Those people she liked, at the time, included Heidi, 20 — a friend from her brief stint at college in San Francisco — who became her roommate in L.A. The first season played on the push-and-pull of the duo's work and personal lives: Lauren's internship at Teen Vogue versus lingering Laguna boyfriend Jason Wahler; Heidi 's job at a party-planning firm versus her general aversion to work. But things heated up in season 2 with the arrival of plotline-hijacking, ratings-boosting Spencer Pratt, who became Heidi 's boyfriend and Lauren's nemesis. By the finale, Heidi had moved in with him. ''I thought he was going to be a quiet, secondary guy,'' DiSanto says. ''The big surprise was what a really dynamic character he is.''

Heading into this season, Lauren and Heidi aren't speaking — they refuse to be interviewed together and are filming separate story lines. Aside from — or perhaps because of — that glitch, it promises to be the most...mature season ever? (Maturity being relative here, of course.) Whitney, 22, gets promoted to a full-time gig at Teen Vogue that makes her Lauren's boss; Audrina, 21, is dealing with her first real boyfriend. Lauren, meanwhile, is struggling with post-Heidi life and run-ins with her least-favorite couple. And said couple is navigating cohabitation while maybe, possibly getting engaged...or not, depending on whom you talk to.

That's where ''reality'' gets confusing. It was reported that Heidi and Spencer had gotten betrothed, and promos for the season show him presenting her with a sizable rock; the couple, however, claim it was a ''promise ring.'' To wit, Heidi shows up for an interview at Hills brunch fave Toast with Spencer in tow but no bling. ''We can't wait to see how they edit that,'' Spencer scoffs. ''We would get engaged; we just wouldn't do it on Lauren's show.''

In fact, the stars' tabloid-worthiness forced producers to develop a policy against showing the girls as celebs — this isn't, after all, Newlyweds or The Osbournes. The season premiere does address the purported sex tape featuring Lauren and her ex Jason (Lauren denies it exists), but it's treated as a ''vicious rumor'' and the subject of an explosive confrontation with Heidi — not as the national news it became. ''We want viewers to watch Lauren and the girls as the characters we know instead of in a show about being the stars of The Hills,'' DiSanto says. ''You want to present the reality, but you don't want to take viewers out of the drama.''

Ah, yes, the reality. The eternal question, when it comes to The Hills. Heidi and Spencer trash the series' accuracy and voice qualms about how they're depicted in Lauren's voice-over. They even claim they faked arguments last season: ''We don't fight in real life,'' Spencer says. ''The only fighting was for the show. But we're not playing that game this year.''

Lauren, however, cops to no such antics. ''They can never make you say or do something,'' she says. ''You can always blame editing, but they can't do magic.'' And producers, for their part, swear they don't stage story lines — but does it even matter? ''I really believe viewers are watching it not necessarily as reality versus fiction,'' DiSanto adds, ''but as the story of these characters they're into.''

Perhaps. But how long will those ''characters'' tolerate being followed by cameras? ''I almost didn't do this season,'' Lauren says. ''It wasn't so much about the filming, but I didn't want to do a show with the other people on it.'' Speaking of whom...Heidi is sort of over the whole thing herself. ''I don't know if I could do another season,'' she sighs. ''Being on a reality show is not very glamorous.''

So she's considering retiring, as it were? ''There's a difference between reality TV and being on a show narrated by Lauren,'' clarifies Spencer, who, naturally, also functions as Heidi's manager. ''She could be on reality TV for 20 years.'' And thank God — or at least postmodernism — for that.

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