Wow thanks for the reviews and story alerts- and hello new fans!! Keep those reviews coming.


And a special thank you to xox-shopaholic-xox for the boy advice- it may just work!! And I'm not quite over him yet which totally sucks!!

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"Lucy Gray, will you please just admit that you are the fourth member of Connect 3!" Beth frowned.

I took a deep breath and looked down. "I...er...yeah... I am."

Was this the end of my secret life? Two weeks and the secret was already out. It was a new record.

"So why the crazy lies?"

I looked up at Beth. "You don't understand what it's like... the past two schools I've been to... well, I hardly had any friends, and then the secret came out and everyone was using me to get to my brothers, to get to the freebies, the free tickets and so on. I just wanted to fit in for once and not be popular because of family blood."

"But we're your friends."

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to trust people!? My last boyfriend, you've heard of Jake Ryan, right?" Beth nodded as I continued. "He wasn't famous until he became best friends with Nate... he just wanted female attention and the chance for scouts to notice him. Now he's an actor... even my best friends turned against me, just to be popular."

Beth looked down. "But this is New Jersey, not LA... things are different."

"It might be less wealthy and it might not be bursting with stars, but the people are still the same... you know, half the people at school would rip me apart if they found out."

"I guess... did you tell Tyler?"

"No, and he's coming round tomorrow and I'm totally stuck! He can't meet them, especially with Shane being a complete arse! Are you gonna tell the others?"

"Nope, because it's your choice. But, really, they would understand and I know they wouldn't act on it."

"I'll think about it." I shrugged. "But for now, promise you won't tell anyone?"

"I promise." Beth half-smiled.

"So, guys, what did we miss?" Megz asked, walking back into the room.

"Nothing." I replied with a shrug.

"Yeah, Lu was just telling me what an amazing kisser Tyler is!"

I got home from the sleepover about 11am the next day.

"MOM!" I squealed, jumping on my mother as I walked through the door, dropping my rucksack and party dress on the floor.

"Hey, sweetie, guess you missed me, huh?" She hugged me tight. "Well don't worry, I have some time off to spend with you guys, and then there's the premiere in a few months time... so what did I miss?"

My mom picked up my dress and carried it into the living room, hanging it on the door.

"Not much... school has been cool, and it was my friend Megz's birthday yesterday so went to her party and slept over."

"It's a very pretty dress." She smiled. "I bet you looked stunning."

"I can show you some pictures later." I replied. "I actually got it from the studio the boys were filming their video in."

"How was the shoot?"

"Really good. I met Miley Stewart and she's really nice. It was a pretty fun day."

"So, are you gonna be more involved with your brothers then?" She looked hopeful.

"I don't know, mom... it's tough... and really, I hate being the one without the talent."

"Oh, honey, you're very talented, don't you worry... you just need more confidence, that's all." She hugged me. "So... have we met any boys?"

I blushed crimson. "Maybe..."

"What's his name?"

"Tyler. He's in my homeroom. He's a musician."

"So, he's the reason behind the pretty dress... did he like it?"

I nodded. "He asked me on a date last night."

"Really!?" My mom grinned. "When?"

"This afternoon... he's picking me up at three." I watched my mom's smile widen. "But please behave yourself... it's probably tough enough finding out my family are all really famous, let alone with dad firing twenty questions at him!"

"We'll keep out the way, don't worry." She replied. "Now, let's see some photos from last night then."

I opened up my laptop and signed into MySpace. Miley had already added me, so I quickly accepted her and clicked on Megz's photo album of last night.

The first picture was of me and Mitchie.

"New friend?" Mom asked.

"That's Mitchie.. she wants to be a singer.. I have her demo CD and I was gonna get Nate to listen to it and give some feedback."

My mom nodded. "That's sweet."

The next photo was of us, Beth and Megz. Then they continued to have photos of everyone in their little groups at the party. I froze at a picture of me slow-dancing with Tyler.

"Is this Tyler, then?" My mom stuck her tongue out at me as I blushed and nodded. "He's quite cute!"

"MOM! He's old enough to be your son!" I frowned at her.

"Hey!" She pouted. "Well you make a lovely couple."

I smiled at this picture; I sort of agreed. Tyler in his navy pin-striped shirt and faded jeans and me in my turquoise blue dress. I was going to have to print some of these photos off later.

I came to the end of the photo album. "Mom, I have some more, but I'll download later... right now, I have a date to get ready for!"

"Do you know what you two are doing later then?"

"No idea... was thinking girly and casual?"

"Call if you need help, sweetie."

"Thanks mom." I kissed her cheek and walked upstairs.

I passed Nate's room, hearing Stevie Wonder blaring out of the open door.

"Hey, bro." I smiled, peering through the door.

He laid on his front on his bed, chewing on the end of a pencil and staring at the notebook in front of him.

"How was the party?" He asked, looking at me with a smile.

"It was good." I replied with a smile. "Um.. Beth found out about you guys."

"Did you deny it?"

"Nope, but I haven't told anyone else yet, and I'm trusting her not too."

He shook his head. "Don't let yourself fall in too deep, will you?"

"Well I was gonna ask a favour...or two?"

"Sure... but only if you promise to come to a few concerts."

"Well, easy.. I have row 11 seats to your concert on Saturday."

"You could've got front row you know." He frowned. "Or backstage."

"Beth bought Megz four tickets for her birthday, so we'll do it this way, I think... just wondering, if we could get meet and greets? I know the girls would love it!"

"Sure, no problem... come after the show, and we might like them enough to invite them to the after-party too!"

"Thank you!" I beamed. "Just no calling me 'sis' right now, okay?"

He rolled his eyes. "Fine... what's the second favour?"

"My friend Mitchie.. she really wants to be a singer.. could you listen to her demo? I'm no good at telling the difference between open-mic-night-material and number-one-singer material." I threw him the demo CD.

"Sure, I'll listen to it in a moment."

"Thanks Nate! You're the best big brother ever!"

He smiled. "Well with Jason chasing birds around the garden and Shane in a constant bad mood, I find that very easy to believe."