Sunset Boulevard Read Online Free PDF Page A

Archer."
    Jake looked up toward the ceiling of the library, scanning the corners for hidden cameras. This
    had to be a joke, right? A reality show thing? The older man who stared at him was convincing
    as a director, his shirt wrinkled and untucked, a baseball cap askew on his head. Kady Parker
    had her arms crossed expectantly over her chest, her smirk friendly, her eyes welcoming. Grant
    Isaacson, the dude from Cocked whom all the girls couldn't shut up about, was shaking his
    head in amazement, like he wanted to hug Jake, but couldn't because they were two dudes, and
    dudes just shook their heads happily. And Amelie, her red curls fanned out behind her, stared
    at him with her high-definition blue eyes and mouthed, "Just say yes," a look of affectionate
    impatience on her face. It was a face he had a hard time saying no to.
    "Um," he stuttered, cringing that he was starting a sentence with "um" for the fiftieth time that
    minute. "Okay, I'm in."
    Jake considered himself a smart guy--at least when it came to problems with definite solutions.
    But he wasn't winning points right now. He'd just agreed to be Tommy Archer in Class Angel .
    Had he just solved a problem, or created one?
    Amelie jumped up, hugging him, and Kady joined in, her petite frame stronger than it looked.
    Grant and the director clapped him on the back.
    "We got our guy!" Gary shouted, completely disobeying the library's indoor-voice rule. "We.
    Got. Our. Guy! Yes!"
    Jake caught sight of his own Holy crap! expression in one of the iMac monitors. This was
    really happening. In his head, he heard the booming voice that narrated adventure movie trailers
    say, "The math tutor has become... a leading man."
    It was like something out of a teen movie. Which, Jake realized, he had better get used to.
    THE GHOSTS OF GRUDGES PAST
    Ash Gilmour stared at the solitary calzone on his black lacquer dinner plate. To any other guy,
    one of the giant meat-and-cheese-filled pockets from Frankie & Johnnie's Pizza would be a
    heavenly dinner, but it was his fourth this week. The kitchen was quiet, as usual, the only
    sounds the tiny creaks and groans of his Beverly Hills house settling. Toting his half-empty
    can of Rock Star across the kitchen, Ash opened the Sub-Zero fridge looking for a vegetable to
    complement the mountain of dough. He was greeted with nothing but his own half-filled
    takeout containers from the last few days.
    He shuffled back to the mahogany kitchen table, setting a fork and knife down on one of the
    six red Egyptian cotton place mats that the maid, Zelda, washed every week, even though Ash
    was the only one who ate here, and he always sat in the same spot.
    It hadn't always been like this.
    When his mom and dad were still together, in grade school, and his older sister, Tessa, wasn't
    away at college, the kitchen was always buzzing. His mom and dad would playfully argue over
    who got the last glass of their favorite pinot noir, his mom making goofy sad puppy dog eyes
    and his dad pretending to pull out his short faded gold hair before finally giving in. He could
    almost see Tessa sitting across from him, her ash blond hair in the low pigtails she wore from
    seventh grade through sophomore year, flipping through a copy of Mental Floss and spitting
    out weird facts between bites of dinner.
    He forced down another bite of the calzone, crumbs falling onto his faded Ben Sherman Union
    Jack sweatshirt. He needed to get out of this ghost house. As he watched a blob of cheese ooze
    onto the gleaming black plate, his iPhone sounded its familiar Jack White guitar solo. His dad's
    stern face appeared on the digital screen.
    "Hello?" Ash answered the phone. "What's up, Dad?" He winced at the enthusiasm apparent in
    his voice. He sounded like a lovesick girl who'd been stood up for the prom.
    "Ash, I'm in the middle of something, so let's make this quick," his dad's brisk baritone
    crackled over the phone.
    Ash rolled his eyes. It was just like his dad to call him but