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“It was because of the leaked photos going around.” Kana tightened her grip around the mug, as if trying to fight back the harsh memories. “I was watching TMZ in the hotel while on the phone with my agent. There was a leaked screenshot of some thug escorting a girl. She looked like a mess, hair was all over her face, and she was, like, smoking something. I didn’t know what the big fucking deal was.”

Alex straightened.

Kana continued before he could ask. “Honestly, if you look closely at the footage, it could’ve been anyone, but everyone seems to buy into the story that the girl in the picture is none other than Aurora ‘Sunny’ Mendoza from Sugars. That she went into the deep end and got caught up in this dark world of drugs and shit. It didn’t help that everyone was talking about it, like Perez Hilton, Ellen, and Covey Lakeridge.”

Hal, who was on his phone for the second half of her story, showed his screen. “This one?”

There was an enlarged blurry picture of the footage that Kana was talking about. It was hard to tell from the poor screenshot quality, but Alex made out a girl with long hair, smoking and facing a large man. Light from the doorway spilled over them, catching the tattoo on the man’s thick bicep. It looked like they were coming out of a side door of some house. It could have been the blur, but Kana was right; this technically could have been anybody.

Kana only responded with a nod.

“And you believe it?” asked Alex.

Kana closed her eyes and sucked in through her teeth. “I’m the type of person that has to see it to believe it. So, I had to look up when there would be an upcoming house party.”

Alex stopped mid-chew of his last french fry. “Party?”

Kana smirked. “What is the easiest way to get a bunch of celebrities together? Anyway, I found one and went. I asked around, but nobody knew or refused to talk to me.

“Then I saw Snowy there. I didn’t want to miss this chance.”

“And were you able to talk to her?” asked Hal.

“Yeah… about that…” Kana reached into her phone and tapped through several apps. “Let’s just say it was something alright.” She set the phone to the middle of the table, the screen showing an audio recording. Alex scooted to the edge of his seat as Hal leaned in. Kana pressed play. It took a couple of seconds for the voices to come through the phone’s static.

“… Sammy, what’s going on?”

“I need to talk to you.”

“Can’t we do this later? I’m kind of busy.”

“When was the last time you talked to Sunny?”

“… Oh my God, Sammy, we are not going to have this conversation.”

“Yes, we are. What the fuck do you know?”

“Our managers and agents told us not to talk about this.”

“Who gives a fuck? They aren’t involved. It’s just us.”

“Well, I don’t feel comfortable talking about this.”

“Why? Because you don’t want to be associated with rumors?”

“It’s not my fault she got caught up doing illegal drugs with gangsters!”

“… you’re fucking serious?”

“No! Oh my God, Sammy, I don’t fucking know anything!”

“Stop lying, bitch! And tell me the fucking truth!”

“But there’s nothing to say! End of conversation.”

“No! I’m not leaving until I find out what happened to Sunny.”

“Sammy, you have to let that go! You’re wasting your time trying to find a druggie. That reunion wasn’t going to happen anyway! And you know that.”