Sweet Little Lies by Lauren Conrad Page A

screaming, “Happy New Year!” and the noisemakers were going off. As Scarlett leaned into the kiss, she realized she had never fully understood the meaning of the word “swoon” before.
    But now she did. She was swooning. And it was awesome.
    14
    CAN U EVER 4GIVE ME?
    As Jane walked toward Jesse, she was barely aware of the other guests at h.wood, drinking champagne and laughing and dancing to “Pon de Replay” by Rihanna. Some of their eyes followed her, and she could hear people whispering. (Was it, “Ohmigod, it’s that girl from the show”? Or was it, “Ohmigod, it’s that slut from the magazines”?) She dropped her gaze as she walked through the crowd.
    The room was so festive, with long silver streamers hanging from the ceiling; clusters of silver, gold, and black balloons floating up from the tables; and glittery confetti sprinkled across the floor. But Jane didn’t feel very festive right now. She felt terrified. Her heart was racing. Because she was about to do one of the hardest things she had ever done in her life. On-camera. She wished the moment could be more private, but she didn’t care anymore. Shehad to talk to Jesse, cameras or no cameras.
    She went through a bunch of opening lines in her mind.

    Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    Hey, listen, we need to talk.
    I know you probably hate my guts.
    Are you okay?
    I’ve been so worried about you.
    I miss you. (No, scratch that one.)
    I’m so, so sorry.
    This was actually not the first time she’d tried to reach out to Jesse since theGossip incident. Or the second time, if you counted Monday night at STK. She had started to text him on Christmas Eve—there was something about the holidays that made a girl emotional and sentimental about ex-boyfriends—writing, CAN U EVER 4GIVE ME? MERRY CHRISTMAS, JANE.
    She had stared at the message forever, her fingers hovering over the Send button. In the end, she had just deleted it, wishing she could be braver, feeling dumb because she was such a coward.
    And now…now she was about to face Jesse in person, and look him in the eye, and deliver the apology of her life. Because she was pretty sure that what she had done to him was the worst thing she had done to anybody, ever.
    As Jane got closer to Jesse, she saw his date whisper something in his ear. (Could her hot-pink, obnoxious bubble dress be any shorter?) Giggling, Ms. Bubble Dress tucked her clutch under her arm and took off. Good, the coast was clear.
    Ms. Bubble Dress had barely disappeared into the swarm of partyers—Jane saw her grab some girl’s arm, and the two of them went off to the ladies’ room, talking closely—when Jesse turned, cell in hand, and noticed Jane. He stared at her, and his beautiful, familiar light brown eyes lit up with…pure rage.
    Ugh. Jane wondered if he was going to storm off without giving her a chance to speak. But he didn’t move.
    “Hey.” Jane approached him, giving him a tentative little wave.Yeah, brilliant opening line.
    Jesse didn’t say anything. He tucked his phone into the pocket of his sleek black jacket. Jesse always dressed so well, unlike Braden, who was always more at home in faded tees and jeans, yet who still managed to look hot anyway.
    Jane stopped in front of him and tilted her head up to look at him. At five-foot-five, she was at least seven inches shorter than him. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” she asked him.
    Jesse’s jaw clenched. “What about?”
    “I just wanted to…I wanted to say I’m sorry. I know you’ll probably never forgive me, and I don’t expect you to. But I wanted you to know how bad I feel about what happened.”
    Jesse glared at her, not saying anything. The volume in the room began to rise—people were shouting, noisemakers were going off, the DJ was making an announcement—but Jane wasn’t paying attention.

    Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    Getting through to