad listening to nosy Denise relaying the details about her and Milo. She tucked her feet beneath her on the sofa. ‘It’s all made up, Mum. Every bit of it. Apart from the photo and that was staged by Milo. We’ve flirted and chatted but that’s all. I’ve been back to the cottage on my own every night.’

‘Well, how can they write such blatant lies?’

‘They always do though, don’t they? Gossip and scandal and making out that something’s more than it really is sells magazines.’

‘I guess that’s true. I mean Trump’s full of it, “fake news” and all that. It’s not so strange that entertainment magazines bend the truth too.’

‘Or they’re sold lies in the first place.’

Her mum huffed, unconvinced. ‘By the way, your agent phoned this evening, wondering if we’d heard from you.’

‘Yeah, she’s left messages. I’m going to phone her now.’

‘Are you sure you’re all right, love? You sound down.’

Jenna stared across the sparse living room at the gas fire in front of the blocked up fireplace. She felt like taking a lump hammer to it and smashing it to pieces. ‘I’m fine, Mum, really. It’s just been a strange day. This kind of attention is normal for Milo; I’ve never experienced anything like it. Loads of people are telling me it’ll do wonders for my career.’

‘And you’re not convinced?’

‘I’m not sure. I’m going to phone Beth, see what she has to say.’

‘All right, love, we’ll speak to you soon. Love you.’

It was eerily quiet once she’d said goodbye and put the phone down. She wanted a hug from her mum. She sniffed and forced back tears. She wasn’t going cry over Milo Blake and a fling she never had.

She was so glad her parents weren’t on social media. She really couldn’t bear the thought of them reading the comments on Twitter and seeing hashtags like #milodoesjenna and #milohotsex. Although no doubt Denise would be back round in the morning showing them Twitter memes and fuelling the rumours and gossip even more.

It was well past office hours and late to be phoning her agent, but the last message Beth had left explicitly said to phone her back at any time.

She scrolled through her mobile to Beth’s number and plumbed the digits into the cordless phone.

‘Hi Jenna.’

‘Sorry it’s late.’

‘Oh, don’t worry.’

‘It’s been a strange day.’

‘Everyone’s talking about you and Milo.’ She could hear the excitement in Beth’s voice.

‘It’s not true by the way, everything’s been made up, despite what the photo suggests.’

‘It doesn’t make a difference either way, it’s out there now, you’re being talked about. You and Milo are trending on Twitter. I’ve had offers coming in for you all day long, almost from the second that magazine went live.’

‘Offers?’

‘For